Taking a Closer Look at Sweatshops

550 Words3 Pages
Scholarly intrigue and a hunger for knowledge led Kelsey Timmerman to write the book "Where Am I Wearing". "Where Am I Wearing" is a compilation of both Timmerman's thought-provoking questions: questions about wear the clothes we wear come from, about who makes our clothes, about the working conditions of the people who make our clothes, and the stories that he gathered during the many journeys that he went on while writing the book. Through his tales of travel Timmerman introduces his readers to the harsh realities of globalization, poverty, child labor, and sweatshops.

With the continued rise of consumer "needs" in "industrial" countries such as the United States, and the consistently high price that corporations must pay to produce goods in these countries, companies are looking to "increase (their) profits by driving down costs any way possible... To minimize costs, companies look for places with the lowest wages and human rights protections" (Dosomething). Countries with lax or unenforced labor laws grant multinational corporations the leeway to use cheap foreign labor to mass-produce their commodities so that they can be sold in countries like America. These inexpensive, sometimes borderline illegal, establishments are known as sweatshops. In his book Timmerman discusses the topic of sweatshops in great detail. Originally in search of "where (his) T-shirt was made(;) (Timmerman) (went) to visit the factory where it was made and (met) the people who made (it)" (Timmerman5).

The mere idea of sweatshops, let alone their existence, seems cruel and unusual to people like us, especially in today's day and age. After all, in sweatshops "workers are subject to extreme exploitation. This includes... (not) enabling workers to cover ...

... middle of paper ...

...also bring job loss in (third-world countries)” (Timmerman70).

Works Cited

"Background on Sweatshops." Do Something. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Oct. 2013.

Lorette, Kristie, and O. Wallace. WiseGeek. Conjecture, 27 Oct. 2013. Web. 29 Oct. 2013.

"Sweatshops." Green America's Ending Program: What You Can Do. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Oct. 2013.

Timmerman, Kelsey. "A Consumer Goes Global." Where Am I Wearing?: A Global Tour to the Countries,
Factories, and People That Make Our Clothes. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2009. 5. Print.

Timmerman, Kelsey. "A Consumer Goes Global." Where Am I Wearing?: A Global Tour to the Countries,
Factories, and People That Make Our Clothes. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2009. 9. Print.

Timmerman, Kelsey. "A Consumer Goes Global." Where Am I Wearing?: A Global Tour to the Countries,
Factories, and People That Make Our Clothes. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2009. 70. Print.
Show More
Related

  • Analysis on Value Creation and Internationalisation Process of Topshop

    965 Words  | 4 Pages

    5. Marta, F. and Alejandro, M. (2011) ‘Internationalization patterns in fashion retail distribution: implications for firm results’, The service industries journal, 31(11), pp. 1979-1993. 6. Swoboda, B., Pop, N. and Dabija, D. (2010) ‘Vertical alliances between retail and manufacturer companies in the fashion industry’, Amfiteatru economic, 12(28), pp.

    Read More

  • Marketing Manager V. Sales Representative

    1187 Words  | 5 Pages

    9 May 2011. Vogt, Peter. "Marketing Manager." Career Opportunities in the Fashion Industry. New York: Checkmark, 2007.

    Read More

  • Fashion Week’s Impact on American Society

    2015 Words  | 9 Pages

    Web. 11 October 2013 Lock, Simon. “Rewiring Fashion Week” The Business of Fashion. N.P., 27 September 2013. Web.

    Read More

  • The Role of Fashion Promotion Within the Fashion Industry

    1811 Words  | 8 Pages

    Bugg combines both words to explain that fashion promoters deal with what happens to clothes after they have been made (2007). This confirms both Barnards understanding of 'fashion' as a noun and th... ... middle of paper ... ...onary.Collins sons & Co .Ltd. Green, Andy. (2001b). Creativity in Public Relations.

    Read More

  • Careers of Design: Interior and Fashion

    1714 Words  | 7 Pages

    Occupational outlook handbook, 2010-11 edition: Fashion designers. Retrieved from http://www.bls.gov Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2009b) Occupational outlook handbook, 2010-11 edition: Interior designers. Retrieved from http://www.bls.gov Careers in focus: Architecture & building (2007a). New York, NY: Ferguson.

    Read More

  • Christian Dior

    1799 Words  | 8 Pages

    / Dior Official Website. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Dec. 2013. - Kemp-Gatterson, Beverly, and Barbara L. Stewart.

    Read More

  • Setting the Example

    1259 Words  | 6 Pages

    Monday morning motivation (1st ed.). New York, NY: HarperCollins. De Ferreire Kemp, F. (2007). Leadership and diversity: Constant Companions. Industrial Engineer: IE, 39(5), 40-43, Retrieved July 27, 2011, from http://ehis.ebscohost.com.csuproxy.egloballibrary.com.

    Read More

  • Same-Sex Marriage

    990 Words  | 4 Pages

    "What Is DOMA?" PolicyMic. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Sept. 2013.

    Read More

  • Analysis on Industry Structure and Internationalization Process of Lee

    930 Words  | 4 Pages

    Competitiveness Review, 24(1), pp. 32-45. Eickman, M. and Bhardwaj, V. (2011) A case study on the internationalization process of a “born-global” fashion retailer. The international review of retail, distribution and consumer research, 21(3), pp. 293-307.

    Read More

  • American Apparel

    3180 Words  | 13 Pages

    Available at: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/11/magazine/how-zara-grew-into-the-worlds-largest-fashion-retailer.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 [19 November 2013]. 19. Inditex (2013). Inditex Press Dossier. Available at: http://www.inditex.com/en/downloads/ITX-Dossier-p12-en.pdf [19 November 2013].

    Read More

More about Taking a Closer Look at Sweatshops

Open Document