ABSTRACT
The literature on industrial districts seems to have reached something of an impasse. On one side the proponents of industrial districts sit around their camp-fires, supposedly wild-eyed with enthusiasm, talking flexible specialization and post-Fordism. On the other side are a series of supposedly grim-faced critics, shouting destructive comments about globalization and corporate networks from out of the mist. This paper is an attempt to break out of this often acrimonious impasse. We want to take the emergence of new localized industrial complexes seriously, but we want to set them firmly within a context of expanding global corporate networks.
