Impact Of Deindustrialization Research Articles

Radical hope: re-contextualising oral histories from deindustrialised mining communities

ABSTRACT The anthracite coal mining landscape of northeastern Pennsylvania is in ruin, a by-product of two centuries of unchecked capitalism. Much of the land is stripped of its timber and surface mines lay abandoned. The industry began its decline after WWI and virtually collapsed during the post-WWII era. Waste piles of coal litter the landscape, and the streams and rivers are considered dead because of the minerals and high acid content of water draining from abandoned mines. Many scholars have written about the extreme work conditions the coal workers faced, the demise of the coal industry, and the impact of deindustrialization on the region’s people. Often overlooked is how members of the mining communities had a radical hope. Radical hope helps oppressed people to see that another condition and another world is possible, although not guaranteed. Re-examining oral histories from the anthracite region recorded in the 1970s, when the industry was in its great decline, demonstrates how these mining communities anticipated a future good, understanding the struggle to attain it.

Wiederbelebung der Ortsgemeinschaft in einer kleinen Industriestadt in Südosteuropa: Fallstudie Fieni, Rumänien

Under communist rule, the development of many small and medium-sized industrial towns in Southeast Europe saw manufacturing industry become the engine of the local economy. The resulting deindustrialisation of the 1990s severely affected them. This study explores community perceptions within Fieni – formerly the most industrialised Romanian town – about its present development conditions and prospects. It also seeks people’s opinions to inform future planning through a participatory governance process. To analyse the inhabitants’ insights on the impact of deindustrialisation on their community, 69 street interviews were conducted with randomly selected people. The results highlight both a sense of nostalgia and pride for the town’s industrial past, and a deep dissatisfaction with its current socio-economic situation. However, younger respondents tended to hold optimistic hopes of discovering and developing new local economic niches. Additionally, there are conflicting perceptions between the general population and the decision makers on the planning of the town’s future, suggesting the need for more intense and cooperative development approach.

"Second curve" concept as a key driver of economic development in the emerging markets

The paper begins with the understanding that the three-decade-long transition period from a socialist economy to the market one, as an integral part of comprehensive changes in Eastern Europe, both political and ideological ones, remains to be a quite problematic and ongoing process. When it comes to less-developed or transition countries, with a special focus on the Western Balkans, a popular opinion is that the impact of deindustrialization on countries in transition was as painful and radical as the "coming" of socialism. Therefore, when addressing the need for a new formula for development, it is a matter of great concern that today's multipolar world lacks well-established development paradigms, particularly taking into account an obvious stagnation in reforms, i.e. the so-called reform failure. In the authors' opinion, it is possible to end the crisis in underdeveloped and transition countries only by introducing a "new" order, i.e. by finding a "new" economic development paradigm. In the light of the above, this paper indicates the need to replace the current transitional models of economic transformation with a turn-around strategy that would be based on reindustrialization, i.e. newly created industrial policies. Finally, this would imply the implementation of the “second curve“(the “S-curve”) concept in the change management processes.

Networked territorialism: the routes and roots of organised crime

In the digital age, space has become increasingly structured by the circuitry of global capital, communications and commodities. This ‘network society’ splinters and fragments territorial space according to the hidden logic of networked global capital; with successful criminal entrepreneurs connecting bases in low-risk, controllable territories with high-profit markets. Drawing on a recent, large-scale study of organised crime in Scotland, in this paper we elaborate the relationship between place, territory and criminal markets in two contrasting communities. The first is an urban neighbourhood with a longstanding organised crime footprint, where recognised local criminal groups have established deep roots. The second is a rural community with a negligible organised crime footprint, where the drug economy is serviced by a mobile criminal network based in England. Through comparison of the historical roots and contemporary routes of these criminal markets, we note both similarity and difference. While both communities demonstrated evidence of ‘networked territorialism’, key differences related to historical and social antecedents, in particular the impact of deindustrialisation.

Making sense of the ruins: The historiography of deindustrialisation and its continued relevance in neoliberal times

AbstractThe political upheavals of recent years, including Brexit and the election of Donald Trump, have increased scholarly and public interest in the impact of deindustrialisation on working‐class communities. Building upon earlier literature reviews, this historiographical study examines the continued flowering of this interdisciplinary, transnational field of research. After briefly recounting the emergence of the field in response to the structural transformations of the 1970s and 80s, and its subsequent ‘cultural turn’, this review focuses on identifying the most promising strands of contemporary English‐language research. It notes the particularly innovative attempts to identify the ‘moral economy’ of deindustrialising societies, the growing study of the long‐term cultural legacies or ‘half‐life’ of deindustrialisation, and the renewed focus on the politics of memory and heritage preservation. Finally, it considers how scholars can constructively respond to the increasing public interest in deindustrialisation, challenge racialised and exclusionary definitions of the working‐class, and unpick the historical relationship between deindustrialisation and the social and political transformations of recent times.

