Sewing Hope: How One Factory Challenges the Apparel Industry's Sweatshops PDF
Preview Sewing Hope: How One Factory Challenges the Apparel Industry's Sweatshops
Sewing Hope how one factory challenges the apparel industry’s sweatshops Sarah Adler-Milstein and John M. Kline university of california press Sewing Hope Sewing Hope how one factory challenges the apparel industry’s sweatshops Sarah Adler-Milstein and John M. Kline university of california press University of California Press, one of the most distinguished university presses in the United States, enriches lives around the world by advancing scholarship in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Its activities are supported by the UC Press Foundation and by philanthropic contributions from individuals and institutions. For more information, visit www.ucpress.edu. University of California Press Oakland, California © 2017 by Sarah Adler-Milstein and John M. Kline Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Adler-Milstein, Sarah, 1983– author. | Kline, John M., author. Title: Sewing hope : how one factory challenges the apparel industry’s sweatshops / Sarah Adler-Milstein and John M. Kline. Description: Oakland, California : University of California Press, [2017] | Includes bibliographical references and index. | Identifi ers: lccn 2017011113 (print) | lccn 2017015415 (ebook) | isbn 9780520966246 (epub and ePDF) | isbn 9780520292901 (cloth : alk. paper) | isbn 9780520292925 (pbk. : alk. paper) Subjects: lcsh: Alta Gracia Apparel. | Clothing trade—Moral and ethical aspects. | Sweatshops. | Social responsibility of business. Classifi cation: lcc tt498 (ebook) | lcc tt498 .a35 2017 (print) | ddc 338.4/7687—dc23 lc record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2017011113 Manufactured in the United States of America 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 For the workers and supporters of Alta Gracia, whose commitment, tenacity, and bravery have built a new model Contents Preface ix 1. The Diff erence between Heaven and Earth 1 Introducing Alta Gracia 2. From Factory Favorite to Fighter 12 Human Cost of the “Race to the Bottom” 3. Risky Proposition, Unlikely Alliance 34 Founding a New Factory 4. Ideals into Action 57 Building an Anti-Sweatshop Model 5. Escaping Scripted Roles 78 Unexpected Benefi ts of a New Approach 6. Stories of Transformation 107 Diverse Impacts of a Living Wage 7. Surviving on Our Own 132 Adjusting the Business Model 8. Replication or Revolution 163 Alta Gracia in Context Afterword: Taking Action 191 Acknowledgments 195 Notes 197 Bibliography 205 Index 211 About the Authors 221 Preface Apparel products are ever-present in our lives—bought, worn, changed, and discarded—with thought seldom given to the individuals who make them. Headlines sometimes report on factory fi res or other tragedies that claim workers’ lives, but the apparel industry’s global span, locating most production in regions and countries with low wages far from major con- sumer markets, makes it easy to avoid unpleasant stories about unsafe conditions and daily worker abuse in so-called sweatshops. But this is a diff erent story—one of hope in an industry historically marked by exploi- tation and one about the purposeful creation of a new type of factory: a kind of “anti-sweatshop.” Alta Gracia was born out of an unlikely alliance between a couple of apparel industry insiders, workers, and labor advocates. To make Alta Gracia successful, each group had to step out of their normal roles. As a result, they turned the apparel industry’s business model on its head, creating the fi rst successful anti-sweatshop in the global South dedicated to “Changing Lives One Shirt at a Time.” The new model transformed the traditionally invisible workers who make clothes into celebrity spokespeople, inspiring audiences across the United States with their sto- ries. Factory managers usually tasked with the industry’s dirty work ix
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