Labor on Display: Ford Factory Tours and the Romance of Globalized Deindustrialization
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Labor on Display: Ford Factory Tours and the Romance of Globalized Deindustrialization by Wendy Lynnette Michael A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (American Culture) in the University of Michigan 2014 Doctoral Committee: Associate Professor Kristin Ann Hass, Chair Professor Howard Brick Professor Bruce A. Pietrykowski Professor Penny M. Von Eschen Preface In 1989, I began working on the assembly line at a transplant manufacturing facility owned by Mazda. At first it was exciting as I finally had a “real” job at the age of 30, even though I was hired in as a temporary worker, the promise of a permanent position made it seem solid.1 But I had never worked in a factory before and had no clue how demanding the job was. The first night – afternoon shift ran from 7 pm until 3:30 a.m. when the line wasn’t running overtime – was such an eye-opener. I stepped onto a moving platform and rode down the line with the car I was working on and stepped off again after spending my time bent over, attaching straps into the trunks of Ford Probes and Mazda 6s, and then run - and I do mean run - back to the parts rack to grab more parts and step up to repeat the process on the next car.2 It was hot, sweaty, and frustrating because it was so difficult to keep up with the pace of the line. The other new hire, a man about my age, left at lunch and never returned (another eye- opener!). As I battled to complete each car, electric wagons with visitors would ride down the aisle and observe me and my coworkers as we labored on the line. The line workers would yell insults at the visitors, an indication of how much they disliked being watched while performing their everyday work activities. 1 What I mean by “a real job” is one with wages high enough for my family of four to no longer have to struggle to pay our rent but we would also have a small amount of disposable income. 2 I don’t remember how much time I had per car, but what I do remember is that we worked 10 hours that first night and made just over 600 vehicles per shift. ii By 2004, I had left that job and had just begun my first semester of graduate school. Working at an academic conference, I was responsible for taking a group of conference attendees to the newly opened Ford Rouge Factory Tour. Imagine my shock and outrage at the permanent tour set-up where museum patrons could, at their leisure, gawk from a raised walkway at the workers below. I knew from my experience working on the line that those people had to be uncomfortable being on display. I also knew from my experience that they likely believed they had no choice but to comply with this performance as the threat of losing their reasonably compensated factory jobs to other states or other countries had become a daily reality of their working lives. What probably bothered me most about the 2004 tour were comments from visitors up on the catwalk. Many noted that the line did not look like it was moving very fast and workers did not appear to be rushed or struggling to perform their respective operations. To me, these comments were all part of the rhetoric of what I saw as a war against unionized automotive workers. These experiences lead me to an intensive examination of factory tours and their meanings to corporations, the American public, and American labor. iii Table of Contents Preface .............................................................................................................................................ii List of Figures ................................................................................................................................. vii Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... ix Chapter 1 Henry Ford’s Great American Production ...................................................................... 1 Neoliberalism, Cultural Production and the Marginalization of Class............................ 6 Deindustrialization and the Need for Public Relations ................................................. 15 Producing Local, National, and Global .......................................................................... 22 Naturalizing the Nation ................................................................................................. 26 Bodies of Labor ............................................................................................................. 32 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 38 Chapter 2 Ford at the Fair: The Problem of Selling Progress in 1934 ........................................... 41 The Detroit Industry Murals ......................................................................................... 51 World’s Fairs and the Century of Progress Exposition ................................................. 68 The Beautiful Factory: Ford at the Fair ......................................................................... 77 Public Responses ........................................................................................................... 86 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 92 iv Chapter 3 Gateway to the Rouge and the Logics of Deindustrialization and Globalization ........ 94 Legislating Labor Rights ................................................................................................ 94 Ford’s Doctrine of Mass Production ............................................................................. 99 Gateway to the Rouge ................................................................................................ 109 Within an Industrial City ............................................................................................. 122 Return to the Rotunda ................................................................................................ 128 Back to Work! Modern Times and the Challenge to Ford’s Doctrine of Mass Production............................................................................................................................... 131 Unionization, Ford Motor Company, and the Unseating of Labor ............................. 139 Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 144 Chapter 4 Ford Rouge Factory Tour: Obscuring Deindustrialization and Globalization ............ 146 Sentimental Matter .................................................................................................... 147 Job Loss and Public Anxiety ........................................................................................ 151 Industrial Mobility ....................................................................................................... 153 Tour Narratives Reimagine the Rouge ........................................................................ 155 The Legacy Theater and Ford Motor Company’s Story of the Rouge ........................ 158 The Art of Manufacturing: Disney Style ...................................................................... 161 Constructing Labor on the Walking Tour .................................................................... 165 The Tour Frames Labor ............................................................................................... 172 v The Virtual Display: Touring the Rouge from the Internet ......................................... 176 General Motors Bowling Green Assembly Plant Tour ................................................ 184 Local Toyota and Valued Labor ................................................................................... 188 Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 193 Bibliography ................................................................................................................................ 195 vi List of Figures Figure 1: Charles Sheeler; Criss-Crossed Conveyors. Ford Rouge Plant 1927. ................. 56 Figure 2: The Detroit Industry Murals - North Wall .......................................................... 59 Figure 3: The Detroit Industry Murals - South Wall .......................................................... 62 Figure 4: Quadricycle in the Henry Ford Room at Chicago ............................................... 80 Figure 5: Presenter in the Ford Rotunda .......................................................................... 82 Figure 6: Court of the World ............................................................................................. 83 Figure 7: Interior of Ford Exhibit at the Century of Progress Exposition; 1934 ............... 85 Figure 8: Ladle Hooks in Open Hearth Building .............................................................. 107 Figure 9: Stamping Press ................................................................................................. 107 Figure 10: Rotunda in Dearborn, Michigan .................................................................... 109 Figure 11: Dioramas inside Rotunda ............................................................................... 111 Figure 12: Globe of the World with Henry and Edsel Ford ............................................. 117 Figure 13: Rotunda interior showing mural panels.