Abstract: | Religious organizations have always played a major role in the formulations of public policy. In the case of plant closings and mass unemployment, religious organizations have always assumed a leadership role in comforting and caring for workers and families under distress from job loss. Recently, religious organizations have broken from this traditional role to become advocates and actors in the politics of plant closings, economic development, and worker ownership. In this article, the efforts of religious organizations spawned by the closing of Youngstown Sheet and Tube are examined. |