Family Production and the Global Market: Rural Industrial Growth in Greece Christos Kalantaridis and Lois Labrianidis*

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1960s and early 1970s southern European economies, with the notable exception of the Milan–Turin–Genoa triangle, existed in a gray area between the advanced industrialized countries lying to the North, and the less-developed countries to the South – indeed just a few kilometres away on the opposite side of the Mediterranean. Large parts of the countryside of Italy, Spain, Portugal and Greece were regarded as ‘backward,’ characterized by peasant households engaged in traditional farming pursuits, and subject to periods of out-migration. However, during the 1970s and 1980s southern European economies in general, and Greece in particular, showed clear signs of rapid development. The earlier assumptions concerning the relative retardation of the socio-economic milieu began to be questioned as rural areas reported rapid rates of economic growth and structural transformation (see Bagnasco 1977, Brusco 1982, and Fua 1986 for Italy; Vasquez-Barquero 1986, 1992 for Spain; Ferrão 1987 for Portugal; and Hadjimichalis and Vaiou 1987, Labrianidis 1988, and Kalantaridis 1997 for Greece). Structural change in the countryside was led by family-owned and managed ventures – in agriculture, manufacturing and tourism. The great majority of these enterprises were dependent upon utilizing family workers, especially females, who frequently engaged simultaneously in domestic, agricultural and wage earning activities (Chronaki et al. 1993). Due to their small, dispersed and informal nature, such enterprises were in a strong position to minimize the host of fiscal and regulatory constraints that apply to their larger, more urban-based counterparts (Hadjimichalis and Vaiou 1990). NTIL THE LATE

*Christos Kalantaridis: University of Luton, Department of Strategy and Entrepreneurship, Luton, UK; Lois Labrianidis: University of Macedonia, Department of Economic Sciences, Thessaloniki, Greece Published by Blackwell Publishers, 108 Cowley Road, Oxford OX4 1JF, UK 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA

1999 European Society for Rural Sociology Sociologia Ruralis Volume 39, No. 2, 1999 ISSN 0038–0199

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Scholarly study of this phenomenon was originally directed to Italy and subsequently to Spain and Portugal, whereas the process of industrial growth in the Greek countryside has attracted only limited academic interest. To date, only a few case studies focusing upon rural industrialization have been published. Andrikopoulou (1987, 1990) highlighted the importance of local initiatives in bringing about industrial growth in the rural peripheral region of Thrace. No less than forty-two of a sample of fifty-four enterprises fell within such a category. Nevertheless, we should note that a quarter of the local initiatives operated exclusively through sub-contracting arrangements, and that those firms which were either relocations or state-owned enterprises tended to be substantially larger in size and so contributed much of the employment gain. Hadjimichalis and Vaiou (1987) examined the cases of the small towns of Mesolongion and Agrinion and their rural hinterland (in central Greece), the prefecture of Kastoria (in the north-west) and the Aegean island of Naxos. Their work put forward the idea of a ‘new mode of social reproduction,’ manifesting itself in a multiplicity of employment patterns which perpetuate the traditional institutional structures. Incomes deriving from agriculture, the extensive use of female employment and tax evasion were common elements in all the cases reported by Hadjimichalis and Vaiou. Lastly, Labrianidis (1988) conducted research on the process of industrial growth in Langada county, northern Greece. He argued that since the mid-1970s there have been signs of expansion in the number of firms and the employment provided by manufacturing industries. This led to an increase in the incidence of multiple job holding, particularly among unskilled female workers formerly engaged in domestic pursuits. Research on the phenomenon of rural industrialization in Greece was conducted primarily by economic geographers who deployed the concepts of economies of agglomeration and territorial dynamics. Within this context, a macrolevel methodology was used in order to identify new dynamic regions as the main units of analysis. Considerable emphasis was placed upon the interaction between factors embedded in the local socio-economic structure and influences emanating from the global marketplace. More specifically, an efficient infrastructure linking towns to the countryside, the establishment of a democratic system of local government responsive to the requirements of small enterprises, the importance of family-run agriculture, and finally the tradition of artisanal self-employment were all identified as crucial in enabling local entrepreneurship to flourish (Hadjimichalis and Papamichos 1990). Nevertheless, internal factors did not appear to be a necessary and sufficient condition for the recent industrial success of the Greek countryside. A conducive environment at the local level was combined with the decision of large organizations located in core regions to decentralize their production process through the establishment of a web of sub-contracting linkages (idem 1987). Beyond the work of economic geographers, there is a growing body of literature drawing upon the long-standing controversy between political econo-

