Deindustrializing Chicago

Undergraduate / Graduate

Chicago famously once was "Hog Butcher for the World, Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat, Player with Railroads and the Nation's Freight Handler" (Carl Sandburg, "Chicago"). But what happened to the city's "big shoulders" when those industries began to disappear? This class will explore the ongoing economic, social, and cultural impacts of deindustrialization on the people, neighborhoods, and built environments of Chicago. We will analyze the local, regional, national, and global forces that led to the decline of the city's industrial economy, beginning as early as the 1920s; trace how these reshaped Chicago throughout the 20th Century; and study how these changes continue to affect Chicago and Chicagoans today. In addition to history and economic policy, we will also consider how deindustrialization and its effects were articulated and reflected upon in visual art, fiction, and music.