Eleventh Global Studies Conference

Abstract

The “globalisation” of Bangladesh’s garment production is paralleled by the spread of informal production and labour practices. After the “Rana Plaza” and “Tazreen Fashions” calamities in 2013 and 2012, the Bangladeshi garment industry is undergoing polygonal safety net programs. Government and international buyers have tried to enforce factory compliance and corporate social responsibility issues rigorously. The government checklist for factory inspection includes issues pertaining to building safety, fire safety, safety measures for electricity supply, salary, and leave of the workers, access to safe water and sanitation, access to personal protective equipment, etc. Besides, international buyers have their own regulations and checklist for factory inspections like factory security, building safety, fire safety, workhour at the factory, etc. Different garments have also started to give medical facilities to its workers as part of their corporate social responsibility (CSR). These initiatives are undertaken to ensure a better labour condition at the factories. However, my ethnographic findings indicate that the factory compliance issues have essentially become a tool and reason for workers’ oppression. For example, workers do not get their salary on time and are forced to work extensive overtime but they cannot reveal their experiences during audits or they will be sacked. The case of the Bangladeshi garment sector reveals that the implementation of policies are contextual and even though the neo-liberalisation and liberal-democratic state advocates basic political, economic, social, and cultural rights for everyone and promises equality (at least in the long term), sometimes it actually generates inequality and restores class power.