The Travels Of A Tshirt In The Global Economy

810 Words2 Pages

The Markets, Power And Politics Of World Trade

International trade can be a difficult topic to discuss in the abstract, but when it is focused on a single product that makes its way around the world over the course of its usefulness, the unwieldy issue of globalization is made vividly clear. In The Travels of a TShirt in the Global Economy, business professor Pietra Rivoli explores the politics and the human element behind the globalization debate by tracking the life story of her $6 T-shirt.

Starting in a West Texas cotton field, her T-shirt is brought to life in a Chinese factory; negotiated in Washington, DC; sold in a Walgreen 's drugstore in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.; and eventually makes its way to a used clothing market in Africa. Through the story of her T-shirt, Rivoli shows how the advocates and critics of globalization often oversimplify the issues behind international trade.

People, Politics and Markets …show more content…

Over the next several years, Rivoli traveled thousands of miles and across three continents to investigate the truth behind the allegations made by the young activist. The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy describes the people, politics and markets that created her own cotton T-shirt, and reveals the complex story of globalization in the process. Rivoli explains that she wrote her book not to convey morals but to discover them, and simply see where the story of her T-shirt

Show More
Related

  • From China to Mardi Gras: The Effect of a Bead

    1257 Words  | 3 Pages

    How often does one actually consider where a product originates or under what conditions it was produced? While out shopping a consumers main focus is on obtaining the item needed or wanted not selecting merchandise based on the “made in” tag. It is common knowledge that many products are imported from other countries. However, little thought is given to the substandard conditions that workers endure to eke out a living to maintain a poverty stricken existence. In Mardi Gras: Made in China director David Redmon demonstrates the effect globalization and capitalism have on the lives of the owner and workers of a bead factory in China while contrasting the revelry of partygoers in New Orleans. Underpaid, overworked staff toil and live in an inhuman environment, exploited by a boss who demands much for little compensation while profiting greatly, to support themselves and their families.

    Read More

  • Sleep Dealer Globalization

    945 Words  | 2 Pages

    In this book, globalization is defined as “an internationalization of contractual hiring, exploiting even cheaper migrant labor” (page 231). Globalization is a cultural phenomenon process in which a business or an organization begins to operate their production on an international scale. In his book, we see how globalization affected corn farmers in Mexico. Globalization open the door to the system a free market trade. In Illegal People, U.S corn farmers sold their corn to Mexico, causing Mexican corn farmers to severely lose profit since American farmers were selling their corn way cheaper. An example of how globalization is seen on Sleep Dealer is how an American company privatized water in Memo’s rancho. By privatizing the water, the company sold quantities of water at unreasonable prices, leading Memo’s dad to struggle to maintain his corm field. The American company who privatized the water could this through the usage of technology. Technology is one of the factors that led to the rise of

    Read More

  • The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy by Pietra Rivoli

    1133 Words  | 3 Pages

    In The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy, business professor Pietra Rivoli takes the reader on a fascinating around-the-world adventure to reveal the life story of her six-dollar T-shirt. Traveling from a West Texas cotton field to a Chinese factory, and from trade negotiations in Washington to a used clothing market in Africa, Rivoli examines international trade through the life story of this simple product. Her compelling story shows that both globalization's critics and its supporters have oversimplified the world of international trade.

    Read More

  • The Three Empires

    952 Words  | 2 Pages

    Bentley, J., & Ziegler, H. (2008). Trade and encounters a global perspective on the past. (4th ed., Vol. 1, pp. 182-401). New York: McGraw-Hill.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Where Am I Wearing

    1375 Words  | 3 Pages

    In China, Kelsey Timmerman spent time with a couple who worked at the Teva factory, traveled to the countryside to meet the couple’s son, insert name, who hasn’t seen his parents in three years due to his parents working long hours and it being expensive to take a train ride. In the US, the author visited one of a few clothing factories in the US to talk to the workers about his shorts, and the decrease of American garment factories. Timmerman wants the consumer to be more engaged and more thoughtful when mindlessly buying clothes. By researching how well the brands you want to buy from monitor their factories and what their code of ethics details, you can make a sound decision on if this is where you would want to buy your clothes. The author writes about brands that improve employers lives like SoleRebels, a shoe company who employs workers and gives them health insurance, school funds for their children, and six months of maternity leave. Brands like soleRebels that give workers benefits most factory workers have never even heard of help improve the lives of garment workers and future generations. From reading this book, Timmerman wants us to be more educated about the lives of garment workers, bridge the gap between consumers and manufacturers, and be a more engaged and mindful consumer when purchasing our

