The human face of globalization: plant closings and life transitions

Abstract

Industry in rural, agriculturally based Northwest Tennessee has traditionally been apparel, textile, and footwear. In recent years, globalization has resulted in area plant closings, plant relocations and layoffs throughout the region. This paper examines the impact on former employees interviewed four years after a major plant closing in Obion County. This study presents the case study of the Brown Shoe Company that opened in 1923 and closed in 1994. The findings from this exploratory study suggest that the impacts of plant closures in the footwear industry are similar to other textile and garment factory closings. As in previous studies, workers were concerned with financial and health benefits issues and experienced emotional trauma. Dislocated workers were predominately female, and high poverty rates for families and female heads of households still exist almost eight years after the closing. Longitudinal research is suggested to further inform policy and governmental action in the wake of further plant closings, especially as such economic restructuring affects women and communities in rural southern areas of the USA.