Many Latino and Chinese women who immigrated to New York City over the past several decades found work in the garment industry-an industry well known for both hiring immigrants and its harsh working conditions. In the 1990s, the garment industry was one of the largest immigrant employers in New York City and workers in Chinese- and Korean-owned factories produced 70 percent of all manufactured clothing in New York City. Based on extensive interviews with workers and employers, Margaret M. Chin offers a detailed and complex portrait of the work lives of Chinese and Latino garment workers. Chin, whose mother and aunts worked in Chinatown's garment industry, also explores how immigration status, family circumstances, ethnic relations, and gender affect the garment industry workplace. In turn, she analyzes how these factors affect whom employers hire and what wages and benefits are given to the employees.
Chin's study contrasts the working conditions and hiring practices of Korean- and Chinese-owned factories. Her comparison of the two practices illuminates how ethnic ties both improve and hinder opportunities for immigrants. While both sectors take advantage of workers and are characterized by low wages and lax enforcement of safety regulations-there are crucial differences. In the Chinese sector, owners encourage employees, almost entirely female, to recruit new workers, especially friends and family. Though Chinese workers tend to be documented and unionized, this work arrangement allows owners to maintain a more paternalistic relationship with their employees. Gender also plays a major role in channeling women into the garment industry, as Chinese immigrants, particularly those with children, tend to maintain traditional gender roles in the workplace. Korean-owned shops, however, hire mostly undocumented Mexican and Ecuadorian workers, both male and female. These workers tend not to have children and are thus less tied to traditional gender roles. Unlike their Chinese counterparts, Korean employers hire workers on their own terms and would rather not allow current employees to influence their decisions.
Chin's work also provides an overview of the history of the garment industry, examines immigration strategies, and concludes with a discussion of changes in the industry in the aftermath of 9/11.
Автор: Fukunishi Takahiro Название: Garment Industry in Low-Income Countries ISBN: 1137383178 ISBN-13(EAN): 9781137383174 Издательство: Springer Цена: 16769.00 р. Наличие на складе: Есть у поставщика Поставка под заказ.
Описание: The diversification of economic structure is a central issue in economic development particularly for low-income countries. In the past many countries began industrialization with labor-intensive industries, typically the textile and garment industry. This study examines increasing concerns over the sustainability of growth and the degradation in working conditions throughout the ongoing globalization and trade liberalization. It explores the means through which the garment industry contributes to industrialization, poverty reduction, empowerment of undereducated workers, in particular female laborers, and shared growth in contemporary low-income countries. Through seven in-depth studies of countries - Bangladesh, Cambodia, Kenya, Madagascar, Myanmar, Pakistan, Vietnam and a cross-country study - it demonstrates dynamism in the industry which successfully leads to growth under the trade liberalization. The Garment Industry in Low-Income Countries provides evidence against the argument that the garment industry is a static and non-innovative activity, and even a 'dead-end sector of industrialization.' It demonstrates heterogeneity within and across countries in terms of growth performance, productivity, and product upgrading. It also explores conditions of the labor market with respect to wages and female labor participation, access to the export markets and business environment across different countries. By incorporating the diverse experiences in seven countries, this text provides a broader range of implications of the development of the garment industry on industrial dynamism in low-income countries.
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