Making a postmodern turn: re-creating community cultural capital during economic restructurings

Abstract

<p>After Whirlpool Corporation officials acquired Maytag Corporation in 2006, Maytag operations in Newton, Iowa, the birthplace of Maytag and former home to Maytag headquarters office and a long-standing manufacturing plant, were subsequently closed. With the closings, Newton residents encounter a double victimization. In addition to losing the community's primary employer and tax base contributor, residents lost a primary source of community culture for over 100 years. This study examines residents' practices in re-creating community cultural capital - Newton's collective identities, senses of place, and general cultural ways - following local Maytag closings. Along with focusing on the interplay between structure and agency during the re-creation of community culture, I examine Newton's post-Maytag transition as a community that is making a `postmodern turn' due to residents' reliance on new methods of sustainability that reflects an emergence of a new stage of capitalism in Newton. In particular, I will explore the cultural consequences of Newton's postmodern turn and the implications of these cultural changes for rebuilding community sustainability as a whole.</p>