The Mexican Maquiladoras
As a major contributor to the global economy, Mexico’s sweatshops have contributed to the United States’ wealth and economic growth. It is the unfortunate truth that many individual workers have suffered as a result of this prosperity. The sweatshops, known as maquiladoras, are in debate because of the ethical and lawful reasoning behind their existence and conditions. How can we, as a First-world nation, allow such industries to exist where people are denied basic and fundamental human rights? What, if any, laws and regulations are put into place for the maquiladoras? Are these laws and regulations hindering, harmful, or helpful? Are they enforced emphatically? If not, how does this affect development? After
…show more content…
Dordecht further elaborates on the dangers that the workers are subjected to as a result of their jobs in the maquiladoras. "The maquiladora industry (also called maquilas), Mexico’s contribution to this form of production, has been accused of a number of ethical shortcomings. Firms that move to Mexico are no longer subjected to the relatively strict environmental and workplace safety standards common in the developed world. While Mexico has established regulations in these areas, they are often not well enforced. Unsafe working conditions and serious environmental problems have been reported by a number of sources (cf. Hosmer and Masten, 1995; Butler and Teagarden, 1993)." (Dordrecht, 1999: p.2) Therefore, the idea that regulations have been put into place, but not enforced or followed, disgruntles and angers many who are striving to preserve the dignity and well-being of maquiladora workers. It should be noted why these transnational corporations are located in Mexico instead of the United States. Peña also provides us with the United States’ motives for relocation. "Research demonstrates that many corporations have relocated to Mexico and other third-world countries to escape stricter environmental regulations in the United States. Even so, bilateral regulations adopted at the 1993 La Paz Agreement require that maquilas return their toxic …show more content…
Workers are suffering, while we are reaping the benefits that result from a capitalist society and global economy. "From an ecological and feminist perspective, moreover, even if there were more globes to be exploited, it is not even desirable that this development paradigm and standard of living was generalized, because it has failed to fulfill its promises of happiness, freedom, dignity and peace, even for those who have profited from it." (Mies and Shiva, p.322) I strongly agree with Mies and Shiva’s anti-capitalist discourse of the undesirable path that capitalism has paved. In terms of the situation in Mexico, it is obvious that not only revision of the law is necessary, but more importantly, actual enforcement of the existing laws is absolutely imperative. It is a beginning when one worker gathers others to rebel the injustices that they face in their everyday lives. In fact, I think it is within this amazing rebellion that one can seek the virtues that arise from struggles and hardships. "Strikes are after all the refusal of work, and nothing is more crippling to capitalist production than the conscious and absolute withdrawal of labor power. Strikes, and especially wildcats, have the potential to transform the relations of production and to challenge the conditions of domination and exploitation." (Peña, p. 128) However, it is the governments’
The controversial issue of sweatshops is one often over looked by The United States. In the Social Issues Encyclopedia, entry # 167, Matt Zwolinski tackles the issues of sweatshops. In this article Matt raises a question I have not been able to get out of my head since I have begun researching this topic, “ are companies who contract with sweatshops doing anything wrong?” this article goes on to argue that the people who work in the sweatshops willingly choose to work there, despite the poor environment. Many people in third world countries depend on the sweatshops to earn what they can to have any hopes of surviving. If the sweatshops were to shut down many people would lose their jobs, and therefore have no source of income. This may lead people to steal and prostitution as well. this article is suggesting that sweatshops will better the economy by giving people a better job than what they may have had. Due to this the companies contracting with sweatshops are not acting wrong in any way. This was a deductive article it had a lot of good examples to show how sweatshops are beneficial to third world countries. Radly Balko seemed to have the same view point as Matt Zwolinski. Many people believe the richer countries should not support the sweatshops Balko believes if people stopped buying products made in sweatshops the companies will have to shut down and relocate, firing all of the present workers. Rasing the fact that again the worker will have no source of income, the workers need the sweatshop to survive. Balko also uses the argument that the workers willingly work in the current environments.
