Pit and the Pendulum

The Pit and the Pendulum presents a detailed introduction to the local economy of Rhondda-Cynon-Taff and an account of the history of the region's inward investment development strategy. The Valleys area has suffered a sustained period of economic depression, which intensified following the pit closures of the 1980s and 1990s. Successive economic development policies have failed to regenerate the area, exemplified most recently by the ill-fated involvement of global corporations with the South Wales economy. Molly Scott Cato argues that the explanation for this failure is the inherent conflict between competitive and individualist economic models and the community-based culture of the Valleys. She offers recommendations for future policy-making, suggesting that a new approach to economic development for the area, which empowers local people to work together to make the best of the economic opportunities they have, should be adopted. As a first step along this path towards rebuilding the local economy she considers the findings of a survey of local attitudes towards work carried out in Rhondda-Cynon-Taff, focusing especially on the social valuation of occupations and local attitudes towards the inward-investment employment strategy. The book includes details of the investment by foreign companies such as LG in South Wales as well as a case study of Tower Colliery.