Steel Town

BOOK REPORT : STEEL TOWN : THE MAKING AND BREAKING OF PORT KEMBLA

Introduction

Locality and society are interlinked with worker communities as new labor is inducted in areas which are industrializing . The interaction between workers and communities is thus not constant and remains dynamic . As industrialization took place in the early 20th Century in Australia , workers communities grew around a predominantly agricultural hinterland . These got bigger each day and in turn threatened to displace local communities particularly the indigenous people who were unable to adapt to the changing environment . The emerging conflict

led to creation of social institutions by workers in the form of unions to collectively bargain from a position of strength with the community . While this empowered worker communities as a whole , it had varying influences on the lives of workers within the community as well as at the work place The post industrialization phase where production has been automated and has become far less labor intensive has added a new dimension to this relationship . By drawing upon the example of Port Kembla , the Australian steel township , Erik Eklund has successfully weaved together the historical narrative of interaction of the diverse forces which create a modern industrial society and how social forces enable some organizations to survive while others perish for lack of adaptability Eklund 's social history of workers in Port Kembla very aptly describes the manner in which the working class fits into the community , the social institutions that the workers create to survive and flourish and the control that the workers gain over their own lives at work and in the community in the process

Port Kembla - The Social Environment

Port Kembla is a classic case of emergence of an industrial society amidst the tectonic shifts that take place due to influence of many factors , global , local , war , peace and a depressed economy . Steel represents the primary agent of change in the industrial World . Port Kembla was the principal steel making area in Australia , where prominent steel makers had established their factories which had grown into large behemoths . But steel making is much more than just technology or organization of labor . It has many other facets such as creation of social classes , assimilation of outside forces , suppression of indigenous forces and resistance between these . The steel industry in Port Kembla underwent a number of changes over the years which in turn impacted the development of the community . Till the 1930 's the worker community relationship was mixed with a balanced influence of the informal non market economy and workers communities . However thereafter with the emergence of an industrial society the influence of class politics defined by the powerful role played by the unions which attempted to gain control of both the communities and the workers dominated the socio political panorama of Port Kembla

Global events such as the Depression , the World Wars , the global Depression and post War industrialization also had a powerful influence on community politics in Port Kembla . The creation of localities and their...