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First Year Seminar Section 09 Sweatshops and the Global Economy |
John Miller 006 Knapton (508) 286-3667 jmiller@wheatonma.edu Office Hours: |
A century ago, when immigrants from eastern and southern Europe came to the United States, they often found jobs as sewers and stitchers in the garment industry, working long hours in unhealthy and dangerous conditions for little pay. These sweatshop conditions have now returned to the United States, especially in the factories of the apparel industry, and spread across the global economy. Today, sweatshop workers, whether working in a Los Angeles barrio, a Bangkok slum, or an export-zone of South China or El Salvador make our t-shirts, sneakers, and toys.
This seminar engages students in the controversy regarding sweatshops and their role in the global economy. We will read pieces written by economists praising sweatshops to the sky as well as stinging critiques of factory work and sweatshops. We ask why sweatshops have returned to the United States, now the richest economy in the world. We also ask why the spread of sweatshops in the developing world often seems to contribute, on the one hand, to the alleviation of measured poverty and, on the other hand, to the "immiseration" of factory workers. Using electronic and printed resources, including workers' testimonies and economic analyses of export factories, we look closely at examples drawn from the apparel industry, the toy industry, and the athletic footwear industry in Los Angeles and New York City, and in China, El Salvador, Indonesia, Mexico, Thailand, and Viet Nam.
The seminar pays special attention to what we should and can do about sweatshop labor and asks students to develop an appropriate public response to sweatshops, as well as poor peoples' and workers' movements in the developing world. We will ask if industrial codes of conduct and the recent self-monitoring efforts of corporations such as Reebok and Mattel are effective ways to regulate sweatshops. In addition, we will assess the impact of social movements --first-world anti-sweatshop movements led by consumers, religious groups, and students and third-world workers’ and poor peoples’ movements -- have had on sweatshop conditions.
Behind The Label: Inequality in The Los Angeles Apparel Industry by Edna Bonacich and Richard Applebaum.
Made in China: The Role of U.S. Companies in Denying Human and Worker Rights by Charles Kernaghan, National Labor Committee.
No Sweat: Fashion, Free trade, and The Rights of Garment Workers edited by Andrew Ross.
The Sweatshop Quandary: Corporate Responsibility on the Global Frontier edited by Pamela Varley.
Photocopied Packet of Readings available in Knapton 007 (for $10).
Class Participation -- A seminar allows each of us to try out new ideas, to learn from each other, and to develop our critical facilities. All of this is possible only if each of us is willing to participate actively in our class discussions. Part of your grade will be based upon the quantity and quality of your class participation. This is just as much a requirement for the course as any written assignment.
A comedian once said that, "90% of life is showing up." While effective class participation requires more than just showing up, you certainly can’t be a regular participant in our class discussions if you don’t show up. I will expect you to attend each class. Missing more than two classes will lower your final grade.
Readings and Discussion Questions --To get the most out of class time, we much come to class prepared, having read, or even re-read, the assigned material. Each class will begin with our questions from the readings. Also, to help analyze the readings, I will ask you to complete and turn in discussion questions on each week’s readings.
Papers --You will complete four essays addressing different themes of the course as the required formal writing. The essays will be about five to eight pages in length and due different times during the semester. You will present an outline of your first paper and have the opportunity to rewrite your first three essays. Tentative titles for those papers are below.
Paper #1: What is a Sweatshop ?
Paper #2: The Role of Sweatshops in the Global Garment Industry?
Paper #3: The Role of Sweatshops in this developing country?
Paper #4: What should we do about Sweatshops?
Oral Reports -- Each student will make a class presentation as part of a research team. You will present the results of your library study on working conditions and economic conditions in the clothing, footwear, and toy industries in various countries of the global economy. We organize teams of students by industry, country and corporation. You will develop an annotated bibliography of electronic and printed sources. You will present the class with copies of your annotated sources and a handout that summarizes your presentation.
