Niagara Falling Globalization in a Small Town

Niagara Falling reveals what happens to a small community when it is forced into the global economy. This case study of the effects of "globalization in reverse," when foreign-based companies operate in a community in the United States, takes the reader to Niagara, Wisconsin, where the primary employer is the local paper mill, currently owned by a new, foreign company. Miller examines whether and how local government, civic engagement, education, and the environment are affected by this reverse globalization. Has Niagara changed because its main employer is now a huge, multinational company based in Finland? Or are many of the changes it has experienced simply the result of the natural progression of a small town? Niagara Falling is an accessible work for sociology scholars and students alike.

Carol D. Miller is professor in the Department of Sociology and Archaeology at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.