DOCSLIB.ORG

Feminist Inquiry, Transnational Feminism, and Global Fashion

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Feminist Inquiry, Transnational Feminism, and Global Fashion Objects of Desire: Feminist Inquiry, Transnational Feminism, and Global Fashion Item Type text; Electronic Dissertation Authors Verklan, Elizabeth Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 30/09/2021 11:14:21 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/624282 OBJECTS OF DESIRE: FEMINIST INQUIRY, TRANSNATIONAL FEMINISM, & GLOBAL FASHION by Elizabeth Verklan ________________________________ Copyright © Elizabeth Verklan 2017 A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the DEPARTMENT OF GENDER & WOMEN’S STUDIES In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 2017 THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA GRADUATE COLLEGE As members of the Dissertation Committee, we certify that we have read the dissertation prepared by Elizabeth Verklan, titled Objects of Desire: Feminist Inquiry, Transnational Feminism and Global Fashion, and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy. ________________________________________________Date: 28 November 2016 Eithne Luibhéid ________________________________________________Date: 28 November 2016 Mimi Thi Nguyen ________________________________________________Date: 28 November 2016 Miranda Joseph Final approval and acceptance of this dissertation is contingent upon the candidate’s submission of the final copies of the dissertation to the Graduate College. I hereby certify that I have read this dissertation prepared under my direction and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement. ________________________________________________Date: 28 November 2016 Dissertation Director: Sandra Soto 2 STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This dissertation has been submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for an advanced degree at the University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library. Brief quotations from this dissertation are allowable without special permission, provided that an accurate acknowledgement of the source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the head of the major department of the Dean of the Graduate College when in his or her judgement the proposed use of the material is in the interests of scholarship. In all other instances, however, permission must be obtained from the author. SIGNED: Elizabeth Verklan 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS I. ABSTRACT…………………………………………………………………………5 II. CHAPTER ONE: Introduction……...……………………………………………6-49 a. One Child, Global Accountability…………………………….............................6 b. Introduction………………………………………………………………………8 c. Transnational Feminist Criticism………………………………………………..11 d. Transnational Feminist Cultural Studies in the U.S……………………………..19 e. Review of Literature……………………………………………………………..23 f. The 1980s: Patriarchy On a Grand Scale………………………………………..30 g. The 1990s: Anti-Sweatshop Activism in the U.S……………………………….38 h. The 2000s-Present: Anti-Sweatshop Consumerism……………………………..44 i. Outline of Dissertation Chapters…………………………………………………47 III. CHAPTER TWO: The Politics of Feminism in the Shadow of the Sweatshop…….............................................................................50-104 a. This is What a Feminist Looks Like……………………………………………..50 b. Introduction………………………………………………………………………52 c. A Foreign Method of Working…………………………………………………..58 d. Post-Fordism and the Return of the Sweatshop………………………………….67 e. This is What a Feminist Looks Like, Part II……………………………………..93 f. Conclusion……………………………………………………………………...101 IV. CHAPTER THREE: The Personal is Purchasable…………………………….104-161 a. Introduction……………………………………………………………………..104 b. U.S. Anti-Sweatshop Activism and Buying Better……………………………..117 c. Liberalism, Consumption, and Choice………………………………………….129 d. Real American People…………………………………………………………..135 e. Anti-Sweatshop Practices and Retail Gentrification……………………………153 f. Conclusion……………………………………………………………………...159 V. CHAPTER FOUR: Fashion Interns, Immaterial Labor & Doing What You Love……………………………………………………...162-195 a. Introduction…………………………………………………………………….162 b. Immaterial Labor and Doing What You Love…………………………………168 c. Nice Work If You Can Get It…………………………………………………..176 d. Wages for Work Done by Women……………………………………………..184 e. The Social Factory and the Democratization of Feminine Labor………………190 f. Conclusion……………………………………………………………………...193 VI. CONCLUSION………………………………………………………………..196-203 VII. BIBLIOGRAPHY……………………………………………………………..204-230 4 ABSTRACT This dissertation examines the conventions used to frame and represent sweatshops in and to the U.S. Employing qualitative research methods this dissertation examines U.S. anti- sweatshop discourse, analyzing how the sweatshop and the sweatshop worker are made into exceptional objects of inquiry, and considers what kinds of truths and subjects are garnered from them. This dissertation argues that U.S. anti-sweatshop discourse frames sweatshops as an inherently foreign problem, and that this framing contributes to U.S. exceptionalism and savior ideology. This framing positions U.S. subjects as the primary agents of change whose relation to sweatshops is crucial to their eradication, and renders causal blame upon the racialized poor within the U.S. I argue that this framing undergirds the proliferation of new ethical markets that reproduce dislocation, dispossession, and displacement within U.S. borders via retail gentrification. Ultimately, this dissertation asks what truths are made possible through a mobilizing discourse whose foundational premise is contingent on the imagery of the sweatshop and the sweatshop worker. 