De la Croissance à la désindustrialisation

In the last third of the 19th century, the Valenciennes area experienced a second wind of growth, taking over from the first development which had begun with the discovery of coal. On the other hand, this industrial area, one of the most important, was subject to investment transfers painful for both firms and people. This book relates the history of a complex industrial décline : the transformation of the région can be explained by changes in national policies, world-wide technologies, the international economy, but also in the light of working conditions, ways of living, démographie behavior, social tensions with which international mechanisms interfère. How do économie realities and social forces operate ? How are felt periods of prosperity ? How and why crises ? The answers given for the Valenciennes région's évolution over a century should teach lessons for the future.