Introduction: The apparel industry and North American economic integration
Abstract
The economic and social consequences of international trade agreements have become
a major area of inquiry in development studies in recent years. As evidenced by the
energetic protests surrounding the Seattle meeting of the World Trade Organization
(WTO) in December 1999 and the controversy about China's admission to the WTO, such
agreements have also become a focus of political conflict in both the developed and
developing countries. At issue are questions of job gains and job losses in different
regions, prices paid by consumers, acceptable standards for wages and working conditions
in transnational manufacturing industries, and the quality of the environment. All
these concerns have arisen with regard to the North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA) and can be addressed through an examination of changes in the dynamics of
the apparel industry in the post-NAFTA period.1 In this book, we examine the evolution
of the apparel industry in North America in order to address some of these questions
as they pertain to North America, with an eye toward the broader implications of our
findings. We also consider the countries of the Caribbean Basin and Central America,
whose textile and apparel goods are now allowed to enter the U.S. market on the same
basis as those from Canada and Mexico (Odessey 2000). © 2009 by Temple University
Press. All rights reserved.
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Gary Gereffi
Professor Emeritus of Sociology
Gary Gereffi's major ongoing research projects are: (1) a book (co-authored with
Frederick Mayer) on the uptake of the global value chain paradigm by major international
organizations in the economic and social development arena; (2) a forthcoming co-edited
volume with Valentina De Marchi and Eleonora Di Maria on Local Clusters in Global
Value Chains: Linking Actors and Territories Through Manufacturing and Innovation
(Routledge, 2017); (3) work with the World Bank and the Inter-Ame

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