Special Class Sessions -- We will spend one class, October 19, learning the library skills that will help you complete the research for your class presentations. That class we will be held in the library. For another class meeting we will go on a field trip to Slater Mill in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.
Course Grading --Your grade of the seminar will be determined by:
| Papers | 60% |
| Class Participation | 20% |
| Discussion Questions | 10% |
| Oral Report | 10% |
Sept. 7, 12 Introduction: Workers and Issues Behind the Label..
In No Sweat: "Introduction" by Ross.
In The Sweatshop Quandary, Anti-Sweatshop Movement, and ch. 1..
From Packet:
"Taking a profit, and Inflicting a Cost" by Mitchell Zuckoff, The Boston Globe 7/10/1994.VIDEO: "Sweating For a T-shirt" by Global Exchange (1999).
BROWSE: Smithsonian Institution Exhibit, Between A Rock and A Hard Place, especially Fashion Food Chain and Dialogue
Sept. 14, 19 U.S. Sweatshops: From The Triangle Shirt Waist Fire to Fair Labor Standards
In No Sweat: "Labor, History, and Sweatshops in the New Global Economy" by Howard, pp. 151-172.
From Packet:
The Triangle Strike and Fire, by McClymer, Prologue, Part 1,Part 3, pp. 84-100, 110-115, 126-140.
"Shirt" by Robert Pinsky, in The Figured Wheel.
"Last Triangle Fire Survivor Honored by Labor Unions," by Ramirez, Los Angeles Times, 3/26/96.BROWSE: Cornell ILR Triangle Fire Page and Smithsonian Institution Exhibit, Between A Rock and A Hard Place See especially history 1880-140, history 1940-1997.
Sept. 21 Class to Rescheduled as Trip to Slater Mill
The Great Transformation by Karl Polanyi, ch. 3 The Satanic Mill.
Sept. 26, 28, What is A Sweatshop and Why would Economists Defend Them?
In No Sweat: "The Economics of the Sweatshop," by Piore, and "After the Year of the Sweatshop: Postscript," by Ross.
In The Sweatshop Quandary: Ch. 2, Ch. 3.
From Packet:
Which of these is a Sweatshop? New York Times 5/14/95, New York Times, 8/29/96, Newsweek 9/10/90, Newsweek 5/15/00, Los Angeles Times5/30/00, Los. Angeles Times, 7/2/00.
"Features of the Informal Sector," in Trade Unions and The Informal Sector, by International Labor Organization, 1999.
"Economists and Sweatshops," by Levinson, Dissent, Fall 1997.
"A Defense of Sweatshops" by Weidenbaum All in Child Labor and Sweatshops edited by Williams, 1999.BROWSE: Sweatshop Watch, especially Factsheet, the Garment Industry, and Corporate Watch, Facts on the Global Sweatshop, Feminists Against Sweatshops, Frequently Asked Questions.
Oct. 3, 5, 12 Return of the Sweatshop to United States: New York and Los Angeles
In No Sweat: "Testimony" by Meza, "El Monte Thai Garment Workers"
By Su, "They Want to Kill Us For Little Money," by Mort,.
Behind The Label, ch. 1. Part I: Capital, ch. 1 -- 4, Part II: Labor , ch. 5 - 7.
From Packet
"Inside a Sweatshop: An Eyewitness Account," by Given, Feminist Against Sweatshops, 1997.
"The Story of a Garment Worker," by Lisa Liu, as told to David Bacon, Dollars & Sense, Sept./Oct. 2000.
"Executive Summary" of The "Los Angeles Jewish Commission onSweatshops, January 1999.BROWSE: Smithsonian Institution Exhibit, Between A Rock and A Hard Place, especially the El Monte exhibit and MSNBC TV News: Sweatshops:
America’s Labor Struggle, especially undercover diary and timetable.
Los Angeles Jewish Commission on Sweatshops.
