As China Sews, Few US Mills Left

Towns like Erwin, North Carolina, are examples of the devastating impact of the mobility of textile manufacturing. Once a capital of denim fabrication, today Erwin is desolate and has few jobs to offer its citizens. Erwin's difficulties are linked to the greater decline of US textile mills – the number of people employed in them has dropped to 670,000 from 1.6 million in 1994 - and the rise of fabric imports from all over the world. There is much debate, however, as to whether the decline of the American textile factory is a bad thing. To be sure, the closing of mills has forced many workers to seek lower-paying jobs elsewhere. But as part of a larger structural readjustment, a shift away from manufacturing can signal a move towards better-paying service work, such as biotechnology and telecommunications. For the people of Erwin, however, working at the mill was stable and community-oriented, and the mill's disappearance has also meant the loss of an entire way of life. – YaleGlobal