Contenu du sommaire : L'industrialisation en milieu rural dans la région Rhône-Alpes

Indigenous industries are more important in rural France than is often thought. The author describes their distinctive features and shows their capacity to adapt to contemporary differentiation, varying betweeen areas that are weakly industrialised, areas where industry is scattered and conversion is difficult and areas where change is continuous. Government aid needs to be regulated to take account of these differences.

In the Pilat Massif, a mountainous region close to Lyon and St-Etienne, the textile industry is long established and remains a most important activity in spite of the successive crises it has undergone. Adaptation and innovation have made it possible for some firms, both small and large, manufacturing traditional or modern textiles, to overcome their difficulties. Thus, nowadays, several types of firm, whose size, production, and dynamism differ, can be found working side by side.

Until the 1970s silk manufacturing in Lyon was based on a domestic system. Production was sub-contracted to rural areas by entrepreneurs based in Lyon. This system was referred to as the 'fabrique'. Traditional production and organisational systems were destroyed by technological change, the sectoral crisis of the 1960s and thre world recession of 1974. The manufacture of traditional products for the clothing and soft furnishing industries wa re-established by independent producers. Two new areas of production have been developed, independent of the 'Fabrique' system, in the former strongholds of the rural weaving industry : 'volumetric and 'technical' fabrics based on glassfibre and composite materials. The Lyon region has a quasi-monopoly of such production in France.

The Arve valley is the world's leading centre for bar-turning. Local firms work as subcontractors and operate in a rural environment characterised by small and medium-sized businesses. This industry developed at the end of the nineteenth century and owes its origins to the local tradition of watchmaking. Subsequently it grew rapidly after the two World Wars. It has successfully adapted to changes in demand which arose in the 1970s through the use of microelectric techniques and through the high quality and flexibility of its production processes.

This predominantly agricultural area of the Monts du Lyonnais was already experiencing industrial decline prior to the economic crisis of 1974. A series of initiatives taken by local politicians has generated approximately 1000 jobs and led to the renewed growth of the population. Following the creation of a subcontracting and electronics company, various small, indigenous firms have grown up, assisted by public-sector grants. Finally, to attract high-tech employment, the local inter- communal syndicate has opened a nursery unit for innovating firms and intends developing training facilites. This model of industrialisation is based on the ideas of a progressive approach to development and a sound integration into the local environment.

The area of Voiron (Isère) now lies between two industrial regions within which the pattern of development and the strategies of firms are very different. Adapting to this new situation depends on the economic action of the local authorities. Study of the way in which such authorities intervene, however, suggests, that it is the local industrial firms which determine public investment policy