Reply: Breaking the Heartland. Creating the Precariat in the U.S. Lower Rust Belt: a response to Joseph J. Varga

Abstract

Joseph J. Varga’s ‘Breaking the heartland’ makes a very important and astute contribution to understanding the socioeconomic processes that have led to the emergence of precariat in the ‘lower rust belt’ of Southern and Central Indiana. The demise of employment conditions is particularly interesting as back in the 1960s and 1970s, unionizations rates were one of the US’ highest in what is also known as the Lower Midwest. Alongside a profound de-industrialization of the region in the time between the 1980s and 2000, the number of unionized workers has dropped dramatically – well before the adoption of antiunion legislation in 2012, or what has been euphemistically disguised as ‘right to work’ laws.