Path Renewal or Path Dependence? The Role of Industrial Culture in Regional Restructuring

In recent decades, manufacturing industries in Europe have undergone a deep transformation due to global market competition, automation, and adaptation to globalized production patterns. The impact of deindustrialization and regional restructuring has been particularly strong on regions outside of metropolitan areas, which may be locked in their specific development path and cannot benefit from agglomeration effects. However, scholars are increasingly shifting their attention to processes of regional renewal, emphasizing the strengths and potentials of such regions. Such potentials holds the concept of Industrial Culture which is defined as a particular cultural setting made up of certain intangible assets, such as skills, attitudes, traditions, tangible monuments, and artefacts. Based on the case study of the district of Zwickau, the authors identify three dimensions of Industrial Culture. These cultural, social, and economic aspects can be underscored by different—albeit often overlapping—actions, opening up new development options for the region if embedded in a broad network of regional actors. Industrial Culture can thus be perceived as a strategic concept to form a coherent approach of regional development by integrating various existing activities in a region.

Labor Under Fire: A History of the AFL-CIO since 1979 by Timothy J. Minchin

Reviewed by: Labor Under Fire: A History of the AFL-CIO since 1979 by Timothy J. Minchin Elizabeth Fones-Wolf (bio) Labor Under Fire: A History of the AFL-CIO since 1979. By Timothy J. Minchin (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2017. Pp. xii, 414. $39.95 cloth) In 1955, when the American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations merged, one-third of American workers belonged to unions. Twenty-four years later, when George Meany stepped down as the first president of the AFL-CIO, the ranks of organized labor had declined by a third. Today just one in ten workers are members of unions. It is not surprising, then, that the theme that dominates Timothy Minchin's deeply researched and engagingly written account of the recent history of the AFL-CIO [End Page 144] is the labor movement's decline, and the efforts of the Federation's leaders to combat it. Drawing on the archival records of the AFL-CIO and extensive oral-histories, Minchin focuses on the post-Meany presidential administrations of Lane Kirkland (1979–1995) and John Sweeney (1995–2009). He examines how each leader dealt with the challenges of relentless de-industrialization and globalization, intensifying employer opposition, and an often-hostile political climate. Minchin concludes that critics have not given the AFL-CIO a fair shake. They have condemned the Federation's failure to address labor union racism and its Cold War foreign policy and have argued that the AFL-CIO's conservative philosophy was a critical factor in its decline. While acknowledging the truthfulness of these criticisms, Minchin "recognizes its achievements and its limitations" (p. 6). Minchin begins with a brief review of the AFL-CIO's first two decades under George Meany's leadership, a period when it wielded significant economic and political power. The Federation played a critical role in the passage of an array of progressive legislation that benefitted all workers, such as Medicare, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the landmark Occupational Safety and Health Act. However, as Minchin notes, the roots of the Federation's and the labor movement's decline can also be traced to this period. Although the seventies saw the beginnings of the decline in union density with massive factory closures, Meany was complacent about the decline and showed little concern with organizing or addressing union racism and sexism. In the early eighties, the AFL-CIO faced a pivotal turning point. Minchin finds that the 1980 election of Ronald Reagan and his breaking of the 1981 Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization strike as well as a depressed economy put labor on the defensive and hastened the AFL-CIO's deterioration. Union-busting intensified and takeback bargaining, lockouts, and decertification campaigns became common. These factors combined with the impact of deindustrialization caused industrial union membership to drop precipitously. Moreover, Reagan's tax cuts and new harsh policies undercut critical [End Page 145] social welfare programs. Under Kirkland's leadership, the Federation fought back, organizing public protests and making stabs at expanding organizing, supporting strikes, and reaching out to minorities and women, as well defending Social Security and workplace safety. Moreover, in the nineties the AFL-CIO was critical to pushing through the Family and Medical Leave Act and a higher minimum wage. But, as Minchin acknowledges, under Kirkland, the Federation was unable to block the North American Free Trade Agreement and there was no fundamental turnaround in its fortunes. In 1995, frustrated at the AFL-CIO's emphasis on political activity instead of organizing and grassroots mobilization, insurgents from the most dynamic unions in the service and public sectors challenged Kirkland's leadership and elected John Sweeney president. Emphasizing change and militancy, the Federation quickly diversified the AFL-CIO's leadership and coordinated major organizing campaigns, as well as emphasizing environmentalism and connecting with progressive community groups. However, Sweeney's reforms were undermined by the election of George Bush in 2000, the terrorist attacks of 9/11, which created a more conservative political climate, and by internal dissension within the Federation. Minchin has written a more balanced history of the AFL-CIO, although at times he struggles to find a silver-lining...

