Free Trade & Uneven Development

"Free Trade and Uneven Development is a superb collection of essays that seeks to understand the process of globalization through an intensive geographical focus on North America and a sectoral emphasis on the apparel industry, all in the context of examining the impact of an important regional trade agreement. This rich, complex micro look illuminates broad trends shaping globalization and defines the costs and consequences of various trajectories. This book is an exceptionally important and unique contribution to the burgeoning literature on globalization."-Harley Shaiken, Professor of Social and Cultural Studies and Geography, University of California, Berkeley "There are no books that I know of that provide such a comparative analysis of the garment industry in light of NAFTA. The chapters all break new ground in their topics, yet are unified by the common theme of North American apparel integration, and the common theoretical framework of global commodity chains. The editors have assembled an impressive array of scholars, and the topic could not be more timely."-Richard Appelbaum, Professor of Sociology and Global and International Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara "What the reader gets from this book is a subtle and nuanced picture of the effects of trade liberalization and NAFTA on the interfirm linkages, profitability, and employment prospects in the apparel industry...the overall quality of the contributions to this volume is very good."-Work and Occupations "[P]rovides an innovative model for analyzing a global industry, and will be very useful to students of international development, industrial relations, and economic sociology."-Contemporary Sociology