The focus of this chapter is firmly on the idea of negative deindustrialization, and so acceptance of the idea that deindustrialization in the Global North is a problem that requires explanation. The argument considered here is that deindustrialization in the countries of the North is indeed a problem, and it is one that has been caused by the rise of industrialization in the Global South. The precise mechanisms vary, from relocation of manufacturing from the North to the South, through fluctuations in exchange- rate valuations, to competition from cheaper imports from the South. These sub- explanations are not mutually exclusive however, and they all essentially agree that industrialization in the South has caused deindustrialization in the North. We shall see however that there are left- and right- wing versions of this argument and there is some disagreement – as well as overlap – about what should be done about this process.

This chapter considers this argument in detail. It starts by examining some earlier arguments, made from the 1970s onwards, concerning a new international division of labour, part of which was the rise of manufacturing in the Global South. The section considers some of these contentions, and problematizes the evidence made for them, at least as they were made in the 1970s and 1980s. Despite these problems, the second section shows how similar approaches developed in the context of debates around globalization, from the 1990s onwards. This second section shows how left- wing anti- globalization voices developed arguments which suggested that mobile capital encouraged a race to the bottom in terms of labour standards. But it also shows how right- wing anti- globalization thinking developed in this period as well, and these claims are considered in some detail, with particular reference to the Trump Republicans, both in the run- up to the 2016 election victory and beyond. Some comparison and contrast is made with the left-wing anti- globalization of the Democrats, trade unions and so on. The third section subjects these arguments to critical scrutiny, through an examination of data in both the Global North and South. Some tentative conclusions are drawn, which are considered further in the chapters that follow.