THE SOCIO-SPATIAL REPERCUSSIONS OF THE CLOSURE OF THE ESPADRILLE FOOTWEAR INDUSTRY IN NOVA CRUZ – RN

Abstract

The process of productive and territorial restructuring of the footwear industry provided the spatialization of industrial establishments in the Northeast from 1970 onwards, transforming the socio-spatial reality of municipalities such as Nova Cruz in Rio Grande do Norte, Campina Grande in Paraíba and Santo Estevão in Bahia. The industries remain as long as they have found sufficient resources to expand their capital, since they do not credit conditions for permanence, they set out to relocate the industrial activity, causing the closure of industrial units. This paper analyzes the socio-spatial impacts of the closure of the activities of the Alpargatas industry in the municipality of Nova Cruz – RN. To develop the research, a qualitative approach was adopted, proceeding with the bibliographic review on the proposed theme, documentary research and empirical research, semi-structured interviews were carried out with a businessman, a worker and a municipal manager. The results showed that with the end of the tax incentives, its activities were terminated in Nova Cruz, corroborating the process of deindustrialization that generated structural unemployment, reduction in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), income and consequently crisis in trade with the drop in sales.