Articulations of Capital: Global Production Networks and Regional Transformations (RGS-IBG Book Series)

__Articulations of Capital__ offers an accessible, grounded, yet theoretically-sophisticated account of the geographies of global production networks, value chains, and regional development in post-socialist Eastern and Central Europe. * Proposes a new theorization of global value chains as part of a conjunctural economic geography * Develops a set of conceptual and theoretical arguments concerning the regional embeddedness of global production * Draws on longitudinal empirical research from over 20 years in the Bulgarian and Slovakian apparel industries * Makes a major intervention into the debate over the economic geographies of European integration and EU enlargement Title Page 5 Copyright Page 6 Contents 7 Series Editors’ Preface 9 List of Figures 10 List of Tables 13 Preface and Acknowledgements 14 Abbreviations 23 Part 1 Articulating Capital in Global Production Networks 27 Chapter 1 Articulations of Capital 29 Introduction 29 Globalization, Post-Socialist Liberalization and Structural Adjustment 33 Transformations in Apparel Global Value Chains 36 Consequences of the Global Shift 43 The Structure of the Book 45 Notes 48 Chapter 2 Economic Geography, Conjuncture and the Dynamics of Capital 49 Introduction 49 From Global Commodity and Value Chains to Global Production Networks and Beyond 51 Articulation/Disarticulation and Differential Inclusion in Global Production Networks 64 Towards a Conjunctural Economic Geography of Global Production Networks: Conjuncturalism, Context and Embeddedness 67 Conclusion: Post-Socialism and Conjunctural Economic Geographies 75 Notes 76 Part 2 Working off the Past: Context and Complexity in Apparel Global Production Networks 79 Chapter 3 Working in the Post-Socialist Apparel Economy 81 Starting Again with Labour 81 From State Socialist Full-Package Production to Export Processing 85 Post-Socialist Regional Divisions of Labour 90 Low-Wage Production and the “Sweatshop Trope” 97 Struggles over Work and Working Conditions 102 Conclusion 108 Notes 110 Chapter 4 Managing Europe’s Golden Bands: Trade Policy and the Regulation of Production Networks 112 Institutional and Policy Frameworks of the Golden Bands 112 Trade Policy in Apparel Global Production Networks 113 Global and Macro-Regional Trade Liberalization in Textiles and Apparel 115 Outward Processing Trade and the Origins and Reconfiguration of Pan-European Apparel Production 121 European Union Apparel Lead Firms and the Europeanization of Supply Chains 124 Conclusion 127 Notes 128 Chapter 5 Transformations, Legacies and Networks: The State and Market Globalizations 130 Introduction 130 Apparel and State Socialist Models of Development 131 State Socialist Institutional Legacies 142 Outsourcing and Delocalization from the 1980s to post-1989 147 From MFA Phase-Out to European Union Accession and the Economic Crisis 155 Conclusion 158 Notes 159 Part 3 Industrial Dynamics, Regionalization and the Conjunctural Economy of Global Production Networks 161 Chapter 6 Theorizing Transition and the Dynamics of Capital: The Diverse Trajectories of Post‐socialist Firms 163 Introduction 163 Industrial Upgrading, Regional Transformations and the Diversity of Industrial Trajectories 164 Negotiating Assembly Production: Post-Socialist Downgrading from Fully Integrated Production to Outward Processing 168 Functional, Product and Process Upgrading and Market Proximity 173 Diversification and Own-Product Development 176 Low-Value Full-Package Domestic Market Producers 182 Full-Package Export Production and the Emergence of Regional Production Networks 183 Conclusion: Understanding Diverse Trajectories of Industrial Upgrading 184 Notes 185 Chapter 7 Border Reconfigurations and the Frontiers of Capital 188 Introduction 188 Regionalization and Globalization: Apparel Sourcing, Trade Liberalization and the Spectre of China 190 Cross-Border Production, Geo-Economic/Geo-Political Integration and New Spatial Divisions of Labour 192 Emerging Cross-Border Economic Spaces and Production Regimes 196 The Limits of Cross-Border Production 201 Conclusion 204 Notes 205 Chapter 8 Regionalization and the Palimpsests of Production: Delocalization, Legacies and Firm Differentiation 208 Introduction 208 Post-Socialist Transformations on the Periphery 210 Domesticating Ishleme 218 The Post-Socialist Firm: Ishleme 2.0 and the Return of Stitch-Up 226 Conclusion 236 Notes 238 Chapter 9 The Cultural Economies of Post-Socialism: Ethnicity, Garage Firms and Regional Markets 240 Introduction: Embeddedness and Relational Economies 240 Firm Diversity, Local Embeddedness and End Markets 241 The Garage Firms of Haskovo 245 Regional Markets and Transborder Traders: The Dimitrovgrad Market 251 The Perfect Storm and the Future of Local Production Systems 257 Conclusion 259 Notes 260 Part 4 Conclusion 263 Chapter 10 Conclusion 265 Working Beyond “Common Sense” in the Industrial Politics of Apparel 267 Diverse Trajectories and Industrial Upgrading 272 The Role of the State in Global Production Networks 275 The Apparel Industry and Regional Economic Futures 276 Note 278 Appendix 1 Firm-level Restructuring in the Slovak Textiles and Clothing Sector, 2004–2013 279 Appendix 2 Key to Figure 9.14 Dimitrovgrad Market, 2011 283 References 286 Index 307 EULA 320 'Articulations of Capital' offers an accessible, grounded, yet theoretically-sophisticated account of the geographies of global production networks, value chains, and regional development in post-socialist Eastern and Central Europe. Articulations of Capital offers an accessible, grounded, yet theoretically-sophisticated account of the geographies of global production networks, value chains, and regional development in post-socialist Eastern and Central Europe. Proposes a new theorization of global value chains as part of a conjunctural economic geography Develops a set of conceptual and theoretical arguments concerning the regional embeddedness of global production Draws on longitudinal empirical research from over 20 years in the Bulgarian and Slovakian apparel industries Makes a major intervention into the debate over the economic geographies of European integration and EU enlargement For more than two decades, Eastern and Central Europe have undergone dramatic economic shifts in response to social and political upheaval and the repositioning of Europe within the global marketplace. Articulations of Capital offers a theoretically engaged and empirically grounded examination of the changing economic geographies of post-socialist Europe and the many ways in which those transformations have shaped and continue to shape the institutions, economies, and livelihoods of people in the region. Drawing on over 20 years of empirical research in the Bulgarian and Slovakian apparel industries, this book develops a new theorization of global value chains as part of a conjunctural economic geography and lays out a set of conceptual and theoretical arguments concerning the regional embeddedness of global production. The ideas and arguments presented in this book will reinvigorate and cast new light on debates over the economic geographies of European integration and EU enlargement, making Articulations of Capital essential reading for anyone interested in better understanding this region and its role in the global economy