Sweatshops and the Dark Side of Global Capitalism
- March 20, 2017
- 4:00 PM - 4:00 CST
- 4th Floor of Information Commons
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Sponsored by the International Studies Program Co-
Nelson Wainwright, nwainwr@luc.edu - Free
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All
Open to the public. - Add to calendar
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Details
Refreshments will be served!!
The global apparel industry tends to keep profits up by cutting production costs on the backs of workers,
producing highly exploitive sweatshops. The voluntary monitoring programs that big brands and
retailers have put in place to protect their brand images have, according to empirical research, not
improved working conditions in apparel factories. The Rana Plaza building collapse that killed over 1100
garment workers in Bangladesh in 2013 is just one example of the dangers that millions of workers in
the apparel industry face every day when they go to work. What has been done, and what still needs to
be done to serve the cause of justice for people who make the clothing you wear every day?
Robert J.S. Ross is Research Professor of Sociology and of the Mosakowski Institute for Public
Enterprise at Clark University. He is the author Slaves to Fashion: Poverty and Abuse in the New
Sweatshops (Michigan 2004). Ross is Vice-President of the Sweatfree Purchasing Consortium and a
member of the Board of Directors of the International Labor Rights Consortium.
