CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION: THE SIGNIFICANCE OF PLANT CLOSINGS -- Why Do Plants Close? -- Is There a New Unemployment? -- How Are Communities Affected by Plant Closings? -- How Are Displaced Workers Affected? -- What Is the Political Response of Displaced Workers? -- What Can Be Done About Plant Closings and the -- Needs of Displaced Workers? -- A Note on Method -- CHAPTER 2 PLANT CLOSINGS AND ECONOMIC CHANGE: GLOBAL, NATIONAL, AND REGIONAL CONTEXTS -- The Foundations of American Capitalism on a Worldwide -- Basis Since World War II -- The United States and Global Political Economy in Crisis -- Capital Mobility, Unemployment, and Plant Closings -- The Transformation of the Electronics Industry -- A Portrait of RCA -- The Economy of the Midwest -- The Economy of Indiana -- A Profile of White County, Indiana, and Monticello -- From the Global Political Economy to Monticello, Indiana -- V I Contents -- CHAPTER 3 COMMUNITY AND WORKER RESPONSES TO APLANT CLOSING -- Assessing the Impacts of a Plant Closing -- RCA and United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners -- Local #3154 in Monticello: The Closing -- Monticello at Closing Time -- Views from Social Agencies -- Impacts on the Business Community -- The Workers Respond -- Project Care -- Conclusion -- CHAPTER 4 ECONOMIC EFFECTS ON WORKERS -- Length of Unemployment -- Income Loss -- Perceived Economic Distress -- Cutbacks in Expenditures -- Home Production -- Summary and Conclusions -- CHAPTER 5 EFFECTS ON WORKERS' HEALTH AND FAMILYRELATIONSHIPS -- RELATIONSHIPS -- Physical Health -- RCA Findings -- Mental Health -- RCA Findings -- Family Effects -- RCA Findings -- Summary and Conclusions -- Contents vu -- CHAPTER 6 UNEMPLOYMENT AND SOCIAL INTEGRATION -- Comparison of Displaced Workers and Employed -- Workers in the Same Community -- Comparisons Among Displaced Workers -- Levels of Social Integration and Its Correlates -- Summary -- CHAPTER 7 WORKER CONSCIOUSNESS -- Social Inequality and the Working Class -- Plant Closing and Worker Consciousness -- Theoretical Framework -- Development of Worker Consciousness -- Conclusions -- CHAPTER 8 IMPLICATIONS FOR RESEARCH AND PUBLIC POLICY -- Future Research on Plant Closings -- Relevance of Findings to Public Policy -- Workers' Response to Plant Closings -- Bibliography -- Appendix: Midwest Plant Closing Project -- Index.