International Relocation of Steel Production: U.S.A. and Brasil

Abstract

There has been a general shift in the location of steel production over the last 15 years away from developed countries towards developing countries. The shift is similar to those documented in their industries like cars and textiles, but the reasons for the shift are different partly because steel is not produced by multinational corporations. This thesis examines part of the shift in steel production. specifically its decline in the United States and its expansion in Brasil. An analysis of changing class relationships around steel production over the most recent cycle of accumulation is conducted for each country. The importance of indigenous class forces in determining the course of industrial development is emphasized. in contrast with most of the radical literature on industrial development which considers third world growth to be externally imposed. The thesis makes two major contributes to the literature. First a theory of international development which is consistent with realist-marxist principles is provided. This theory also integrates the economic and political branches of marxist theory through an analysis of competition, a subject relatively absent from most marxist analyses. Secondly, research at a concrete level is conducted which illustrates the strengths and usefulness of the realist-marxist theory. By analyzing an industry (steel) that in its institutional organization and physical structure is different from other industries that have been examined empirically, different kinds of social relationships are found to be important in determining the pattern of international development. An explanation of the shift in steel production is provided therefore which also demonstrates practically the realist argument that causes of Industrial development are both abstract and specific: specific to places, times and branches of production. Most of the existing radical literature on international development identifies only causes that are specific to certain cases.