Race To The Bottom Summary

A “race to the bottom” is defined as a situation in which companies compete with each other to reduce costs by paying the lowest wages and giving workers the worst conditions.” (www.dictionary.com). Most people have a negative view on the race to the bottom, but Pietra Rivoli, author of The Travels of a T-shirt in the Global Economy, takes on a more positive view of it. The race to the bottom mixed up the textile and clothing industry around the world between the late 1700s and the mid-1970s. Rivoli believes that in the end, the race to the bottom will bring development to a country. In chapter 6 of her book, Rivoli examines and explains China’s influence in the textile industry through the race to the bottom, as well as how globalists and …show more content…
The size of their population and the fact that such little skill was required for working in the textile industry was a big advantage in their labor market. Rivoli states, “Children and rural women were recruited by early mill owners not only because of their abundance and low price, but also because owners found them temperamentally well-suited to the mind-numbering drudgery of early textile work.” (Rivoli, 76). Manufacturers actually preferred women and children to men as workers because the labor was cheaper and also tended to be better workers. The development was overall fueled by the desperation of people for a job, even if working for a cheap labor …show more content…
The hukou system is an official record in the system of household registration that is required by law in China. It also demands that workers bring their labor to the factories, but not themselves, and they also have no security in housing, healthcare, or benefits. This makes it incredibly hard for one to find and secure a job, not to mention it does not make much sense either; how can one not bring oneself to work? The hukou system created a powerless population to take over the dangerous and underpaid positions within China’s economy. This benefitted both the world’s consumers and also the Chinese city dwellers. But, the cheap labor force also brought opportunities of liberation for women because the formal labor contracts brought them a newfound independence. The custody and repatriation law was an administrative procedure. Under its regulations, if did not have a residency permit, they would be either detained in a custody and repatriation center, or sent home. This made it almost impossible for one to not break the law because, “China’s floating workers show up in the city and hope for the best, but often the migrants have prearranged employment, especially in the textile and construction industries. Migrants risk not only economic failure but also detention and worse…” (Rivoli,