    Read More

  • Culturally Diverse Workplace Case Study

    1448 Words  | 3 Pages

    As previously mentioned, today’s world has experienced huge changes that have transformed businesses and people’s lifestyles. These changes are largely attributed to globalization,

    Read More

  • The Role of Sweatshops in the Global Economy

    2486 Words  | 5 Pages

    “Sweatshops Are the Norm in the Global Apparel Industry. We’re Standing up to Change That.” International Labor Rights Forum. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Feb. 2014. .

    Read More

  • Silk Road Essay

    1494 Words  | 3 Pages

    "Silk Road." Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6Th Edition (September 2013): 1. Literary Reference Center, (accessed April 16, 2014).

    Read More

  • Globalization and Anthropology

    398 Words  | 1 Pages

    1. We live in a world where nothing is sacred if selling it can make a buck. Be it “tourist” indigenous memorabilia or your own “extra” kidney, you can bet there’s a viable market, and someone’s willing to buy. Given the fantastic stealth of international transactions, globalized markets evoke particularly ominous possibilities for the marginalized in our capitalistic economy. Exposing obscure global issues from “tourist” art to bio-piracy, Schneider and Scheper-Hughes complicate our understanding of globalization by questioning one’s responsibility to the agency of others in an increasingly interrelated world.

    Read More

  • Sociology and Globalisation

    2154 Words  | 5 Pages

    Many historians and sociologists have identified a transformation in the economic processes of the world and society in recent times. There has been an extensive increase in developments in technology and the economy as a whole in the twentieth century. Globalization has been recognized as a new age in which the world has developed into what Giddens identifies to be a “single social system” (Anthony Giddens: 1993 ‘Sociology’ pg 528), due to the rise of interdependence of various countries on one another, therefore affecting practically everyone within society.

    Read More

  • The World Trade Organization: The Evolution Of The World Trade Organization

    1343 Words  | 3 Pages

    Gilpin observed that the establishment of the World Trade Organization (WTO) on January 1, 1995 as the principal forum for trade liberalization marked the biggest reform of the international trading system since the end of the Second World War. In this paper, I will provide an analysis of the evolution of the international trading system from its inception as the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) to its incarnation as the World Trade Organization (WTO), taking into account the changing international economic environment and political realities.

    Read More

  • Negative Effects of Globalization

    671 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...o we can achieve our dreams in life: “we are now living in a world where time and space don’t matter anymore” just like J.Mittleman said. Globalization as we just learned is relative, whether it’s an opportunity or an exploitation depends on where you sit and how you look at the world. Kent, J., Kinetz, E. & Whehrfritz, G. Newsweek. Bottom of the barrel. - The dark side of globalization (2008/March24). David, P. Falling of The Edge, Travels through the Dark Heart of Globalization..Nov 2008. (p62)

    Read More

  • Globalization And Global Citizenship

    1446 Words  | 3 Pages

    For the first time, causing many to wonder, “What is globalization exactly, and why are the protesters so against it? “ “What are the mysterious institutions the WTO, the IMF, and the Bank- that the media keep? “ “And what could be so problematic about free

    Read More

  • The Positive Effects of Globalization on My Life

    1774 Words  | 4 Pages

    Globalization plays a massive part in my life as it does in everyone’s lives. Every day the world is getting smaller, between technological improvements and peoples interest in these technologies it is easy to see why this is happening. In this essay I have only shortly touch upon some of the places where globalization has affected my everyday life. From shopping as Asda to meeting people on the other side of the world to discuss my dissertation ideas globalization has had a positive affect on my life. The fact that I can walk down a street in Coleraine or Sydney and see similar shops and food outlets is a positive thing in how our lives are intertwined through out the world.

    Read More

  • Impact of Globalization on People

    1497 Words  | 3 Pages

    Larsson, Thomas. The Race to the Top: The Real Story of Globalization. Cato Institute, 2001.

    Read More

More about The Travels Of A Tshirt In The Global Economy

Open Document