ABSTRACT
At the end of the twentieth century the social and economic world is being transformed in many significant ways. The globalization of markets for goods and services facilitated by GATT, technological innovation and cheaper transportation costs has led to an intensification of economic competition between firms, regions and nation states (Dicken, 1992). Advances in information technology have contributed to increased levels of productivity and to the development of flexible forms of accumulation offering the opportunity of high-value, low-volume manufacturing in place of the mass production of standardized products. In Western Europe and North America the threat of global competition has led to the creation of regional trading blocs to enhance economic growth and cooperation. Such changes have led to considerable speculation about the enduring significance of new forms of social and economic organization. However, there is little agreement as to whether the emergence of more 'flexible' modes of capitalist accumulation represents a shift in surface appearance or signs of some entirely new post-industrial, post-Fordist or post-modern society (Harvey, 1989).
