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E-book
Author Doleshal, Zachary Austin, author.

Title In the kingdom of shoes : Bata, Zlín, globalization, 1894-1945 / Zachary Austin Doleshal
Published Toronto ; Buffalo ; London : University of Toronto Press, 2021

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Description 1 online resource
Contents Frontmatter -- Contents -- List of Illustrations -- Acknowledgments -- Abbreviations and Terms -- Introduction -- 1 "A New Fixed Existence": The Modernization of Zlín -- 2 "Time Es Money": The Americanization of the Dřevnice Valley, 1914-1923 -- 3 "An End to Politics," 1923-1926 -- 4 "Speak Briefly": Rationalization and Everyday Life, 1926-1932 -- 5 "Half the World Is Barefoot": The Globalization of the Bat'a System, 1931-1937 -- 6 "The Path of Perfection": Engineering the Batovci for an Uncertain World, 1933-1938 -- 7 "Everyone Gives Their Soul to Their Country," 1937-1939 -- 8 "Not a Nazi, but More or Less a Fool," 1939-1945 -- Conclusion -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index
Summary "One of the world's largest sellers of footwear, the Bata Company of Zlín, Moravia, has a remarkable history that touches on crucial aspects of what made the world modern. In the twilight of the Habsburg Empire, it Americanized its production model while also trying to Americanize its workforce. In the chaos of postwar Czechoslovakia, it promised a technocratic form of governance. During the Roaring Twenties, Bata became synonymous with rationalization across Europe and thus a flashpoint for a continent-wide debate. In the Great Depression, Bata globalized when others contracted, and in doing so, became the first shoe company to unlock the potential of globalization. As Bata expanded worldwide, it became an example of corporate national indifference, where company personnel were trained to be able to slip into and out of national identifications with ease. Such indifference, however, was seriously challenged by the geopolitical crisis of the 1930s. Bata management turned nationalist, even fascist, on the cusp of the Second World War."-- Provided by publisher
Analysis Austria-Hungary
Bata Company
Bata shoes
Czech Republic
Czechoslovakia
Zlín
business history
capitalism
footwear
globalization
high modernism
history of shoes
industrialization
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index
Subject Bata Shoe Company -- History
SUBJECT Bata Shoe Company fast
Subject Footwear industry -- Czech Republic -- Zlín -- History -- 20th century
Company towns -- Czech Republic -- Zlín -- History -- 20th century
Labor and globalization -- Czech Republic -- History -- 20th century
World War, 1939-1945 -- Czechoslovakia
Corporate culture -- Czech Republic -- Zlín -- History -- 20th century
HISTORY / Europe / General
Company towns
Corporate culture
Footwear industry
Labor and globalization
Social conditions
SUBJECT Zlín (Czech Republic) -- History -- 20th century
Zlín (Czech Republic) -- Social conditions -- 20th century
Subject Czech Republic
Czech Republic -- Zlín
Czechoslovakia
Genre/Form History
Form Electronic book
ISBN 1487534469
9781487534479
1487534477
9781487534462