Deindustrialization and Reindustrialization Re-Connected. Comparing Developments in the Global South and the Global North from the 1970s to the Present Day

International conference on the dynamics of de- and re-industrialization across the globe.

In the western world and in post-communist Europe, the history of deindustrialization is typically told as a story of decline in heavy industry activity. However, the global industrial output has roughly doubled between 1989 and 2019 - mostly due to the emergence of new production and manufacturing hubs in China and the global South. Hence, on a global level, deindustrialization is intimately woven into processes of industrialization. This is also true for some old heartlands of the heavy industry, where production has been preserved and even developed. This process is likely to continue due to the crisis of globalization and the increasing awareness of its ecological side effects. The conference will bring together historians and social scientists from all over the world to discuss the past, the possible futures, and the broader meaning of industrial production in the contemporary global context.

Organizers:  Arbeiterkammer and the Institut für historische Sozialforschung, Institute for Social Movements (Ruhr-Universität Bochum), Leibniz Institute for East and Southeast European Studies (Regensburg), Research Center for the History of Transformations and East Central Europe (University of Vienna)

If you wish to take part in person as an external participant, please contact Irena Remestwenski.