Throughout the world, a sense of crisis has settled in like a nightmare
that refuses to leave. We look towards the horizon with apprehension.
Major changes are afoot. Older industrial regions, once rich and
powerful, stand by helplessly as factories close down. Poor countries
are sliding into bankruptcy, unable even to feed their populations. In a
few scattered enclaves, called ex- port platforms, new manufacturing
plants spring up overnight: they employ predominantly young, unmarried
women and ship their products to unknown destinations overseas. Small
companies are eaten up by bigger ones which, in turn, are absorbed by
still larger conglomerates. Some industrial sectors are wiped out
altogether. Tensions between states are increasing. More and more
countries are coming under military rule. Torture and terrorism are
turned into tools of official state policy. Civil wars are fought in
Central America, Northern Africa, and Southeast Asia. International
conflict flares up be- tween Britain and Argentina, Iraq and Iran,
Ethiopia and Somalia. Economic growth has slowed to a crawl. Inflation
undercuts the livelihood of the poor. The small producer is ruined. It
appears that we are involved in a major restructuring of the capitalist
world. The problems are profits, capital accumulation, and efficiency in
pro- duction. To make the indicators point up, whole regions are
sacrificed, new technologies are put in place, and new locational
patterns are created as the world is carved up into a new international
division oflabor.
