Ethical issues have a particular resonance in American society at the present time, given the perceived failure of many of our public institutions to live up to the ethical standards they espouse and considering the consequences diminishing of public confidence in political leaders, religious leaders, the business community, and so on. A problem the fashion industry must face is the degree to which the goods they sell have been produced under sweatshop conditions. By definition, sweatshops are manufacturing sites, in this case for clothing, where ill-paid workers labor under difficult and even dangerous conditions, with too many workers cramped into too small a workspace, with unreasonable expectations as to the amount of goods produced, and without accepted safety features and government inspections. Sweatshop conditions were once more prevalent late in the nineteenth and early in the twentieth centuries in American cities. With more and more clothing goods made outside the United States today, however, the sweatshops are more likely to be in foreign countries with different laws and different controls. The charge is made that American companies use these foreign sources precisely because the laws are more lax and workers can be exploited. Sweatshops ar dangerous, and companies should realize that allowing sweatshop conditions creates a potential for harm to the company as well as these workers given the potential for public disapproval, while a more ethical way of doing business ca lead to success for the company in the long run. Some ethical issues are brought into the public eye when a scandal erupts, as occurred within the last few years over the issue of child labor in sweatshop conditions. It was reported in the news that Kathie Lee Gifford's line of clothing had been manufactured under such conditions (Razzi, 1995, 46). Another case surfaced when Nike was accused of manufacturing its sports shoes under the same sorts of conditions,...
Both companies have suffered from public disapproval and even boycotts as a result, which is surely not a way to achieve business success.
Sweatshops in Third World Countries Not so long ago when the word sweatshop was mentioned, images of Charles Dickens would surface, for the notion of sweatshops seemed to be a thing of the past. However, in recent years, sweatshops have been at the forefront of media attention. They are back, actually they never truly went away at all, and they are back in full swing around the world, mostly in third
Thus it can improve the fates of the sweatshop workers' children, by infusing income into the poorer nation. The argument in favor of the employment of illegal workers in the United States is that the workers chose their lot by illegally immigrating and often work under better conditions than they would on their home soil. Also, the children of the illegal workers will improve if the children are allowed
Sweatshops Are Sweatshops a Necessarily Evil? Within the last few years, Americans have become aware that sometimes when American corporations send manufacturing tasks to foreign countries, those tasks end up being performed by people we would view as not yet adults -- young teenagers, and sometimes even workers younger than that. The companies argue that they do not always have either control or knowledge that such practices are going on, thus excusing
A utilitarian would argue that to ensure the greatest happiness, for the greatest number, perhaps some suffering in the interim must be endured by the current generation of factory laborers in the developing world, so that industrialization can develop and so capitalism can take hold there. Moreover, the ethical quandaries we experience are not merely relegated to clothing -- what of how we profit off of the labor illegal
Sweatshop Girl: Sadie Frowne In "The Story of a Sweatshop Girl," Sadie Frowne describes her life journey from peasant farmer's daughter to factory worker. Her description includes details of her daily life, and the difficulties she faces as a sweatshop girl in the early 20th century. Her narrative also illustrates prevalent social values of the time, as well as her individual values. Her focus on the specific details of her
The organization explains that consumers can take the initiative to speak out against companies that use sweatshops. (Ten Ways to end Sweatshops) They can also join campaigns such as OXFAM which attempt to ensure that special events such as the Olympics are not utilizing products created in sweatshops. Ten Ways to end Sweatshops) Conclusion The purpose of this paper was to discuss sweatshops, the impact that they have on the world and what
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