From steel to slots : casino capitalism in the postindustrial city

Bethlehem PA was synonymous with steel. But after the factories closed, the city bet its future on casino gambling. Chloe Taft describes a city struggling to make sense of the ways global capitalism transforms jobs, landscapes, and identities. While residents often have few cards to play, the shape economic progress takes is not inevitable. Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, was once synonymous with steel. But after the factories closed, the city bet its future on a new industry: casino gambling. On the site of the former Bethlehem Steel plant, thousands of flashing slot machines and digital bells replaced the fires in the blast furnaces and the shift change whistles of the industrial workplace. From Steel to Slots tells the story of a city struggling to make sense of the ways in which local jobs, landscapes, and identities are transformed by global capitalism. Postindustrial redevelopment often makes a clean break with a citys rusted past. In Bethlehem, where the new casino is industrial-themed, the citys heritage continues to dominate the built environment and infuse everyday experiences. Through the voices of steelworkers, casino dealers, preservationists, immigrants, and executives, Chloe Taft examines the ongoing legacies of corporate presence and urban development in a small cityand their uneven effects. Today, multinational casino corporations increasingly act as urban planners, promising jobs and new tax revenues to ailing communities. Yet in an industry premised on risk and capital liquidity, short-term gains do not necessarily mean long-term commitments to local needs. While residents often have few cards to play in the face of global capital and private development, Taft argues that the shape economic progress takes is not inevitable, nor must it always look forward. Memories of corporations accountability to communities persist, and citizens see alternatives for more equitable futures in the layered landscapes all around them. Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, The World Headquarters Of The Bethlehem Steel Corporation For Most Of The Twentieth Century, Is Now Home To An Industrial-themed Casino. Based On Extensive Fieldwork And Dozens Of Interviews, From Steel To Slots Explores How The Global Transitions Of Casino Capitalism And A Shift Towards Economies Based On Service, Entertainment, And Financial Speculation Are Lived, Legitimated, And Contested In And Through The Local Landscape Of A Former Industrial City. As Legalized Gambling Spreads In The United States And Around The World To Drive Economic Revitalization, Create Jobs, And Generate Tax Revenues, Multinational Casino Corporations Are Increasingly Acting As Urban Planners.--provided By Publisher. Introduction: Grand Openings And Closings -- Order In The Landscape -- Christmas City And Sin City Simply Do Not Go Together -- The Postindustrial Factory -- A Steel Site In Limbo -- Landscapes Of Life And Loss -- What Happens In Bethlehem Depends On Macau -- Conclusion: Postindustrial Planning And Possibility. Chloe E. Taft. Based On The Author's Thesis (ph. D.--yale University, 2014). Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Contents Introduction: Grand Openings and Closings 1. Order in the Landscape 2. Christmas City and Sin City Simply Do Not Go Together 3. The Postindustrial Factory 4. A Steel Site in Limbo 5. Landscapes of Life and Loss 6. What Happens in Bethlehem Depends on Macau Conclusion: Postindustrial Planning and Possibility Appendix: Note on Methods Notes Acknowledgments Index