Connecting to Revive: The Politics of Economic Restructuring in the Americas

Economic shocks present a pernicious problem for political societies as they are frequent and often leave lasting detrimental impacts on people and their communities. This cross-national study of three cities across the Western Hemisphere was conducted to better understand how cities can achieve resiliency after an economic shock. The economic shock analyzed is deindustrialization and the three cities chosen are Buffalo, New York and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the United States and Córdoba in Argentina. Political leaders often look for quick fixes to guide a city out of economic crisis while overlooking the powerful role social processes play in promoting economic change and resiliency. Principle among these processes is the degree of social connectivity, defined as the networking and collaboration between various nonstate and state actors. It builds on previous conceptualizations of governance as being multi-tiered, networked and diffuse. I use a comparative historical analysis of deindustrializing cities in order to better probe the social processes at play as well as the role of intergovernmental support, defined as the financial, political, and policy support that cities receive from either state or federal government. Data from 50 interviews with policymakers, economic development officials, business leaders, and community leaders in each of the three cities are used along with archival sources. The empirical data supports the argument that social connectivity, along with intergovernmental support, are indeed powerful factors in conditioning a city’s response to deindustrialization. Furthermore, when state and nonstate actors collaborated and connected at high rates, they were more effective at securing increased resources from state government. The study also revealed that early patterns of connectivity and collaboration among state and nonstate actors created a path dependency that more effectively facilitated effective responses to subsequent economic crises. This paper thus adds to our knowledge of urban resiliency, intergovernmental relations in a federal system, and processes of governance at the local level. In particular, it deepens our understanding of the social and political foundations of economic change and highlights the critical role collaborative governance plays in building resilient cities.