ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the strategies adopted by one important group of manufacturers in the textile center of Roubaix-Tourcoing in the region of the Nord adjacent to Belgium. The traditional, family-owned firms, which dominate the textile industry, have survived the economic problems by working together to limit the impact of major changes in the industry’s technological base, in international patterns of competition, and in the character of the workforce. The French government has been an active partner with traditional textile firms in attempting to preserve the existing structures. An alternative explanation for the origins of dual labor markets focuses on the political functions served by the preservation of traditional groups in modern industrial societies. The decline in the importance of the frontaliers has led to a reduction in the proportion of female workers, since only about 17 percent of the immigrants are female while 40 percent of the frontaliers are women.