Oct. 19 Library Visit for Research Projects. Meet in Library.
Oct. 17, 24 The Global Assembly Line: Women Workers, Poverty and a Living Wage
Oct. 26In The Sweatshop Quandary: Ch. 4, Ch. 5, Ch. 10, Mexico, pp. 354-370.
From Packet:
"Women’s Work in Export Factories," by Lim, in Persistent Inequalities, edited by Tinker, 1990.
"The Subordination of Women and The Internationalization of Factory Production," by Elson and Pearson, and "Maquiladoras: The View from the Inside," by Fernandez-Kelly, and "Capitalism, Patriarchy: both inThe Women, Gender, and Development Reader edited by Visvanathan et al."Understanding Poverty and Inequality," Poverty Net, The World Bank Group.
"The Global Hiring Hall: Why We Need Worldwide Labor Standards," by Richard Rothstein, The American Prospect, Spring 1994.
"Asia’s Crisis Upsets Rising Effort to Confront Blight of Sweatshops," by Kristof, New York Times, 6/15/98.VIDEO: Global Village or Global Pillage (Global Exchange).
BROWSE: Sweatshop Watch (especially a Living Wage Methodology and The Garment Industry), Global Exchange, Global Trade Watch, Inequality.org, International Labor Organization (ILO), Poverty Net.
Oct. 31 Clothes Production in the Global Economy; El Salvador and China.
Nov. 2, 7 In The Sweatshop Quandary: Ch. 9 El Salvador.
In No Sweat: "From War Zone to Free Trade Zone," by Krupat. In Made in China: Wal-Mart/ Kathie-Lee Handbags, Nike, Wei Li Textile, Ltd., Spiegel.
From Packet
Globalization of the Footwear, Textiles, and Clothing Industries, byInternational Labor Organization, 1996, introduction, ch. 1, ch. 2. NLC Packet on El Salvador.
"The Case of Corporate Responsibility: Paying a Living Wage to Maquila Workers in El Salvador," by Connor et al, A Study for the National LaborCommittee, May 14, 1999.
VIDEO: Something To Hide, 1999 NCL/USAS delegation to El Salvador.
BROWSE: Campaign For Labor Rights, , Global Exchange, National LaborCommittee, and Sweatshop Watch.
Nov. 9, 14 The Athletic Footwear Industry: Southeast Asia and China
Nov. 16 In Made in China: Timberland, New Balance, Fubu and Deep-E, Keds, Nike.
Intro , Labor Law in China, Cost of living, Company Dorm, Labor ActivistsImprisoned, Rhetoric vs. Reality.
In The Sweatshop Quandary: Ch. 7: Indonesia, Ch. 8, Nike in Indonesia, Ch. 10, China, pp. 320-338.
From Packet:
"Commodity Chains and Marketing Strategies: Nike and the Global Athletic Footwear Industry," by Korzeniewicz, in Commodity Chains and Global Capitalism, edited by Gary Gereffic and Miguel Korzeniewicz.
"The Globetrotting Sneaker," by Enloe, Women’s Lives, edited by Gwyn and Okazawa-Rey.NIKE ON THE WEB: "Nike’s Satanic Factories in West Java (Indonesia)," by Hancock, 1997, "Wages and Living Expenses for Nike Workers in Indonesia September 1998" by Benjamin, both from CleanClothes Campaign, "Cruel Treatment Working for Nike in Indonesia," by Press For Change, 1999; "Nike Labor Practices in Vietnam" by Vietnam Labor Watch, 1997; "Nike, show workers the at your commitment to human rights is genuine," by Hong Kong Christian Industrial Committee 2/00.
VIDEO: Nike in Vietnam, 48 hours Oct. 17, 1996.
Nov. 21, 28 The Toy Industry in Southeast Asia
From Packet:
One World Ready or Not by Greider, ch. 15 "These Dark Satanic Mills."
"Terror in Toyland," by Bob Herbert, New York Times, 12/21/94.
