Mass Historical Society: The Winter Workscape: Weather and the Meaning of Industrial Capitalism in the Northern Forest, 1850-1950

Jason L. Newton, Syracuse University

Comment: Richard W. Judd, University of Maine

Industrial logging operators used the winter weather, wood, simple machines, and muscle power alone to increase the production and transportation of saw logs to reach industrial scale and efficiency. Drawing on methods from environmental and labor history and the history of slavery and capitalism, this essay characterizes industrial capitalism as a force that will sustain seemingly anachronistic modes of production as long as they remain profitable. It shows that increased efficiency and scale need not always lead to massive carbon emissions.