Class Conflict Theories_PPT

CLASS CONFLICT THEORIES_GORDON

A. A class conflict approach to urban development was introduced by the economist David Gordon. 

B. The locations of industrial factories, chosen by the capitalists, depend on –

1. The Economic needs.
2. The desire to remove their workers from areas of union organizing.

C. To Gordon, owners of businesses prefer to locate in places where workers are not as militant as they are in cities with a long labor tradition.

D. Gordon studied the history of US industries, from late 1800s to 1900s, when workers were especially militant. 

E. Evidently, the owners of factories decided to relocate to the suburbs or to more isolated places as the workers in cities engaged in strikes. 

F. Hence, to control labor conflict, owners often relocate their factories to the outlying areas of large cities. 

G. Consequently, urban development assumed a regional, multi-centered form, because it led to the sub-urbanization of factories.

CLASS CONFLICT THEORIES_STORPER & WALKER

A. Michael Storper and David Walker have expanded Gordon’s approach. 

B. The location of the factories largely depends on the availability of labor force. 

C. Businesses often choose to locate in a specific place, because of marketing and production costs (including transportation). 

D. Walker and Storper’s “Labor Theory of Location” argues that the commodity, labor, is unique. Its quality depends on –

1. The physical attributes of the worker,
2. His or her training and interest in being a part of a union, and 
3. The rights and benefits offered by the organization.

D. The shift in manufacturing to Asia is caused predominantly by labor force considerations.  These include –

1. The presence and availability cheap labor, and
2. The particular qualities of the workers.

E. In the electronics and garment industries in Asia, the workforce has certain characteristics – 

1. They are docile, easily controlled workforce. 
2. They are kept bound by the conditions of work from living productive family and social lives.
3. The workers are overwhelmingly skilled female, young, and unmarried.

• Hands are small, and 
• Works fast with extreme care.

F. The quality of labor vary across the nations, depending on – 

1. The quality of schools and training facilities. 
2. The presence of a union tradition in the local area. 
3. Particular cultural conditions, such as extreme patriarchy that subjugates women workers.

G. Storper and Walker suggest that their approach is applicable to the entire globe.

H. The Multi-national Corporations (MNCs) decisions of location of industries follows “international division of labor”.

1. Locate their activities by choosing places around the globe that have.

• Cheap and compliant labor. 

I. In short, the qualities of labor are the determining factors in industrial location.

References

1. Flanagan, W. G. 2010. Urban Sociology: Images and Structure. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., Maryland
2. Gottdiener, M. and Hutchison, R. 2011. The New Urban Sociology (4th ed.). Westview Press, Colorado