Bangladesh Sweatshops

My research topic is about sweatshops. Sweatshops are factories where workers are subjected to poor and potentially hazardous conditions for low pay. Over the span of the year, I want to continue to explore this topic. My goal is figure out a way to improve the conditions of the workers in these factories with minimal damage to our economy. I’ll do this by answering my questions, adding my prior knowledge about the issue to new information, and keeping in mind the people involved and influenced by this issue.
I found out about this issue when looking up videos for Human Geography. A suggested video popped up about these sweatshops in Bangladesh. I became interested in the topic, and did research on it. I looked up companies and how their

clothes were made at stopchildlabor.org. I looked up more videos one the topic. One was particularly compelling; it was the story of an eleven-year-old girl who had worked at the sweatshops, and suffered poor working conditions as well as abusive supervisors. All of these sources gave me a general idea of the issue.
I find this issue worthwhile and interesting because it has a global impact, and is an issue that many are unaware of. Everybody can agree that the conditions of sweatshops aren’t ethical, nor is the low pay given to workers. Yet, they are still around because people all over the world can buy products at a low price. This is what makes this issue a difficult one to deal with; it affects everybody in some way.

While I don’t know much about this topic, I have a general idea of the issue.

Sweatshops are similar to factories; however, they involve workers repeating the same tasks for many hours. Sometimes, they have to work overtime into the morning. They often work in rooms with no air conditioning and possibly are in an environment that is hazardous to their health. They do all of this for little pay. In the sweatshop I watched a documentary on, workers, mainly women, were often beaten for not doing their job correctly, or for working to slow. On the other hand, people in countries such as the United States, as well as large businesses, benefit greatly from this. Cheap prices on clothing as well as additional wealth for businesses are all results of these sweatshops. Additionally, it boosts the economy of first world countries such as our own. I want to address the issue considering both

aspects.
Although I learned some significant information from my research, there is still a lot I want to learn. There are key questions I want to answer in order to propose a solution. One of these questions is how widespread these sweatshops are. I want to know where they exist. This is a crucial question that can give me a starting point as to where the issue takes place. Once I know that, I can further research why this area of the world is targeted, and how our clothes get from there to here. Another one of my key questions is who do these sweatshops benefit, and who do they detriment? If I know what parties benefit from this commerce, I can better access why they these sweatshops are still around, and which companies and governments would need to change before the conditions in these sweatshops change.
Using my previous research, I can partially answer my main questions. It seems like sweatshops are located in third world countries, especially where there aren’t many laws governing working conditions. Additionally, it seems like many of these countries are in Asia. They don’t appear to be widespread amongst continents, but they don’t appear to be contained in one country either. My other question was who do sweatshops benefit, and who do they detriment. Right now, I assume the sweatshops are detrimental to the workers, who work for low pay in hazardous conditions. I know that large companies benefit from sweatshops, because they receive product at a cheaper price. A lot of times, this benefits consumers as well, because they can also receive clothes at a lower price.
In order to finish answering my questions, I need to gather more information. I need to look at sites that are already working for change (e.g. stopchildlabor.org). However, I also need to find out information on businesses, and how their clothes are made. I need to research why some people aren’t as apt to change. To find answers to questions like these, I can use websites like pro-con.org. By using these websites and others like them, I can get a more complete set of information about this topic

In order to write an affective paper, I need to know which audiences might be interested in my ideas on this issue.

Of course there are the people who know about this issue and advocate for change. But there are also those who don’t know about this issue, but may still be interested. I think that people who have an ethnicity tied to any of the places where sweatshops are prominent would be more sympathetic to the issue because they have a relation to that place. Another group of people who I think would be interested in this issue are women. Many of the exploited workers at these sweatshops are women, so one may feel a closer connection to those workers. Lastly, families with children may be interested in this issue. Many workers in sweatshops are eighteen, nineteen, and twenty. In the documentary that I watched, girls as young as eleven had the job of cutting frayed ends off of shirts. Families, (especially parents), may be interested in this issue because they have children, and can more accurately imagine what that would be

like.
In order to introduce this idea to people to people who don’t know about it, or perhaps don’t have any connection to it, I need to introduce it in a way that is relatable to everybody. Clothing is one way to do this. Everybody wears clothes, and clothes from department stores have a tag on the back saying where they were made. Many of these tags have the names of the countries where they were made on them, and many of the countries on these clothes are third world countries, like Bangladesh and El Salvador. This simple idea, and ideas similar to this one, can spark interest in the topic by relating it to everyday life.
Simply informing people of the issue is not enough to change the system. There are many decision makers and other influential people who are effected or can affect this this issue. Heads of large clothing companies definitely affect and are affected by this issue. They are ones who rely on the sweatshops and keep them going. Another influential person who can have an effect on this issue it the President of the United States. He is in charge of creating laws, and he could play a huge role in fixing this issue. The governments of the countries where sweatshops are located perhaps play one of the largest roles in this situation. They are the ones in charge of governing how the sweatshops are run.
There are influential people that may side with me on this topic, while other influential people may not. My allies on this topic are likely to be people who relate to it in some way. As I discussed earlier, people that are ethnically tied to a place, or people who can relate to the workers (e.g. women), are likely to feel more of a connection to this issue, and be on my side. However, others who benefit from this commerce in some way are likely you be against me (e.g. large corporations)
In conclusion, this is a broad topic that, after research, I hope to find an applicable solution to. I want to know more about this issue, and how to effectively advocate for change. Through a combination of new and acquired knowledge, as well as an idea on how to propose my ideas, I can accomplish this.