Glen Norcliffe

The emergence of postmodernism on the urban waterfront: Geographical perspectives on changing relationships

Abstract As well attested to in the recent literature, the relationships between the port and urban functions of ‘cityports’ have altered dramatically over time. This paper first reviews some features of this changing relationship. Second, it considers how, just as the rise of ‘Fordism’ may find reflections in the movement of ports out of cities, so its cultural successor — postmodernism — helps us to understand the reoccupation of the derelict urban waterfronts by a range of ‘new’ land uses, as illustrated in the third part of this paper. Within this general transformation process three specific cityport themes are identified.

New Geographies of Comic Book Production in North America: The New Artisan, Distancing, and the Periodic Social Economy

Abstract Current interpretations of North American cultural production stress the spatial concentration of these activities in metropolitan centers. There are, however, multiple geographies of cultural production, with other cultural activities deconcentrated and, in some cases, dispersed to distant locations. This situation poses an enigma, since these activities normally form part of a social economy in which networks of personal communication remain important. This paradox is explored using the case of the comic book industry, which has shifted from an in-house Fordist-like mode of organization to widespread distancing employing neoartisanal workers who are sometimes located close to the publishing houses, but in other instances are at considerable distances and hence require electronic communication and overnight courier services. Comic book artists often work in isolation but participate from time to time in social activities that are necessary to their creative work. Their work is seen as one of a number of cultural activities that form a periodic social economy with a distinctive time geography.

Shift Work, Childcare and Domestic Work: Divisions of labour in Canadian paper mill communities

The growing prevalence of shift work and non-standard working hours is challenging many taken-for-granted notions about family and household life. This article examines how rotating shift schedules shape household strategies with regard to childcare and unpaid domestic work. In 1993-94 in-depth interviews were conducted with 90 predominantly male newsprint mill-workers and their spouses living in three communities located in different regions of Canada. The analysis in this article is based on these interviews as well as data collected in a questionnaire survey administered to a much larger sample. The article focuses on the effects of rotating shifts and the extent to which household strategies differ between households with one or two wage-earners. The findings reveal that the onus for adjusting to shifts fell mainly on the spouses of mill-workers, who felt constrained in their own choices regarding employment and childcare by the demanding regimen of their partners shift schedules. In the vast majority of households a traditional division of labour predominated with regard to both childcare and domestic work. When women quit paid employment to accommodate the schedules of shift-workers and ensure time for the family to be together, traditional values reassert themselves. Surprisingly, a high level of satisfaction with current shift schedules was found, despite the significant adjustments to family life they had necessitated. By comparing families employed in the same industry but living in three very different communities, the analysis underscores the importance of local circumstances in mediating the strategies households deploy in coping with shift work, especially with regard to childcare.

Using location quotients to estimate the economic base and trade flows

Norcliffe G. B. (1983) Using location quotients to estimate the economic base and trade flows, Reg. Studies 17, 161–168. Two modifications are introduced in an attempt to improve estimates of the economic base and trade flows based on location quotients. National consumption measures for each industry are used to control for imports into, and exports out of, the system as a whole. Regional consumption measures are used to capture the effects of a broad range of exogeneous employment that are omitted by measures based on manufacturing employment. The results indicate a modest improvement in the accuracy of predictions, and show that crosshauling is manifestly the main problem that must be overcome if estimates are to be improved further.

CYCLICAL FACTORS, TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE, CAPITAL MOBILITY, AND DEINDUSTRIALIZATION IN METROPOLITAN TORONTO

Major layoffs at manufacturing plants in Toronto between 1981 and 1984 are attributed to one of three primary causes: cyclical factors, technological change, and industrial restructuring. Our investigations show that one-half of the plant closures were due to cyclical factors, and that this subset included a number of innovative firms that became overcapitalized just as interest rates soared. Only 8 of 61 closures were due primarily to technological change. The remaining one-third of the plants, including a number of profitable operations, closed because of industrial restructuring. Industrial policies proposed by the City and Metropolitan Councils of Toronto have not slowed deindustrialization because they fail to address the fundamental causes of the problem. It is argued that proactive policies focusing on employment, rather than on industry, present a more promising approach to combatting deindustrialization.

