Week 4 - Slaves of Globalization and Breaking the Shackles

Week 4
Jinia Lee
ASA141

I thought Thuy Linh Nguyen's chapter, All in the Family?: Kin, Gifts, and the Networks of Fashion was interesting because it discussed about the familial relationships that Asian American designers create with Asian garment workers. Although it is nice to see how community can help Asian American designers with their careers in an industry that is white-dominated, I think this type of relationship can blur the lines of exploitation. For example, many Asian businesses hire immigrants and don't pay them fair wages, but help them by providing them resources and advice on finances, housing, citizenship, etc. Meshing a family aspect to work life is problematic because it places employees in an uncomfortable position where they are unable to ask for fair employee rights and higher wages and there is an expectation of "filial piety" for their bosses due to being seen as "family." It shows a distinct power inequality between the two and although they both may benefit in some type of way, it is still a type of exploitation. It is much more subtle than what we see when it comes to major corporations like H&M, Nike, and Walmart that exploits garment workers from third-world countries, but because this type of exploitation is not entirely visible to the public, it's more difficult to garner support for these groups.