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mists about the role of the family unit in the process of socio-economic change in the countryside, which indirectly addressed the phenomenon of rural industrialization (Kassimis and Papadopoulos 1997). Advocates of this tradition focus on the effects of industrial growth upon the prevailing agrarian structures. The central problem within the political economy perspective is whether production organized around the family household unit is a permanent feature of rural landscapes (Chayanov 1966 [1925]; Friedman 1978), or a transitional phenomenon in the process of expansion of industrial capitalism in the countryside (Lenin 1963 [1917]; Brenner 1977). There has been a renaissance of scholarly debate on this issue since the early 1970s, drawing on the experience of peasant proprietorships in rural Greece. Vergopoulos’ (1975) and Mouzelis’ (1978) early examination of the long-term viability of family farming was based upon the simple schema rural–agricultural versus urban–industrial. Despite their numerous disagreements, both writers agreed that there was a negative linkage between the capitalist economy and the family farm – suggesting a transfer of resources from the latter (subordinate) to the former (dominant). The early trend towards the development of theoretical models using secondary evidence at the national level was replaced by micro-level empirical investigations during the 1980s. This shift in the methodology deployed was combined with an evolution of the debate in two directions. The first line of enquiry examined the issue of differentiation of family agriculture with respect to property relations (Louloudis et al. 1987), whilst the second one examined the implications of off-farm employment upon the traditional agrarian structures (Kasimis and Papadopoulos 1997). The concept of pluriactivity emerged as the main analytical instrument within the context of the latter approach, whilst the agricultural household remained the main unit of analysis (Kassimis 1988). The pluriactivity strategies of family units involved in agriculture were identified as a key element in the process of integrating family production in the wider economy. Hence, considerable emphasis was placed upon the identification of factors that facilitate the emergence and growth of pluriactivity. Two factors appeared to be instrumental in the expansion of pluriactivity: the labour time of the household members and the income arising from outside the farm (Damianos et al. 1994). However, instead of exploring how these ‘push-pull’ factors influence the integration of family production in the global marketplace, this approach considered the issue of the long-term viability of family farming. This paper aspires to utilize insights gained by both political economists and economic geographers in order to contribute to the development of an integrated approach in the study of social and economic transformation in the Greek countryside. In doing so, we focus upon a case of rural industrialization led by garment manufacturing, an industry at the vanguard of globalization processes throughout the post-war era. Specifically, we aim to investigate how considerations of gender and family, which are deeply embedded in the tradi-

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tional socio-economic milieu, underpin the advance of new manufacturing pursuits. Based upon the experience of a notable success story in the northern Greek region of Macedonia, that of the small town of Polikastro and its adjoining rural county of Peonia, we suggest that the emerging segments of wage work in the garment-making industry are formed not only by changes in the global marketplace but also by institutions strongly embedded in the traditional socioeconomic milieu. Our investigation concerning the supply of labour in the countryside begins by acknowledging that the basic production and consumption unit is the nikokyrio. This is defined as the unit comprising the family and all the means of production owned and used in order to meet consumption needs. The term nikokyrio is preferred over the commonly used ‘family household,’ in order to underline the significance of ownership of some means of production (in the form of a small agricultural holding or a micro-level entrepreneurial venture), as well as the survival of a sense of collectiveness that differs significantly from the ‘individualism’ characterizing rurality in many advanced industrialized countries. In its decision-making process, the nikokyrio allocates its labour time in accordance with a changing index of vioporismos. The response of the nikokyrio to changing consumption pressures, and the ensuing fluctuation of its involvement in pluriactivity, varies according to the degree of differentiation of the ownership of means of production, particularly land. Once the amount of off-farm – in our case industrial – employment needed for satisfying the immediate consumption requirements is determined, work outside the confines of the production unit is based upon the gender division of labour. This mode of allocating work in the locality has significant implications for the nature and conduct of industrial relations and the organization of production in the internationally orientated garment-making industry. Our paper is organized as follows. First we discuss the methodology deployed during fieldwork. The following section examines the mode of allocating labour time within the nikokyrio, and then we explore demand considerations. The next two sections examine forms of control and the labour market segmentation in the garment-making industry. Finally, we offer some conclusions. Methodology The limitations of official statistics were obvious from the outset. The National Statistical Service of Greece (ESYE) produces only a limited range of data at the micro level, mainly with regard to population and employment. Moreover, the statistics that are available must be treated with caution since the informal, small size, and domestic nature of the enterprises means that they can conceal a very large portion of their economic activities from the official eye. Lastly, official statistics are unable to facilitate an in-depth understanding of the process of rural socio-economic transformation. In order to overcome this problem we