Historical tradition and community mobilisation: narratives of Red Clydeside in memories of the anti-poll tax movement in Scotland, 1988–1990

Contemporary scholarship has shifted focus from a ‘labour history’ focused on industrial movements to a more comprehensive ‘working-class history’, encompassing the broader social parameters of protest with community and industrial struggles unified in material interest and consciousness. This article locates the poll tax non-payment campaign of 1988–1990 on Clydeside, a major expression of working-class mobilisation which contributed to the demise of Margaret Thatcher’s premiership, within this international historiography. The analysis is based on oral history interviews with twelve activists who represented all the major political trends from the non-payment campaign. The anti-poll tax movement was embedded in traditions of community mobilisation shaped by a moral economy of housing and amenities, which had roots in the First World War era ‘Red Clydeside’ struggles, and developed through the post-Second World War predominance of public sector housing. The analysis demonstrates how activists constructed narratives of their own resistance in the anti-poll tax movement within a powerful cultural circuit, where the collective memory of past mobilisations and the consciousness associated with the moral economy of housing and amenities informed contemporary perspectives and political activity. The campaign was not politically monocultural. Differences between political groups involved in the non-payment campaign are analysed showing that the need of composure (of memories) led to contrasting interpretations of Red Clydeside. These were influenced by geographical distinctions between traditional working-class areas with strong tenants’ organisations and the peripheral estates where such organisation was weaker. The impact of deindustrialisation and the welfare policies of the Thatcher government created a popular resentment in these areas. This strengthened moral economy opposition to the poll tax, whilst the traditions of community mobilisation provided effective means of harnessing this through non-payment and direct action against sheriff officers.

The EU, Global Europe, and processes of uneven and combined development: the problem of transnational labour solidarity

AbstractIn 2006, the European Union launched its new free trade strategy Global Europe with the explicit goal of increasing European competitiveness. This article explores the positions of trade unions and other social movements on Global Europe. Importantly, while Northern social movements and trade unions from the Global South reject Global Europe due to its impact of deindustrialisation on developing countries, European trade unions support it in so far as it opens up new markets for the export of European manufactured goods. It will be argued that this has to be understood against the background of the dynamics underlying the global economy and here in particular uneven and combined development. Due to the uneven integration of different parts of the world into the global economy, workers in developed countries may actually benefit from free trade, while workers in the Global South are more likely to lose out. It will, however, also be argued that while these different positions within the social relations of production are shaping the position of trade unions, they do not determine them. Over time, through direct engagement, trade unions in the North and South may be able to establish relations of transnational solidarity.

“It's About Belonging”: Masculinity, Collectivity, and Community in British Hooligan Films

This article examines recent British hooligan films, exploring their nostalgic fantasies of collectivity, community, and primal masculinity. Their cult popularity reflects the ongoing appeal of “laddism” to young male audiences, but they also screen tellingly defensive responses to the fragmentation of traditional working-class identities, changing social relations, and the impact of deindustrialization and consumerism on British working-class masculinity, for which the violent tribalism of hooliganism acts as compensation. Despite the disturbing celebration of macho aggression and the evacuation of women from social ties, hooligan films self-consciously reference the performativity of masculinity and the homoeroticism undergridding male bonds as well as reflect on the shifting relationship between the individual and the collective, the self and community, in contemporary Britain.

Is deindustrialization good for women? Evidence from the United States

The gender wage gap in the United States narrowed considerably throughout the 1980s and then more slowly in the 1990s. Using a decomposition methodology and US Current Population Survey data, this study investigates the impact of deindustrialization's continuing shift in employment away from manufacturing to services on the US gender wage gap between 1990 and 2001. The study finds that the widening of the gender wage gap in the service sector caused a slowdown in the narrowing of the US gender wage gap. Within the service sector, two occupational elements affected the growing gender wage gap: women's entry into traditionally male occupations characterized by high wages and high gender wage differentials that resulted in the relative increase in men's wages compared to women's wages in these occupations.

