LIBS639

This course examines the transformations in work that characterized industrial development in America, from the mechanization of textile manufacturing in 18th century New England to the "rationalization" of factories in the 20th century. It also explores in detail the ways in which many Americans came to understand industrial society as a class society, tracing both the history of class conflict in America and the compelling class ideologies that stood behind that conflict. The course concludes with an extended study of how men and women--both famous and forgotten--expressed these class ideologies in art and literature, with a focus on painting, photography, and film.