Ethical Textiles: Sustainability and Fair Trade: The Cost of Cloth
What does it mean for developing-world workers when prices for clothing and fabric keep dropping? What happens when Westerners buy more and more, driving up demand? How does ecological impact fit into the equation? Global in scope, this three-part series explores the ethical and environmental fallout of large-scale textile production. It follows the work of manufacturers in the U.K. and Bangladesh as it investigates the consequences of ultra-cheap labour and supply systems. In addition, it examines fair trade initiatives developed in response to industry abuses, inequities, and hazards. A crucial resource for economics, sociology, and environmental studies! 3-part series, 25 minutes each.
Filmed in Bangladesh, one of the world’s most active textile-producing countries, this program explores the social cost of the textile industry, which benefits mostly Western consumers and capitalists while creating oppressive environments in the developing world. Using eye-opening footage shot inside a number of Bangladeshi textile factories, the film explores issues of sweatshop labour—including poor working conditions, unfair wages, and the right to unionise—and asks viewers to consider where the responsibility for improving industry practices should lie. The program then compares the social impact of mass-scale textile production with the benefits brought to a small rural community in Bangladesh by a fair trade textile initiative. A part of the series Ethical Textiles: Sustainability and Fair Trade. (30 minutes)
1. What Is Globalisation? (01:19)
Globalisation of the textile industry raises a host of ethical questions and issues. Globalisation in the world of textiles generally means people elsewhere in the world are paying for the real cost of garments.
2. Textile Industry of Bangladesh (01:56)
In Dhaka, Bangladesh, 4 million people work in thousands of textile factories. Most are paid abou