Michael Moore and the Re-Birth of the Documentary

Michael Moore and the Re-Birth of the Documentary Steven Mintz The most stunning development in movies in the early twenty-first century is the surging popularity of the documentary. In 2004, box office receipts might have declined had it not been for documentaries, which grossed over $170 million. Seven of the all-time Top 10 grossing documentaries were released in 2003 and 2004, and 18 of the 25 most profitable political documentaries were released since 2002. Historically, documentaries were box office poison, and most Americans spelled documentary d-u-l-l. What accounts for this sudden change? Was it simply a matter of temporary circumstances connected with the 2004 presidential election? Or were deeper forces at work? And what is Michael Moore's role in the surging popularity of the documentary? Any serious attempt to answer these questions requires us to look at fundamental changes in production, distribution, exhibition, and audience. Partly, changes in audience sensibilities account for documentaries' growing appeal. Even as fantasy films based on cartoon characters and children's books multiplied, there was a craving for authenticity evident in the popularity of reality shows. Unlike plastic, emotionless, seemingly interchangeable movie stars, reality shows featured untutored actors who are eccentric and highly individualistic. But reality shows may have had a deeper impact by increasing the audiences' comfort with "post-modern" cross-cutting narratives, multiple points of view, and lower production values. Changes on the supply side have also contributed to the growing popularity of documentaries. Much as the rise of television in the 1950s left a void that was filled by youth-oriented radio, the declining appeal of foreign films and lower production costs created an opening for documentaries. At the same time, public television and a proliferation of cable channels created a stable market for documentary filmmakers. Not only have these venues allowed filmmakers to hone their skills, but also they have encouraged a proliferation of documentary genres. Non-fiction films long assumed a variety of forms, ranging from network white papers to Frederick Wiseman's direct cinema. But recent years have brought new forms, including IMAX films, concert films, and even mockumentaries, like This is Spinal Tap and A Mighty Wind. Especially influential have been three relatively recent innovations. First, there were Ken Burns-like documentaries, with [End Page 10] their solemn talking heads, their grainy, nostalgic archival footage, and their earnest, even dirge-like tone. There were also news documentaries, like PBS's Frontline series, which were much more willing than their network predecessors to engage in political controversy. Meanwhile, Errol Morris pioneered the reflexive post-modern personal essay, which combined drama, comedy, philosophic meditation, interviews, and a surreal style. And finally there was an emerging genre that might be called "docutainment," the treatment of non-fiction topics using all the tools of high production feature films, including animation, fast-motion photography, graphics, montage, and rock music. Michael Moore has been the central figure in the rise of docutainment. He created a persona—the unsophisticated working class stiff who revels in his amateurishness and his sophomoric sensibility—which audiences, at least those on the left, have found highly entertaining. His films were opinionated, satirical, and unapologetically political, and much of their appeal lay in their attraction of the gadfly who thumbs his nose at powerful elites. Yet for all their antics, pranks, and cheap shots his films also had a serious side, engaging in a powerful form of unmasking, laying bare realities that had been hidden or repressed, whether this was the impact of deindustrialization on the residents of a decaying rust-belt city or the collateral damage that is inflicted on civilians in wartime. Michael Moore's films raise, in extreme form, two issues posed by many recent documentaries. The first involves the documentary filmmaker's obligation to be objective and balanced. Only the willfully naïve fail to recognize that the documentary tradition has always involved argument and opinion. By their very choice of subject and their selection of what materials to include and exclude, documentary filmmakers shape the presentation of their subject and therefore convey a political perspective, in the term's broadest sense. It is Moore's skill as...

Class and Politics in Historical and Contemporary Perspectives: The Twenty-First Annual North American Labor History Conference

The twenty-first annual North American Labor History Conference took place in Detroit, Michigan, at Wayne State University on October 21–23, 1999. Within the conference's overarching theme of “Class and Politics in Historical and Contemporary Perspectives,” panels addressed subjects as varied as labor in postwar Japan, masculinity and class formation, the impact of deindustrialization on class consciousness, migration and citizenship, and US labor law in the late eighteenth century.

The regional impact of de-industrialization in the European Community

Wabe J. S. (1986) The regional impact of de-industrialization in the European Community, Reg. Studies 20, 27–36. This paper considers community regional policy in a period of widespread unemployment. It is argued that the regional problem now has two causes—underdevelopment and industrial decline—each of which needs to be considered separately. An index of de-industrialization is devised using regional data on the change in manufacturing employment in 1973–81. A minority of regions is bearing the brunt of industrial restructuring, with the problem being especially severe in the UK. All these regions need community help and this can best be achieved by moving towards a single industrial base. In particular, it seems necessary to move from nationally operated schemes of regional investment incentives to a community system.