In this book, workers displaced by plant closings in Louisville, Kentucky tell their stories, emphasizing their agency, demanding respect for their skill, casting judgment on business and government for not showing that respect, and revealing a sense of alienation resulting from violation of their values and trust.

"One of the great achievements of this work, in my opinion, is that the authors asked displaced workers not only to tell of the effects of job loss but to explain what happened and why. The why question is almost never asked of displaced workers and the results are fascinating . . . We therefore learn a great deal from these highly political explanations." - Steven High, Canada Research Chair in Public History, Concordia University, Canada