Social Consequences of Economic Restructuring in the Textile Industry

The Case of the Disappearing Mill Village: Implications of Industry Change for Building and Sustaining Small Communities

“…Although the mill village has been interpreted by some as a negative force operating to control workers' lives outside of the mill (Anderson 2000;McHugh 1988), the participants in this study frequently reflected on how the mill helped to create their community, to the extent that the mill and the community were one and the same. As far as the participants of this study are concerned, this was something that made them proud to live and work where they did.…”

“…Yet, mill village homes were built by the company for workers to live in, not to own, thereby leaving both the workers and the neighborhood vulnerable when the mill was no longer in operation (Anderson 2000). Indeed, "mill life" is no longer what it once was in the southern US, if it exists at all.…”

“…The Case of the Disappearing Mill Village: Implications of Industry Change for Building and Sustaining Small Communities Textile and apparel companies have played a vital role in the development of many local communities throughout the southern United States (Anderson 2000). Companies traditionally offered a substantial number of manufacturing jobs to community residents as well as support for community activities, such as sports, recreation, and even fundraising (Hall et al 1987).…”

“…The mill village was designed to keep the workers close at hand, and for that reason they were often created outside of existing city limits (Fink and Reed 1994). Companies sought ways to keep workers from straying, to the extent that some consider the mill village to be a paternalistic operation designed to control the workers when they were both on and off the clock (Anderson 2000;McHugh 1988). Yet, Belcher's (2006) description of the mill village sounds markedly similar to that of a present day "gated community":…”

Reinventing ‘Towel City USA’: Textiles, Tourism and the Future of the Southeastern Mill Town

“…New Orleans, Louisiana Combined with a declining job economy in general and prolonged recessionary period, the shift to manufacturing products in countries other than the U.S. has left many rural southeastern textile communities with an urgent need to reinvent themselves in order to survive (Anderson, 2000). This study sheds light on how two such communities are transitioning from a manufacturing-based economy by focusing on other sectors, including textile-related tourism, to meet the economic challenges of the future.…”