I have chosen to do two songs waiting on a woman by Brad Presley witch the whole song makes a gender stereotype about woman always making a man wait. The second song I choose to do is George Straits A fathers Love which enforces it’s hard to be a father and what a good strong dad role model is. Both songs spoke to me in different ways.
Mexican Lives is a rare piece of literature that accounts for the human struggle of an underdeveloped nation, which is kept impoverished in order to create wealth for that of another nation, the United States. The reader is shown that the act of globalization and inclusion in the world’s economies, more directly the United States, is not always beneficial to all parties involved. The data and interviews, which Hellman has put forth for her readers, contain some aspect of negativity that has impacted their lives by their nation’s choice to intertwine their economy with that of the United States. Therefore it can only be concluded that the entering into world markets, that of Mexico into the United States, does not always bring on positive outcomes. Thus, one sees that Mexico has become this wasteland of economic excrement; as a result it has become inherently reliant on the United States.
Hilda Solis courageously wrote and supported a bill to raise the minimum wage in California and enforced a law of anti-sweatshops despite the Republican Party’s opposition. When she was elected to the California State Senate, Solis immediately wrote a bill to raise the minimum wage; however, it failed to pass the legislature, so she fought for the bill to be passed by the voters with help of labor leaders (“Hilda Solis,” Newsmakers). Although the bill was rejected, Solis still fought for the rights of the people, jeopardizing her seat in the senate and the faith of the senate. The government “uncovered a sweatshop where 72 Thai workers were working. Solis held Senate hearings, questioned garment manufacturers, and pushed for stronger enforcement of anti-sweatshop laws” (“Hilda Solis,” Newsmakers). Afterwards, Solis clearly risked the trust of her town by questioning...
...on between the non-Maquiladora and Maquiladora industries I feel the inefficient producers will be wiped out. Therefor, Maquiladora employees will need better training, education, incentives as well improved working conditions and higher wages. Operations will also have to be streamlined in order to reap the benefits of economies of scale and scope.
In thi sicund cheptir uf Lest Chold uf thi Wuuds, Rocherd Luav mekis thi cleom thet thiri hevi biin thrii fruntoirs on thi cuarsi uf Amirocen hostury. Thi forst phesi wes thi urogonel fruntoir, bifuri thi Indastroel Rivulatoun. Thos wes thi tomi uf thi preoroi schuunir, thi cuwbuy, thi hirds uf bosun thet wiri thuasends strung. Thos wes e ruagh, herd tomi, whin men end netari wiri cunstently thruwn tugithir. Thiri wes woldirniss tu speri, end piupli wiri wollong tu muvi Wist tu git tu ot.
Sweatshops started around the 1830’s when industrialization started growing in urban areas. Most people who worked in them at the time were immigrants who didn't have their papers. They took jobs where they thought they'd have the most economic stability. It’s changed a bit since then, companies just want the cheapest labor they can get and to be able to sell the product in order to make a big profit. It’s hard to find these types of workers in developed areas so they look toward 3rd world countries. “sweatshops exist wherever there is an opportunity to exploit workers who lack the knowledge and resources to stand up for themselves.” (Morey) In third world countries many people are very poor and are unable to afford food and water so the kids are pulled out of school and forced to work so they can try to better their lives. This results in n immense amount of uneducated people unaware they can have better jobs and that the sweatshops are basically slavery. With a large amounts uneducated they continue the cycle of economic instability. There becomes no hope for a brighter future so people just carry on not fighting for their basic rights. Times have changed. 5 Years ago companies would pay a much larger amount for a product to be made but now if they’re lucky they’ll pay half, if a manufacturer doesn't like that another company will happily take it (Barnes). Companies have gotten greedier and greedier in what they’ll pay to have a product manufactured. Companies have taken advantage of the fact that people in developing countries will do just about anything to feed their families, they know that if the sweatshop in Cambodia don't like getting paid 2 dollars per garment the one in Indonesia will. This means that there is less money being paid to the workers which mean more will starve and live in very unsafe environments. Life is
Submerged in the impoverished urban border culture which they helped create, the maquiladoras draw young women north from all over Mexico’s interior. The women migrate with hopes of acquiring jobs in the booming foreign-owned factories and are plunged into a new border “country” that is far from a promised land. Maquiladoras are a financial endeavor for foreign industrialists who hope that by situating factories in Third World countries they will substantially cut production costs. The industrialists have been accused of taking advantage of Mexico’s cheaply accessible labor force and less restrictive health and safety codes in order to achieve these lower production costs. While preliminary surveys on the effects of maquiladora work on women’s physical health show little to no adverse side effects, researchers and advocates are not completely convinced that long term health effects will prove positive.
