Making It in America: The Almost Impossible Quest to Manufacture in the U.S.A. (and How It Got That Way)

Journalist Slade (Into the Raging Sea) offers an incisive look at the history and current state of American manufacturing. Using as a lens the story of Ben and Whitney Waxman—a young couple with backgrounds in union organizing and working low-paid jobs who set out in 2015 to found an entirely American-made hoodie company in Portland, Maine—she charts the once stalwart American garment industry’s slow death, from billionaire attacks on the early unions in the 1930s, through international trade agreements such as NAFTA. She shows how the latter have allowed multinational corporations to move production to countries with fewer rights and protections for workers or the environment, thereby lowering their costs and undercutting American-based manufacturing with cheap imports. Tracking the Waxmans’ difficulties sourcing American-made cotton fleece, drawstrings, zippers, and grommets in this depleted manufacturing landscape, Slade delves into the histories of the companies they eventually find to supply them, some of which have been family owned for over 100 years. The Waxmans’ company, American Roots, has transformed their community, according to Slade, who writes that every hoodie made “supports one-hundred-plus Maine workers.” This galvanizing call for Americans “to start making things for themselves” serves as both a sweeping report on a globalized industry and a practical road map for aspiring small-scale manufacturers. Readers will feel invigorated. (Jan.)