Copyright 1994 Adam Barnhart. All Rights Reserved. Fair use of this document.

First and foremost, Rusted Dreams is an attempt to describe the "hard times in a steel community" in a way that relates to the process of deindustrialization in many areas of (and many industries in) America. History, for Bensman and Lynch, is not a process of inevitability, but a complex interplay of a multitude of factors impacting many people -- a belief that is far more apparent in their work than in the bulk of historical writing. The focus of the book is on the working class of the Southeast side of Chicago, outlining a community that is strongly bound by geography and class. Though religion and ethnicity are potential dividing lines among people in the area, they seem to be, in large part, subordinated to class, though not entirely, as churches are built to meet ethnic, as well as denominational needs, increasing the level of contact within ethnic groups. In addition, overt racism against blacks is detailed, with blacks being portrayed as strike breakers by Caucasians and job tracks for African-Americans generally being the least advantageous. Other recent immigrants also encounter a great deal of discrimination, with "bitterness" becoming a recurring theme of native-born workers (115).

Ultimately, the class orientation of the book supports the notion that managerial and political incompetence (and greed) are primary factors in the trauma of the modern industrial experience in America. Politically, the book uses the Chicago experience to argue for a greater investiture of capital into the modernization process and in the people who work in industry. As Bensman and Lynch argue, "economic stability is crucial for sustained community life," providing a basis for the continued success of the country and its constituent parts (208).

Rusted Dreams focuses on the notion of writing a history that deals with deindustrialization and models of change. Writing a social history towards an end of constructing a model for socio-economic planning, though, is a difficult endeavor. In comparison to The Deindustrialization of America and other related materials, Rusted Dreams stands as more of a nostalgic work, idealizing the industrial community of the early- and mid-1900's. While the beginning of the narrative skillfully depicts the hazards and limitations of steel work, the end of the book seems to gloss over these issues in presenting a plan to revitalize American industry. In presenting a new model for the American economy, the failure to fully address change in the work environment is a significant flaw.

Secondarily, the nostalgia of Rusted Dreams seems to apply to the revised model, itself. The best studies of the future of the American (and the world) economy emphasize the importance of information as a new type of commodity, with nearly every socio-economic aspect of life. Money, itself, is easily applied to this model of the "age of information," constituted not in terms of bullion, coins, or bills, but as non-objective account value. Rusted Dreams seems hung up in this trap, emphasizing a different type of deindustrialization, rather than the more beneficial "reindustrialization." If it is true (as it is argued by Bensman and Lynch) that deindustrialization tends to create a downward spiral in level of employment, more complex types of training and retraining seem to be as viable an option (if not more so) as the creation of more transitional, less functional types of employment. Bensman and Lynch's model should be commended insofar as it affirms the need for retraining, but its limitations in applicability can be seen in its stressing of capital (a scarce resource) over information (a more fluid, flexible resource). Though they attempt to provide a type of radical model of change, the basis of that model is very conservative, ignoring, in part, the fundamental change that has taken place as a result of technology.