5 Chapter One: Introduction “Reciprocally, a sense of the foreign is necessary to erect the boundaries that enclose the nation as home.” –Amy Kaplan 1 One Child, Global Accountability A young, South Asian woman sits outdoors, wearing brightly colored clothing. The young woman’s gaze does not meet the camera. The young woman is not smiling, and her body language, knees drawn into her chest, hands hidden behind them, lend a feeling of mistrust, apprehension, and solitude. In The Huffington Post article “One Child, Global Accountability,” authors Laura Gutierrez and Laura Wagner present the story of Sumaya, a fifteen-year old girl and former employee at the Tazreen Fashions factory, the factory that caught fire November 24 th , 2012 in Dhaka, Bangladesh. As Gutierrez and Wagner explain, after undergoing surgery for trauma to her face, Sumaya’s right eye “began to bulge and lose vision,” and after a biopsy in July of 2013, it was confirmed that Sumaya has a rare and difficult to treat cancer. As the authors state, Sumaya began “slipping into depression…stopped eating and asked to go home to die” (Gutierrez and Wagner “One Child”). The authors identify Walmart as one of Sumaya’s employers, and inform the readers that while many global retailers have committed to compensating the victims of the Tazreen fire, Walmart remains the sole exception to this agreement. The frames used to introduce and convey Sumaya’s story conform to a convention that is prevalent in accounts of the global assembly line, but specifically when discussing the fashion industry. The authors use the past tense, and they do not provide the reader with an update of 1 A. Kaplan, “Manifest Domesticity” 582. 6 Sumaya’s condition. The use of the past tense imparts an impending sense of death and doom, and frames Sumaya as already in the past. Bangladesh in this article is not a place with its own history, people, and traditions, but rather a culture of death, poverty, and ongoing grief; as the authors state, the site of the factory is now “a haunted village,” as many of the victims are still missing, unidentifiable after the fire (Gutierrez and Wagner “One Child”). In a section entitled “Who is responsible for Sumaya?” the authors state that the retailers that “we North Americans support every day are under no obligation to help her” (Gutierrez and Wagner “One Child”), effectively hailing the reader through the use of the pronoun “we,” and implying that Sumaya’s condition is the responsibility of U.S. consumers. In the lower right hand corner of the image of Sumaya, one of the author’s names is visible: “Laura Gutierrez.” Gutierrez is identified under her photo and name as an anthropologist, and it is probable that Gutierrez took Sumaya’s picture while working in Bangladesh. Gutierrez’s writing partner, Wagner, is identified under her photo and name only as a “Fulbright Researcher,” a designation for persons participating in the U.S. Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs student exchange program. In these professional designations both women are granted a level of authority over the topic at hand: they are highly educated, embedded experts. They are presumed qualified to communicate the suffering of others in places that are not their nations of origin because they possess the training to do so. Gutierrez and Wagner are likely conducting research in Bangladesh, and relaying stories like Sumaya’s is a part of this research. Gutierrez and Wagner’s decision to tell Sumaya’s story, framed within a moral provocation (i.e.,
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Misión Madres Del Barrio: a Bolivarian Social Program Recognizing Housework and Creating a Caring Economy in Venezuela
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by KU ScholarWorks MISIÓN MADRES DEL BARRIO: A BOLIVARIAN SOCIAL PROGRAM RECOGNIZING HOUSEWORK AND CREATING A CARING ECONOMY IN VENEZUELA BY Cory Fischer-Hoffman Submitted to the graduate degree program in Latin American Studies and the Graduate Faculty of the University of Kansas in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master’s of Arts. Committee members Elizabeth Anne Kuznesof, Phd. ____________________ Chairperson Tamara Falicov, Phd. ____________________ Mehrangiz Najafizadeh, Phd. ____________________ Date defended: May 8, 2008 The Thesis Committee for Cory Fischer-Hoffman certifies that this is the approved Version of the following thesis: MISIÓN MADRES DEL BARRIO: A BOLIVARIAN SOCIAL PROGRAM RECOGNIZING HOUSEWORK AND CREATING A CARING ECONOMY IN VENEZUELA Elizabeth Anne Kuznesof, Phd. ________________________________ Chairperson Date approved:_______________________ ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis is a product of years of activism in the welfare rights, Latin American solidarity, and global justice movements. Thank you to all of those who I have worked and struggled with. I would especially like to acknowledge Monica Peabody, community organizer with Parents Organizing for Welfare and Economic Rights (formerly WROC) and all of the welfare mamas who demand that their caring work be truly valued. Gracias to my compas, Greg, Wiley, Simón, Kaya, Tessa and Caro who keep me grounded and connected to movements for justice, and struggle along side me. Thanks to my thesis committee for helping me navigate through the bureaucracy of academia while asking thoughtful questions and providing valuable guidance. I am especially grateful to the feedback and editing support that my dear friends offered just at the moment when I needed it.