"Second Thoughts on Thai Development," Economist,, 5/23/93.
"Barbie’s Betrayal," by Press, The Nation, 12/30/96.
"Sweatshop Barbie: Exploitation of Third World Labor," by Anton Foek,
The Humanist, Jan./Feb.1997 and "Barbie Talks Back" by Sean Fitzgerald,
The Humanist, July/August 1997.BROWSE: Global Exchange, Mattel, National Labor Committee, Sweatshop Watch.
Nov. 30 Government Enforcement, Labor Rights, and Corporate Responsibility
Dec. 5 In Behind the Label: ch. 8, ch. 9.
In No Sweat: "New York: Defending a Union Contract," by Proper and,
"Rat-Catching: An Interview with Bud Konheim," by Singer.
In The Sweatshop Quandary, ch. 11, ch.12, ch. 14.
From Packet:
Rothstein-Amsden Debate on Labor Standards in Boston Review. 20.6.
"What’s Fair about the Fair Labor Association?" by Benjamin, Global Exchange, 2/99.
"Thailand, Workers escape urban misery," by Mydans, New York Times,1/13/97."The Social Responsibility of Business Is to Increase Its Profits," by Friedman and "Why Shouldn’t Corporations Be Socially Responsible?"by Stone, both in Business Ethics edited by Hoffman and Frederick.
"The Starbucks Solution," by Richard Rothstein, The American Prospect,no. 27, (July/August 1996).
"The Era of Corporate Rule," by Naomi Klein, Corporate Watch.BROWSE: Bata Shoes, Corporate Watch, Fair Labor Association, Global Exchange, Global Trade Watch, Mattel, Reebok, and Unite,
Dec. 7, 12 Citizens Against Sweatshops: Consumers, Students, Religious Groups, Feminists...
In Behind the Label:, ch. 10 Anti-sweatshop movement.
In No Sweat: "Sweatshopping," by Press and "Labor Behind the Label:
Clean Clothes Campaigns in Europe," by Shaw.
From Packet:
"Efforts to Reduce Sweatshops is Misguided" by Stelzer and "Consumer Pressure Can reduce the Use of Sweatshops," by Golodner. Both in Child Labor and Sweatshops.
"Sweat-Free Student Movement" by National Labor Committee.
Coverage of Student Anti-Sweatshop Movement, New York Times. 1999-2000.
"The New Student Movement" by Featerstone, The Nation, 5/15/00.BROWSE: Fair Labor Association, NO SWEAT, Sweatshop Watch, United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS)
A large Canadian owner manufacturer of shoes operating in Southeast Asia sited by non governmental organizations (NGOs) as a more responsible employer that pays a living wage and does not use subcontractors.
Covers the Nike in Vietnam Story reported on CBS provides a report on the dangerous and abusive labor practice in the factories of Nike’s subcontractors in Viet Nam.
Mobilizes grassroots activism throughout the United States for a campaign to end sweatshop abuses and child labor. Large sections on Nike in Asia, Disney in Haiti,and sweatshops in Mexico and Central America.
http://www.summersault.com/~agj/cir/
A British website with updated reports on Nike in China.
http://cleanclothes.org/companies/nike.htm
A national non-profit education organization that works to promote a socially responsible market place.
Contains pictures of and commentary on the fire and its aftermath.
http://ilr.cornell.edu/trianglefire/navigation.html
Bills itself as the watch dog of the web when it comes to corporate irresponsibility. Of interest are its Nike expose page and its newsletter Blood, Sweat, and Shears.
Garment Industry Association that emerged from a White House organized anti-sweatshop meeting. It members include Kathie Lee Gifford, Liz Claiborne, Reebok, and othercorporate giants and its fair labor guidelines demand that member corporations open their plants to inspection by external monitors and that members pay the prevailing minimum wage, not a living wage.
