This excerpt from Challenging the Chip stood out to me for this project because of all the information about women in sweatshops it presented. Although it does not specifically address Nicaragua, the statistics in it have given me ideas of what to be looking for as I research this project.
McGrath, Siobhan. "Stitching Together AMovement? Three Works about Globalization, the Apparel Industry, and Anti-sweatshop Activism." Review. Antipode (2006): 871-77. EBSCOhost. Web. 9 Nov. 2011.
This article is a review of various books relating to sweatshop work in Latin America, specifically mentioning Mexico, Guatemala, and Nicaragua, three countries with similar histories in sweatshop labor. This will be useful because the author mentions books with very different opinions; while some authors are completely against sweatshop labor for human rights reasons, others are for it because it stimulates poor economies.
Quinteros, Carolina. "Union Sundown?" Foreign Policy 125 (2001): 63-66. Print.
This article addresses the presence of unions in Nicaraguan sweatshops (along with others in Central America). Because international communities insisted on better treatment and conditions in factories, non-governmental agencies arose, taking unions’ place and implementing new standards. However, the United States government, along with others, fear that unions will be wiped out and that workers’ treatment will go downhill. Since unions are an important presence in the lives of these workers, this article will be helpful in determining whether unions’ downfalls would have a big impact on their rights or not.
Brown, Sherrod, and Cynthia McKinney. "Pentagon Sweatshops." Progressive Feb. 2001: 30-32. EBSCOhost. Web. 9 Nov. 2011.
The author of this article gives insight into the United States’ role in sweatshops in Nicaragua. Not only is our government one Chentex’s (a Taiwanese-owned sweatshop in Nicaragua) prime purchasers, it also seems to have no idea of the sweatshops’ true conditions or what really occurs with the workers. This article will be useful because it gives the point of view of not only the government, but also of Cristina Sanchez, a former Chentex employee who was fired because of her union ties.
Marsh, Katherine. "Spring Break in Managua." Rolling Stone 26 Oct. 2000: 85-88. EBSCOhost. Web. 9 Nov. 2011.
This article, written about a group of college students who are members of United Students against Sweatshops, follows eighteen young adults on their spring break trip to investigate sweatshops in Managua, Nicaragua. It is interesting to see the point of view of people my age since I can relate to their feelings and understandings of what they see. They detail the sweatshops’ environments, and the discussions they have with Americans who run the factories provide another viewpoint all together. The facts, statistics, and interviews included in the article will definitely be useful in the formation of my final project.
Ross, Robert J.S., and Charles Kernaghan. "Countdown in Managua." The Nation 11 Sept. 2000: 25-27. EBSCOhost. Web. 8 Nov. 2011.
This article will be helpful in my project because it gives vivid descriptions of the sweatshops’ conditions. It features plenty of information about unions and how women and men who unionize are ostracized, punished, beat, and even fired for getting involved with unions, particularly at Chentex, which is mentioned in other articles. The author describes the workers – who “are mostly young women, and single mothers are numerous” – yet more and more men are working in sweatshops than before because there is not as much work available to them.
Sequeira, Carlos, and Charles Kernaghan. "Anti-Sweatshop Activist and Chief Nicaragua Negotiator on CAFTA Debate Central America Free Trade." Interview by Amy Goodman. Democracy Now: The War and Peace Report. 10 June 2005. Web. 8 Nov. 2011.
This interview, featuring an anti-sweatshop activist and Nicaragua’s chief negotiator, focuses on CAFTA, the Central American free trade agreement. This article will be helpful because it gives the views of the American government, one of the many agencies contracting sweatshop labor in Nicaragua, and an avid activist. The government believes that CAFTA will improve the lives of those working in factories, while Kernaghan (the activist) believes things are getting worse economically and emotionally for the workers.
Stockman, Lenie. "Ethical Threads: Nicaraguan Women's Co-op Offers Alternative to Sweatshops." New Internationalist Dec. 2003: 6. EBSCOhost. Web. 8 Nov. 2011.
The women mentioned in this article are former Nicaraguan sweatshop workers who joined together to create their own clothing factories. It is useful to have another unique point of view for my project; this article provides that, along with examples of the treatment the women endured in sweatshops and the differences between their new factories and the traditional ones.
Although I haven't decided what my original contribution will be yet, I will probably focus on why the conditions in Nicaraguan sweatshops have remained the same after so much has been done or how unions have affected the workers' lives by collecting data from blogs and videos, etc.
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