Musician Rorie Kelly summed up one of the major dilemmas of fair trade in her recent post, I can’t afford to have principles. Like many, Rorie is struggling to get by in our down economy. The struggle in Rorie is the struggle in every engaged consumer.
Rorie writes…
Hey man, if you can’t even really afford to put food on your table and you need to buy a nice pair of pants so you can keep your job, it’s OK with me if you spend $20 on sweatshop pants rather than go without eating for a few weeks. And that’s about where I’m at right now.
After years of exercising that principle while living on a low income in an incredibly expensive city, and then losing my independent living…
The good folks at Wiley & Sons have placed a two-page spread in Relevant Magazine.
The small box on the bottom left reads:
Journalist and traveler Kelsey Timmerman wanted to find out. So he canvassed the globe to put a personal face on the controversial issues of globalization and outsourcing. Whether bowling with workers in Cambodia or riding a roller coaster with workers in Bangladesh, Timmerman bridges the gap between impersonal economic forces and the people most directly affected by them. You’ll never see your wardrobe the same again.
If the garment industry keeps seeking out the bottom as it seems to do, sooner or later you gotta think it’s going to hit Africa. Actually, it has a little bit. I see clothes made in Mauritius, Egypt, and Lesotho. But still, the continent as a whole is a small player in the industry compared to Asia.
Part of me hopes the industry does start to set roots in Africa and provide much needed jobs, but part of me doesn’t. I’ve also seen how the industry tears at families and their culture.
Unlike most anthropology majors/degree holders, I’ve admitted why I chose to study anthropology in school. I always joke that I got my degree in the field and promptly became a dive instructor in Key West where I worked alongside another anthropology major. So, it isn’t like I’ve put the degree to good use, until now…
