Rethinking Development: Clean Clothes Campaign The Economy plays a vital role in the nature of development. We all interact with it on a daily basis. Yet how it operates and influences development is largely influenced by multinational corporations and governmental powers often operating within a for profit nature. Gibson-Graham, Cameron and Healy (2013) introduce the idea of rethinking this approach to development, by highlighting the cost capital enterprise is having on people and ecosystems. Suggesting although economic growth continues to trend upwards for many countries so do social, environmental and economic inequalities. Gibson-Graham Cameron and Healy (2013) suggest that a fundamental change in approach is needed to the ways …show more content…
By relying on a network of Unions and garment producers the CCC aims to identify and fix problems that exists within the clothing industry worldwide as a result of capital enterprise (Balsiger, 2014). The CCC is committed to addressing inequalities that exist within the garment and shoe producing industry by promoting consumer education, supporting the rights of workers and reducing exploitation. Promoting the support and well-being of workers within the industry, throughout western society and culture (What We Believe in, 2016). This helps to generate a more ethical ideology when we consider how our economy is shaped and operated by our own actions. Gibson-Graham, Cameron and Haely (2013: xix) refer to this as a “community economy, a space for decision making where we recognize and negotiate our interdependence with other humans, other species, and our environment”. The CCC therefore argues that by moving away from a capitalist approach to economic development we can created a more community centered economy. One where all individuals are treated with equal rights assisting with spreading the fruits of development across all individuals helping us to survive together as an equal rights …show more content…
Where workers are being treated unjust, abused and seen as disposable resources Gibson-Graham, Cameron and Healy (2013: 41). As a direct result many companies operating within Europe now employ code of conduct legislations for their manufactures to assisting in ensuring the fair and just treatment of workers. Providing the necessary tools to assist workings in providing a more rounded lifestyle. Breaking free from the ideology of working to survive. This links directly back to Gibson-Graham, Cameron and Healy ideas surrounding a community based economy. By encouraging manufacturers to provide a living wage for all factory workers. Capitalism has driven manufacturers to keep profits high by cutting costs of production resulting the the loss of quality of life for workers and those directly involved the in manufacturing process. CCC encourages manufacturers via social pressure to think more ethically about the manufacturing process and worker compensation. Kulk and Tulder (2002) Suggest that this type of social pressure directly targets manufacturers to show that action is being taken to prevent ethical violations through the introduction of codes of conduct in order to maintain brand reputation. This helps to negotiating improvements in wages assisting manufacturers to considers what implications of their actions are potentially having on individuals. Rather than being seen as
The company offers a Store Manager position in a boutique. He/she should drive a goal oriented team. The vital purpose is to do all the processes such as store operation. Hence, to lead, control and mentor assistant managers, visual managers, and all the employees.
Look down at the clothes you're wearing right now, chances are almost every single thing you are currently wearing was made in a sweatshop. It is estimated that between 50-75% of all garments are made under sweatshop like conditions. Designers and companies get 2nd party contractors to hire people to work in these factories, this is a tool to make them not responsible for the horrendous conditions. They get away with it by saying they are providing jobs for people in 3rd world countries so its okay, but in reality they are making their lives even worse. These companies and designers only care about their bank accounts so if they can exploit poor, young people from poverty stricken countries they surely will, and they do. A sweatshop is a factory
He inquires, “Isn’t it a little presumptuous of us to think that we can end sweatshop abuses by just changing our individual buying habits?” (“Sweat, Fire, and Ethics). As Jeffcott provides the reader with the entirety of the background information on the Fairtrade-certification, he enables the reader to realize what really needs to be done in order to end the use of sweatshops. Another ineffective strategy that Jeffcott mentions is when society attempts to exert the guilt towards large brand name companies, as these companies only address these issues to the extent which it will not affect their productivity. Jeffcott explains that, “Conflicting pressures make suppliers hide abuses or subcontract to sewing workshops...The name of the game remains the same: more work for less pay” (“Sweat, Fire, and Ethics”). By clarifying how ineffective people’s current efforts are in influencing the abuse in sweatshops, Jeffcott challenges the reader to assess if their own efforts are sufficient for the cause. Jeffcott then concludes his argument by proposing to the reader to exceed traditional means of resistance to sweatshops by urging the government to intervene on these reprehensible practices, and perhaps then a solution may be achieved. Contrarily, Jeffrey D. Sachs argues in his excerpt “Bangladesh: On the Ladder of Development,” that despite the injustice that
In China, Kelsey Timmerman spent time with a couple who worked at the Teva factory, traveled to the countryside to meet the couple’s son, insert name, who hasn’t seen his parents in three years due to his parents working long hours and it being expensive to take a train ride. In the US, the author visited one of a few clothing factories in the US to talk to the workers about his shorts, and the decrease of American garment factories. Timmerman wants the consumer to be more engaged and more thoughtful when mindlessly buying clothes. By researching how well the brands you want to buy from monitor their factories and what their code of ethics details, you can make a sound decision on if this is where you would want to buy your clothes. The author writes about brands that improve employers lives like SoleRebels, a shoe company who employs workers and gives them health insurance, school funds for their children, and six months of maternity leave. Brands like soleRebels that give workers benefits most factory workers have never even heard of help improve the lives of garment workers and future generations. From reading this book, Timmerman wants us to be more educated about the lives of garment workers, bridge the gap between consumers and manufacturers, and be a more engaged and mindful consumer when purchasing our
Social responsibility is largely impacting today’s businesses, so this would lead one to believe that ethical issues in the supply chain of companies are no longer prevalent. This, however, is not the case. Even within the last five years, there are still social responsibility issues being reported. One recent example involves Patagonia, the outdoor, clothing and gear store and their supplier, VT Garment. In June of 2015, it was disclosed that Patagonia’s suppliers were involved in “erogenous employment practices, such as debt bondage” about three years ago (O’Connor, July 2015). The Taiwanese mills that supply the textile fabric to the sewing factories for Patagonia are being operated through forced labor. Debt bondage occurs when “brokers charge workers high fees to arrange for their work and promise an inflated salary, but once they start working, workers are paid even less and loan interest piles on” (“Factory Synopsis”). The workers are trapped in these mills attempting to pay off a debt that will never be reduced.