    [Show full text]
  • Notes on Gender in Marx's Capital
    CONTINENTAL THOUGHT & THEORY: A JOURNAL OF INTELLECTUAL FREEDOM Notes on Gender in Marx’s Capital Volume 1 | Issue 4: 150 years of Capital 19-37| ISSN: 2463-333X Notes on Gender in Marx’s Capital Silvia Federici Abstract As interest in Marxism and Feminism is reviving and Marx’s views on ‘gender’ are receiving a new attention, some areas of agreement among feminists are emerging that also shape my approach to the subject. 1 First, while denunciations of gender inequalities and patriarchal control in the family and society can be found in Marx’s work from an early stage, it is agreed that Marx “did not have much to say on gender and the family” 2 and, even in Capital his views on the subject must be reconstructed from scattered observations. Nevertheless, Marx’s work has given a significant contribution to the development of feminist theory, although not primarily based on his direct pronouncements on the subject. Not only has his historical materialist method helped demonstrate the constructed character of gender hierarchies and identities.3 Marx’s analysis of capitalist accumulation and value creation have given feminists of my generation powerful tools to rethink the specific forms of exploitation to which women have been subjected in capitalist society and the relation between ‘sex, race, and class.’4 However the use that feminists have made of Marx has at best taken them in a different direction from the one he traced. 19 CONTINENTAL THOUGHT & THEORY: A JOURNAL OF INTELLECTUAL FREEDOM Notes on Gender in Marx’s Capital Key words: Gender, Marx, Labour-Power, Feminism, Wages for Housework Movement, Domestic Work, Reproduction Writing about gender in Capital, then, is coming to terms with two different Marxes and, I add, two different viewpoints on gender and the class struggle.
    [Show full text]
  • SPHERES of EXISTENCE Selected Writings
    C. L. R. James SPHERES OF EXISTENCE Selected Writings All & Bu by This selection first published 1930 by Allison and Busby Limited 6a Noel Street, London W IV 3RB Copyright © 1980 C. L. R. James and Allison & Busby Ltd All rights reserved ISBN 0 85031 292. 1 (hardback) ISBN 0 B5031 299 x (paperback) The publishers gratefully acknowledge the invaluable help they have received in compiling this selection from C. L. R. James, David Cork, Michael Dibb, Robert A. Hill, Selma James, John LaRose, Alan J. MacKenzie, Reinhard Sander, Richard Small. Set in Times by Malvern Typesetting Services and printed in Great Britain by Redwood Burn Ltd, Trowbridge & Esher Contents Biographical introduction l La Divina Pastora 2 Turner’s Prosperity \O\II"—* “After Hitler, Our Turn" I4 -kl;-I The Philosophy of History and Necessity: A Few Words with Professor Hook 49 5 After Ten Years 59 6 Dialectical Materialism and the Fate of Humanity 70 Two Young American Writers 106 Marxism and the Intellectuals 113 The West Indian Middle Classes 131 “Othello” and “The Merchant of Venice” 141 :5~oo=~4 Parties, Politics and Economics in the Caribbean 151 l2 On Wilson Harris 157 13 The Making of the Caribbean People 173 l4 Peasants and Workers 191 15 Black Power 221 l6 Discovering Literature in Trinidad: the Nineteen-Thirties 237 l4 Learie Constantine 245 I8 Paul Robeson: Black Star 256 Index 265 Here the impossible union Of spheres of existence is actual, Here the past and the future Are conquered, and reconciled, Where action were otherwise movement Of that which is only moved And has in it no source of movement—- T.
