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10 - What Good Can Activists Do?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2014

Benjamin Powell
Benjamin Powell
Affiliation:
The Free Market Institute, Texas Tech University
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Summary

At this point, some readers likely feel a bit frustrated. You might accept that the sweatshop jobs are better than the available alternatives and that they are part of the development process that will eventually lead to better jobs. But you still feel empathy for the Third World workers who toil making your apparel, and want to do something to help them. This chapter is for you. It is time to explore positive steps that activists can take to help Third World sweatshop workers.

First, before moving on to new policies, it is worth considering how your actions should change if you have been an anti-sweatshop activist in the past. Rule number one for helping Third World workers should be “Do No Harm.” Using boycotts or advocating for policies that mandate higher minimum wages or better working conditions make Third World workers worse off. They unemploy the workers and change their desired mix of compensation for the worse. If you have advocated for these policies or trade sanctions against countries that do not have high standards, there is one simple constructive action you can take to help sweatshop workers: stop. With that in mind, let us take a look at some other constructive steps you might take to help poor workers in the Third World.

Type
Chapter
Information
Out of Poverty
Sweatshops in the Global Economy
 , pp. 138 - 156
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2014

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