Clean Clothes: A Global Movement to End Sweatshops

Citation

Judith, S. (2011), "Clean Clothes: A Global Movement to End Sweatshops", Society and Business Review, Vol. 6 No. 1, pp. 103-106. https://doi.org/10.1108/17465681111105887

This is a really stimulating book which call into question so many commonly accepted ideas (or generally agreed upon principles […] ) that it shakes and put to trial the very foundations of our “modern” and usually unconsciously liberal way of thinking, as much as its related practices. Far from groveling to Anglo‐Saxon standards, the author constantly draws an implicit comparison between the individualist “soft law” tradition and a more hierarchical and napoleonian “hard law” tradition. Identifying what he calls the “liberal turn”, Yvon Pesqueux actually continues an area of research opened by the very founders of Sociology such as Durkheim and Simmel, though with different means and not using their main concepts. We can also trace a relation to Democracy in America by Tocqueville, for the author extend Tocqueville's analysis that democracy has a tendency to degenerate into “soft despotism”, to which the very notions of corporate governance, audit society, non‐governmental organizations (NGOs), new public management and multiculturalism give a thick description and a real‐life content, helping us designate this shift toward a “deliberative democracy” caused by privatization.

Yvon Pesqueux has opened serious vistas, but the overall general theory behind his many points is still lacking, though the author provides enough material to buttress his diverse arguments: to get rid of efficiency is not an easy way. Besides, one could be more reluctant than the author to cast away the concept of usefulness to explain numerous human behaviors, for they are distinct from their economic utility version and sheer utilitarianism (nonetheless, the hegemony of such concepts in main stream discourses makes the assimilation understandable). In the end, we can only regret that the reference to Douglas' institutional theory (previously book reviewed in Society and Business Review (SBR)) is not used in this work, for her categories would have been illuminating and would support the author analysis. We also wished the author delved into the details of what is a federation, a confederation and a nation‐state and what their relationships with governance and privatization are. However, the book is, as stated in its preface, “an unended quest” for the Grail is not to be reached at once. Because the book's topic is so encompassing, a detailed argumentation of every single element is impossible in a single book format and these complaints are minimal in comparison of the general achievement of this book.

This book is a must for people and researchers willing to make use of critical thinking regarding today's political world and its functioning, and especially the meddling of economic life and business with it. Its main goal is to launch and foster popular and academic debate upon important political and social topics still stifled by neoclassical economics. Liberal thinker must now face a robust and detailed criticism of both their way of thinking and practices. In the end, it is no surprise that with such a deep concern for Business and Society, Yvon Pesqueux is also the founder and editor of the SBR.

Since several decades NGOs bring workers and human rights issues to the public attention through their campaigns, reports, protests and boycotts. In the 1990s, global exchange urged prominent garment and sportswear companies such as The Gap and Nike to improve the working conditions in their suppliers' factories. Recently, Nike is relatively transparent about its suppliers and has a solid auditing system in place to ensure that its code of conduct is respected. This year, Greenpeace's KitKat campaign made Nestlé agree to stop using products which contribute to the destruction of the rainforest (Greenpeace International, 2010). One of the most influential NGOs in Europe certainly is the Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC). It has outlets in 12 countries and has a network of over 250 partner organizations. The CCC aims at improving the working conditions in the garment and sportswear industries worldwide. The action of the CCC spans from pressuring corporations to improve working conditions (press and media work; reports), public awareness campaigns for consumers, investigating legal possibilities and lobbying to finally supporting factory workers, trade unions and small local NGOs (Sluiter, 2009). But who is the CCC, how has it become one of the most influential NGOs in the corporate social responsibility (CSR) movement?

In her book, Sluiter (2009), a Freelance Journalist and Photographer, summarizes the first 20 years of the movement from its beginnings, its successes and defeats to its current status. The book is a useful guide for seeing how a small group of people has become a central player in the CSR movement. Reading the history of the CCC, one thing gets clear: “The fight for clean clothes is not over yet” (Sluiter, 2009, p. xxvii).

The book is divided into four parts. The first one sets the scene by presenting the beginnings of the CCC in The Netherlands and introducing the outsourcing practices in the garment industry. It provides a comprehensive overview of how the garment industry gradually outsourced its production in four relocation waves: In the 1960s and 1970s garment corporations outsourced the production mainly to South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Tunisia. In the 1980s production shifted to Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia followed by eastern European countries in the 1990s before the production finally shifted to Africa, Burma, Cambodia and Laos. During the 1980s and 1990s the CCC focused especially on the Dutch market and the retailer C&A. After persistent campaigning, the CCC achieved a few successes: C&A introduced a code of conduct in the 1990s and adapted it during the following years. With the new millennium C&A has become more open to dialogue and started discussing supplier auditing challenges in their CSR report but as the headline of one subsection in this part states: “the beat goes on” (Sluiter, 2009, p. 28) and the fight for clean clothes continues.