NONMETROPOLITAN INDUSTRIALIZATION AND THE THEORY OF PRODUCTION

In his recent writings, Scott has used the theory of production to interpret locational dynamics within the metropolis. His interpretation puts particular emphasis on the locational repercussions of modern capitalist enterprise adopting new production techniques. These new techniques, which permit the substitution of capital for labor in a wide range of activities, and which create new possibilities for the division of labor, result in the decentralization of many activities within the modern metropolis. With a view to achieving greater generality, Scotts framework is modified here in such a way that it can account for contemporary locational dynamics throughout the modern capitalist space-economy. In particular, it offers an explanation of why many routine production activities are decentralizing to nonmetropolitan areas, and why assorted assembly, warehousing, and distributive activities are locating on the metropolitan fringe.

Operating characteristics of rural non-farm enterprises in Central Province, Kenya

Abstract The ILO has identified seven characteristics which describe the operation of informal sector enterprises. These operating characteristics are assessed using survey data on rural non-farm enterprises located in market centers in Central Province, Kenya. Two characteristics (family ownership and small scale of operation) appear to be entirely true, but the remaining five are in need of qualification. Not all activities use labour-intensive technologies, indeed some require fairly large capital inputs. Indigenous resources are not important in many rural non-farm activities. Some important business skills are acquired inside the formal school system. There are not insignificant barriers to entering the more profitable non-farm enterprises. And these barriers, in conjunction with other factors, limit competition in some activities in many of the market centres. It appears that the operators of the more profitable and technically more advanced enterprises are forming a rural petty bourgeoisie. Thus contrary to the ILO interpretation, growth of the rural non-farm sector may be associated with greater income inequalities.

A components model for disaggregating regional productivity variations

Norcliffe G. B. (1977) A components model for disaggregating regional productivity variations, Reg. Studies 11, 395–400. A model is presented that separates regional productivity performance into average, mix, scale and residual effects. This model is a components model, similar in form to the familiar shift-share model. Two structural effects are incorporated, namely the productivity component associated with the particular mix of industries in a region, and the productivity component associated with the size distribution of establishments within each industry. Canadian provincial data for 1969 is used to illustrate the model. The model has relevance to policy formulation as a heuristic but not as an explanatory device.

G-COT The Geographical Construction of Technology

This paper explores the process of technological innovation from a geographical perspective. Some explanations of technological change concentrate on the development of technology itself - in which makers play a central role, while other explanations focus more on consumption and the users of technology. In this paper, discussion will focus on interactions between makers and users, and on the particular places in which such interactions occur. It is proposed that these interactions, especially during the early phase of rapid product development, produce creative spaces. An adaptation of the social construction of technology (SCOT) model is therefore proposed which stresses the geographical settings in which rapid innovation occurs, and therefore is called geographical construction of technology (G-COT). The G-COT model is illustrated by the case of the Coventry bicycle industry from its foundation in 1869 to 1880 when this town had become the worlds largest center of bicycle production.

Capturing gains by relocating global production networks: the rise of Chongqing’s notebook computer industry, 2008–2014

Abstract In 2008 a new notebook manufacturing cluster was established in Chongqing in western China. By 2013 it accounted for some 25% of world output by volume. Chongqing’s ability to attract this manufacturing supply chain was driven by several factors that permitted strategic coupling: the existence of complex networks of cooperation and economies external to the firm but internal to contemporary global production networks; changed conditions in southeast and east China; and the creation by Chongqing Municipal People’s Government with central state support of hard and soft infrastructures and externalities that drove down logistic and production costs and permitted constant product innovation.