Jeffrey Gonzalez

Thanks for having me too.

Thanks for having me too.

Thanks for having me too.

So this comes up fairly commonly. And I think it's because Americans have this deeply mythological sense of what manufacturing labor is. And sometimes this work is dirty. It's hard. People get hurt. And that's really dropped out when politicians talk about manufacturing labor.

So this comes up fairly commonly. And I think it's because Americans have this deeply mythological sense of what manufacturing labor is. And sometimes this work is dirty. It's hard. People get hurt. And that's really dropped out when politicians talk about manufacturing labor.

So this comes up fairly commonly. And I think it's because Americans have this deeply mythological sense of what manufacturing labor is. And sometimes this work is dirty. It's hard. People get hurt. And that's really dropped out when politicians talk about manufacturing labor.

What they're calling on is mostly this very masculinized sense of history that what manufacturing labor was was stable, steady work for men who could bring home a paycheck and take care of their families and were making real things with their hands. I think that the 25%...

What they're calling on is mostly this very masculinized sense of history that what manufacturing labor was was stable, steady work for men who could bring home a paycheck and take care of their families and were making real things with their hands. I think that the 25%...

What they're calling on is mostly this very masculinized sense of history that what manufacturing labor was was stable, steady work for men who could bring home a paycheck and take care of their families and were making real things with their hands. I think that the 25%...

may have bought into, or may just want a job that they think will have a good paycheck, but that the 55% who want it but don't want to do it might remember those elements, that this was hard work, that this was difficult work, and that maybe they don't see themselves in that mythological picture.

may have bought into, or may just want a job that they think will have a good paycheck, but that the 55% who want it but don't want to do it might remember those elements, that this was hard work, that this was difficult work, and that maybe they don't see themselves in that mythological picture.

may have bought into, or may just want a job that they think will have a good paycheck, but that the 55% who want it but don't want to do it might remember those elements, that this was hard work, that this was difficult work, and that maybe they don't see themselves in that mythological picture.

And that's what I think is interesting about this nostalgic picture that some scholars have called smokestack nostalgia. We have this image of manufacturing work as this reliable form of good-paying labor that forgets that it was union activity that was what secured those. And it was often violent struggle, right, like in places like Bethlehem. that generated those good wages.

And that's what I think is interesting about this nostalgic picture that some scholars have called smokestack nostalgia. We have this image of manufacturing work as this reliable form of good-paying labor that forgets that it was union activity that was what secured those. And it was often violent struggle, right, like in places like Bethlehem. that generated those good wages.

And that's what I think is interesting about this nostalgic picture that some scholars have called smokestack nostalgia. We have this image of manufacturing work as this reliable form of good-paying labor that forgets that it was union activity that was what secured those. And it was often violent struggle, right, like in places like Bethlehem. that generated those good wages.

And that what happened to those places, the northern factories where that union work happened, they were undercut by laws in the south that made manufacturing move south. It was so much harder to create a union. So the picture that we get with smokestack nostalgia is that these were good, solid jobs that people had for generations, when in fact, It was always precarious labor.

And that what happened to those places, the northern factories where that union work happened, they were undercut by laws in the south that made manufacturing move south. It was so much harder to create a union. So the picture that we get with smokestack nostalgia is that these were good, solid jobs that people had for generations, when in fact, It was always precarious labor.

And that what happened to those places, the northern factories where that union work happened, they were undercut by laws in the south that made manufacturing move south. It was so much harder to create a union. So the picture that we get with smokestack nostalgia is that these were good, solid jobs that people had for generations, when in fact, It was always precarious labor.

Your factory could always up and move. And if you got hurt or if you got laid off, right, there wasn't the security that the mental picture that I think gets conjured by politicians gives us.

Your factory could always up and move. And if you got hurt or if you got laid off, right, there wasn't the security that the mental picture that I think gets conjured by politicians gives us.