Industrial Imaginaries: Local Voices on Carrier Corp., Tesla Motors, and Unevenly Developing Capitalism by L. Dugan Nichols M.A., University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 2011 B.A., University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 2007 Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the School of Communication Faculty of Communication, Art and Technology © L. Dugan Nichols 2019 SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY Spring 2019 Copyright in this work rests with the author. Please ensure that any reproduction or re-use is done in accordance with the relevant national copyright legislation. Approval Name: L. Dugan Nichols Degree: Doctor of Philosophy Title: Industrial Imaginaries: Local Voices on Carrier Corp., Tesla Motors, and Unevenly Developing Capitalism Examining Committee: Chair: Christopher Jeschelnik Lecturer Richard Gruneau Senior Supervisor Professor Stuart Poyntz Supervisor Associate Professor Enda Brophy Supervisor Associate Professor Kendra Strauss Internal Examiner Associate Professor Labour Studies Bryan Palmer External Examiner Professor Emeritus Department of Canadian Studies Trent University Date Defended/Approved: February 27, 2019 ii Ethics Statement iii Abstract This historically-conscious dissertation examines two main case studies representing different positions in the capitalist process of uneven development. Inspired by Gramscian theory, it captures the common-sense beliefs expressed through various communication channels when cities face either job losses or a new corporate opportunity. Among the key questions are: Who do those affected by layoffs think is to blame? And what criticisms, if any, surface in local media when public money is used to attract jobs? The first case study centers on an imperiled Carrier plant in Indianapolis, IN, which during the 2016 campaign season became the site of a national conversation on offshoring and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Management announced that 2,100 jobs would ship to Mexico, while a related factory in Huntington, IN, also faced closure. The second case study examines Tesla and Panasonic’s Gigafactory 1 outside of Reno and Sparks, NV, since its siting in 2014. A $1.25 billion tax-abatement deal with Nevada made their project possible. The primary methods I use are media discourse analyses and interviews with workers and city councilmembers in four cities. Among the findings are several explanations circulated for Carrier’s decision that often differed given their source; these included shareholder interest, NAFTA, undue taxation, greed, and ineffectual workers and unions. I analyze these through lenses of common-sense ideology and journalistic practices, and I argue that the criticism mostly addresses symptoms of capitalism only. For solutions, Indianan officials mostly pushed for attracting new businesses and upskilling the workforce, which are neoliberal presumptions. Those in marginal positions typically pushed for organizing, voting for Donald Trump, or boycotting Carrier, which I unpack ideologically and materially. In the Tesla case, I argue that a media spectacle surrounding Elon Musk and his brand helped sell the Gigafactory as a boon to all Nevadans despite a small group of elites benefiting. Criticism of the deal in local media was largely limited to bourgeois procedure and legislative tinkering. Capitalist image, spectacle, and the lack of material follow-through link the case studies. Additionally, I show how officials view their cities and how they hope to move them forward. Keywords: Carrier; Tesla; uneven development; local media; spectacle; ideology iv Dedication To Robert W. Weber (1922-2014) and David and Bethany Nichols. v Acknowledgements As with any major academic undertaking, the completion of this dissertation would not have been possible without the generosity, time, and commitment of many others. I am very fortunate to have the following people in my life. They believed in me and/or came to my assistance as I reached for an academic goal. My parents, David and Bethany Nichols, have been tireless supporters not only during my early pursuit of a PhD, but during the dissertation research stage. They financed a moving truck to get me from Wisconsin to Vancouver, B.C.; they took care of my cat until I got settled; they helped with tuition if my checking account was lean; they were available to chat on the phone if a problem arose; they helped me with a snag involving my Canadian study permit renewal; and overall they were committed to my success as a doctoral student. I also took to heart some advice my dad once imparted to me, namely that success in a PhD program hinges more on a strong work ethic than on natural smarts. They deserve a major thanks. I also need to thank my best friend, Dane Haman, whom I’ve known since high school. I’m not sure how to begin distilling our time as