Making It in America: the almost impossible quest to manufacture in the U.S.A. (and how it got that way)

Abstract

"From the best-selling author of Into the Raging Sea comes a moving and eye-opening look at the story of manufacturing in America, whether it can ever successfully return to our shores, and why doing so is vital to our well-being as a nation, told through the experience of one young couple in Maine as they attempt to rebuild a lost industry, ethically. Ben and Whitney Waxman are two tireless idealists trying to do the impossible: make an American-made, union-made, all American-sourced sweatshirt. Ben spent a decade in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Wisconsin fighting for working men and women at a time when national support for unions had sunk to an all-time low. Paralyzed by depression and a drug addiction, Ben lands back in his hometown of Portland, Maine, forced to rebuild his life from scratch. There, he meets Whitney, a bartender wrestling with her own troubled past. In each other, they see a better future, a version of the American dream they can build together. The Waxman's quest will take us across the nation and across time, from the cotton fields of Mississippi to New York City's hollowed-out garment district to a family-owned zipper company in Los Angeles to the enormous knit-and-dye factories in North Carolina. Tracing the life of a hoodie from the cotton fields to the sewing machine to the convention floor. It will also take us through the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic and what this means for the future of American manufacturing. American Hoodie offers a fascinating take on global politics, trade, economics, ethics, and industrial history told through textiles. Woven through the Waxmans' story is the essential history of textiles and its critical role in shaping capitalism. It was the demand for cheap cloth that sparked the industrial revolution, and it was the brutality of the textile industry that first drove workers to organize. American Hoodie is a deeply personal account of how politics and economics shape all of us. Each touchpoint casts a rare, compassionate look at what came before, where we are now, and where we're going-through the people, places, and ecologies that produce the fabric of our lives."