Technical Changes and the Rate of Profit in the Canadian Textile, Knitting, and Clothing Industries

Abstract

In this paper the histories of profitability and accumulation in the textile, knitting, and clothing industries of Canada are examined, over the period 1952–81. These histories are quite different from those of other industries and of Canadian manufacturing as a whole. In the clothing industry, capitalists have relied upon increasing rates of exploitation to maintain their high rates of profit, and there has been only limited technical change; in the textile industry, the technical composition of capital has risen, and its negative effects on profitability have been offset by changes in the turnover time and the rate of exploitation; the knitting industry lies between these two extremes.