Detalles del documento

NAFTA is part of the evolving entrenchment in globalization and the consolidation of the post-Fordist/postmodern era. Globalization is not a new phenomenon, but its intensification since the 70s in the form of industrial restructuring and trade liberalization has created a new set of economic and social conditions that have far reaching impacts for countries around the world. Moody (1995) suggests that the deindustrialization in the Canada-US rust belt gave rise to the “shanty industrialization” in Mexico; formerly well-paid, often unionized workers in the north are replaced or displaced by a growing body of “contingent workers” both at home and in partner countries. A central feature of globalization in the current era is the increased mobility of capital aided by both formal and informal free trade agreements (NAFTA, APEC, EU; ASEAN) and policies of modernization/development. This increased mobility of capital is driven by and in turn supports a drive towards increased flexibility of production systems (Drache and Gertler 1991) and flexible workforce deployment (Moody 1995) within and across territorial boundaries.