A Pair of Jeans

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Fairness and economy are illustrated with the example of the way a pair of jeans begins with cotton grown in Africa, then is manufactured before it is sent to a shop in your country. There are documentaries available that illustrate this. Textile manufacturing is increasingly globalized industry. The primary countries for production of jeans are: Bangladesh, China, Mexico, Pakistan, Turkey, and Tunisia

Time 30-60 minutes

Material room, paper and pens

Group Size 5-30 people

Keywords global learning, sustainability, fair trade, consious consumerism


Related:

Goal

The aim is to raise awareness on the unfair conditions of worldwide collaboration as well as on the resource intensive global production.

Steps

The example of a pair of Jeans illustrates the global trade.

1. The way of a pair of jeans

Jeans-global.jpg
  • Present the journey of a pair of jeans.
  • Ask, what your participants know about this topic.
  • Discuss in which way this production style might have an impact on
    • people and
    • environment?

2. Production conditions

The reasons that certain countries are favored for production usually entail:

  • disregard of workers’ rights
  • workers are often women and children
  • very long working hours (> 60 hrs. / Week) and low wages (not enough to cover basic needs)
  • poor safety and hygiene conditions
  • discrimination against women (they earn less than men).

Discussion:

  • Ask, how participants consider working conditions in their consumptive decisions.
  • Discuss, what would be fair conditions? What has fairness to do with sustainability?
  • How different are the environmental and working conditions in their country?

3. Value added chain of a pair of jeans

Jeans-global-costs.jpg
  • Look at the value added chain. What is surprising? What did you expect?
  • Where are the "adjusting screws" for making trade and consumption more fair and sustainable?

4. Conclusions

  • Ask, what kind of measures the actors within the society could and should undertake. In example:
    • Consumers
    • Activists/Civil Socoiety Organizations
    • National regulation
    • International regulation
    • Companies

Reference

  • Arpine Galfayan, Sebastian Wehrsig, Nils-Eyk Zimmermann: Environment and Civil Involvement; How Can We Connect Sustainable Development Education and Active Citizenship Empowerment? ISBN 978-3-944012-01-8 Online
  • Data: Denimtarian

Block: Author: Nils-Eyk Zimmermann