America’s Siberia: An Introduction to the Rust Belt 14 April, 2017 Novosibirsk State Regional Scientific Library Presented by Brooks Rexroat Assistant Professor of English Marshall University, Huntington,W.V. Visiting Fulbright Scholar Novosibirsk State Pedagogical University

1 Where is the Rust Belt?

2 The Rust Belt: A History of the Name

1984 presidenal candidate Walter Mondale is broadly credited with coining the term, which stuck as a largely derogatory term for blighted, post- industrial cies. In recent years, the term has come to stand for the resiliency of these communies, not their former hardships.

3 The Rust Belt: What Happened There?

• A confluence of events: globalizaon, shied workforces, changing corporate strategies, and depleted resources in some regions. • A failure of communies to diversify. • An exodus of workers to other regions.

Photo drawn from Ohio History Central

4 The Rust Belt: A Doomed System of Interconnection If cies originally thrived under single-industry producon, why did an enre region falter instead of just select cies? The cies may have concentrated on a single producon method, but the enre region was a system of heavy industry—each town connected to and sustained by its neighbor. As individual industries toered, the enre region buckled, unemployment skyrocketed, and those who could leave did so quickly, leaving the least skilled and most impoverished workers behind to cope with the wreckage of broken cies. 5 Rust Belt Cities and their Specialties

Cleveland Ohio: Banking Hunngton, West Virginia: Railroad Cars and Coal Central Pennsylvania: Oil extracon Ashland, Kentucky: Oil refinery Charleston, W.V.: Chemical Producon Pisburgh, Pennsylvania: Steel Producon Akron, Ohio: Rubber Producon Toledo, Ohio: Automove Components Detroit: Vehicle Design and Producon Flint, Michigan: Automobile Assembly

Dayton, Ohio: Aircra design and assembly 6 The Rust Belt: Key Traits

• Single-industry towns, purpose-built for a now obsolete funcon • Heavy disparity between wealth and poverty. • Deep civic and regional pride.

7 The Rust Belt: A Turnaround

Taking advantage of low property values in depressed areas, young and ambious groups of arsans—called the “maker” class—have inhabited enre neighborhoods and revitalized them with fresh ideas and diverse cultural and product offerings. hps://www.youtube.com/watch? v=kEtb0y7UV4U

8 Siberia and the Rust Belt: Similarities

-Names with misinterpreted historical connotaons. -Wealth in resources have both helped and hindered the regions. -Deep regional pride. -Prominence of a primary local industry -Shiing demographics -Natural beauty doed by major cies -Youth-driven renaissance -Tourism for a blend of posive and negave reasons 9 The Rust Belt in Photographs

10 The Rust Belt in Photographs

11 The Rust Belt in Photographs

12 The Rust Belt in Photographs

13 The Rust Belt in Photographs

14 The Rust Belt in Photographs

15 The Rust Belt in Photographs

16 The Rust Belt in Photographs

17 Questions and Contact

[email protected] Facebook.com/BrooksRexroat Twier: @BrooksRexroat Blog: brooksrexroat.com/dispatches-from-siberia Blog Subscripon: Apple News, Keyword “Dispatches From Siberia”

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