In the article The Case for Sweatshops, David Henderson argues that these sweatshops really aren't that bad. The conditions of the factories in these third-world countries are actually much better than the agricultural jobs they would be working in otherwise. Countries like Malaysia and South Korea used to use sweatshops as primary providers, but now about forty years later, no longer rely on them. The reason being their workers now have developed individual skills and earned capital. The sweatshops aren't used in South Korea and Malaysia anymore. They weren't forced to discontinue, but instead grew better on their own. We as consumers, Henderson explains, shouldn't discourage sweatshops, but instead we should continue to buy from them, and then let them develop on their own.
Henderson goes on to even speak highly of child labor. He thinks that the sweatshops keep children out of trouble. Without the work to keep them busy and making money, they would live on the streets as prostitutes or starving for food.
Having heard one opinion about sweatshops for so long, it was hard for me to read this article and agree. I see the point that Henderson is making, and I also see the point of opposition argued by many as well. I think in terms of sweatshops, we should try to find a middle ground. The idea of sweatshops as a system that provides jobs to many should remain constant. It is the conditions that need to change. They need to become safer and cleaner. The workers need to be treated more like people.
1 comment:
Tara, I spent the better part of the past two years researching and writing my book "Where Am I Wearing?" I've come to realize that there is no black and white when it comes to "sweatshops" or "child labor".
Garment workers sacrifice a lot to have the jobs, which are crucial to their families. In Cambodia workers support 6 or 7 people with their wage. There are worse jobs than making clothes in a lot of these countries. Still, their lives and jobs could be better. In Bangladesh the woman I met earned $24 per month. That's not enough for her, a single mother, to support her family of three kids so she had to send her oldest son to Saudi Arabia to work. In Cambodia 8 girls (late-teens, early 20's) live in a room 8'X12'; four of them sleep on the concrete floor, and four sleep on the wood mattressless bed. In China, the labor laws say that workers aren't to work more than 44 hours per week, but they work nearly 100 hours per week. They haven't seen their son in three years.
Sweatshops are good or sweatshops are bad??? Both sides are wrong. I think you hit it right on when you said that the answer is somewhere in the middle.
As for child labor... I think it's a symptom of poverty. Not having kids make our clothes doesn't eliminate them having to work, but it eliminates our guilt in the matter. We shouldn't be ashamed that kids make our clothes so much as ashamed that we live in a world where child labor is a necessity.
Keep asking questions. Good luck withe your class!
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