This ted talks mentions how the fashion industry is a complex 3 trillion-dollar industry around the globe that involves power, greed, fear and poverty. Around 1 in 6 people in the world work for the fashion industry and it is the second most polluting industry after oil companies. 10% of the carbon foot is a result from the fashion industry. Around 97% of the clothing industries are outsourced to developing countries such as Cambodia, Bangladesh, and China. The clothing products are being made the way the Western societies and companies desire the quality and prices to be. With globalization, low cost communities are getting lower wages and exploitive labor conditions to meet the target goals of the fashion businesses. The fashion industry is a chain of abuse that forces child and modern-day slavery. Its success is solely based at the expensive of people and the planet.
Learning about the fashion industry is useful because it can be tied to mainly globalization, migration and capitalism. The companies of the fashion industry see the garment workers in developing countries as a colonial image because they are non-threating and their culture and capability is perceived as inferior. Because of this, these countries and people are easily exploited and taken advantage of all in the name of profit. This is a race, class and sexist issue that revolves around the production of cheap goods and labour. Usually women of colour who are of lower class in developing countries work for the fashion industry as garment workers. The working conditions for women and children in subcontractor factories are exploitative and against human rights. The garment workers are faced with discrimination if pregnant, lack of sick leave, forced overtime, undermined ability to take washroom breaks rest or water breaks, threats against unionizing, sexual harassment and abusive condition. This is done because the company’s only interest is to capitalize resources and labour from these countries and create profit. This is not only against basic human rights, but it creates mass destruction of the earth.
Pseudonym: VicK
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