friends together, but any account would have to include skateboarding, making zines, playing music, arguing about art, nurturing anti-Bush sentiments during that era, speculating on the paranormal, and tending to a deep well of inside jokes. Not only is he an endlessly interesting and amiable guy, but he also stepped up to assist my dissertation research. A repository of primary sources—the Reno Gazette-Journal—does not accept Canadian credit cards, so he offered his own to grant me access, later refusing my attempts to reimburse him. He also let me stay on his living-room couch for nearly three weeks in Reno, Nevada, as I conducted fieldwork in July 2017. His roommate, Scott Bates, never said a disparaging thing about the temporary living arrangement and offered nothing but support. He is a great friend as well, and I am lucky to know them both. My older sister Meredith is brilliant, strong, and independent. Long ago she instructed me to know about the 1960s (a period of crucial importance). Today I appreciate her enthusiasm to connect, chat, or help me out if things get difficult. She is generous with her time, although this has not always been easy for her. She not only has a family but has lived on a different continent than me for the last 10 or so years. vi Graduate school would have been exceedingly difficult without her material and psychological support. The same goes for my older brother Justin, who during my formative years was, in my eyes, the paragon of astute social analysis. His penchant for wanting to “know two things about everything” was a big inspiration for me. And despite having a university degree himself, he has in later years referred to me, humorously and pejoratively, as “College.” My friend Dave received a female tabby kitten as a gift from a girl he dated in 2006. He already owned a dog, though, and several months later he asked me if I would adopt the cat. I named her Robot. Since then, Robot has developed an amazing temperament, providing countless and continual moments of humor, joy, and companionship. She was a regular and nearby fixture all throughout graduate school: sitting on my lap while I read or typed; or staring at me until I dangled a shoelace her way (or filled her food dish). A true highlight of my life, Robot makes me hold out hope for an afterlife, so that we might one day meet up on the celestial other side. I have also met some great people during my time in graduate school. As an MA student in Milwaukee, I got to know Jon Anderson and Alex Marquardt from frequent chats in the TA office. This was where they politely listened to my contempt for casual greetings and my pitches for pizza-flavored pretzels. It was during this time I tried selling Alex on the idea for a sitcom titled T.A. Par-tay. I continue to appreciate their friendship and support. Thanks to Rick Popp, Elana Levine, and Mike Newman for their mentoring and guidance. In reading Wright (1985), I learned that sociology uses the term “reference group” (p. 1) for “the circle of people whose opinions and evaluations are in the back of [your] mind” (p. 1). Two friends who stand out in this regard are Blaze and Bob, whom I met in Vancouver. I also must thank Blaze and his partner Pen Pen for storing my things while I moved between apartments during fieldwork in 2017, and for letting me stay at their place while finishing up the dissertation in 2018. I also want to thank the Vancouverites, Marlene, Barb, and Frank, for their support, as well as SFU Communication colleagues, Darren Fleet and Jennesia Pedri. Darren introduced me to the Adbusters Magazine office, where I pitched in some radical writing and proofreading; Jennesia provided not only encouragement and friendship, but also her research skills on an article we sent to the Canadian Journal of Higher vii Education (co-authored with lecturer Daniel Ahadi). Thanks is also owed to Camille from the University of Toronto. There are several other names I must mention on the topic of SFU’s School of Communication. A “thank you” is owed to: Richard Smith, for his kindness and for sending course-design contracts my way; CMNS Librarian Sylvia Roberts, for fielding my research-related questions; office staff Jill Baryluk and Amy Soo; manager Lucie Menkveld, for her assistance with all things administrative and financial; Grad Chair Kirsten McCallister, for springing into action when I experienced a Kafka-esque dilemma during my study permit renewal; and Daniel Ahadi, for general support and inviting me aboard a substantial research project. I always enjoyed talking to Graduate Coordinator Jason Congdon; thanks for your consistent help. Thanks also to my friend, Gonen, and to Matt for perhaps being the first I heard use the term “imaginary” in the way I intend to here. I want to extend a “thank you” to the interview participants in various union and city positions who agreed to share their time for this project.