The Meanings of Deindustrialization

The point of departure for any discussion of deindustrialization must be respect for the despair and betrayal felt by workers as their mines, factories, and mills were padlocked, abandoned, turned into artsy shopping spaces, or even dynamited. While economists and business leaders often speak in neutral, even hopeful, terms such as restructuring, downsizing, or creative destruction, metaphors of defeat and subjugation are more appropriate for the workers who banked on good-paying industrial jobs for the livelihoods of their families and their communities

Manufacturing, Services and Premature Deindustrialization in Developing Countries: A Kaldorian Analysis

deindustrialization, manufacturing, services, jobless growth, developing countries

Separate and Unequal: A Comment on the Urban Development Aspect of Brownfields Programs

Several states and the federal government have proposed and enacted what are termed Brownfields Programs. These initia- tives have two goals: 1) creation of employment in economically distressed areas surrounded by urban brownfields (contami- nated properties); and 2) preservation of greenfields (pristine land) from development. This Article discusses the efficacy of the urban development aspect of these initiatives. Specifically it argues that while cities (notably those in the northeast and northcentral United States) may have suffered the impact of deindustrialization disproportionately to their respective suburbs,these programs create a duality of environmental protection that will consign the cities to permanent second class environmental status. These programs provide a short term fix for a long term problem. This Article proposes that what is needed is a reexamination of environmental standards as they apply to both city and suburbs

The closure of Michael Colliery in 1967 and the politics of deindustrialization in Scotland

Michael Colliery in east Fife was the largest National Coal Board (NCB) unit in Scotland when it closed in 1967, following a disastrous fire which killed nine miners. The NCB, operating within the constraints of the Labour government’s policy framework, decided not to invest in Michael’s recovery, although this would have secured profitable production within five years and access to thirty-plus years of coal reserves. This outcome, which had major local economic implications, demonstrates that deindustrialization is a willed and highly politicized process. The Labour government ignored workforce entreaties to override the NCB’s decision and invest to bring the pit back into production, but made significant localized adjustments to regional policy that within a year attracted a major employer to the area, the Distillers Company Limited. The article relates the closure to moral economy arguments about deindustrialization. It shows that coal closures in the 1960s, while actually more extensive than those of the 1980s, were managed very differently, with attention to the interests of the workers and communities affected, and an emphasis on cultivating alternative industrial employment

Closing time: deindustrialization and nostalgia in contemporary France

This article explores the cultural politics of nostalgia for industry in the context of deindustrialization. It analyses interviews with female factory workers who lost their jobs when the French domestic appliance company, Moulinex, went bust in 2001, and it situates these in the context of the meanings ascribed to these factory closures (and deindustrialization more generally) by professionals, politicians and the media. The article suggests that the nostalgia of ex-Moulinex workers can be read as a critique of managerial change and a response to dominant representations which served to naturalize the neo-liberal economy and disqualify the voices of industrial workers by consigning them to the past

Should small countries fear deindustrialization ?

Will small countries deindustrialize when opening up to trade with large countries? Davis(1998) shows that for the home market e¤ect to lead to deindustrialization of small countries, trade costs for homogenous goods must be su¢ ciently smaller than trade costs in di¤erentiated goods, a condition which is not supported by empirical evidence. We show that if di¤erentiated goods production uses tradeable inputs small countries can become deindustrialized when trading with a su¢ ciently large country and if trade costs are low.home market e¤ect; deindustrialization; trade costs; economic geography; intermediate goods

Deindustrialisation and the Historical Sociological Imagination: Making Sense of Work and Industrial Change

Following recent calls for a more self-aware and historically-sensitive sociology this article reflects on the concept of deindustrialisation and industrial change in this spirit. Using E.P. Thompson’s classic The Making of The English Working Class and his examination of industrialising culture with its stress on experience, the article asks how these insights might be of value in understanding contemporary processes of deindustrialisation and work. Drawing on a range of sociological, cultural and literary studies writers it conceptualises the differences and similarities between two historic moments of industrial change and loss. In particular it draws on the literary concept of the ‘half-life of deindustrialisation’ to explore these periods. The paper has important implications for how we think about contemporary and historical industrial decline

Fear for manufacturing? China and the future of industry in Brazil and Latin America

There has been considerable concern in Latin America over the implications of increased competition from China for local industry. These concerns include the possibility of "deindustrialization," the increased "primarization" of the region's exports and the difficulties of upgrading manufactured exports into higher technology products. This article examines the impact of Chinese competition both in the domestic market and in export markets on Brazilian industry. It documents the increased penetration of Chinese manufactures in the Brazilian market and the way in which Brazilian exports have lost market share to China in the US, European Union and four Latin American countries. Brazil, because of its more developed and locally integrated industrial sector, is not typical of other Latin American countries and the article also discusses the relevance of the Brazilian experience for the region as a whole

Simulating the Influence of Collaborative Networks on the Structure of Networks of Organizations, Employment Structure, and Organization Value

From the perspective of reindustrialization, it is important to understand the evolution of the structure of the network of organizations employment structure, and organization value. Understanding the potential influence of collaborative networks (CNs) on these aspects may lead to the development of appropriate economic policies. In this paper, we propose a theoretical approach to analysis this potential influence, based on a model of dynamic networked ecosystem of organizations encompassing collaboration relations among organization, employment mobility, and organization value. A large number of simulations has been performed to identify factors influencing the structure of the network of organizations employment structure, and organization value. The main findings are that 1) the higher the number of members of CNs, the better the clustering and the shorter the average path length among organizations; 2) the constitution of CNs does not affect neither the structure of the network of organizations, nor the employment structure and the organization value.Comment: 10 pages, 1 figure, conference paper at the 14th IFIP Working Conference on Virtual Enterprises, PRO-VE'13, http://www.pro-ve.org