Deindustrialization

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Deindustrialization is the process by which the manufacturing-based economy of a country or region declines. In some instances the economic activity shifts to a service economy, and in other cases reverts to agriculture. Deindustrialization is often marked by an increase in structural unemployment and rise of crime.

The term industrialization, in this sense, refers to the reliance by society on mechanized means of production -- that is, the essentials of life are made by or with the essential aid of machines. Deindustrialization is a contraction or collapse of that machine system. It results in less flow of information between machines and between people. It also means shrinkage of production and resources, and less redistribution of resources by machines, and more sharing of the essentials of life between humans and communities. Some authors have suggested that, in a long-term time perspective, the current global trend towards increased industrialization will eventually transition, either smoothly or abruptly, to a global deindustrialized period of neo-agrarianism.

As deindustrialization progresses, a region following a controlled neo-agrarian path becomes increasingly self-sufficient, since lack of resources means the products can no longer be exchanged with outsiders; the exports and imports cease, and any essentials must be produced locally. If the process is uncontrolled, the result is usually disintegration into small, militant communities based on warlordism which are in constant state of war with each other, resembling a feudal society. Regions that rely on a service economy, or that attempt to retain industrialized production and consumption patterns, become increasingly dependent on foreign manufacturers of required service and production equipment. As this occurs, the national industries that use production machinery – for example agriculture, construction and clothing manufacturing – may lose the critical technological edge that comes from a close relationship with producers of their required machinery. Such distancing limits technological advances in production machinery, and slows the establishment of national, state-of-the-art factories and reduces orders for new production machinery. A vicious cycle then develops in which the national manufacturers of consumer goods fall further and further behind their competitors in other countries, leading either to revertion to virulent protectionism or into the collapse of the local production machinery industries and eventually national manufactures as a whole.

Contents

1 Deindustrialization in the United States
2 Other Examples of Deindustrialization
3 Industrial Decomposition
4 Notes
5 See also

Deindustrialization in the United States

The UK, France, and the United States were among the countries involved in the Industrial Revolution. These countries are now in the process of Deindustrialization, the United States being a good example of this.

Starting in the 1960's foreign markets, such as Japan, began to develop cheaper industrial sites and were manufacturing goods like steel cheaper than was possible in the United States any longer. At the same time in the United States the service industry was becoming more profitable. Investments in these industries were starting to give higher returns than the manufacturing industry had previously given, so investors started to concentrate on these more profitable service industries instead. Agriculture became a subsector of the industrial sector, with increasing use of mechanization and chemical inputs.

As service and information industries (the tertiary sector and the quaternary sector) became more important, the manufacturing industry became de-emphasized. The immediate effect was on industrial jobs. Lower pay, lost jobs, and worker strikes were common. Soon there was less reason to live near industrial centers; their communities declined and there was a migration to the sun belt. This catalyzed the transformation of manufacturing centers in the north east into the rust belt. Industries also became less dependent on industrial centers and set up in areas that were less expensive, the "footloose industries" were created. Education also became more important, because of the rise of the service industry which was more dependent on education than most manufacturing industries has been.

A good index of this process is amount of blast furnaces for iron manufacturing. In 1970 there were some 130 blast furnaces in West Germany alone; in 2005, the amount has decreased into 16 in the whole of Germany, and even more blast furnaces are to be shut down in the future. In Great Britain, which was the cradle of the Industrial Revolution, only 8 functional blast furnaces remain in 2005. While China was insignificant as an iron producer in 1980, in 2005 it produced more raw iron and steel than all other countries combined.

Other Examples of Deindustrialization

Northern England (particularly the cities of Manchester, Leeds and Bradford) in the 1980s. Previously a global center of textile manufacturing, the region was subject to a long period of decline culminating in the 1980s, as the industry shifted to countries in South Asia, Southeast Asia and China.

Detroit, Michigan, and surrounding states and parts of the neighbouring Canadian province of Ontario since the 1980s. Its economy dominated by the automotive manufacturing industry, the region was devastated when companies such as General Motors relocated many of their production facilities to Mexico, or closed them entirely due to lower sales.

