Free trade zones are special areas inside of a country which ban or lower many of its home country’s trading and manufacturing laws. For example, a country may open a free trade zone in an area by removing certain tariffs in hopes of attaining greater foreign investment. Also, most free trade zones are located in developing countries. This past week in class we watched a portion of Stephanie Black’s documentary, Life and Debt. In the film, Black depicts a free trade zone in Jamaica. Here, thousands of Jamaicans are employed in what seem like sweat shops helping produce products for such well known companies as Tommy Hilfiger, Burberry, and Brooks Brothers. The depictions of the free zone tie in well to the writings of Harry Braverman. One example of this is the breakdown of labor to very detailed non-complicated tasks. According to Braverman, capitalism has lead to the division of labor into smaller and smaller tasks, and this can be seen when watching the factory workers in Life and Debt. Instead of sewing an entire shirt, workers at the Jamaican free zone only do one small portion of the job (like sew on a pocket) repetitively over the entire day. While this becomes incredibly boring for the worker, it is seen as the most efficient method and is therefore used by capitalists. This leads me to the second way in which Life and Debt ties in with Braverman.
As Braverman describes, capitalism has led to an increase of the capitalists control over labor. Life and Debt provides many examples of this control over the work force. For instance, the companies controlled if and when the employees could work. When the workers began to complain about poor working conditions, the companies brought in replacement workers from Asia and eventually ended up closing down shop. The companies also controlled whether or not and how much the workers would get paid. Many of the employees complained about receiving pay checks 3 weeks late and only made about 3 dollars a week. In addition, the companies controlled more bizarre aspects of the labor like forbidding eating and bathroom breaks. Overall, this division and control over labor helps show a horrifying real world example of Braverman’s theories.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Brian, you discuss in your second Braverman/”Life and Debt” tie-in, that one can see an example of how capitalism has led to an increase of the capitalist control over labor, an issue discussed in the Braverman readings, in the free trade zones in Jamaica. This increase in the capitalist control over labor also relates to our discussion of freedom and choice. You mention that the companies controlled how much the workers were paid (if anything), when they were paid (if ever), what breaks they took and how long, etc. On the one hand, one might justify these controls by saying that these Jamaican workers have the choice to or not to work in such an environment, under just intense constraints. But, one understands after having read the handout written and distributed by Professor Perry that this is not a free choice but rather a forced choice, in that their alternative to working in the free trade zone is probably starvation or something equally as unacceptable.
ReplyDeleteI think we can agree that conditions in factories are horrifying (I do not take issue with the no-eating rule. Food might stain the merchandise, or workers might inadvertently ingest a harmful chemical.) But something that we haven’t much discussed in class is the rights to choice of companies. Jobs are privileges, and not rights. A company may build a factory, and the people living close to it may choose to take a job there. Yes, yes, the alternative to taking the job may not be palatable, but somehow the workers survived until the job was offered. And there is no law stating that companies must offer jobs to the workers. Further, the company has a right to choose what policies they wish to implement. Given that adults enter into working situations of their own volitions, they are agreeing to the policies that the company has implemented. In this case, though the working environment is less than ideal, no one’s rights have been infringed upon.
ReplyDelete