    [Show full text]
  • Fairtrade Certification, Labor Standards, and Labor Rights Comparative Innovations and Persistent Challenges
    LAURA T. RAYNOLDS Professor, Department of Sociology, Director, Center for Fair & Alternative Trade, Colorado State University Email: [email protected] Fairtrade Certification, Labor Standards, and Labor Rights Comparative Innovations and Persistent Challenges ABSTRACT Fairtrade International certification is the primary social certification in the agro-food sector in- tended to promote the well-being and empowerment of farmers and workers in the Global South. Although Fairtrade’s farmer program is well studied, far less is known about its labor certification. Helping fill this gap, this article provides a systematic account of Fairtrade’s labor certification system and standards and com- pares it to four other voluntary programs addressing labor conditions in global agro-export sectors. The study explains how Fairtrade International institutionalizes its equity and empowerment goals in its labor certifica- tion system and its recently revised labor standards. Drawing on critiques of compliance-based labor stand- ards programs and proposals regarding the central features of a ‘beyond compliance’ approach, the inquiry focuses on Fairtrade’s efforts to promote inclusive governance, participatory oversight, and enabling rights. I argue that Fairtrade is making important, but incomplete, advances in each domain, pursuing a ‘worker- enabling compliance’ model based on new audit report sharing, living wage, and unionization requirements and its established Premium Program. While Fairtrade pursues more robust ‘beyond compliance’ advances than competing programs, the study finds that, like other voluntary initiatives, Fairtrade faces critical challenges in implementing its standards and realizing its empowerment goals. KEYWORDS fair trade, Fairtrade International, multi-stakeholder initiatives, certification, voluntary standards, labor rights INTRODUCTION Voluntary certification systems seeking to improve social and environmental conditions in global production have recently proliferated.
    [Show full text]
  • Experiences of the Fair Trade Movement
    SEED WORKING PAPER No. 30 Creating Market Opportunities for Small Enterprises: Experiences of the Fair Trade Movement by Andy Redfern and Paul Snedker InFocus Programme on Boosting Employment through Small EnterprisE Development Job Creation and Enterprise Department International Labour Office · Geneva Copyright © International Labour Organization 2002 First published 2002 Publications of the International Labour Office enjoy copyright under Protocol 2 of the Universal Copyright Convention. Nevertheless, short excerpts from them may be reproduced without authorization, on condition that the source is indicated. For rights of reproduction or translation, application should be made to the Publications Bureau (Rights and Permissions), International Labour Office, CH-1211 Geneva 22, Switzerland. The International Labour Office welcomes such applications. Libraries, institutions and other users registered in the United Kingdom with the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1T 4LP [Fax: (+44) (0)20 7631 5500; e-mail: [email protected]], in the United States with the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923 [Fax: (+1) (978) 750 4470; e-mail: [email protected]] or in other countries with associated Reproduction Rights Organizations, may make photocopies in accordance with the licences issued to them for this purpose. ILO Creating Market Opportunities for Small Enterprises: Experiences of the Fair Trade Movement Geneva, International Labour Office, 2002 ISBN 92-2-113453-9 The designations employed in ILO publications, which are in conformity with United Nations practice, and the presentation of material therein do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the International Labour Office concerning the legal status of any country, area or territory or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers.
    [Show full text]
  • Anti-Semitism 8C Zionism Fighting Racism
    Anti-semitism 8c Zionism Fighting Racism . Workplace Editors' Introduction This is the fourth issue of the tendency newsletter. We particularly wish to draw your attention to the conference call in the first pages of this issue. While a number of details remain to be work­ ed out (though it seems fairly certain that the conference will be held at a single site in Brooklyn on Easter weekend- April 1,2,3,1983), several meetings have already been held and workgroups assigned to the various tasks, rangi ng from funding to childcare to speakers arrangments. Participation at al l l evels is still welcome, anyone with a desire to either come to the conference or work on its preparation should contact either this newsletter or one of the individuals or groups listed as sponsors. It is our opinion that the success of this project will be dependent in lar ge measure on the Rreparation of the participants. To aid that preparati on, future issues of this newsletters or special editions will likely concentrate on readings for background and papers to be debated and discussed at the conference. Those who have suggestions within the areas outlined should immediately contact us. For those reading this generic newsletter the first time, we repeat from a previous issue: we want to circulate material that is of direct in­ terest and use to the political trend to which we belong. In part this will be descriptions and analyses of work area; in part it will be treatment of various strategic and theoretical questions and the debates around them ••• Our hope is to gradually overcome various questions of security and political diplomacy to the point where major areas of work can be analysed with suf­ ficent detail and candor so that a clear picture of various forces and pro­ grams will emerge.
