Case Study of Changes in the Apparel Industry in Virginia

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9819077Collins The modern capitalist economy of industrialized countries like the US has shifted recently from "Fordist" production, premised on the existence of a mass market for standardized goods and using assembly line techniques with separate processes for the conception and execution of production, to a "post-Fordist" regime where the fear of capital flight and plant disinvestment leads to lower job security and wages for many workers along with a "flexible specialization" production system involving specialized markets, skilled adaptable highly-paid workers and more general purpose machinery. This research is an ethnographic case study of a textile company's relations with its workers and their communities in Virginia. The study will show how the new conditions of employment affect household and community life. Changes in the moral contract involved in the employment relation will be studied using extensive interviews with managers and workers, a sample survey of workers, examination of archives and participant observation in two communities, one where the plant was transformed and one in which the plant was closed down. This research is important because it advances our understanding of a major change in the employment relation in contemporary society. It will evaluate different theoretical explanations of the changes in the relation between capital and labor and will provide insight into the newly developing moral contract between employing organizations, workers, and the local communities. The new knowledge to be created by this project will be valuable to planners and politicians as well as to industry personnel.