Patras, Greece as well as other areas of Greece and Southern Europe were deindustrialized during the late 1980s and early 1990s as a result to the reemergence of the Eastern European markets after the fall of communism. Other factors were the discorvengence with the rest of EU (then E.E.C.) entrance and lack of flexibility of the local economy. Big production units like the "Piraikí-Patraikí" textile plant and the "Ladopoulos" paper mill closed and hundrends of employees were laid off. Reportedly, Pirelli and other companies relocated their production facilities from Patras to eastern European countries in an effort to cut back on rising labor and production costs.

Much of the former Soviet Union became deindustrialized during the 1990s after the collapse of communism. The antiquated plants with obsolete technology and production processes could no longer compete with the foreign competition, and the nineties saw a massive industrial shutdown in the former USSR. This also saw massive unemployment and poverty, immense social problems and decrease in male life expectancy from 71 years to 59 years in Russia. Advanced production industry has largely been replaced with primary production, especially oil production, in Russia during the regime of Vladimir Putin.

Industrial Decomposition

When a large, complex living organism dies there are creatures who specialize in breaking it down into water, carbon dioxide and simple chemicals that various living creatures need to nourish themselves.Ecology of a Changing World, by M.B. Bush, Prentice Hall, 2003. This process is termed decomposition, and if it did not happen we would not exist and the planet would be covered in a carpet of the dead bodies of various creatures.

Similarly, when a large, complex society breaks down it can be expected that some people will specialize in breaking down the physical infrastructure into smaller parts that small and sustainable groups can use.The Prosperous Way Down: Principles and Policies, by H.T. Odum and E.C. Odum, University of Colorado Press, 2001. The motivation for dismantling such infrastructure is not necessarily altruism or because getting rid of industrial installations and detoxifying those sites will benefit future generations. More likely, people will do it also because it will make immediate personal and economic sense.

Eventually it will not be necessary to convince people to dismantle massive industrial centralized infrastructure, because such infrastructure won't function and won't benefit them.Metal theft and industrial decomposition, by Aric McBay, accessible at http://www.inthewake.org/arcblogfeb06.html#industdecomp This process is typical for failed states. The desirable action at that point will be to depave roads and turn them into agricultural land, deconstruct industrial machinery and turn them into improvised equipment, or to dismantle cars and turn them into wind-powered lighting and pumping systems, and then share those skills so that people can do it themselves. The deindustrialization process in the former Soviet Union and in the US rust belt has seen widespread looting of copper, aluminium and other valuable metals (sculptures, monuments, traffic signs, soccer goals etc) to be sold as scrap or used locally.

Subsequent steps in industrial decomposition will eventually emerge, so that when some salvaged part wears out, it can be decomposed into something also useful to sustain day-to-day life. If these skills can be devised and shared to help people to fill the ecological niche of decomposer, then industrial decomposition will likely occur on a massive and distributed basis. This constitutes Raubwirtschaft, or "plunder economy"; consuming existing resources to sustain living rather than producing new.

Societal decomposition is generally associated with impoverishment, decrease of life expectancy and lower standards of living than before the process. A historical example of decomposition is the Western European history during the Dark Ages. As the Roman Empire was basically bankrupt when it collapsed in the West, the monetary economy disappeared and transformed into barter economy. The old infrastructure, like aqueducts, Roman roads, cities etc no longer functioned and was considered unnecessary. As the cities could no longer sustain population, the people moved to the countryside. The marble buildings, structures, sculptures etc. were pulled down and either used as construction material or burned into mortar and agricultural lime. Likewise, the bronze statues, sculptures, works of art etc were smelted down for their metal. While may be considered vandalism be some, day-to-day survival is ultimately more important than the preservation of historical artifacts. Urban areas were likewise cleared for agricultural land and pasture. The breakdown of the organized society saw the rise of feudalism. It is estimated that Europe reached the same standards of living it had had during the Pax Romana only in the 19th century.

Deindustrialization

Deindustrialization in the United States

Other Examples of Deindustrialization

Industrial Decomposition

Notes

See also