Bob Jeffcott supports the effort of workers of the global supply chains in order to win improved wages and good working conditions and a better quality of life of those who work on sweatshops. He mentions and describes in detail how the conditions of the sweatshops are and how the people working in them are forced to long working hours for little money. He makes the question, “we think we can end sweatshops abuses by just changing our individual buying habits?” referring to we can’t end the abuses that those women have by just stopping of buying their products because those women still have to work those long hours because other people are buying their product for less pay or less money. We can’t control and tell what you can buy or what you can’t because that’s up to the person...
While climbing up the social hierarchy through the lavish purchasing of clothing, many Americans are inadvertently promoting inhumane wages and working conditions for millions of garment factory workers. In the Conditioning Center, the elementary class repeats, “We always throw away old clothes”. Ending is better than mending, ending is better than mending, ending is better.” (35).
As the twenty-first century continues to move forward, humanity finds itself in a predicament unlike any other. Cities are overcrowded, impoverished peoples go hungry regularly, natural resources are depleting from overuse, and the degradation of the environment are daily occurrences on this planet. With so much taking place, how do we reach the point where our planet flourishes and prospers efficiently? Seemingly so, we have reached a point of no return. Yet according to Jeffrey D. Sachs, we can still maintain a flourishing, prosperous planet and the ideas that lie within this document review the main conclusions in the book Common Wealth by Jeffrey D. Sachs.
“Sweatshops Are the Norm in the Global Apparel Industry. We’re Standing up to Change That.” International Labor Rights Forum. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Feb. 2014. .
Capitalism as an economic system does not exist in its pure form in the world. However, the advancements that he listed as enriching the human experience are merely a product of progression, which can occur in any economic system, not just capitalism. Goldberg then went on to discuss capitalism’s creation of “intangible capital” and the value it brings (Goldberg, 12). However, the capitalist elite control the means of distributing this “intangible capital”, and often access “natural capital” as well.
Americans do not realize the amount of clothing we wear on a daily basis is actually made in Cambodia, such as Adidas and even the Gap. The women that work for these sweatshops in Cambodia sew for 50 cents an hour, which is what allows stores in America, such as H&M to sell inexpensive clothing (Winn, 2015). The conditions these Cambodian workers face are a noisy, loud, and extremely hot environment where people are known for having huge fainting attacks. When workers were on strike a year ago, authorities actually shot multiple people just because they were trying to raise their pay. There is plenty of evidence of abuse captured through many interviews of workers from different factories, and is not just a rarity these places see often or hear of. Factories hire children, fire pregnant women because they are slow and use the bathroom to much, scream at regular workers if they use the toilet more than two times a day, scam hard working employees with not paying them their money they worked for and more, and workers are sent home and replaced if 2,000 shirts are not stitched in one day. Expectations are unrealistic and not suitable for employees to be working each day for more than ten
Producing goods or services are dictated not by employees but by their employers. If profits exist, employers are the ones that benefit more so than the regular worker. “Even when working people experience absolute gains in their standard of living, their position, relative to that of capitalists, deteriorates.” (Rinehart, Pg. 14). The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Hard work wears down the employee leaving them frustrated in their spare time. Workers are estranged from the products they produce. At the end of the day, they get paid for a day’s work but they have no control over the final product that was produced or sold. To them, productivity does not equal satisfaction. The products are left behind for the employer to sell and make a profit. In discussions with many relatives and friends that have worked on an assembly line, they knew they would not be ...
In a 1996 congressional testimony, National Labor Committee executive, Charles Kernaghan, led an expose on Kathie Lee Gifford when he revealed “that child laborers in Honduras were making the Gifford clothing line sold at Wal-Mart” (Duke). This realization caused Gifford to dissolve into tears and, over time, use her brand in the fight against corporate practices. For a while, these protestors were able to make a difference as many corporations were began to specify which companies were making their clothes, adopted codes of conduct, and “relied on monitors who visited factories once every three months and conducted random inspections” (Colliver). However, these socially conscious changes aren’t structured “to make factories take better care of their workers. They’re designed to make factories look like they are” (Hobbes). In reality, the factory inspections and audits are essentially, as Hobbes describes it, a “paperwork exercise”, as inspectors usually spend two days maximum at each factory, mostly checking time sheets for shift lengths, birth certificates for child labor, and pay stubs for wages. In addition to this, most manufacturers, particularly those in China and Southeast Asia, are experts in bypassing regulations “by keeping multiple sets of books, hiding cramped
Nike should hold the standards regarding safety and working conditions that are prevailing in that country. However, when the sweatshop workers try to tolerate the conditions and wages, firms that are making investment in that country should not intervene the movement. In countries around the world, garment w...
Toscano, J. (2003). Globalization and sustainable development. In B. H, & R. W, Achieving Sustainable Development: The Challenge of Governance Across Social Scales. Westport, Connecticut: Praeger.