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3,000 factories in Northern mexico Average wage is 1-2 dollars/hour “sweatshop” like conditions Result primarily of NAFTA Mostly American, European, and Japanese companies Competition from China is putting many of these Mexican factories out of business.
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3,000 factories in Northern mexico Average wage is 1-2 dollars/hour “sweatshop” like conditions Result primarily of NAFTA Mostly American, European, and Japanese companies Competition from China is putting many of these Mexican factories out of business. Export Processing Zones: ex. Maquiladoras in Northern Mexico
Sassen – Chapter 1, pgs. 1-13. • Begins with the big paradox…. • Cities were supposed to become obsolete • Telematics • Capital mobility • Together these would make “place” irrelevant • And, yes, since 1970 there has been a generalized trend towards geographic dispersal
Yet… • This is only half the story of the last 30 years. • A new strategic role for SOME cities has emerged since the 1980s • …growing concentration of… • Highly-specialized activities • Top-level management • Control operations • Low-wage and low-profit sectors • Thus, the new economy is still “PLACE-BOUND”
These two apparently contradictory trends are, in fact, LINKED!!! • Dispersal itself generates a demand for specific types of specialized services (legal, accounting, insurance) • EX. A large TNC that produces commodities in EPZs in 30 different countries
What do the global cities do? • (1) command points in the organization of the global economy • (2) key locations and marketplaces for the leading industries of the current period; i.e. finance and specialized services (PS, FIRE) • (3) major sites of production, including the production of innovations, for these industries
Global cities in a Network • Global cities are more connected to each other, than they are to their respective states; and by definition, non-global cities in their respective states
The consequence is… • Sharpening inequality between the global cities and the non-global cities • Ex. Milwaukee vs. Chicago • Paris vs. Marseilles • Frankfurt vs. Hamburg • Sao Paolo vs. Rio de Janeiro
What does THIS mean for global geography of wealth? • Global North vs. Global South
Internal Geography of the Global City • Deepening inequality • These changes produce HUGE increases in demand for low-end services (low-skill jobs) • Buildings need to be cleaned • Food needs to be prepared • Baristas need to make espresso • Suits and pant suits need to be dry-cleaned • Trophy children need to be nannied • Sushi needs to be prepared
PINK = new immigrants RED = PS/FIRE Workers
Changes in the “geography of flows” • Three chapters to economic globalization • 1: 1800-1945; Euro colonialism • 2: 1945-1970; Pax Americana • 3: 1970-present; the “triad”