Abstract
Between the 18th and 20th centuries, a variety of work communities sprang up as an outgrowth of the expanding global economy in what is now the western United States. These communities typically served as outposts of distant moneyed interests, providing living quarters for the workers who extracted raw materials or constructed the infrastructure needed to transport such materials to urban centers. Unlike communities with more permanent and diversified economic foundations, life in such temporary settlements had as its backdrop relations among workers, employers, and the resources they sought to exploit. Dialogs between workers and capitalists continued to evolve over time as the West became industrialized, class relations were transformed, and resources were depleted. The articles in this volume explore various facets of those transformations and their broader implications.
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Van Bueren, T.M. The changing face of work in the West: Some introductory comments. Hist Arch 36, 1–7 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03374355
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03374355