The Power to Choose: Bangladeshi Garment Workers in London and Dhaka

by Naila Kabeer

In this path-breaking study, social economist Naila Kabeer examines the lives of Bangladeshi garment workers in Bangladesh and Britain to shed light on the question of what constitutes “fair” competition in international trade. She argues that if the unhealthy coalition of multinationals and labor movements is truly seeking to improve the working conditions for women and children in the “Third World,” as well as those of western workers, their efforts should be directed away from an attempt to impose labor standards and towards a support for the organization of labor rights . Any attempt to devise acceptable labor standards at an international level which takes no account of the forces of inclusion and exclusion with local labor movements is, she further argues, likely to represent the interests of the powerful at the expense of those of the weak.

Genres: Feminism, Bangladesh, Gender, Fashion

320 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2000

Reviews

[Jake · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am writing a review a long time after reading as this is a book I often think about. When I read it I found some of the economic jargon off-putting but I recognise it serves an important function. Much like the work of Amartya Sen this book challenges the core assumptions of much work in economics arguing for the importance of social factors.

Kabeer describes how working in garment factories, while often exploitative, in many ways represents an opportunity to reimagine social relations for women in Bangladesh. The following exploration of the women's diverse motivations is fascinating in this context. This is further juxtaposed against a bleaker hyper-precarity and non-emancipatory experience of Bangladeshi female garment workers in the UK.

The book also raises important questions about the motivations of ethical consumerism campaigns and the way they are used by corporate and union interests in the West.

I often recommend this book to other people looking at migration and or female experiences of Bangladeshi women.