    [Show full text]
  • The Story of Toys Made in China for Wal-Mart Students
    Wal-Mart’s Sweatshop Monitoring Fails to Catch Violations: The Story of Toys Made in China for Wal-Mart www.sacom.hk Students and Scholars against Corporate Misbehavior June 2007 Wal-Mart’s Sweatshop Monitoring Fails to Catch Violations: The Story of Toys Made in China for Wal-Mart CONTENTS List of 5 Toy Factories: Names and Addresses Executive Summary 1. Introduction: China’s Export-Oriented Toy Industry 2. Wal-Mart’s Unethical Sourcing Policy 3. Five Chinese Supplier Factories of Wal-Mart 3.1 Excessive, Forced Overtime and No Rest 3.2 Far From a Minimum Wage and Deductions 3.3 Unsafe Production Environment 3.4 Inferior Living Conditions 3.5 Punitive Fines 3.6 Workers Without a Contract 3.7 Non-Provision of Social Security 4. Factory Inspection and Falsification 5. Workers’ Right to Join Union 6. SACOM’s Demands: No More Sweatshop Toys Made for Wal-Mart Appendix I, II, and III 1 List of 5 Toy Factories: Names and Addresses Factory Location Workforce* Tai Hsing Longgang district, Shenzhen 5,000-6,000 Xin Tai Xing Baoan district, Shenzhen 1,000 Zai Xing Baoan district, Shenzhen 1,000 Tai Qiang Baoan district, Shenzhen 1,500 Kam Long Xiangzhou district, Zhuhai 1,000 www.kamlong.com * The approximate size of the workforce as of the field research, June 2005 – December 2006. 1. Tai Hsing Toys (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd. Address: Danzhutou Village, Bu Ji Town, Longgang District, Shenzhen City, Guangdong Province, China 泰興(玩具)深圳有限公司 中國廣東省深圳市龍崗區布吉鎮丹竹頭村 Tel: 86 755 870 8835 Fax: 86 755 870 8744 2. Xin Tai Xing Toys (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd.
    [Show full text]
  • U.S. Retailers: Responsible for the Global Sweatshop Crisis
    Re s p o n s i b l e U.S. RETAILERS: fo r th e GLOBAL SW EATSHOP CRISIS ver the past 15 years, powerful U.S.clothing retailers Osuch as Wal-Mart, Lord & Taylor and The Gap have created a global sweatshop crisis. U.S. clothing retailers have enjoyed tremendous success in Global Industry,Global Sweats hops recent years, opening waves of new stores as profits and stock prices have risen to unprecedented heights. Their for- Apparel is the most global of all manufacturing indus- mula for success is simple: create a positive brand image to tries. The apparel, textile and footwear industries employ attract loyal customers in the U.S.,while making clothing as the largest workforce of any manufacturing industry in cheaply as possible around the globe. the world. This strategy has generated tremendous wealth In 150 countries around the world, over 2 million for retail executives and shareholders. But peop l e , m a ny of t h em young wom en and the workers who make the clothes that teenagers, work in garment sweatshops pro- generate this wealth are suffering the ducing for American retailers. About 80 con s equ en ces every day. Th ey work percent of apparel workers producing long hours in sweatshop conditions clothing for U.S. retailers are working for poverty wages, their lives and the under conditions that systematically vio- futures of their children sacrificed to late local and international labor law. And the bottom line of U.S. retailers. despite apparel retailers’ promises to clean up the system, the crisis is only getting worse.
    [Show full text]
  • Starbucks Vs. Equal Exchange: Assessing the Human Costs of Economic Globalization
    University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Nebraska Anthropologist Anthropology, Department of 1997 Starbucks vs. Equal Exchange: Assessing the Human Costs of Economic Globalization Lindsey M. Smith Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/nebanthro Part of the Anthropology Commons Smith, Lindsey M., "Starbucks vs. Equal Exchange: Assessing the Human Costs of Economic Globalization" (1997). Nebraska Anthropologist. 111. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/nebanthro/111 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Anthropology, Department of at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Nebraska Anthropologist by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. Starbucks vs. Equal Exchange: Assessing the Human Costs of Economic Globalization Lindsey M. Smith This paper discusses the impact of economic globalization on human populations and their natural environment. Trends leading to globalization, such as multilateral and bilateral trade 8fT88ments which reduce trading barriers between countries, are discussed. According to the economic principle of comparative advantage, all countries which specialize in what they can produce most efficiently should benefit equally from fair trade. Developing countries must increasingly rely on cheap labor and low environmental standards to compete for foreign investment and capital in the global economy. Observers argue that the market is not free enough to conect the long-term damage associated with export policies like this. Poverty, misery and social stratification are increasing in many developing countries as a result. A case study of the coffee industry in Latin America provides evidence of the consequences of globalization policies on the most vulnerable populations.
