Week 4: Global Economy, Trade Conflicts & "Fair Trade"

I started this week with a presentation about crises associated with global economy and fair trade globalization, the role of NGO’s, and the relation between globalization and sustainability.

Globalization is a broad concept and you can approach it from multiple perspectives. At first I asked students to think about this simple question; “what comes to your mind when you hear the word “globalization?” Internationalism, exchange of products, foreign, economy, etc. were among some of the answers. Then I continued with a quick and engaging activity asking students to take a few minutes to look at all their clothing labels, cell phones, shoes, etc. to identify where they have been manufactured. The aim of this activity was to understand globalization's impact on the goods and services students rely upon daily. Each group presented their discoveries and we continued the discussion to come up with some ideas to the questions below:

• What do we know about each of the countries/regions where these objects were made?

• For those not made in Mexico, why do you think these objects were made overseas?

• Who profits from these objects being made in another country but sold here?

• Who suffers or is exploited?

• Why do you think our global economy is set up in this way?

After brainstorming some ideas, we watched a video about fashion industry's latest crises in Bangladesh to gain an understanding of global fashion industry's problems and the truth behind the scenes of this sector specifically in developing countries. We as consumers benefit from lower prices, but at what cost?! Many workers are dying in preventable factory fires because the world’s leading retailers make their clothes in countries where labor laws are not enforced and labor-cost is low. So, I asked students to discuss if we have any responsibility for these people; and if yes, how do we exercise that responsibility?

In the next session, we continued our discussion about the World FairTrade Organization and how it helps to secure a better deal for farmers and workers. Most of the students had not heard about fair trade system before, so it was interesting to explore the impacts FairTrade can have in building more sustainable communities. For the following week, students were assigned to deliver a presentation on the most common FairTrade products and how can we support the system. It is important for the students to be aware of their personal values and use their consumer power to shift the unfairness around the world! Because we are all in this together and every single act matters!