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generated our own data by tapping into local sources of unpublished information, conducting stratified random sample surveys of enterprises and workers, and spending long periods of time living in the area. More specifically, in 1991 we interviewed all the key local government officers, the secretaries of the municipalities and communities of Polikastro-Peonia. These officials occupy a unique position within the local communities. Most are educated individuals, born and brought up locally, who enjoy relationships of mutual trust with the local inhabitants. They maintain records of agricultural production, the number of local enterprises and employment, and possess information on households. On the basis of information provided by the secretaries of the local communities and municipalities, we conducted a survey of garment enterprises operating in Polikastro-Peonia in the course of 1991. A stratified random sample of fifty-two enterprises, some 27 per cent of the total, was chosen. Two principal criteria were used in the selection: the spatial distribution and the size of the units as measured by employment. In our interviews we used structured questionnaires that comprised six main thematic units: general characteristics of the enterprise; products and markets; sub-contracting; capital and machinery; labour; and the career of the entrepreneur. In late 1991 early 1992 we conducted a survey of garment workers in Polikastro-Peonia. The results of the survey of garment manufacturers provided us with very useful data regarding the gender and skill composition of the workforce. These enabled us to conduct a stratified random sample of forty-nine wage workers in garment enterprises, nearly 5 per cent of the total, in late 1991/early 1992. This sample was divided on the basis of the size of the enterprise, the spatial distribution of employment within the study area, and the different contribution of males and females involved in the industry. In order to conduct the interviews we used structured questionnaires that included three main thematic categories: the characteristics and the experience of the worker; the nikokyrio; wage levels and working conditions. Overall, we have spent approximately fifteen months in the study area, acquiring – beyond the results of the aforementioned surveys – a wealth of qualitative information about the socio-economic milieu. The allocation of labour time in the locality Polikastro-Peonia occupies an area of some 650 km2, with 25,618 inhabitants in 1991 (ESYE 1991). Administratively it includes seventeen communities and three municipalities that embrace twenty-seven villages and three small towns. As far as location and accessibility are concerned, Polikastro-Peonia lies between the former Yugoslavian territories to the North and the prefecture of Thessaloniki to the South. Despite its advantageous position close to Thessaloniki, the locality did not experience the ‘mainstream’ type of industrial growth of the 1950s and 1960s. In fact, the (western) mountainous parts of Peonia were depopulated during this period, as a result of rural exodus to urban areas within

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Greece and to the growing economies of western Europe (Department of Regional Development of Central and western Macedonia 1984). As a result, agriculture remains the most important activity in terms of employment. Not only its employment and income-generating capacities account for the significance of agriculture: it also constitutes the backbone of a traditional mode of production. Landless agricultural labourers, excluding a growing number of illegal immigrant seasonal workers, amounted to less than 5 per cent of the total employment provided by this sector (ESYE 1991). The absence of a class of landless agricultural labourers is combined with widespread ownership of agricultural land – by nearly 70 per cent of local households – and a relatively egalitarian agrarian structure. Thus, we may assume that each nikokyrio in the study area possesses both the labour power of its members and the ownership of some means of production. This ownership includes an agricultural holding, and/or machinery for household manufacture and appliances from domestic production. Thus, in rural nikokyria the allocation of labour will not be a sum of the individual decisions of the family members. In these units the decision to work will depend upon the totality of production factors at hand, both labour and means of production. As a result, forms of employment revolving around the nikokyrio (namely self- and family employment) involved 52 per cent of the economically active population in Polikastro-Peonia, whilst the category of salaried/wage workers accounted for some 44 per cent – figures similar to those for rural areas and small towns in Greece as a whole, in 1991 (ESYE 1991). Moreover, the figures for Peonia and especially Polikastro conceal a large number of wage workers who receive supplementary incomes through their involvement in agriculture. Wage workers in particular derive incomes either from leasing-out of their holding or from micro cultivation. Fieldwork investigation conducted during the same year with the latest population census indicated that approximately two out of every five wage workers received some income from agriculture (Kalantaridis 1995). Given the significance of production revolving around the nikokyrio and its specific features and characteristics, we have developed a basic model which enhances our understanding of the conditions which govern labour supply in the locality. In doing so, we derive an index of vioporismos – a compound word of the terms ‘life’ and ‘provide,’ which can be thought of as the ability to make ends meet. This identifies the varying intensity of pressure exerted upon the stock of labour time of an average nikokyrio by its changing consumption needs. The average size of a rural nikokyrio in Polikastro-Peonia was estimated to be 3.9 persons (ESYE 1991). Thus, the average household unit consists of a newly married couple and subsequently two children. Demographic statistics suggest that most males enter matrimony when they are between thirty and thirty-four years old, whereas females do so at an earlier age (twenty to twenty-four). The pattern of matrimony implies a thirty-year span of family life (see Table 1).

