The sweatshop debate

Back in January we had a discussion about sweatshops on this blog. It's a difficult subject, and the debate did affect my stance on the subject. That blog post was discovered by a producer from Truetube (a video magazine site) who was putting together a short video about the pros and cons of sweatshops. They wanted to interview me as the 'pro sweatshop' guy. I was pretty nervous about it fearing I might be misrepresented as some kind of pro-exploitation hypercapitalist but I figured it was worth the risk.

The resulting video is actually very balanced and a good introduction to the subject. There are two important points though that I don't think got enough attention:

The first is that both the pro-globalisation and workers rights movements play an important role in improving the standard of living for poor people in developing countries. Global trade is the best way for a country to develop economically; but at the same time, we need to put pressure on corporations and governments to ensure that working conditions continually improve.

The second point is more fundamental: Do we actually even need all of the cheap goods that are being imported from China and other developing countries? And is our culture of consumerism even sustainable, regardless of whether or not the goods are produced in sweatshops? The Story of Stuff explains this side of things in a beautifully simple way.

The Sweatshop page on Wikipedia has a more detailed breakdown of the arguments for and against sweatshops if you want to read more about this.

Here's the video. I'd love to know what you think.

SWEATSHOPS

Comments

[Chris Billett]

It's an interesting argument, and one that I've sat on both sides of. A couple of years ago I wore only fairtrade and organic clothes then, getting a bit cynical (and a bit broke, and a bit sick of watching upper-middle-class folk being the only ones that could afford the increasingly expensive clothes that cost 60p more to make) I kind of stopped... I guess my reasons were more selfish than yours... must read your original article later.

[Edd P]

Interesting video.
I think you got your points accross very well Tom, you definatly havnt come accross as a pro-exploitation hypercapitalist.

[Bip Mistry]

Hi Tom

I disagree with your 'Global trade is the best way for a country to develop economically'... i think that global trade created the sweatshops in the first place, and continues to create the worst of them now. you don't have to visit many sweatshops to realise that they shouldn't exist. you should look into 'cottage industries' too, if such a phenomenon still exists! a dollar a day didn't do anybody a favour, look at india, tanzania etc... the sweatshop worker will always be the bottom rung on the ladder. i worked in a 'sweatshop' in bradford in the 1980's, steam ironing cardigans at 2 pence per item.
Bip

[Tom Nixon]

Hi Bip, thanks for commenting.

Personally I don't put cottage industries in developed countries in the same basket as sweatshops in poorer countries. They contribute nothing to society and I don't think Britain had any excuses for not having better labour standards and a minimum wage far earlier.

I guess the question is that if globalisation created the sweatshops, was working life in poor countries better before? And if not, without global trade, how would life get better? Countries like the UK and US started out on a path to prosperity through sweatshops hundreds of years ago. They are a stepping stone.

I'm not saying that sweatshops are desirable, or that we should tolerate exploitation. That's why we need to put pressure on countries and corporations to continually improve standards.

[bonnie]

So I didn't get to watch the video, but I have read a lot of pro sweatshop arguements. And one that I think is sad, is that children when they no longer can work in sweatshops due to laws and what not, they have to turn to other ways that are lower in standards, such as prositution. And to me, that is like the worst for a child. And also I read another thing about a book, the lady liberated children from a sweatshop and they were throwing bottles at her because they now would go hungry and were homeless. Yeah sweatshops aren't good, but are they better then the alternitives? And that really isn't up to us, it's up to those that are working there.

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I think that global trade created the sweatshops in the first place, and continues to create the worst of them now.

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I find I don't usually have sympathy cards on hand, and I supposed it's because I don't ever want to have to use them. But, they are necessary, so I figure now's a good time to stock up! (Thanks Lisa!) Countries like the UK and US started out on a path to prosperity through sweatshops hundreds of years ago. They are a stepping stone.