ABSTRACT
Deindustrialization is painful for many communities across North America. How the process of deindustrialization proceeds, however, is not based on the free market’s ‘invisible hand’; rather, deindustrialization unfolds in a contested political arena, where the interests of politicians, corporations, business owners, and workers collide. With the collapse of manufacturing in many cities, casinos have been increasingly viewed as a means to transition cities from industrial to postindustrial economies—in the case of Windsor, Ontario, from cars to casinos. Casino campaigns by state actors and casino operators typically emphasize anticipated economic gains. The promises of casinos have proven compelling with a resulting surge in casino development across Canada and the US since the early 1990s.
Policymakers continue to promote the development of casinos under the pretext that they will help cope with deindustrialization. Despite these promises, casinos are generally understood to come with social costs, particularly that of problem gambling. Much of the opposition in potential host communities is based on this presumed cost. A major challenge for governments looking to develop casinos as a revenue source has been to overcome such resistance. Accordingly, policymakers often stress how casinos will contribute to the “public good” of host communities through revenue generation, economic diversification, and employment. However, what casinos do—and do not do—for host communities in terms of economic growth remains debated.