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The second column of Table 1 presents the level of consumption by the family units. This is estimated in units of adult consumption equivalent.1 We assume that the consumption requirements of younger members of the household increase monotonically from the second year. In the third column we estimate the labour time at the disposal of the nikokyrio. This 1 2.0 2.0 1.00 is derived from the participation rates of 2 2.1 2.0 1.05 the different age groups based upon the 3 2.2 2.0 1.10 1991 census. In 1991, family members 4 2.3 2.0 1.15 aged between ten and fourteen years did 5 2.4 2.0 1.20 not make any contribution in the labour 6 2.5 2.0 1.25 time available to the nikokyrio: their par7 2.6 2.0 1.30 ticipation rate was less than 2 per cent.2 8 2.7 2.0 1.35 In the following age group (between fif9 2.8 2.0 1.40 teen and nineteen years), economic acti10 2.9 2.0 1.45 11 3.0 2.0 1.50 vity increases to 0.3 units of adult labour 12 3.1 2.0 1.55 time equivalent: their participation rate 13 3.2 2.0 1.60 rises to 30 per cent. This increases further 14 3.3 2.0 1.65 to 0.7 for those aged between twenty and 15 3.4 2.0 1.70 twenty-four years, and reflects a participa16 3.5 2.1 1.66 tion rate of 70 per cent. Offspring con17 3.6 2.2 1.64 tribute an equal amount of labour time 18 3.7 2.3 1.61 to that of full adults when they become 19 3.8 2.4 1.58 twenty-six years of age. The last column 20 3.9 2.5 1.56 estimates the contribution each worker 21 4.0 2.6 1.54 needs to supply in order to meet assumed 22 4.0 2.8 1.45 family consumption needs. We posit that 23 4.0 3.0 1.33 24 4.0 3.2 1.25 the average nikokyrio in Polikastro-Peonia 25 4.0 3.4 1.17 is faced with increasing pressures of vio26 4.0 3.6 1.11 porismos for the first fifteen years. At that 27 4.0 3.8 1.05 point the index peaks at 1.70. Over the 28 4.0 4.0 1.00 following five years the index declines, 29 4.0 4.0 1.00 but only at a low annual rate (of some 30 4.0 4.0 1.00 0.02). It is only after the twenty-first year that the pressure upon the nikokyrio is reSource: Kalantaridis (1995) lieved. Gender constitutes the second determinant of the allocation of labour within the nikokyrio. Individuals do not seem to matter by themselves in this probably ‘anti-liberal’ institution, where the emphasis is placed on collectiveness and a strong sense of belonging to the unit (Kataki 1984). Within the traditional instiIndex of vioporismos

Potential labour units

Levels of consumption

Time span in years

Table 1: Index of vioporismos over the life-time employment cycle

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tutional setting, females emerge as key figures in the survival strategy. They put their labour time in the processing of agricultural produce (and, of course, the preparation of meals) thus reducing the monetary expenditure of physical reproduction (Dubisch 1986). Moreover, when the consumption requirements of the nikokyrio increase, females emerge as key flexible workers. Specifically, when females complete the process of reproduction in the latter part of their third decade of life, the index of vioporismos is increasing. One plausible reaction to the growing difficulties is an intensified use of time previously engaged in childbirth. Data from the population census provide statistical support for this hypothesis: indeed, female participation rates do indeed rise steadily and peak when they reach their late thirties (ESYE 1991). This coincides with the peak period of the index of vioporismos. The ensuing contraction of the index gradually relieves the pressure upon the nikokyrio and enables the reallocation of female labour time away from the economically active population. This corresponds with the fall in the female participation rate. The fact that at the peak of the index not all rural nikokyria deploy female labour time in the economically active population suggests that considerations other than vioporismos are taken into account in the decision-making process. These concern variation in the ownership of the means of production. In units with only a very small agricultural holding (say less than 6 acres), the pressure upon the labour of its members is continuous, constantly requiring additional sources of income. Thus, pluriactivity emerges as a valuable source of supplementary income. In nikokyria with a larger – but still modest – sized agricultural holding (between 6 and 12 acres), the strain is offset after the twenty-first year. This suggests that family needs can be met out of the (temporary) wage work obtained by the females. Finally, in nikokyria with a medium to largescale holding (greater than 12 acres), consumption pressure can be absorbed more readily as a result of the availability of cultivable land. The demand for labour The prevailing employment structure and the mode of allocating labour within the nikokyrio are important determinants of entrepreneurial actions concerning recruitment. The demand for labour provides an altogether different set of constraints, characterized by the predominance of large agricultural and manufacturing industries. Indeed, the economy of Polikastro-Peonia, and indeed rural Greece as a whole, is still dominated by agriculture. As shown in Table 2, at the time of the survey (1991) some 37 per cent of the economically active population was engaged in this sector. This constitutes approximately half the employment provided by agriculture in 1971 (67 per cent). The demise of traditional pursuits in this sector was associated with a rapid growth in the number of jobs generated by manufacturing industries. Indeed, employment provided by manufacturers nearly trebled during the 1973–1991 period, from 870 to 2,221 persons

