Restructuring or de-industrializing? : Zimbabwe's textile and metal industries under structural adjustment

Abstract

This report is a contribution to the growing literature on the impact of structural adjustment on the manufacturing sector in Africa and it has the distinction of being one of the first longitudinal surveys assessing the experience of Zimbabwean manufacturers under the country's economic structural adjustment programme (ESAP) from 1990 to 1995. It documents the detailed experiences of selected textile and metal firms under ESAP and concludes that the adjustment framework has caused deindustrialization. ESAP also took a heavy toll on the living and working conditions of manufacturing sector workers. The report makes a strong case for the abandonment of the orthodox structural adjustment framework of industrial restructuring and the pursuit of an alternative approach that is more favourable to the local accumulation of capital.CONTENTS -- Chapter 1: The Manufacturing Sector in Zimbabwe: An Overview -- Chapter 2: Restructuring in the Textile and Metal Industries -- Chapter 3: Change and Conflict in Labour Relations -- Chapter 4: Income Patterns, Living Standard and Coping Strategies -- Chapter 5: Conclusion and Post-Scrip