Excerpt: The Garment Industry in the Restructuring Global Economy

Bonacich, Edna, Lucie Cheng, Norma Chinchilla, Nora Hamilton, and Paul Ong. [1994] 2005. "The Garment Industry in the Restructuring Global Economy". Pp. 155-162 in Understanding Society, 2nd ed., edited by Margaret L. Andersen, Kim Logio, and Howard Taylor. Belmont, CA: Thomson Learning, Inc.

The authors describe globalization (in particular the global restructuring of the world economy) as the manufacturing and production of goods shifts from the more industrialized countries to the "newly industrializing" countries, and then to the less industrialized countries. This restructuring has given rise to new kinds of transnational corporations that coordinate manufacturing in multiple locations and are "supragovernmental actors that make decisions on the basis of profit-making criteria without input from representative governments".

The chief effect of global restructuring from a social perspective is the integration of peasants and farmers into the global economy. These "first generation wage-workers" often migrate between capitalist and noncapitalist sectors and are often exploited through harsh working conditions and low pay. Many find themselves displaced or unable to survive and emigrate to more developed countries with hopes of finding a better life.

Many of the countries that pursue export-led industrialization (industrializing to manufacture products with the intent of exporting them), hope to follow in the footsteps of countries like Japan, South Korea, Taiwan*, and Singapore, which began the same way but were able to climb up the economic hierarchy.

As with most things, there are benefits and drawbacks to globalization. On the plus side, consumers have access to a greater number of low-cost, high-quality goods; goods can be produced in small batches for ever-differentiating consumer markets; less-developed countries are industrializing and building their economies; workers in advanced countries are "pushed up" to managerial or technical jobs as manufacturing jobs are moved overseas; and the size of global markets is increasing. Those who concentrate on the positive (governments, corporations, and economists) often believe that open markets and free trade influence economic decision making, which makes this the dominant ideology.

On the minus side, globalization has had a dramatic impact on class stratification, particularly among young women workers, as restructuring is designed in the best interests of capitalists and corporations. Countries compete for business by suppressing workers' movements and offering the most "low-cost, disciplined, and unorganized work force" they can. Austerity programs are implemented in exchange for foreign aid and loans; these measures prompt workers to accept less-than-adequate jobs in order to earn whatever living they can, and diminish their protection from "bargains of desperation". Those who concentrate on the negative (unions, human rights groups, and those who study inequality) believe that globalization makes developing countries grow dependent on the more industrialized countries, who retain and ensure their control over the global economy. Countries do everything in their power to weaken the working class to make them more appealing to foreign capitalists.

This excerpt provides an overview of the globalization discussion and briefly examines the two arguments. To be sure, the good and the bad are part of the same package. It is easy to reify the economy and say that it dictates financial and political actions, but when you consider that the economy was created by those with wealth in such a way that they aren't harmed by it, it's understandable that the same practices and principles that put people in power would be used by those same people to retain their power. Faith in the economy by those who profit from it assuredly continues its existence and their benefits, while those whom the economy forsakes are powerless to change it.

Relevance: 4/5 (relevant)
Salience: 3/5 (neutral)

References:

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