The+Real+Price+of+Fashion

n8803277 Jakob Crocker The artefact above, labelled “Discounted” is a political cartoon illustrated by Adam Zyglis. This political cartoon is divided into a left side and a right side. The left side of the cartoon illustrates cheap discounted garments and the right side illustrates a dead body of a Bangladesh factory worker. This political cartoon brings to light the correlation between low priced garments and the health of sweatshop workers involved with production. The illustration uncovers the fact that many of these sweatshop workers are faced with numerous health and safety risks and in turn are paying the price for the so called “bargain” of many garments.
 * __ The Real Price of Fashion __**
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The artefact labelled “Discounted” takes aim at the public health and safety issues associated with sweatshop working conditions, particularly in third world countries such as Bangladesh. These health and safety issues can be broken up into three different categories being, a high amount of labour hours, poor workplace conditions, and a low rate of pay. All three of these categories can have a major impact on third world county sweatshop workers. These impacts can often lead to poor health and can ultimately lead to death as illustrated in the artefact above.
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It is no secret to many that some sweatshop workers in developing countries are forced to work copious amounts of hours. (Mayers, R)There have been reported examples of workers in these third world sweatshops working throughout the whole night with guards standing at the exits preventing employees from leaving.(Global Exchange, 2011) There have also been reports of some employees only given a four and a half hour gap between the time they finish and the time that they awake in order to begin the next shift as well as working up to 16 hours a day 7 days a week.(War on Want, no year) this amount of hours equates to above 50 hours a week which, according to heath literature, is considered to be detrimental to health. (Lee, Mchann, Messanger, 2007). A study taken by the National Health interview survey concluded that increased hours of work and low hours of sleep can lead to increased fatigue and in turn increase the chance of work related injury. (Lombardi, Folkard, Willets, Smith, 2010) As this type of risk seems to be quite common among the population of sweatshop workers it is easy to see why many economists are concerned for the health of these workers.
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What is also concerning for the health of these employees is the fact that many of these workers are exposed to poor workplace conditions. (international labour rights) it has been reported that some workers have been exposed to toxic chemicals and have also been operating machinery with insufficient protection by means of safety equipment.(Oxfam) a number of deaths have been reported in Bangladesh garment factories. These deaths have been a direct result of poor health and safety standards in these sweatshops. These poor standards involve cases of overcrowded workplaces ill carried out emergency procedures, blocked evacuation exits as well as poor building safety standards. (Mayher, 2012) “All workers have the right to work in an environment which is safe and not detrimental to their health. The International Labour Organisation Constitution sets forth the principle that workers should be protected from sickness, disease and injury arising from their employment and have established a number of conventions to promote this principle.”(Mayher, 2012)through these examples it is clear that a number of these sweatshops do not value this principle and as a direct result a number of these employees are suffering from a number of diseases, injuries and unfortunately death. In order to prevent such catastrophes it would be plausible for these sweatshop owners to comply with the principles set forth by the international labour organisation.

There is much debate to the wages that sweatshop employees are paid and if in fact there are unfair wages. Statistics show that some of the employees in these third world sweatshops have been paid as little as 13 U.S cents an hour. (Powel & Skarbek, 2006) Many economists believe that these sweatshop employers are exploiting these employees by paying them these low wages and they also believe that it is wrongful conduct.(Mayer, 2007) The economists on this side believe that all workers should be paid a living wage. (Mayer, 2007) These economists believe that these employers are gaining in a means that is unfair for the other party, being the employees.(Mayer, 2007) Other economists however believe that this exploitation is not wrong because these sweatshop employees are receiving a more preferable alternative to that if they were unemployed.(Mayer, 2007) the statistic they use to back up this argument is the fact that sweatshops contracted by multinational corporations often receive better wages in comparison to other common third world occupations such as agriculture, day labour and scavenging. (Mayer, 2007) Economists on the other side however suggest that this statistic is only true for factories contracted with these multinational corporations and not the factories that are subcontracted through these factories. They also criticize the fact that these multinational corporations only pay a minimum wage not a living wage. (Mayer, 2007) & (Global Exchange, 2011) Some economists believe that if the minimum wage in some countries was raised to a living wage then multinational corporations would take their business else wear in order to compete with other retail companies and as the retail markets are becoming more competitive the more these subcontracting companies will strive for cost efficiency by paying as little wages as possible for large amounts of labour. (Mayer, 2007) & (Global Exchange, 2011)

