The Causes of Deindustrialization: The Migration of the Cotton Textile Industry from New England to the South

Numerous historians of deindustrialization argue that industrieswent into decline because established manufacturers moved productionto cheaper locales to escape unions and high wages. A differentpattern of decline occurred in the New England cotton textileindustry, where downsizing began in the 1920s. Rather than fleeingtheir home area to build facilities elsewhere, most New Englandmanufacturers were driven out of business by lower-cost competitorsin the American South. Southerners founded, managed, and financeda heavy majority of the textile companies in their region. Althoughsome New England firms did set up Southern plants, this wasa defensive reaction to changing market realities. New competitorshave brought about deindustrialization in other core U.S. industries.Recognizing this trend is important for a full understandingof the political economy of modern capitalism.