Ethnic Minorities and Industrial Change in Europe and North America

Western industrial societies underwent a massive transformation during the 1980s, and this was particularly noticeable in the older cities whose economies were based on labour-intensive industry. In the period following World War II, racial and ethnic minorities who migrated from overseas, or from the rural areas within the same country, formed a pool of low-paid labour upon which the prosperity of the industrial city depended. With the subsequent reorganisation of these economies, industrial production shifted overseas, while the new technological industries expanded locally, requiring fewer, and better skilled workers. The consequence for those seemingly excluded from the prosperity of the post-industrial age was disastrous. In this collection of essays, which was published in 1992 and edited by Malcolm Cross, leading authorities compare the situation of racial minorities in the post-industrial cities of Europe and North America, and examine ways in which their position can be ameliorated.