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(Table 2). As a result, the significance of manufacturing – in terms of employment – has increased from just over 5 per cent to almost 25 per cent, a figure well above that for Greece as a whole (18 per cent) over the same period. Manufacturing growth in Polikastro-Peonia was due primarily to the rise of the garment-making industry from 141 to 1,556 working persons, which by itself accounted for the entire rise in the sector’s employment (in absolute numbers). Thus, garment enterprises accounted for nearly 70 per cent of all manufacturing employment, and 17 per cent of the total economically active population in 1991 (Kalantaridis 1997). This compares to just 2.6 per cent for Greece, making Polikastro-Peonia one of the key clusters of garment manufacture in the country. The demand for labour in this rapidly growing industry is shaped by the influence of several factors, one of which stems from the characteristics of product markets. Demand for labour is also a function of the technical methods of the production process, and more specifically the ease with which labour can be substituted for machinery. Finally, the entrepreneurs’ requirements are a function of the price of other factors of production, particularly capital. Table 2:The industrial structure of Polikastro-Peonia, 1991 Sector Agriculture Manufacturing Construction Commerce, hotels and restaurants Transport & communications Banking Other Total

Employment

Percent of total

3,450 2,221 501 1,271 397 92 1,420 9,352

37 24 5 14 4 1 15 100

Source: Population Census, 1991

The nature of the product markets is one determinant of the demand for labour. In the case of garment manufacturers in Polikastro-Peonia, product markets are invariably linked with the agency houses that mediate the establishment of sub-contracting linkages with Europe and especially the Federal Republic of Germany (Kalantaridis 1995). International sub-contracting was clearly the catalyst for the establishment and growth of most units. Indeed, more than half of the enterprises surveyed (58 per cent) were participating in production networks that were catering exclusively for the international markets, whereas another quarter exported only part of their output (Kalantaridis 1997). In contrast, less than a fifth of the local manufacturers produce exclusively for the domestic market. Product demand in this context is characterized by an intensification of competition in response to the emergence of new producers from less-developed countries, and a clutch of newly industrializing countries (de la Torre 1984; Dickerson 1991). The latter prospered because of their ability to

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exploit the reservoirs of cheap and adaptable sources of labour. Given that labour constitutes the foremost component of the total costs of production, producers in lower-wage countries possess a significant advantage in price-competitive product markets. In response to intense competition, wage level considerations are predominant among garment entrepreneurs in Polikastro-Peonia. The technical methods of production at hand constitute the second determinant of the labour and skill requirement of garment entrepreneurs. Behind the links between technology and society lies a significant controversy that goes well beyond the scope of our paper. Given the relatively small size of the enterprises concerned in Polikastro-Peonia, their internal ability to maintain research and development is negligible. The limited capacity of the local entrepreneurs to lead technological change, or strongly influence machinery producers invariably located overseas, prompts us to assume that they can only make use of the production equipment available in the marketplace. However, two qualifications need to be made. Firstly, this assumption is not the result of a conviction concerning the supremacy of technological determinism. It is rather an expression of the weakness of garment entrepreneurs in the Macedonian countryside, situated as they are at the lower end of the sub-contracting chain. Secondly, local entrepreneurs do have some choice of different technical methods of production in the pre-assembly stage of the manufacturing process. Here entrepreneurs can embrace either a labour- or a capital-intensive method of production. The former constitutes a version of the bespoke tailor trade practices modified for factory production. It includes the widespread use of general-purpose equipment such as master patterns, rulers and pencils, and the application of hand-held electric scissors. The latter enable the reproduction of the traditional cutting task to take place on a larger scale than the customized cutting undertaken by the tailors. Electric scissors allow the simultaneous processing of numerous layers of textile. Alternatively, entrepreneurs can employ computer-aided design and manufacture, hereafter called CAD\CAM. This evolved from the application of micro-electronics to the pre-assembly stage of production (Cockburn 1985). Automation, by contrast, has not been equally successful in the assembly part of the production process. Although the number of sewing machine rotations has been greatly increased, the fundamental relationship between the operator and a single machine has not altered. This is partly because it has proved almost impossible to devise a machine that can handle the fabric without the intervention of a human hand, and partly because nimble fingers can still be easily employed at very low wages the world over, thus reducing the incentive for change. The availability and the cost of substituting labour partly determine the choice of technical methods of production. A major feature of the garment industry in Polikastro-Peonia is the relatively limited amounts of capital investment involved. Indeed, overall capital expenditure in one of the largest local garment manufacturers was only 150 million Drachmas, just over £300,000.

