Globalization Is The Process Of International Integration Through Trade And Communication

Where am I Wearing: A Global Tour to the Countries, Factories, and People that Make Our Clothes- Revised and Updated, written by Kelsey Timmerman, published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. in Hoboken, New Jersey during the year 2012, and consisting of 283 pages, addresses the issue of globalization. Globalization, or previously domestically made products now being produced in factories in foreign countries, is a rising issue in the modern age; many people believe that it leads to American unemployment, shoddy products, and the inhumane treatment of workers, while others argue that globalization boosts the economies of poverty-stricken countries and the production of technologically advanced goods.

With the elimination of U.S. government subsidies, cotton textile manufacturers will pay more for cotton. As the leading buyer of cotton, the Chinese apparel industry’s profitability will be reduced due to their inability to pass on increased cotton prices to their buyers. China’s manufacturing costs had already increased by as much as 40% due to higher market wages and costs with complying with worker and environmental protections. Although China has substantial labor and is accused of utilizing sweat shops to keep their costs extremely low, their increasing manufacturing costs have opened the door to other countries with cheap labor such as Vietnam and Pakistan.

Globalization to me is when countries around the world expand their economic and financial dealings, communications, and political and cultural views with other developed and developing nations, with the hope of expanding worldwide economic growth and lessening poverty. International trade is a means of accomplishing this end.

A sweatshop is a factory where workers receive low wages while being forced to work in poor environments. In general, these workshops produce an abundant amount of the clothing that we wear everyday. However, few acknowledge the act of sweatshop labor, since it is rarely shown to the public eye. Ironically, many popular fashion brands that we buy from all recieve clothes that are made in sweatshops. While sweatshop workers are treated unfairly in the workplace, fast fashion provides them with jobs and it provides us with the clothing that we constantly demand for. To understand the topic of sweatshop labor, we must recognize the effects of this controversial working system.

Globalization is defined by the Levin Institute as "a process of interaction and integration among people, companies, and governments of different nations." The process itself is really driven by two main components those being international trade and investment.

While reading Celia-Grace, Nanette Lepore and Vera Wang, I have realized that global outsourcing is a necessity for anyone but in some instances, it doesn’t have to be. The global economy is a vast structure based on trading of goods and services, yet some companies and countries refuse to accept that way of economic growth. Nannette Lepore is choosing to help build the “locally made” clothing portion of the garment district in New York, Celia grace is wanting to outsource and help brides with certain wants and needs, along with more ethically made type of wedding gown. Vera Wang is a well-known dress maker and has her factories based in America.

Cheap labor is viewed as one of the chief assets they can offer to entice investment by multinational companies, which creates jobs and provides capital for development. It is common for clothing companies to close and reopen in order to take advantage of new tax exemptions or to smother union-organizing efforts. Activists are demanding an end to the misuse of rights of workers in the factories that are producing the garments that are sold in stores. When successful, these strategies have led to improved workplace

One prominent fast fashion corporation, Topshop, started to offer apparel made of Fairtrade cotton (Engler). They did this in order to receive positive publicity and to make the consumer feel like the garments were made sweatshop free (Engler). The truth of the matter is that if a garment has the label of Fairtrade, this can only ensure that the cotton was made in an equitable manner (Engler). Even though the Fairtrade Foundation closely monitors the working conditions of the cotton producers, it does not evaluate the next stage of the process (Engler). So there is the potential to use Fairtrade cotton in a sweatshop where workers are exploited. These corporations may appear to be good on the outside, but deep down their labor practices are still marked by

Printed on clothing tags or the back of most packaging are the commonly found words: “Made in China”. Large corporations such as Apple or Microsoft continue to outsource more of their production overseas to subcontractors in China. There have been various stories and rumors of Chinese workers being exploited by their wealthy factory owners and supervisors. Working conditions may appear to be improving in China, but most people are not able to view what is happening overseas. There are hazardous conditions as well as death and suicide in sweatshops that produce goods for these large corporations, particularly Apple, Microsoft, Dell, and Nike. These multinational corporations are motivated to obtain large profits by taking advantage of China’s lack of effective enforcement of labor laws.

Globalization can be defined as ‘international integration’, which can be described as the process by which the people of the world are unified into a single society and functioning together. This process is a combination of economic, technological, and political forces (dictionary.com).

Globalization is the process of interaction and integration among the people, companies, and governments of different nations, a process driven by international trade and investment and aided by information technology. Because of exploitation, which characterized the entire system of colonial rule and much of recent history, some scholars define globalization as essentially “a system of political, economic, and cultural domination forcibly imposed by a technologically advanced foreign minority on an indigenous majority’ (Geller, 1994). The western world, which generally includes developed nations with eurocentric culture, dominate other nations and individual, non-western cultures eventually fade. The process of globalization spreads western values and practices to other cultures. Western societies grow and prosper at the expense of other peoples and the environment (Daes, 2004). Indigenous peoples loose many of their traditions from western domination. According to Dr. Erica-Irene Daes (2004), an academic and diplomat who is best known for her work with the United Nations Working Group on Indigenous Populations, western intrusion on indigenous lands have not just displaced millions of people, leveled rainforests, emptied rivers and exterminated more of the world 's biological diversity. These projects also set ethnic and social conflicts into motion that may haunt us for generations yet to come. Indigenous cultures possess a more individual knowledge and have agricultural

The apparel industry has historically relied on a contracting system that has allowed brand-name companies to eschew legal liability for the working conditions of those who actually sew their garments. A race to the

Textile industries in general has huge impact on our environment. As jeans being one of the most popular product, it has one of the highest environmental impacts. Here, I will briefly

Activists say that global clothing brands like Tommy Hilfiger and the Gap and those sold by Walmart need to take responsibility for the working conditions in Bangladeshi factories that produce their clothes."

To keep costs minimum, fashion industries set up factories overseas where safety rules is not at all a concern and wages lower than in the US. The conditions in these factories can lead to tragic consequences (building collapse that killed 400 garment workers in Bangladesh.)