Columbus even went as far as building a new city to stamp his victory on the land and its people. In its time, Conception de la Vega was to become the richest gold mining center in the Caribbean. The city was an example of how the Spanish colonization was becoming successful as they basically pacified the Indians in South America and they put them to work in mining gold and they were able to spend that gold on Spanish products and to turn their colonies into a European style city. Columbus’s explorers were outnumbered quite often and with insufficient gunpowder they were met by the steel of swords, quite often there were violent confrontations with hand to hand fighting. Columbus’s greatest asset is that his single minded vision took him thousands of miles across the ocean but it was also his greatest flaw.
According to an article “Somewhere Under The Rainbow: Exploring The Identities And Experiences of Trans people the term is an “Adjective to describe a diverse group of individuals who cross or transcend culturally defined categories of gender. The gender identity of transgender people differs to varying degrees from the sex they were assigned at birth.”(Dargie 61) We are all born with a gender either male or female. Those who are transgender are born feeling as though they were born with the wrong gender, causing a great deal of stress. A term used for those who are confused about their gender is gender dysphoria. Dargie states the definition of gender dysphoria as “Distress that is caused by a discrepancy between a person’s gender identity and that person’s sex assigned at birth”(61). These terms are important to understand because it gives an understanding of what a transgender person really
miles of an international border or coastline, but to this day the regulation of the maquiladora industry has changed a tremendous amount. In the year 2000, 57% of the population lived in the capital region, in Mexico City. During the 1990s, the rise of the maquiladoras was significantly from 17% to 18%. The increase in numbers was not too high considering the amount of employment the maquiladoras provided at that specific time from Tijuana to our border city, Juarez. Border employment has had a major growth due to the fact that this industry attracts workers from rural areas or places near the border region. ( The Role of Maquiladoras in Mexico’s Export Boom, University of California, San Diego and National Bureau of Economic Research, July
Security is a wide concept, it is a separated subject with its own theories, "which focus on the process of attack and on preventing, detecting and recovering from attacks" (William 1996). Certainly, these processes should be well organized in coping with the complex system issues. A coherent approach should be taken, which builds on established security standards, procedu...
Transgender is an umbrella term, meaning an individual’s gender-identity does not align with their assigned sex at birth. Although transgender is a protected class in eighteen states, these individuals still face discrimination within the country and around the world (“Non-Discrimination Laws”). Transgender is not a lifestyle, no one chooses to live their life constantly being discriminated against. Transgender issues should be more educated on and their lives should be more protected.
Tally is an exceptional character from the book Uglies who captivates everyone's attention with her bold personality. Dr. Cable manipulated her by making her go to Smoke all alone, which was an action of a risk taker. In addition, she accomplished many actions that took true courage while she was running away from Special Circumstances during the Smoke invasion. Along with these positive qualities, Tally is a determined girl who will get what she wants when she puts her mind to it. From all the characters from the book, Tally certainly stand outs from the rest because of her exemplary ways.
Transgender people, as defined by the Encyclopedia of human services & diversity, are those who “identify with the gender roles of the opposite sex”. (Nance cite) Of course, acceptance is not the first stage of a new concept. As people did not accept them for a natural being, they suppressed their feelings and/or expressed them in private. The world has slowly become accepting, but there is still a ways to go.