Christian Wicke on deindustrialization in historical culture
Dr Christian Wicke wrote a blog entry for the National Council of Public History (USA) on deindustrialization in historical culture.
Wicke: "In our ever faster-paced society, most histories go untold and many others are unheard. While every student of modern history studies the causes and effects of the industrial revolution, few have thought about the significances of deindustrialization, which has also been a fundamental feature of the globalizing world. The social and personal consequences of deindustrialization can be heartbreaking, and romanticizing such a historical process would be immoral. Nevertheless, deindustrialization can also be very exciting! I am not thinking primarily of the postindustrial aesthetics that have attracted the imagination of artists and tourists, but of the future histories of these spaces, which are so incredibly open."