    [Show full text]
  • No More Sweatshop
    No More Sweatshop: Japan Is the Un-fairest Trader among Advanced Countries Kobe Gakuin University B115092 Ohnishi, Mikiko Examiner: Nakanishi, Noriko Abstract In this report, first paragraph is mentioned about what sweatshop and fair trade is. In the second paragraph, I will write how sweatshops increased in the world and why sweatshops do not decrease. Sweatshops increased after industrial revolution and immigration reform and it is one of a big social problems in the world. In the third paragraph, I will write about fair trade and my research about it. Fair trade is one of the solution to decrease sweatshops, so this paragraph shows how fair trade solve the problems caused by sweatshops. My research is about the recognition about fair trade. I did my questionnaire for Japanese and Canadian students, and I found some differences by the result. In the fourth paragraph, I wrote about what we have to do. Sweatshops are increasing in the world, but most of people do not know about them. Therefore, we have to learn about sweatshops and fair trade and think about it more seriously. If fair trade products is common among people in advanced countries, sweatshop will decrease in the world. Contents 1. Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 1 2. The issues related to sweatshops ......................................................................................... 1 2-1. Sweatshops in developing countries .............................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • They Call It Love Wages for Housework and Emotional
    THEY CALL IT LOVE WAGES FOR HOUSEWORK AND EMOTIONAL REPRODUCTION ALVA GOTBY A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the University of West London for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy September 2019 1 Abstract This thesis is a study of two sets of literature on capitalism, gender, and emotion. Firstly, it explores the writings of the Wages for Housework (WFH) movement – a network of Marxist feminist activist groups, founded in 1972, whose activity was centred on women’s reproductive labour. Secondly, this thesis draws on the body of writing on emotional labour. Coined by Arlie Hochschild in 1983, this term describes the work of producing emotional states in another person. While WFH were attentive to emotional aspects of reproductive labour, their writings mention emotional labour only in passing. Hochschild’s work concentrates on emotional labour in particular service occupations, but neglects broader issues of social reproduction. Synthesising these bodies of work, I introduce the concept of emotional reproduction, thus applying the WFH perspective to the theme introduced by Hochschild. Emotional reproduction denotes processes across waged and unwaged forms of labour, intended to enhance the relative emotional wellbeing of a recipient, to the extent that they are able to participate in waged labour. These processes often take place in the private sphere, and are constructed as a typically feminine activity. I argue for the importance of understanding these processes as a form of labour, which is integral to capitalist social reproduction. Through the notion of emotional reproduction, this thesis offers an account of gendered subjectivity. It highlights the construction of gendered and historically specific forms of skill, which are essential for emotional labour.
    [Show full text]
  • Production Notes
    PRODUCTION NOTES A Note from the Director The seed of Small Axe was sown 11 years ago, soon after my first film, Hunger. Initially, I had conceived of it as a TV series, but as it developed, I realized these stories had to stand alone as original films yet at the same time be part of a collective. After all, Small Axe refers to an African proverb that means together we are strong. The anthology, anchored in the West Indian experience in London, is a celebration of all that that community has succeeded in achieving against the odds. To me, it is a love letter to Black resilience, triumph, hope, music, joy and love as well as to friendship and family. Oh, and let’s not forget about food too! I recall each of these stories being told to me either by my parents, my aunt, and by experiencing racial discrimination myself growing up in the 70s and 80s. These are all our stories. I feel personally touched by each and every one of them. My five senses were awoken writing with Courttia Newland and Alastair Siddons. Images, smells, textures and old customs came flooding back. All five films take place between the late 60s and mid 80s. They are just as much a comment on the present moment as they were then. Although they are about the past, they are very much concerned with the present. A commentary on where we were, where we are and where we want to go. When the Cannes Film Festival selected Mangrove and Lovers Rock earlier this year, I dedicated both to George Floyd and all the other Black people that have been murdered, seen or unseen, because of who they are in the US, UK and elsewhere.
    [Show full text]