Closing Sysco: Industrial Decline in Atlantic Canada’s Steel City

"Closing Sysco provides something more for those interested in our present environmental moment. Its analysis of deindustrialization raises important questions about what we mean when we talk about a "just transition" away from our current dependence on fossil fuels.3 It invites us to listen carefully to the voices of fossil fuel workers and communities in that discussion, to ensure that the shape of this industrial transition is less devastating and more just and equitable than what unfolded on Cape Breton in the second half of the twentieth century."

Ken Cruikshank, McMaster University, Network in Canadian History and Environment

"The book's major strength is unpacking the impact of cultures of resistance and representation on local experiences of industrial decline. Ultimately, Closing Sysco represents a significant contribution to the growing literature on deindustrialisation."

Matt Beebee, University of Exeter, Scottish Labour History

"Closing Sysco is an excellent study in the important new literature of ‘deindustrialization.’ Combining a sensitive use of oral history with labour and working-class history, political economy, and environmental history, Closing Sysco contributes to our regional understanding of capitalist development and underdevelopment in Atlantic Canada. This work also brings our understanding of Cape Breton industrial development and class struggle up to the present building on the important earlier works of scholars such as David Frank, Ron Crawley, Craig Heron, and Don MacGillivray."

Greg Kealey, Department of History, University of New Brunswick

"By sharing the experiences of those in Cape Breton, Lachlan MacKinnon deftly explores the impact of deindustrialization on workers’ bodies and the changes prompted by deindustrialization, including community-based resistance tactics and political economy. With significant dedication to the lived experience of those who worked for Sydney Steel, Closing Sysco sheds light on the working class history of families impacted by Canada’s steel industry."

Michel S. Beaulieu, Department of History, Lakehead University