These standards emerged from the labor struggles of the 1930s and the New Deal and were enacted in 1938. They include the minimum wage, time and a half for overtime, and the prohibition of homework and child labor.
http://www.dol.gov/elaws/flsa.htm
This feminist web site points out that women make up 90% of sweatshop laborers in the global economy. Their frequently asked questions section is especially helpful.
http://www.feminist.org/other/sweatshops.html
One of two leading groups in the U.S. anti-sweatshop campaign. Their site containsInformation on global economy as well as corporate reports such as Nike Update.
http://www.globalexchange.org/
Part of Ralph Nader’s Public Citizen devoted to promoting government and corporateaccountability in the world economy
http://citizen.org/pctrde/tradehome.html
A site managed by United For A Fair Economy contains the latest data on U.S inequality.
http://www.inequality.org/index/html
Official international labor and human rights organization known as the authors of International Labor Conventions and for its studies of the informal sector.
http://www.ilo.org/public/english/index.htm
See their January 1999 report on Sweatshop in the L.A. garment industry.
http://www.isber.ucsb.edu/CommonReport/html
Mattel, the toy company, one of the largest contractors of toys producer in the developing world, recently published a study of conditions in the factories of their subcontractors.
http://www.mattel.com/corporate/company/responsibility/gmp.asp/chapter=gmp
Assembled for their Dateline Program. See especially the undercover diary and timetable.
http://www.msnbc.com/onair/nbc/dateline/shop
One of the two (along with Global Exchange) leading Human and Workers Rights organizations in the U.S. anti-sweatshop campaign. Headed by Charles Kernaghan, theNLC has conducted successful campaigns against Kathie Lee Gifford/Wal-Mart and the Gap and has recently turned its attention to East Asia, especially China.
Nike’s social responsibility webpage that contains: Nike’s response to student protests, Nike’s take on the labor conditions in its factories in China, and an explanation of Phil Knight’s (the CEO) decision to no longer donate to the University of Oregon after it to joined the Worker’s Rights Constorium.
Sponsored by Community Aid Abroad, Oxfam, Australia, a complete website dedicated to a campaign to get Nike to upgrade its code of conduct.
http://www.caa.org.au/campaigns/nike/
Site contains a study of wages paid workers in factories of Nike subcontractors in Indonesia and series of photos taken "inside" factories producing Nikes in Indonesia.
Department of Labor (D.O.L.) anti-sweatshop page includes lists of corporations granted. The D.O.L. no sweat label. Uses the GAO definition of sweatshops.
http://www.dol.gov/dol/nosweat.htm
World Bank poverty page with data, interviews, and program descriptions.
http://www.worldbank.org/poverty/index.htm
One of the largest manufacturers of athletic footwear, regards itself as a model employer, and recently published a self-monitoring report on its subcontractors in Indonesia.
http://reebok.com/peduli/peduli.cfm
Reports on its Summer 1997 Volume devoted to sweatshops. It includes helpful exercises and curriculum suggestions.
http://www.rethinkingschools.org/Archives/11_04.htm
The controversial Sweatshop in America exhibit of the Smithsonian containing long pieces on the history of U.S. sweatshops, the garment industry, and the El Monte case as well as the global production game.
http://americanhistory.si.edu/seatshops/index.htm
A coalition of labor, community, civil rights, immigrant rights, women’s, religious and student organizations and individuals committed to eliminating sweatshop conditions in the global garment industry. See What is a Sweatshop under garment industry.
The Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees has taken a leading role among U.S. unions in the fight against sweatshops.
http://www.uniteunion.org/index.htm
UN agency that publishes the Human Development Report and is know for its work on
Global inequality by income, region, and gender.
http://www.undp.org/indexalt.html
An international coalition of students devoted to stopping sweatshop labor. It reports on the USAS-directed Sweat-Free-Campus Campaign which demands that colleges initiate codes of conduct that go beyond the standards set by the Fair Labor Association.