AMERICAN LABOR IN INTERNATIONAL LEAN PRODUCTION by Kim Moody The decline of organized labor as a social force in the United States now appears so old in origins and so advanced in toward finality as to defy any linkage with particular economic circumstances or periods. Yet, there is a difference between the decades of the 1950s through most of the 1970s when economic growth and industrial migration simply outstripped a complacent labor movement, on the one hand; and the era of dramatic economic change and restructuring that became evident in the 1980s when labor's ranks in the U.S. first dropped in absolute numbers, on the other. Somewhere in the late 1970s, the U.S. political economy passed from the era of Keynesian-based liberal or corporatist statism to that of neoliberalism. Increasingly, much of the world followed suit in both policy and practice. The era of neoliberalism can be described as that of a rapidly accelerating internationalization of economic life and the subsequent increase of world market forces; the transformation of the Keynesian or corporatist state through deregulation and privatization linking domestic markets to international market forces; the almost constant reorganization of business through mergers, acquisitions, and divestments under the pressure of competition; and the spread of a new production paradigm generally known lean production that constantly attempts to adapt to these forces. Taken together these changes have led to a world in which market forces are both more powerful and volatile. The bulk of this paper is concerned with the impact of lean production on workers and their unions, particularly in the U.S. But some background on the international context is required to understand the dynamics of lean production itself. THE NEW WORLD ECONOMY The first aspect of the new world economy is, in fact, an old one. Despite decades of investment in and trade with the economic South, the world remains characterized by uneven development and severe economic inequality. The proportion of world (market economies) manufacturing output within the OECD (developed) nations of the North was 85.4% in 1970 and 81.6% in 1988 (World Bank 1988: 236-237) That is, the developed industrial nations lost less than 4 percentage points of output in almost two decades. Looking at world trade (among the market economies), the developing economies increased their share of world manufacturing trade from 11% in 1966 to 14% in 1986. Most of these shifts were accounted for by 6 developing countries (United Nations 1990: 70). One result of this persistent unevenness is the huge gap in incomes between the OECD nations and the rest of the world. While per capita GNP averaged $21,530 in the OECD countries in 1991, it was $2,480 in the middle income nations and a disastrous $350

Mexico: Class Formation, Capital Accumulation, and the State

American Labor in International Lean Production

Based on an analysis of Mexican industrial history, the objective of this study was to identify the historical events and factors which shaped the international business perspectives and management strategies of Mexican industrial groups (MIGs). To this end, the evolution of MIGs is traced over the course of 170 years and through three distinct phases of Mexican political and economic history: pre‐industrial era (1821‐1940); industrial boom (1940‐1970); and economic crisis and reform (1970‐1990). The subsequent analysis indicates a combination of historical factors resulting in two conditions ‐ domestic orientation and dependent development ‐ which caused MIGs to focus almost exclusively on the Mexican market and to shun international markets and competition.

A historical analysis of the international business perspectives of Mexican industrial groups

People's responses in a time of crisis: Marginalization in the upper Gulf of California

En este articulo se analiza el regionalismo en la clase media de Hermosillo, Sonora. La acentuacion del sentimiento regionalista reflejado en la reificacion de lo sonorense y en el rechazo a la cultura y gente del sur de Mexico se remonta al papel que la clase media juega en el proceso de desarrollo economico.El regionalismo surge como consecuencia de la forma en que la clase media ha sido incluida y excluida del proceso de modernizacion de la agricultura que se inicio posterior a 1940. La inclusion y exclusion se estudian a la luz de los conceptos de competencia, invasion y dominacion. Los resultados se basan en entrevistas, fuentes primarias y secundarias y en la observacion participante. ABSTRACT Regionalism is analyzed in middle-class people of Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico. The accentuation of regional sentiments, reflected in a reification of things Sonoran and a rejection of culture and people from southern Mexico, is traced to the middle class's role in the process of economic development. Regionalism arose as a consequence of the way the middle class was included in and excluded from the project of the modernization of agriculture initiated after 1940. Inclusion and exclusion are examined in light of the concepts of competition, invasion and domination. The results are based on interviews, primary and secondary sources and participant observation.

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Regionalism and the middle class: The case of Hermosillo, Sonora

For an appreciation of the influence of Ricardo Flores Magon on Mexican political history, it is not enough to examine how his July 1906 program shaped the course of the Revolution of 1910–20 and became institutionalized in the 1917 Constitution. One must also consider the impact of his September 1911 program for a revolution in the revolution, first, in challenging reformist tendencies within the Mexican Communist Party during its fitful history and, second, in inspiring the insurgent Left since World War II. Such a study reveals that the Magonist legacy did not exhaust itself during the early years of the Revolution, but continued to be consequential outside the political mainstream until at least the 1970s. It was a contradictory legacy with contradictory results.

Mexico: Class Formation, Capital Accumulation, and the State

Citations

American Labor in International Lean Production

A historical analysis of the international business perspectives of Mexican industrial groups

People's responses in a time of crisis: Marginalization in the upper Gulf of California

Regionalism and the middle class: The case of Hermosillo, Sonora

The Political Heirs of Ricardo Flores Magón

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