Recasting the Machine Age: Henry Ford's Village Industries

by Howard P. Segal

Recasting the Machine Age recounts the history of Henry Ford's efforts to shift the production of Ford cars and trucks from the large-scale factories he had pioneered in the Detroit area to nineteen decentralized, small-scale plants within sixty miles of Ford headquarters in Dearborn. The visionary who had become famous in the early twentieth century for his huge and technologically advanced Highland Park and River Rouge complexes gradually changed his focus beginning in the teens and continuing until his death in 1947.

Ford may well have been motivated to spend great sums on the village industries in part to prevent the unionization of his company. But these industrial experiments represented much more than "union busting." They were significant examples of profound social, cultural, and ideological shifts in America between the World Wars as reflected in the thought and practice of one notable industrialist.

Howard P. Segal recounts the development of the plants, their fate after Ford's death, their recent revival as part of Michigan's renewed appreciation of its industrial heritage, and their connections to contemporary efforts to decentralize high-tech working and living arrangements.

Genres: Nonfiction

288 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2005

About the author

Howard P. Segal is Bird Professor of History at the University of Maine. He is also director of its technology and society project. His books include Future Imperfect: The Mixed Blessings of Technology in America, Technology in America: A Brief History (with Alan Marcus), and Recasting the Machine Age: Henry Ford's Village Industries.

Reviews

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting story on the Ford Village industries. Enjoyed the interviews with actual employees of these sites. I think the author was challenged by a lack of information on these sites. Accurate records of the operations of these sites were not kept. The author had to compensate for this with chapters on related village industry concepts in the world.