Globalization Garment Industry
Labor Rights - Industrial Safety - Worker Protection
Lead-in
Viewing Comprehension
Questions:
1. How is clothing used to communicate about ourselves?
2. What was the fashion system like in the past?
3. How has the fashion system been reinvented today?
4. What is the problem with the current fashion system?
5. What are some examples of tragedies that have occurred in the garment industry?
6. What was the promise of globalization?
7. Why is the current business model of the garment industry unsustainable?
8. What happens when everything is concentrated on making profits?
9. What is the impact of the current fashion industry on human rights, the environment, and workers' rights?
10. What can be done to improve the current fashion industry?
Divided over Bangladesh
Viewing Comprehension
· During the Industrial Revolution, who set prices for clothing? Who sets prices now?
· What happened in Bangladesh in 2013 to draw world attention to the garment industry there?
· Describe the increase in clothing production and clothing seasons using numbers.
· Why is clothing a deflationary product?
· When production costs have to be cut, who is squeezed? How did some of the factory owners in the documentary respond to this squeeze?
· How, and why, is the environment impacted by this increased production and disposal of clothing?
Discussion and Reading Comprehension
- What responsibility do Western companies have to ensure the health and safety of the workers who manufacture the clothing they sell?
- Which response is better: the Walt Disney Company’s decision to stop manufacturing in Bangladesh or Loblaw’s decision to stay in Bangladesh and push for tougher safety standards? Why?
- Do we as consumers have any responsibility for the workers in other countries who make our clothing? If yes, how do we exercise that responsibility? What should or can we do?