‘The Little Town That Did': Flexible Accumulation and Community Response in Chemainus, British Columbia

Abstract

B A R N E S T. J . and HAYTER R. (1992) 'The little town that did': flexible accumulation and community response in Cheniainus, British Columbia, R q . Studies 26, 647-663. As a result of corporate restructuring within the forest products corporation of MacMillan Hloedel, the sawmill at Chemainus, British Columbia, closed down in 1983 resulting in over 650 workers being laid-off. When the new mill reopened over two years later, computerized sawmill technology had been installed, and just over 140 workers were employed. During the same period the town itself was transformed as a series of giant murals depicting local historical events were painted which, in turn, precipitated what has beconic a vcry successful tourist industry. The purpose of the papcr is to show that these two events arc linked, that they are the result of the same wider changes within the international economy, namely, thc advent of flexible accuniulation. More generally, drawing upon the works of David Harvey and Harold Innis we argue that different types of accumulation produce specific geographies. The changes occurring in Chernainus over the last forty years perfectly illustrate the geographical consequences inherent in the move from a Fordist regime to one based on flexibility. Single industry towns Forestry Restructuring Murals B A R N E S T. J . et H A Y T E R R . (1992) 'La petite v i k qui l'a fait': l'accumulation souple et la rtponsc de la communautC i Chemainus, dans le British Colunibia, R q . Studies 26, 647463. Suite i la rcstructuration d'entreprisc au sein de la socit-tt-MacMillan Bloedel, chantier de bois, la scieric situCe i Chemainus dans le British Columbia a fermC ses portes en 1983. I1 en a risulti 650 licencicments. A la rkouverture de la nouvelle scierie plus de deux am plus tard, Ies installations comportaient la nouvelle technologie i coniniande numtrique et un peu plus de 140 salaries avaient PtC embauchts. Sur la mCme piriode la ville ellemime a subi une transformation sous fornie d'une sPrie de gigantesqucs pcinturcs niurales illustrant des ivinements historiques locaux, cc qui a entrain6 P son tour I'essor du tourisnie. Cct article chcrchc i d h o n t r e r que ces deux Cvtnements sont lies I'un, I'autre, qu'ils remontent aux m&mes transformations au sein de I'iconomie internationale dont la portke est plus grande, P savoir la naissance de I'accumulation souple. Tout en se rCf6rant au travail de David Harvey et Harold Innis cet article raisonnc de faqon plus gtntrale que des giographies particuliPres remontent aux types d'accumulation diffkrcnts. Les transformations qui sc sont produits 1 Cheniainus au cows des quarante dernitres anndcs montrent parfaitement les retombies geographiques qui s'attachent au changement d'un systkme du type Fordiste P celui fondt sur la souplcssc. Ville mono-industrielle Sylviculture Restructuration Pcinturcs niurales B A R N E S T. J . und H A Y T E R R . (1992) 'Die Kleinstadt, die's geschafft hat': Flexible Akkumulation iind koniniunale Reaktion in Chemainus, Britisch Columbia, R q ....

Small Sawmills Persevere While the Majors Close: Evaluating Resilience and Desirable Timber Allocation in British Columbia, Canada

“…A focus on the British Columbia interior region is appropriate, given that the great majority of logging and sawmilling now occurs there, and because the period of "flexible production" and "flexible specialization" on the coast which moved sawmilling beyond the traditional Fordist model of mass production has now largely passed in that region http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol18/iss2/art34/ (Young and Matthews 2007). Fordism refers to the simultaneous existence of three conditions: oligopolistic corporations investing large capital in mass production mills, organized labor with stable employment, and government providing social services but charging only low royalties (Barnes and Hayter 1992). The depression of the 1980s caused the move from Fordism to flexible specialization on the coast (Barnes and Hayter 1992) while the Asian economic crisis of 1997 largely ended it (Hoberg 2001).…”

“…Fordism refers to the simultaneous existence of three conditions: oligopolistic corporations investing large capital in mass production mills, organized labor with stable employment, and government providing social services but charging only low royalties (Barnes and Hayter 1992). The depression of the 1980s caused the move from Fordism to flexible specialization on the coast (Barnes and Hayter 1992) while the Asian economic crisis of 1997 largely ended it (Hoberg 2001). In the interior of the province, the traditional Fordist model has been only somewhat altered by the large mills Hayter 1992, Hayter andBarnes 1997), and it is the small mills which have pursued flexible specialization consistently, as discussed below.…”

“…The depression of the 1980s caused the move from Fordism to flexible specialization on the coast (Barnes and Hayter 1992) while the Asian economic crisis of 1997 largely ended it (Hoberg 2001). In the interior of the province, the traditional Fordist model has been only somewhat altered by the large mills Hayter 1992, Hayter andBarnes 1997), and it is the small mills which have pursued flexible specialization consistently, as discussed below. All the mills in our study are considered primary manufacturers.…”

“…A variety of scholars therefore argue that a shift is needed towards more flexible forms of management that are more adaptable and responsive (Berkes andFolke 1998, Dietz et al 2003). Flexibility has also been applied to the strategies of individual sawmills and types of sawmills which already had adapted to or were sometimes forced to adapt to market changes by moving to "flexible specialization" (Barnes and Hayter 1992). We use the concept of flexibility in this sense.…”

‘Cursed’ Communities? Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Company Towns and the Mining Industry in Namibia

“…In relation to the former, considerable attention in the literature has been given to examining industrial logging communities in North America. This literature addresses a range of issues in such communities including migration (Halseth, 1999), employment change (Barnes et al, 1999), and responses to industry restructuring and closure (Barnes and Hayter, 1992). While forest logging communities are neither homogenous nor the same as mining resource towns, there are commonalities between these types of resource community.…”