Thesis
Widescale Job Loss and Political Behaviors: A Case Study in Waterloo, Iowa
University of Iowa
Bachelor of Arts (BA), University of Iowa
Spring 2022
Abstract
During the 1980s, the Farm Crisis resulted in a large number of jobs in the agricultural manufacturing industry being lost. Waterloo, Iowa was a city hit particularly hard during this time, with John Deere getting rid of more than 10,000 workers. This was an instance of macro-level job loss, or a case where a large number of jobs are lost in a short period of time. Researchers have found evidence that this type of job loss can influence political attitudes and behaviors, but the precise factors and causal mechanisms behind this association are not fully known. In this study, I conducted interviews with individuals who were impacted by this wave of job losses. Subjects were asked about their personal experiences with job loss, and how it affected their financial and psychological welfare, communities, and political behaviors. Subjects did display some consistency in that they reported heightened empathy towards people in poverty and harbored feelings of political cynicism, but were inconsistent in their attitudes towards redistributive policies. Subjects were not influenced to be significantly more or less politically active by the job loss event, but they did report that it shaped how they felt about certain political topics and candidates.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Widescale Job Loss and Political Behaviors: A Case Study in Waterloo, Iowa
- Creators
- Isaac Bills
- Contributors
- Jennifer Haylett (Advisor) - University of IowaFreda Lynn (Mentor) - University of Iowa
- Resource Type
- Thesis
- Project Type
- Honors Thesis
- Degree Awarded
- Bachelor of Arts (BA), University of Iowa
- Degree in
- Sociology
- Date degree season
- Spring 2022
- Publisher
- University of Iowa
- Number of pages
- 33 pages
- Copyright
- Copyright © 2022 Isaac Bills
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Honors Program; CLAS Honors Theses
- Record Identifier
- 9984274758002771
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