Fordlandia: The Rise and Fall of Henry Ford's Forgotten Jungle City

402 Pages·2010·4.7 MB·English

by  Greg Grandin

ALSO BY GREG GRANDIN
Empire’s Workshop:
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and the Rise of the New Imperialism
The Last Colonial Massacre:
Latin America in the Cold War
The Blood of Guatemala:
A History of Race and Nation
FORDLANDIA
FORDLANDIA
The Rise and fall of Henry Ford's Forgotten Jungle City
Greg Grandin
Metropolitan Books
Henry Holt and Company, LLC
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Metropolitan Books® and ® are registered trademarks of Henry Holt and Company, LLC.
Copyright © 2009 Greg Grandin All rights reserved.
Distributed in Canada by H. B. Fenn and Company Ltd.
“DEEP NIGHT”
RUDY VALLEE, CHARLIE HENDERSON
© 1929 WARNER BROS. INC. (Renewed) Rights for the Extended Renewal Term in the United States
controlled by WB MUSIC CORP. and WARNER BROS. INC.
This arrangement © WB MUSIC CORP. and WARNER BROS. INC.
All Rights Reserved
Used by permission from ALFRED PUBLISHING CO., INC.
“RAMONA”
Music by MABEL WAYNE Words by L. Wolfe Gilbert © 1927 (Renewed 1955) EMI FEIST CATALOG
INC.
All Rights Controlled by EMI FEIST CATALOG INC. (Publishing) and ALFRED PUBLISHING CO.,
INC.
All Rights Reserved
Used by permission from ALFRED PUBLISHING CO., INC.
“Santarém” from The Complete Poems 1927–1979, by Elizabeth Bishop. Copyright © 1979, 1983
by Alice Helen Methfessel. Reprinted by permission of Farrar, Straus and Giroux, LLC.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Grandin, Greg, 1962–
Fordlandia : the rise and fall of Henry Ford’s forgotten jungle city / Greg Grandin.—1st ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-8050-8236-4
ISBN-10: 0-8050-8236-0
1. Fordlândia (Brazil)—History. 2. Planned communities—Brazil—History—20th century. 3. Rubber
plantations—Brazil—Fordlándia—History—20th century. 4. Ford Motor Company—Influence—History—
20th century. 5. Ford, Henry, 1863–1947—Political and social views. 6. Brazil—Civilization—American
influences—History—20th century. I. Title.
F2651.F55G72 2009
307.76'8098115—dc22
200804964
Henry Holt books are available for special promotions and premiums. For details contact: Director, Special
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First Edition 2009
Designed by Meryl Sussman Levavi
Maps by Jeffrey L. Ward
Printed in the United States of America
1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2
To Emilia Viotti da Costa
Why, though, did we need a Mahagonny?
Because this world is a foul one.
—BERTOLT BRECHT
The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION: Nothing Is Wrong with Anything
PART I: MANY THINGS OTHERWISE INEXPLICABLE
1: Under an American Flag
2: The Cow Must Go
3: Absolute Americanisms
4: That’s Where We Sure Can Get Gold
5: Fordville
6: They Will All Die
7: Everything Jake
8: When Ford Comes
PART II: LORD FORD
9: Two Rivers
10: Smoke and Ash
11: Prophesied Subjection
12: The Ford Way of Thinking
13: What Would You Give for a Good Job?
14: Let’s Wander Out Yonder
15: Kill All the Americans
PART III: RUBBER ROUGE
16: American Pastoral
17: Good Lines, Straight and True
18: Mountains of the Moon
19: Only God Can Grow a Tree
20: Standard Practices
21: Bonfire of the Caterpillars
22: Fallen Empire of Rubber
23: Tomorrow Land
EPILOGUE: Still Waiting for Henry Ford
Notes
Illustration Credits
Acknowledgments