Sweatshops

Globalization and Women

In contrast to how sweatshops emerged in response to demands for cheap labor during the Industrial Revolution, today's sweatshops are consequences of globalization. Free-trade agreements are key factors in globalized relationships between developed countries such as the United States, Canada, and Japan and various developing nations. These agreements lifted or lowered barriers such as taxes, labor laws, and environmental restrictions, which contributed to expansion of market access and foreign investment.

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) between the United States and Mexico was ratified to increase trade through the development of export-oriented industry in Mexico. On one hand, NAFTA helped reduce chronically high unemployment in Mexico. Newly developed export processing zones (EPXs) such as maquiladoras attracted multinational corporations (MNCs), creating sweatshop employment for local citizens. On the other hand, NAFTA failed to address wage standards, safety regulations, and health concerns that affect factory workers. While trade agreements brought economic growth and market expansion, they also fostered global exploitation of sweatshop workers, especially women.

Similar to their 19th-century counterparts, contemporary sweatshop workers are employed under subcontracting systems instead of being directly hired by corporations. According to a 2007 study, approximately 60 percent of factory workers in Mexico's electronics industry were employed by temporary agencies. As more women were brought into the global economy as cheap labor, sweatshops became predominately female. Women are considered more suitable than men are for repetitive tasks, such as sewing garment pieces and assembling small parts, because of their presumed “feminine qualities” of patience, dexterity, and obedience.

Young, uneducated women with little or no knowledge about basic rights for workers or working experiences are especially preferred. They were less likely to unionize or challenge the company for better treatment. Consequently, young female workers tend to be victimized by profit-oriented corporate strategies such as violations of human rights and safety standards. Most victims of industrial disasters such as fires and factory explosions are young female workers. An industrial fire that occurred in a toy factory in Thailand in 1993 was one of the worst industrial disasters in capitalist history, causing 188 deaths and 469 causalities. Most of the dead were rural [Page 1425]women who came to the city in search of jobs, some as young as 13 years of age.

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