The essays in this book provide the elements for a new theory of spatial development to explain the new socio-territorial reality produced by global restructuring in the 1970s and 1980s. The contributors all account for the contemporary territorial units by focusing on global economic dynamics and the history of particular places. The book looks at restructuring in the automobile and electronics industries; the significance of migrant labour and the informal economy; the consequences of female proletarianization in Southeast Asia; the implications for regional development of the incorporation of Mexico and Malaysia in the world economy; the internationalization of commercial capital and the development of financial centres;

This book offers a unique look at world inequality, by comparing the development problems and prospects of these two regions in the context of global restructuring and NAFTA.

Offers a look at world inequality by comparing the development problems and prospects of southern Mexico and the US South in the context of global restructuring and NAFTA. Both regions have a history and legacy as labour-repressive producers of primary commodities. However, the US South today encompasses poles of considerable wealth and poverty, while the Mexican South remains mired in the world periphery. Ranging from the Mexico-US apparel connection and the restructuring of Mexico's coffee farming to agribusiness and immigration in Florida, the contributors trace the past and future of these two Souths.

Examining the current trends in regional economic development in Europe, Restructuring Industry and Territory explores ways in which the restructuring of industry and territorial development relate to each other, their emergent interdependency and role in economic development. The book argues that the structural and cultural features of regions play an important part in helping or hindering concerted policies for regional development. Using case studies from different industries in a variety of regions, the contributors show that the pressures for restructuring, such as internationalisation or even 'globalisation', have been mediated by formerly nationally rooted industries in Europe becoming increasingly integrated, due to the ongoing processes of technological and organisational innovation, and political regulation.

Thinking about development and the environment simultaneously is one of the biggest scientific and societal challenges of the 21st century. Understanding the interactions between biophysical systems and human activities in an era of global change requires overcoming disciplinary divides and opening up new epistemological perspectives. This book explores these challenges using a territorial lens. Combining various scales of analyses (from global to local) and contexts (both urban and rural) in the North and in the South, it analyzes the relationships between environment and development through a variety of geographical objects (i.e. cities, rural and agricultural areas, coastlines, watershed), themes (i.e. ecological transitions, food, energy, transport, agriculture, mining activities) and methodologies (i.e. qualitative and quantitative approaches, modeling, in situ measurements). By engaging in a dialogue between social science and natural science disciplines, within different fields and with a variety of forms of knowledge production, this book provides essential information for understanding and reading the complexity of a globalized world. This book is targeted at academics and students in social sciences and at stakeholders in the field of territorial and environmental management.