Regionalisation in a Globalising World: The Emergence of Clothing Sweatshops in the European Union

Abstract

In many large cities of the Western world, the 1970s and 1980s witnessed an increase in the production of clothing in small-scale sweatshops, often run by immigrants. This development, which I shall discuss in the following section, was surprising in at least three ways. Firstly, it followed a period of decline in production and employment in the clothing industry in Western countries. Secondly, it seemed to be in contradiction to the new international division of labour, in which developing countries were increasing their participation in labour-intensive industrial production and trade. Finally, it unexpectedly led to upward mobility for immigrants in the form of entrepreneurship. For scholars of various backgrounds the question is how to understand this development. This will also be the central subject of this chapter.