The Political Economy of Deindustrialization

A critical examination of the processes of deindustrialization that explores why it has become an issue of deep politics, informing right-wing populism, contemporary geopolitical tensions (with China), Brexit, the New Green Deal and levelling up.

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It is often assumed that deindustrialization is a bad thing, confined to the Global North, and caused by cheap imports from the Global South. Although not entirely incorrect, the truth is far more complicated. Ray Kiely argues that the current economic debate assumes too much in terms of causality around deindustrialization, which is better seen as a product of wider changes in contemporary global capitalism. Yet, evidence of a zero-sum game doesn't have to be very strong for this to have become an issue of deep politics, informing right-wing populism and contemporary geopolitical tensions (namely with China). A clearer understanding of the processes of deindustrialization can help in appreciating the political responses and movements across the Global North – and South – and enable us to find better responses to the processes themselves.