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The corresponding figure for smaller enterprises was below one million Drachmas, less than £2,000 (in 1990). Hence, capital availability among local entrepreneurs is limited. The capital endowments of the local enterprises practically rules out the implementation of CAD/CAM techniques in the preassembly. Moreover, the failure to automate the technical methods in the assembly part of production prompts the employment of sizeable quantities of labour. The employment of simple machinery in pre-assembly compels local entrepreneurs to employ a number of highly skilled workers, while in the latter, it requires the use of large numbers of nimble fingered sewing machinists. The interface between the local and the global: forms of control and organization of labour The cut-throat competition prevailing in product markets, combined with the use of a labour intensive production technology (partly in response to the relative scarcity of capital) means that the enterprise strategy of small- and mediumscale enterprises centres upon the intensive use of labour. In practice this has been achieved through a process of labour market segmentation. This was also conditioned under the influence of the mode of allocating labour time within the nikokyrio. Within this context the entrepreneurs have devised different forms of business organization and control, and hierarchical segments of work. Forms of business organization and control Rural industrialists, in their endeavour to advance, devised a number of different forms of business organization. In fact, we can distinguish between two types of local enterprise, characterized by considerable differences in the forms of control and organization of labour. At the one end of the spectrum there is the ‘small-scale, local initiative’: a unit employing less than fifty workers. This draws directly on traditional forms of organizing production – and specifically peasant proprietorship. Indeed, approximately 60 per cent of the owners of small-scale enterprises are also involved in agriculture. They invariably possess a small farm, which provides a useful source of supplementary income. Moreover, all the entrepreneurs of the small-scale enterprises were born and still live in the locality. It is common practice for them to mix socially with their employees and their families. They therefore utilize to the full personal networks in the closely-knit rural communities, as well as any family property. In fact, such enterprises make only very modest amounts of direct capital investment. Their technological capacity consists of sewing machines which, in several cases, were bought second-hand. In Polikastro-Peonia there are 185 small-scale enterprises employing a total of 1,148 persons. They account for three-quarters of the employment provided in the industry, whilst unpaid family members comprise a third of the employment provided by enterprises of this type.

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Rural entrepreneurs exercised their authority either in a ‘quasi-domestic’ or a more formalized manner. The former was the preferred option among smallscale enterprises. It is an extension of certain features of the domestic domain, and includes informality, personalized relationships, and an awareness of the common fate of all participants. Within this context the wife of the entrepreneurial nikokyrio is usually central in motivating the wage workers. She labours alongside her relatives, friends and other female staff, mainly as a sewing machinist, which leads to the establishment of a work environment that approximates the domestic realm. For his part, the husband also participates in the production process. However when the enterprise takes on the responsibility of primary sub-contracting he is usually found ‘sweating’ in the cutting-room, and thus is segregated from the rest of the workers. Members of the entrepreneurial nikokyrio thus set the standard for the labour process and work longer hours than any of the wage employees. In the small-scale enterprises there is often only a blurred distinction between entrepreneur, family and wage workers. They share a common vulnerability under the volatile conditions of the garment trade; and are linked through close personal relationships, often kin, and part of a closely-knit rural community. At the other end of the spectrum there is the ‘medium-scale’ enterprise. This unit, which employs more than fifty but less than 100 persons, is a novel form of business organization in the locality. Most are the result of relocating urban enterprises in rural towns. Its fixed capital formation includes provisions for purpose-built buildings and machinery for all the stages of the production process. The technology consists of a variety of electric cutters, automatic sewing machines, and a complement of hand implements. However, medium-scale enterprises utilize new technology in the shape of modern global communications systems in order to achieve easy and prompt contact with overseas buyers. There are five medium-scale enterprises in Polikastro-Peonia, which employ 410 people – approximately a quarter of the employment provided in the industry. The owners of medium-scale enterprises have established an effective control mechanism over labour through a hierarchical ordering on the shop floor. They cannot resort to ‘quasi-domestic’ practices, partly because they do not maintain close ties with the local community and tend not to live there, and partly on account of the relatively larger number of wage workers involved, as compared with their small-scale counterparts. Day-to-day relations with the employees were mediated through supervisors who work alongside other wage workers and quickly acquire knowledge of any grievances. The owners of medium-scale enterprises remain rather distant and detached and sit in a separate office. Their visits to the shop floor are for the purpose of quality control and monitoring. Their lifestyle is structured in such a way as to provide a sharp distinction with the small-scale entrepreneurs and their employees, and tends to re-affirm their status and authority.

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180 160 140

Female wage differentials Vioporismos

120 100 80 60 40 20 0 24

27

30

3

6

9

12

15

18

21

Figure 1: Index of vioporismos and index of female wage differentials The index of female wage differential is derived by dividing average earnings by age group among women with average earning for all females. Source: Table 1 and questionnaires.

