Sistema produtivo industrial e território : um estudo da têxtil em Guimarães

Abstract

This article is offered as a contribution to a more integrated analysis of Médio Ave's «territorial complex» and to provide a study of the textiles/clothes industry which is a prépondérant sector due to the following factors: the amount of labour force engaged in; its present dynamics; the important role it plays (since at least one century) in the framing and (re)production of the territorial pattern of the scattered population and activities. This text is primarily concerned with the analysis of the local textiles/clothes productive system, i.e., the production organization and the management of labour force, the enterprise structures and the local employment system. Attention is also focussed both on the evolution processes and their local/regional features and on the inserting of the export sector into the international production branch. Given that in such a complex field, the local social-territorial structures may offer strong contrasts and since general statements require some moderation, one deals mainly with Guimarães council («concelho») which is part of that área above called Médio Ave.