
The company town, source of so much of Canada's wealth, was-and is-a place with nowhere to hide. First published in 1971, Rex Lucas's Minetown, Milltown, Railtown is a groundbreaking study of what it's like to live in such communities. Today, with the oil-sands boom and rising commodity prices affecting everything from the value of the Canadian dollar to the balance of power within Confederation, single-industry towns remain as central as ever to the country's economic and social life. Minetown is a compelling portrait not just of Canada's past, but of its present and future, too.Minetown, Milltown, Railtown: Life in Canadian Communities of Single Industry is a Wynford Book-one of a series of titles representing significant milestones in Canadian literature, thought, and scholarship. New introductions place each book in a modern context and show its continuing relevance.
This study investigates the social and economic dynamics of Canadian single-industry communities to determine how reliance on a single resource shapes the lives of their inhabitants. Rex Lucas and Lorne Tepperman utilize extensive sociological research to examine the unique pressures, social structures, and isolation inherent in company-dominated towns. By analyzing the interplay between corporate interests and local populations, the authors provide a framework for understanding the sustainability and cultural identity of these specialized settlements.
What You Will Find
Experts recognize this work as a foundational sociological text for understanding the development of Canadian industrial geography. Readers frequently note the academic density of the prose, which remains highly relevant for contemporary discussions on resource-dependent economies.
Page Count:
431
Publication Date:
2009-06-12
Publisher:
Oxford University Press
ISBN-10:
0195428870
ISBN-13:
9780195428872
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