The organization of labour: segmentation and wage differentials Despite the diverse forms of business organization and control devised by rural entrepreneurs, an element common to their strategy was the formation of hierarchical segments of work, which translated in significant wage differentials. The lower segment of the hierarchy contains single females under the age of twenty. They are members of nikokyria with a rapidly declining index of vioporismos, and they are therefore perceived as casual workers who work for ‘pocket’ money. This, combined with the fact that they remain in the industry for rather short periods of time, as marriage and reproduction interrupt their employment cycle, adversely affects their position in the labour market. As a consequence, they are concentrated in jobs that are defined by employers and the workers themselves as simple manual tasks with virtually no skill component. Indeed, young, single girls currently account for all the post-assembly workers. The conceptualization of their tasks as the simplest in the garmentmaking industry is clearly reflected in wage levels. The average wage for females in post-assembly, stood at 3,071 Drachmas, just 81.8 per cent of that in the local industry (Figure 1). Married women, often the same people who were involved in the post-assembly, form the two middle-segments of work in the garment industry. They are members of nikokyria that are confronted with increasing consumption pressures associated with the up-bringing of their offspring. The rapidly in-

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creasing index of vioporismos of their nikokyria ensures their commitment to wage work. Moreover, matrimony, and their ensuing domestic responsibilities, confers them with nikokyrosyni. This is a concept used to denote skills necessary to the physical well-being of the family, such as food preparation and making and mending clothes, which have to be acquired domestically, rather than through conventional routes such as education, training and apprenticeship. The acquisition of nikokyrosyni outside the confines of the labour market, although it is not explicitly acknowledged or remunerated by employers, enables married women to occupy a position above that of younger females. Married women are therefore invariably involved in the assembly part of the production process and they receive wages well above those for post-assembly. Assembly work involves a greater element of manual dexterity, which can be significantly improved after a long period of service in the industry. Our fieldwork revealed that assembly workers are almost exclusively female (all but one out of thirty-six surveyed). Nearly two-thirds of the machinists are aged between twenty and thirty-nine years old, married, with children older than six. Involvement in the assembly part of the production process is reflected on earnings. The average daily wage in 1991 stood at 3,701 Drachmas; a figure close to the average for the industry as a whole but more than 20 per cent above that for workers involved in post-assembly. These figures however, conceal significant variation among female sewing machinists. Indeed, a practice resembling an ‘internal labour market’ is in evidence (Doeringer and Piore 1971). However, this is not internal to any single organization but of the local cluster of garment manufacturers as a whole. Small-scale enterprises constitute the point of entry (or re-entry) of married females into marketed employment. There they occupy a position below that of their counterparts in medium-scale enterprises – reflected in wage levels. At the same time, they acquire experience that will enable their future recruitment by medium-scale enterprises, which will subsequently increase their wage levels and ease the difficulties of their nikokyrio. As Table 3 shows, none of the sewing machinists employed in such businesses have been in wage work in the garment-making industry for less than two years, whereas 40 per cent were involved in the industry for more than five years. This compares with some 35 Table 3: Experience in paid work, Polikastro-Peonia, 1991 Medium scale Pre-assembly

<2 years 2–5 years 5–10 years >10 years

– – 1 2

Source: Questionnaires

Small scale

Assembly Post-assembly

– 6 3 1

3 – – –

Pre-assembly

– – 2 1

Assembly Post-assembly

8 13 4 1

4 – – –

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per cent and 14 per cent respectively of those employed in small-scale enterprises. As a result, sewing machinists with medium-scale manufacturers earn approximately 12 per cent more than the corresponding workers for small-scale enterprises. This is marginally below the wage differential between male cutters and female sewing machinists in medium-scale enterprises (14.7 per cent). Inclusion in the highest segment of garment workers is based exclusively upon gender criteria, comprising male workers only, who acquired their skills through formal apprenticeship and training. Moreover, male skills correspond to Braverman’s proposition about the ability of the worker to imagine how things would appear in final form if such and such tools are used (Braverman 1974, p. 444). The skill content of their work is reflected in the prevailing levels of remuneration. The average daily wage for males in pre-assembly was actually 4,600 Drachmas – some 23 per cent above the average for the industry, and 50 per cent more than that for the young girls involved in the post-assembly. As a result of this process of segmentation, enterprises in the locality meet their labour requirements at a price substantially lower than that set by the employers’ organizations through the process of national collective bargaining. Indeed, the average daily wage for local enterprises stood at 3,735 Drachmas, in contrast to an estimated 4,956 for the Greek garment industry as a whole. Conclusions This paper draws upon the experience of Polikastro-Peonia, an area dependant upon the catalytic influence of external dynamics: rapid industrial growth in the locality was conditioned by the strategies of large clothing manufacturers in the Federal Republic of Germany, resulting in a significant growth in the number of wage workers in the locality. This was of particular importance in facilitating an empirical investigation of the interface between the traditional milieu and the global marketplace. The impact of external influences, channelled-down through the web of sub-contracting linkages, provided a set of constraints in the demand for labour in the garment-making industry. However, the emerging pattern of industrial growth, and the ensuing forms of organizing and controlling labour, were not shaped exclusively by external influences. This is apparent in the mode of exercising control over labour used by small-scale subcontractors. This was based upon the establishment and perpetuation of a three-way relationship between the owner, the family members, and the wage workers. Local institutions such as the nikokyrio played an important role in conditioning these quasi-domestic practices. By enjoying close links with the community, such enterprises were able to reduce labour costs to well below those reported by their medium-scale counterparts. Another illustration of the interaction between the rural socio-economic milieu and the global marketplace revolves around the conceptualization of skill and the ensuing levels of remuneration, which goes beyond a simple male–fe-

