Free-trade zone
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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| - | :The concept of [[detournement]] has had a popular influence amongst contemporary [[radical]]s, and the technique can be seen in action in the present day when looking at the work of [[Culture Jammer]]s including [[Adbusters]], whose 'subvertisements' 'detourn' [[Nike, Inc.|Nike]] adverts, for example. In this case the original advertisement's imagery is altered in order to draw attention to said company's policy of shifting their production base to cheap-labour third-world '[[free trade zone]]s'. However, the line between 'recuperation' and 'detournement' can become thin (or at least very fuzzy) at times, as [[Naomi Klein]] points out in her book ''[[No Logo]]''. Here she details how [[corporation]]s such as Nike, [[Pepsi]] or [[Diesel]] have approached Culture Jammers and Adbusters (sometimes successfully) and offered them lucrative contracts in return for partaking in 'ironic' promotional campaigns. She points out further irony by drawing attention to merchandising produced in order to promote Adbusters' [[Buy Nothing day]], an example of the recuperation of detournement (or of culture eating itself) if ever there was one. Klein's arguments about irony reifying rather than breaking down power structures is echoed by [[Slavoj Zizek]]. Zizek argues that the kind of distance opened up by detournement is the condition of possibility for ideology to operate: by attacking and distancing oneself from the sign-systems of capital, the subject creates a fantasy of transgression that "covers up" his/her actual complicity with capitalism as an overarching system. | + | |
| + | A '''free trade zone''' ('''FTZ''') or '''export processing zone''' ('''EPZ''') is one or more special areas of a country where some normal [[trade barrier]]s such as [[tariff]]s and [[Quota share|quotas]] are eliminated and [[Bureaucracy|bureaucratic requirements]] are lowered in hopes of attracting new business and [[Foreign direct investment|foreign investments]]. Free trade zones can be defined as [[Labor intensity|labor intensive]] [[manufacturing]] centers that involve the import of [[raw material]]s or components and the export of [[factory]] products. | ||
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| + | Most FTZs are located in [[Developing country|developing countries]]. Bureaucracy is typically minimized by outsourcing it to the FTZ operator and corporations setting up in the zone may be given [[tax break]]s as an additional incentive. Usually, these zones are set up in underdeveloped parts of the host country, the rationale being that the zones will attract employers and thus reduce poverty and unemployment and stimulate the area's economy. These zones are often used by [[multinational corporation]]s to set up factories to produce goods (such as clothing or shoes). | ||
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| + | Free trade zones in [[Latin America]] date back to the early decades of the 20th century. The first free trade regulations in this region were enacted in Argentina and Uruguay in the 1920s. However, the rapid development of free trade zones across the region dates from the late 1960s and the early 1970s. | ||
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| + | In 1999, there were 43 million people working in about 3000 FTZs spanning 116 [[countries]] producing [[clothes]], [[shoe]]s, [[Sneaker (footwear)|sneakers]], [[Consumer electronics|electronics]], and [[toy]]s. The basic objectives of EPZs are to enhance foreign exchange earnings, develop export-oriented industries and to generate employment opportunities. | ||
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Revision as of 22:42, 22 August 2008
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A free trade zone (FTZ) or export processing zone (EPZ) is one or more special areas of a country where some normal trade barriers such as tariffs and quotas are eliminated and bureaucratic requirements are lowered in hopes of attracting new business and foreign investments. Free trade zones can be defined as labor intensive manufacturing centers that involve the import of raw materials or components and the export of factory products.
Most FTZs are located in developing countries. Bureaucracy is typically minimized by outsourcing it to the FTZ operator and corporations setting up in the zone may be given tax breaks as an additional incentive. Usually, these zones are set up in underdeveloped parts of the host country, the rationale being that the zones will attract employers and thus reduce poverty and unemployment and stimulate the area's economy. These zones are often used by multinational corporations to set up factories to produce goods (such as clothing or shoes).
Free trade zones in Latin America date back to the early decades of the 20th century. The first free trade regulations in this region were enacted in Argentina and Uruguay in the 1920s. However, the rapid development of free trade zones across the region dates from the late 1960s and the early 1970s.
In 1999, there were 43 million people working in about 3000 FTZs spanning 116 countries producing clothes, shoes, sneakers, electronics, and toys. The basic objectives of EPZs are to enhance foreign exchange earnings, develop export-oriented industries and to generate employment opportunities.
