Contemporary Global Economic Production Fordist Production highly specialized
Contemporary Global Economic Production:
Fordist Production – highly specialized system for organizing industrial production & labor; assembly-line for mass consumption (after WWI). Postindustrial Flexible Production (or “post-Fordist”)– producers can move production sites & renegotiate contracts easily (technology, more tertiary industries) *international markets are brought “closer together” through outsourcing Outsourcing: to relocate from higher-cost locations to lower-cost market locations.
transnational (or multinational) corporations: businesses that conduct research, operate factories, and sell products in more than one country – *Some transnational corporations (TNCs) and multinational corporations (MNCs) produce more than some countries (Ford, Exxon, General Motors, Walmart, Mc. Donald’s) – Hyper-Industrial Production? ? ?
***we are ‘wired’ into a global economy & culture that has created a more uniform, integrated, & interdependent conception of space -homogenization or differentiation? ? ? space-time compression: the imaginative feeling that places around the world are closer together and are increasingly interdependent “fast world” vs. “slow world”…creates a “digital divide” -half the world lives on less than $2 a day & has no electricity or phone…
Space-Time Compression, 1492– 1962 The time required to cross the Atlantic or orbit the Earth… Have transport improvements “shrunk” the world?
Why a World of Haves & Have Nots? core-periphery model: a theory in which rich, industrialized countries (the “ 1 st world”) dominate poorer, unindustrialized countries (the “ 3 rd world”) economically -Examples of core-periphery relationships? ? ? *Core-periphery link can exist at many scales: -within a region (Los Angeles is a core of S. Cal. ) -within a country (Johannesburg is a core of S. Africa) -global (Japan is a core of E. Asia)
*3 Major core regions of the world? -New York, London, Tokyo -Why is the relationship often referred to as neocolonial in nature? ? ? NY Stock Exchange Westminister, London
Per Capita GDPs: S. Afr. - $11, 035 Congo - $320 S. Korea - $27, 169 Haiti - $790 U. S. - $46, 381 Egypt - $4, 282 Japan - $32, 443
Countries Historically Responsible for Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Spread of Aids in Africa
*Internet Access - Does a ”digital divide” exist?
“New” International Division of Labor: -Periphery regions are dependent on core for manufacturing jobs -Core TNC’s are dependent on periphery for cheap labor, fewer environmental regulations, & expanding markets
Deindustrialization: – Regions with higher labor & resource costs in the core may deindustrialize as production shifts to the periphery (think the “Rustbelt” in the U. S. ). – Most jobs in in core countries are in the “service sector” NOT manufacturing “Rust Belt”
Outsourcing & Mexico 1960 s – Mexico allowed foreign owned companies to build factories clled: Maquiladoras – within 20 miles of U. S. border – for export • Electronics • Textiles • Furniture • Leather Goods • Toys • Automotive Parts
- Slides: 16