The second part of the book provides an overview of the globalizing network of the garment industry and especially of the CCC. It provides insights to the outsourcing practices and working conditions in Asia, Africa and Europe. CCC members and partner organizations in those regions give an overview of their campaigns and context specific struggles. This development is full of detailed examples of worker rights issues and exploitive practices of the garment industry. It illustrates how the respective CCC outlets first approach companies and governments to improve the local conditions, then inform the public about the devastating conditions under which their products are produced and finally support the local employees in establishing unions. This part is a promising resource for many case examples such as the Globe Knitting Fire or the Spectrum Factory Fire (p. 48) or the Eden Case (p. 64) or for violence against workers in factories (p. 95). This part provides an overview of the whole spectrum of worker rights violations in the garment supply chain. In most of those cases, the CCC and its local partner organizations were able to identify the brand for which the suppliers produced. This identification enabled the NGO to approach the powerful multinational companies (MNCs). This strategy underlines the key logic of the CSR movement: MNCs become responsible for things they did not do themselves but to which they are connected through their product.

Part 3 of the book takes this logic further and constitutes a key section of the book in which Sluiter (2009) elaborates on the strategic developments of the CCC – its growth to a global networking organization. CCC moved its strategy from a single company focus (e.g. C&A) to an industry approach. The CCC launches increasingly industry wide campaigns such as the Fair Play Campaign involving numerous garment and sportswear companies at once. Additionally, the CCC moved beyond the garment industry. Its international outlets include other industries where outsourcing and exploitation practices are similar to those in the garment industry. Since 2002, the French CCC includes for example the toy industry in its campaigns. As Sluiter (2009, pp. 126‐7) states: “toys, like clothes, are near to people's lives and pose direct questions about consumption patterns”. CCC does not only approach MNCs to improve the working conditions along their supply chains but eventually also launches campaigns for ethical public procurement. The Dutch CCC for instance encouraged the Dutch work‐wear companies to join the Fair Wear Foundation and let their suppliers being monitored. In parallel, the Dutch CCC recommended those companies to the public authorities. Those examples show the diversity in the NGO's activities.

The concluding part of the book provides details about the four pillars of the CCC's work: support for workers, informing consumers, fostering legal reform and approaching companies. At this point, Sluiter (2009) provides interesting insights and diverging views on NGO campaigning. For instance, there is a tension between North and South NGOs. Many Asian NGOs are rather critical towards the activities of Northern/ international NGOs, including the CCC. They are perceived as being too bossy and aggressive. Southern NGOs often criticize the Western approach of international NGOs. Contexts in Asian and African countries are very different and approaches that might work in Europe will never be successful in developing countries. Those illustrations can be a useful starting point for future academic research: How can the North‐South NGO division be overcome? Empirical studies about the success of Northern NGO activities could either confirm or refute the claim by Southern NGOs. The North‐South NGO divide also illustrates another interesting point: like companies NGOs might also stand in competition with each other. Competing certification schemes such as the Sustainable Forestry Initiative, the Forest Stewardship Council and industry sponsored certification schemes are one indication for this (Overdevest, 2010). However, one lesson learnt from Sluiter's book on the CCC is that a collaborative global networking approach is a fruitful path in improving the working conditions in the supply chain, and it can work.

Sluiter's book is a fascinating story about how a small group of people demonstrating on a pavement in the 1980s develops to a successful NGO campaigning against corporations worldwide to improve the working conditions in their supply chains. The book provides practical insights into the daily life and logic of NGOs. It is a useful guide for academic research and complements nicely the theoretical CSR debate. While Arnold and bowie (2003) for example discuss the philosophical arguments for MNC's responsibilities for sweatshops, Sluiter (2009) gives a comprehensive overview from the field and its daily practice. All in all, Clean Clothes: A Global Movement to End Sweatshops is a relevant book for the CSR debate. It provides insights on NGO strategies, their approaches and their evolution. However, this book lacks some further understanding on the social phenomenon it describes: the dynamics of social movements. Indeed, the multiple ways through which actors purposefully influence corporations and states in order to “make clothes clean” remains underanalyzed. A quick glance at Soule (2009) could enrich the reading of this book with a more theoretical perspective enabling us to grasp its subject more comprehensively. It could even help foster activists' optimism, since Soule analysis is also an inspiration and an encouragement. As a matter of fact, if Sluiter (2009) announces at various times that it is possible to make fashion fair, we are not there yet. Until then, the fight for clean clothes still continues.