The Color Line and the Assembly Line: Managing Race in the Ford Empire (Volume 50) (American Crossroads)

The Color Line and the Assembly Line tells a new story of the impact of mass production on society. Global corporations based originally in the United States have played a part in making gender and race everywhere. Focusing on Ford Motor Company’s rise to become the largest, richest, and most influential corporation in the world, The Color Line and the Assembly Line takes on the traditional story of Fordism. Contrary to popular thought, the assembly line was perfectly compatible with all manner of racial practice in the United States, Brazil, and South Africa. Each country’s distinct racial hierarchies in the 1920s and 1930s informed Ford’s often divisive labor processes. Confirming racism as an essential component in the creation of global capitalism, Elizabeth Esch also adds an important new lesson showing how local patterns gave capitalism its distinctive features. From the Inside Flap "Indispensable as a case study of one multinational corporation’s construction of social identities in very different countries and contexts, The Color Line and the Assembly Line also presents an exemplary, original, and generative model for analyzing how racial capitalism requires a complex interplay of sameness and difference for the purposes of both capital accumulation and ideological legitimation."—George Lipsitz, author of How Racism Takes Place "If you think you know Fordism, think again. Elizabeth Esch offers a compelling new history of the style of mass production, social discipline, and consumerism that Henry Ford introduced not just to his Michigan auto plants but to the world. But where most have seen in Fordism a rationalized, impersonal, even potentially progressive American economic system, Esch reveals a transnational regime of white supremacy that sorted workers into racial categories for varying degrees of supervision, coercion, exploitation, and oppression. Tracing the history of Fordism from Detroit, Michigan, to KwaFord, South Africa, to Fordlandia, Brazil, to Hitler’s Berlin, Esch shows how racism is not an atavistic remnant destined to disappear with the progress of capitalist rationality, but an integral part of that capitalist rationality. The Color Line and the Assembly Line is history of capitalism at its best."—Andrew Zimmerman, author of Alabama in Africa: Booker T. Washington, the German Empire, and the Globalization of the New South The Color Line And The Assembly Line Tells A New Story Of The Impact Of Mass Production On Society. Global Corporations Based Originally In The United States Have Played A Part In Making Gender And Race Everywhere. Focusing On Ford Motor Company's Rise To Become The Largest, Richest, And Most Influential Corporation In The World, The Color Line And The Assembly Line Takes On The Traditional Story Of Fordism. Contrary To Popular Thought, The Assembly Line Was Perfectly Compatible With All Manner Of Racial Practice In The United States, Brazil, And South Africa. Each Country's Distinct Racial Hierarchies In The 1920s And 1930s Informed Ford's Often Divisive Labor Processes. Confirming Racism As An Essential Component In The Creation Of Global Capitalism, Elizabeth Esch Also Adds An Important New Lesson Showing How Local Patterns Gave Capitalism Its Distinctive Features--provided By Publisher. Introduction : The Color Line And The Assembly Line -- Ford Goes To The World, The World Comes To Ford -- From The Melting Pot To The Boiling Pot : Fascism And The Factory-state At The River Rouge Plant In The 1920s -- Out Of The Melting Pot And Into The Fire : African Americans And The Uneven Ford Empire At Home -- Breeding Rubber, Breeding Workers : From Fordlandia To Bel Terra -- 'work In The Factory Itself' : Fordism, South Africanism And Poor White Reform -- Conclusion : From The One Best Way To The Way Forward To One Ford : Still Uneven, Still Unequal. Elizabeth D. Esch. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Between World Wars 1 and 2, the Ford Motor Company globalized its sales and production and, in the process, became an exporter of American race practices and what this transnational study calls “white managerialism.” In examining three societies—Brazil, South Africa, and the United States—where Ford supported white supremacist political and social policies, this study deepens our understanding of how American firms rose to prominence globally, including in parts of the world formerly dominated by the British Empire. It argues that seemingly arbitrary and irrational racist ideologies found material backing in managerial practices and policies initiated by Ford and supported by local and national governments. Its focus on the interwar years, when Ford hired unprecedented numbers of African American workers in its Rouge plant in Dearborn, Michigan, allows for a focus on those workers who were both simultaneously central to the Ford empire and treated as second-class citizens within it. The Color Line and the Assembly Line tells a new story of the impact of mass production on society. Global corporations based originally in the United States have played a part in making gender and race everywhere. Focusing on Ford Motor Company’s rise to become the largest, richest, and most influential corporation in the world, The Color Line and the Assembly Line takes on the traditional story of Fordism. Contrary to popular thought, the assembly line was perfectly compatible with all manner of racial practice in the United States, Brazil, and South Africa. Each country’s distinct racial hierarchies in the 1920s and 1930s informed Ford’s often divisive labor processes. Confirming racism as an essential component in the creation of global capitalism, Elizabeth Esch also adds an important new lesson showing how local patterns gave capitalism its distinctive features.  The Color Line and the Assembly Line tells a new story of the impact of mass production on society. Global corporations, based originally in the United States, have played a part in making gender and race everywhere. Focusing on Ford Motor Company's rise to become the largest, richest, and most influential corporation in the world, The Color Line and the Assembly Line takes on the traditional story of Fordism. Contrary to popular thought the assembly line was perfectly compatible with all manner of racial practice in the United States, Brazil, and South Africa. Each country's distinct forms of racial hierarchies in the 1920s and 1930s informed Ford's often divisive labor processes. Confirming racism as an essential component in the creation of global capitalism, Elizabeth Esch also adds an important new lesson showing how local patterns gave capitalism its distinctive features Between World Wars 1 and 2, the Ford Motor Company globalized its sales and production and, in the process, became an exporter of American race practices and what this transnational study calls 'white managerialism'. In examining three societies, Brazil, South Africa, and the United States, where Ford supported white supremacist political and social policies, this study deepens our understanding of how American firms rose to prominence globally, including in parts of the world formerly dominated by the British Empire. It argues that seemingly arbitrary and irrational racist ideologies found material backing in managerial practices and policies initiated by Ford and supported by local and national governments