This week of class was extremely interesting, however, what pulled me in the most was the documentary that exposed the reality of factory workers in Bangladesh we watched on Friday. Throughout industrialization and the popularization of monopolies in the global north we've seen a growth in the outsourcing of production. These production jobs are transferred to developing countries where businesses can take advantage of the desperate need for employment in poor economies. Deceived in considering this to be a good business decision, Disney and Walmart have a negative global effect by encouraging harsh working conditions for people living food to hand each day. Thus, this topic really helped me understand the disadvantages of globalization on a deeper level.
I was ultimately drawn to this issue by the shocking inhumane behavior of the factory managers. The American business ideals are disturbing to a point where we see greed over moral. The Bangladeshi women in "Hidden Faces of Globalization" disclosed in multiple interviews that they were not treated well in their work places. One woman said she hardly sleeps and never has any time to herself, another said all they do is work and still don't have enough money to live comfortably. The documentary's title helps to explain that these women cannot speak up about the issues they face everyday in the factories, they are forced to stay hidden in global eyes. This allows the bosses of their bosses to continuously take advantage of them and the lack of labor laws in their home country of Bangladesh. I was hit extremely hard when I found out that they would even be physically beaten if they complained.
Learning about the working conditions of women in Dhaka I had a bubbling anger in my stomach for commercial America. If I had unlimited funds and time I would love to do an experiment on exposing Disney and Walmart for their untrue values they hold as "family friendly" franchises. I would like to conduct public polls on if Americans knew the realities of how their clothes are made if they would still purchase them. I would see how many of the people that respond with "no" would actually follow through and be able to sustain from buying them. As an American and a consumer of products that were produced this way, I need to step up and put pressure on the big companies that are using developing country citizens as tools for US capitalism.
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