Through this information we can see why some economists are worried about the welfare of these sweatshop workers. But we see the other side in which economists argue that these workers are receiving higher pay and more jobs through the means of this globalisation and if all these sweatshops were eliminated then these third world countries would be in a worse state of poverty.(Powel & Skarbek, 2006) there is also the argument that through these sweatshops the population is introduced to more jobs and technology by which productivity in these third worl countries can be increased ultimately creating more jobs and higher paying rates. 5. A social theory that may support those arguments that oppose sweatshops is that of the Kantian ethical theory which in its second formulation states “we should never treat a rational being merely as a means but always as an end in itself.” This however does not mean that it is morally wrong to employ workers to help one gain in their business. It however is morally wrong when the employer uses the employee and does not acknowledge or respect that person as a free human being. (Meyers, 2004)

==== Karl Marx and his theory of Maxism can be used to further explore this issue. The theory of Marxism explores how society has unfolded by the means of capitalism. Marx’s theory explains how in the modern factory world wealth is produced by the labour of many however this wealth was only shared by few. (Greene, 2009) Marx’s established that in the factory world there were two types of people, the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. The bourgeoisie was established as the population of the factorie owners and the proletariats are the workers brought into the factorie. As the proletariats work away producing the goods through hard labor the bourgeoisie become richer and therefore are benefitting at the expense of the proletariats. (Greene, 2009)====

6. Referring back to the artefact I think it is a fantastic representation of the topics that have just been discussed. The artefact represents the struggles that third world sweatshop employee’s encounter in order for consumers to receive high quality goods at such low prices. These workers encounter a number of serious health issues through the unsafe nature of their working environment. But it is extremely sad to note that the unsafe nature of their working environments can lead to a number of catastrophes by which loss of life in copious numbers is not uncommon. To me this artefact forces me to reflect on how lucky I am to not be living in a third world country and it saddens me to think of the struggling circumstances these third world factory workers face. The artefact forces me to think about what I have learned about this topic through my study of this subject. It forces me to really think about the major impact that the development of globalisation has had on the world and makes me think myself extremely fortunate to be on the benefiting side of this globalisation. Learning about this topic has forced a greater awareness for the issue on myself and in turn will force a greater consciousness of the issue in the future. It has made me seriously consider ethical consumption for the future and it has motivated me to help the issue by informing others of the knowledge I have gained through my study of the subject.

References Global Exchange, (2011), "Free Trade" and Sweatshops, retrieved from [] Greene. R. W, (2009) //Marxist Theory//, Encyclopedia of Communication Theory, SAGE Publications, Inc, 608-612, doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezp01.library.qut.edu.au/10.4135/9781412959384

Lee. S, Mchann. D, Messanger, C, (2007), Working time Around the world, Retrieved from www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/@dgreports/.../wcms_104895.pdf‎

Lombardi.D.A, Folkard. S, Willetts. J.L, Smith. G.S, (2010), //DAILY SLEEP, WEEKLY WORKING HOURS, AND RISK OF WORK-RELATED INJURY: US NATIONAL HEALTH INTERVIEW SURVEY,// Chronobiology International, 27 (5), 1013-1030, retrieved fromhttp://informahealthcare.com.ezp01.library.qut.edu.au/doi/abs/10.3109/07420528.2010.489466//

//Mayer. R, (2007),// Sweatshops, Exploitation, and Moral Responsibility, //Journal of Social Philosophy, 38(4), 605-619, doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9833.2007.00401.x//

//Mayher. S, (2012//), Hazardous workplaces: Making the Bangladesh Garment industry safe//, Retrieved from http://www.cleanclothes.org/resources/publications/2012-11-hazardousworkplaces.pdf//

//Meyers. C, (2004),// Wrongful Beneficence: Exploitation and Third World Sweatshops, //Journal of Social Philosophy, 35 (3), 319-333, doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9833.2004.00235.x//

//Meyers. C. D,(2007)// Moral Duty, Individual Responsibility, and Sweatshop Exploitation//, Journal of Social Philosophy 38(4), 620-626 doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9833.2007.00402.x//

//Oxfam, Are your clothes made in sweatshops?, Retrieved from https://www.oxfam.org.au/explore/workers-rights/are-your-clothes-made-in-sweatshops///

//Powell. B, Skarbek. D, (2006),// Sweatshops and third world living standards: Are the jobs worth the sweat?//, Journal of Labor Research, 27 (2), 263-274. Retrieved fromhttp://link.springer.com.ezp01.library.qut.edu.au/article/10.1007%2Fs12122-006-1006-z

War on Want, Sweatshops in Bangladesh, Retrieved from http://www.waronwant.org/overseas-work/sweatshops-and-plantations/sweatshops-in-Bangladesh

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