The Political Economy of Deindustrialization: Causes, Consequences, Implications

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.

Ray Kiely is Professor of International Politics at Queen Mary University of London. His books include The BRICs, US ’Decline’ and Global Transformations (2015) and The Neoliberal Paradox (2018) .