Abstract
The largest textile and clothing multinational in the world is the British-owned firm of Courtaulds. The Chairman of the company said in a recent interview:
On the whole, the UK is not a good base from which to manufacture and compete internationally. There is no barrier, in my mind, to where we manufacture our goods. The market is a totally international one, and we must concentrate on scale, efficiency, and the development of the product.… It is a difficult point to get across. But in the long term, or even in the medium term, you do nobody any good by being insular in your outlook and preserving UK manufacturing, if that is going against the direction in which the market is moving. (Greater London Council, Industry and Employment Branch, 1986).
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
M. Bradley, ‘Blue Jeans Blues’, in W. Chapkis and C. Enloe (eds) Of Common Cloth: Women in the Global Textile Industry (Washington DC: Transnational Institute, 1983).
V. Cable and B. Baker, World Textile Trade and Production Trends, Special Report no. 152 (London: Economist Intelligence Unit, 1983).
W. Chapkis, ‘Using Sex and Satan to Bust the Union’, in W. Chapkis and C. Enloe, op. cit.
N. Chisholm, N. Kabeer, S. Mitter and S. Howard, Linked by the Same Thread (London: Tower Hamlets International Solidarity, 1986).
C. Cockburn, ‘A Wave of Women: New Technology and the Sexual Division of Labour in Clothing Manufacture’, mimeo., 1985.
Counter Information Services and War on Want, For a Few Dollars More (London: War on Want Campaigns, 1981).
Courtaulds, Annual Report and Accounts (London: 1984).
M. Davidson, J. Keating, H. Richardson and C. Truman, Stress and Job Design in the Clothing Industry: A Report of a Pilot Study (Manchester: Women at Work Unit, University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology, 1986).
G. Edgren, Spearheads of Industrialisation of Sweatshops in the Sun. A Critical Appraisal of Labour Conditions in Asian Export Processing Zones (Bangkok: ARTEP-ILO, 1982).
C. Enloe, ‘Women Textile Workers and the Militarization of Southeast Asia’, in J. Nash and M. P. Fernandez-Kelly (eds) Women, Men and the International Division of Labor (Ithaca: State University of New York Press, 1983).
Eurostat, Employment and Unemployment, 1986 (Luxembourg: Statistical Office of the European Communities, 1986).
M. P. Fernandez-Kelly, For We Are Sold, I and My People: Women and Industry in Mexico’s Frontier (Ithaca: State University of New York Press, 1983).
Financial Times, London, various issues.
F. Frobel, J. Heinrichs and O. Kreye, The New International Division of Labour (Cambridge University Press, 1981).
M. Ghertmann and M. Allen, An Introduction to the Multinationals (London: Macmillan, 1984).
Greater London Council, Industry and Employment Branch, The London Industrial Strategy (London: GLC, 1985).
Greater London Council, Industry and Employment Branch, Textiles and Clothing: Sunset Industries? (London: GLC, 1986).
K. Hoffman, ‘Clothing, Chips and Competitive Advantage: The Impact of Microelectronics on Trade and Production in the Garment Industry’, World Development, vol. 13 (1985) no. 3.
International Labour Organisation, Contract Labour in the Clothing Industry (Geneva: ILO, 1980).
International Labour Organisation, Employment Effects of Multinational Enterprises in Industrialised Countries (Geneva: ILO, 1981).
International Labour Organisation, Social and Labour Practices of Multinational Enterprises in the Textiles, Clothing and Footwear Industries (Geneva: ILO, 1984).
International Labour Reports, July–August 1985.
International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers Federation (ITGLWF), Multinational Companies in the Textile, Garment and Leather Industries (Brussels: 1984).
S. Joekes, Women’s Jobs in Third World Export Manufacturing: The Clothing Industry in Morocco, Research Report, Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, 1982.
P. E. Lloyd and J. Shutt, Industrial Change in the Greater Manchester Textiles and Clothing Complex: Perspectives on Recent Events, Northwest Industry Research Unit, Draft Report, School of Geography, University of Manchester, 1983.
R. Maex, Employment and Multinationals in Asian Export Processing Zones, Multinational Enterprises Programme Working Paper no. 26 (Geneva: ILO, 1983).
S. Mitter, ‘Industrial Restructuring and Manufacturing Homework: Immigrant Women in the UK Clothing Industry’, Capital and Class, no. 27, 1985.
OECD, Textile and Clothing Industries: Structural Problems and Policies in OECD Countries (Paris: OECD, 1983).
A. Phizacklea, ‘Jobs for the Girls: The Production of Women’s Outerwear in the UK’, paper presented to Joint Meeting of Work Organisation Research Centre and Development Studies Association Study Group, Aston University, 1984.
A. F. Rainnie, ‘Combined and Uneven Development in the Clothing Industry: The Effects of Competition on Accumulation’, Capital and Class, no. 22, 1984.
E. Rhodes, D. Wield and N. Heyzer, Clothing the World: First World Markets, Third World Labour, Third World Studies, Case Study 7 (Milton Keynes: Open University Press, 1983).
A. Robert, ‘The Effects of the International Division of Labour on Female Workers in the Textile and Clothing Industries’, Development and Change, vol. 14 (1983) no. 1.
H. Rush and L. Soete, ‘Clothing’, in K. Guy (ed.) Technological Trends and Employment: Basic Consumer Goods (Aldershot: Gower, 1984).
H. Safa, ‘Runaway Shops and Female Employment: The Search for Cheap Labour’, Signs, vol. 7 (1981) no. 2.
A. Sinclair, Sewing it Up: Coats Patons Multinational Practices (Edinburgh: Scottish Action and Education for Development, 1982).
J. M. Stopford, Employment Effects of Multinational Enterprises in the United Kingdom, Working Paper no. 5, Project on Employment Effects of Multinational Enterprises in Home and Host Countries (Geneva: ILO, 1979).
J. M. Stopford and J. Dunning, Multinationals: Company Performances and Global Trends (London: Macmillan, 1983).
Tootal, Annual Report and Accounts, 1973–85.
United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), Industry in a Changing World (New York: UN, 1983).
J. Zeitlin, Markets, Technology and Collective Services: A Strategy for Local Government Intervention in the London Clothing Industry (London: Industry and Employment Branch, GLC, 1985).
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 1989 Diane Elson and Ruth Pearson
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Elson, D. (1989). The Cutting Edge: Multinationals in the EEC Textiles and Clothing Industry. In: Elson, D., Pearson, R. (eds) Women’s Employment and Multinationals in Europe. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-19908-2_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-19908-2_5
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-0-333-46706-0
Online ISBN: 978-1-349-19908-2
eBook Packages: Palgrave Economics & Finance CollectionEconomics and Finance (R0)