The postfordist restructuring in Manresa: local agents’ strategies in a global logic

Abstract

There is a dialectical relationship between global processes and localities. Global transformations condition places, but places also have the capacity to follow their own track. An empirical sample of this theoretical discussion is presented here through the case of Manresa. The city’s process of deindustrialization in the last 40 years is analysed from the revision of the essential publications about the topic and the available statistics. The strategies to face this process of some local agents of the city are also analysed, based on semi-structured interviews. It is noted that unlike other places, in Manresa, the main local agents have been unable to construct a common front to solve the problems that the city is facing. It is necessary, therefore, to pay attention to the initiatives arising outside political or economic institutions.

Keywords: deindustrialization, local initiative, postfordist city, Manresa.