Madeline Thompson is a second-year Ph.D. student working under the direction of Dr. Olsson.  Her research interests include meatpacking industries and labor relations in Appalachia during the twentieth century.  She examines how agribusinesses employed “politics of sight” to control workplace visibility, ensure worker complacency, suppress wages, and maintain dangerous and exploitative labor conditions under the shroud of “efficiency.”

Research Interests: Twentieth Century U.S. History, Agribusiness, Appalachian History, Labor and Capitalism