Warner and Massa - Basically Similar and Yet Different in Depth - Book Report/Review Example

But of course, the additional information given by Warner gave the reader a deeper understanding of both economic concepts.As to form, basically they are the same having an introduction, body and conclusion. Both writers showed a good command of the English language and grammar. They differ in that Massa did not have a title. A title is important because it binds the entire work into a cohesive whole.In the Matewan film, Warner through her research used a guideline or series of questions to determine what economic concept is being used.

Warner was able to show that access to resources needed to produce goods allocated, the process of obtaining labour, the organization of the production process, the transfer of the produced output onto the consumer's hands and the surplus obtained all comes from and redounds to the benefit of the Stone Mountain Coal Company. It is the company that provided the jobs and the materials needed. Workers were imported, mostly foreigners, coming from outside the town. They were brought in by the company with contracts to work only for the company.

The company pays them but after deducting their rent and goods, there is nothing left to live on. The Company owns everything in the town and exerts control over the local authority such that private property may be confiscated and even lives killed at the whim of the men of the Company. All benefits and surplus products or profits are turned over to the Company. All these made Warner conclude that the economic system being enforced is feudalism. Massa used a similar but simplified form of questioning.

Massa asks who is the owner of the "Land Housing Food And if the company is the sole employer" Added to this she examined the contractual relations between the employer and the employee. Accordingly, the answers are "the Company" and the examination of the contractual relationship showed that the workers laboured not for themselves but for the company. Massa then concluded that the Matewan film is feudalistic. Warner failed to apply the series of questions that she used in Matewan to determine the economic regime present in Norma Rae.

This is the major difference between Warner's essay and Massa. Massa, on the other hand, used the same series of questions and examination of the contractual relationship between the employer and the employee. Thus Massa's work can be seen as more continuous and cohesive. Warner uses concepts of the free labour market; and, the presence of freedom and absence of choice. Accordingly, in Norma Rae, there is a free labour market for there are other jobs within the area. In fact, the husband of Norma Rae opted to work for a gasoline station.

This very same example shows that they have the freedom to choose who to work for, where to stay and do with their lives. It is the presence of these concepts that enabled Warner to identify the system as Capitalism. Massa, on the other hand, used the same series of questions she used for Matewan. The answers she obtained was that the workers had a choice where to live, what goods to purchase, what job to take, and that the Henleyville was not the only employer in the town. Notice that these basic answers are similar to the findings of Warner.