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male divide. The experience of wage work differs substantially according to the gender and the moral claims of rural nikokyria. Male workers – who invariably constitute the main breadwinners of the family – occupy ‘skilled’ and relatively better paid positions in the pre-assembly stage of the production process. However, the experience of female workers differs significantly according to their position in the life-cycle of the nikokyrio and the intensity of the pressures exerted from the index of vioporismos. The nikokyrosyni of the sewing machinists, confronted with intense consumption pressures, though not acknowledged in a manner comparable to the skills of the male workers in the cutting-room, distinguishes them from young girls working in the post-assembly stage of the production process. Thus, the traditional institutional setting – defined by the nikokyrio and its endeavour to combine the production factors at hand in order to meet consumption requirements, as well as traditional gender divisions – constitutes a decisive influence in the emerging enterprise strategy in the Macedonian countryside. The developments taking place in rural Greece, during the post-1970 period, have contributed significantly to the revival of the theoretical debate on processes of socio-economic transformation in the countryside. Research in this area followed two distinct lines of enquiry: the first taking its lead from economic geography and the second falling within the broad confines of political economy. The degree of interaction between these two traditions was very limited. On the one side, economic geographers deployed macro-level methodologies in the national or regional level in an attempt to address regional development considerations. On the other side, political economists, used more qualitative approaches (commonly associated with ethnography and sociology) at the micro level in the study of the prevailing agrarian structures and agricultural practices. This divide has significantly handicapped our understanding of the process of structural transformation in rural areas. There are several areas where these two traditions complement and supplement each other. More specifically, agrarian structures are a defining feature of the countryside, affecting the process of industrial advancement not only through the supply of labour and raw materials but also via the supply of entrepreneurial talent, the prevailing forms of business organization, and the resulting enterprise strategies regarding labour. The theoretical constructs and detailed empirical evidence generated by political economists could provide economic geographers with useful insights about the specificities of agricultural proprietorship and its implications for the prevailing farming methods. At the same time, the exploration of changes in agrarian structures and agricultural practices in isolation from changes in the rural socio-economic milieu as a whole conceals the multitude of inter-relationships between traditional and modern modes of production and the diversity of potential outcomes within specific localities. Consequently, the deployment of a more holistic, in the sense of placing the emphasis upon the rural rather than the agricultural, ap-

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proach – often used in economic geography – may provide the political economy approach with alternative, incisive, lines of enquiry. Despite the failure of political economists and economic geographers to engage in effective interaction with each other, both share a common concern with the potentially adverse effects the global marketplace and with the exploration of family households’ employment strategies in the countryside. In the case of political economists, there has been considerable interest in the factors which influence the decision of a household unit to get involved in pluriactivity (Damianos et al. 1994) as well as a variety of combinations of farm and offfarm work (Kassimis 1997). In the case of economic geographers this was encapsulated in the term ‘new modes of social reproduction’ (Hadjimichalis and Vaiou 1987). As far as the impact of external influences is concerned, advocates of this tradition are sceptical about the long-term viability of rural industrial growth dependent upon the decision of large organizations to decentralize parts of their production process through a web of sub-contracting linkages (Andrikopoulou 1990; Vaiou and Hadjimichalis 1990). Similarly, political economists are pre-occupied with the proletarianization of the peasantry as a result of the expansion of industrial capital in the countryside. The developments taking place in the countryside of Greece have prompted a great deal of theoretical debate concerning agrarian structures, pluriactivity, and the nature of the relationship between local institutions and external influences. Placed within this context, the recent experience of Polikastro-Peonia points to the importance of developing an integrated approach to the study of rural structural transformation. The identification of areas where these two traditions complement and supplement each other, could provide a research agenda for future research in this direction. Notes 1. Chayanov (1996) estimated the needs of the household on the basis of units of adult consumption. This had a monetary equivalent and was derived from data produced by budget statistics. This concept is also used by Eurostat in the compilation of Family Budget Statistics. 2. This figure has been derived from the official data for the economically active population by age group from the 1991 population census.

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