Happy 07-07-07
I think shoes and clothes are important to skaters. I think freedom probably is even more so. It’s hard (impossible?) to find e.g. skate shoes not made in China, Korea, Thailand or Vietnam, and no way of knowing what the conditions are like for the people who make them, and good reasons to believe they are having a pretty shitty time. This is the same for all our clothes, but I have this feeling that because skating is about freedom and independence and not being controlled they might be able to be mobilised on fair trade issues. What do you think?
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i think probably lots of people that buy those clothes aren’t actually skaters as such and maybe don’t give a damn about freedom in the same way your idealised skater would. which is not to say it’s not an excellent idea..just not sure how you could approach it effectively.
I think real skaters still influence trends & styles. Like all the brands are endorsed by particular pro skaters. So getting them on board would be the thing.
http://adbusters.org/metas/corpo/blackspotshoes/
I often think about this issue…
If the labour used to produce skate shoes, etc. is not forced, then the workers must have a choice to work there or not.
If they have a choice, then that means that the pay/conditions/etc of the shoe factory must be better than the pay/conditions/etc of other local employers. Which, in their local context, can’t be bad.
Some questions might be:
– Is some of this labour forced? (With respect to large well-known brands, I’d doubt it, but have no facts/figures/proof)
– Should the workers be paid the same as equivalent workers would in, say the US or some other ‘First World’ western country?
– Should working conditions be the same?
– I think the logic and the use of the word “forced” is probably a bit misleading here; it might not be slavery in the classical sense, but the “choice” between poverty and the any number of poorly paid jobs that are available in developing countries is hardly that.
– In my imaginary perfect world, yes, but I imagine that legislating for increased wages (in isolation from other initiatives) in such areas would only make the companies move elswhere (capital is mobile; labour not so much), so the people would be left with no income at all. But that doesn’t absolve anyone–it only means that this issue needs to be approached from the demand side as well as the supply side, ie. addressing the developed world’s appetite for cheap mass-production, which I think M is trying to do in a small way.
– I understand that you’re not saying this outright, but isn’t the idea that certain standards of work conditions are acceptable in some countries but not others a bit relativising (and repellent)? We get all uneasy about sweatshops in our suburbs.
In my imaginary perfect, Matthew would not be able to write “getting them on board” in this context without getting the punnies.
i think starfish stock a fair trade sneaker ..
Hmmm… I just think we have to be careful in comparing ours or other western cultures with those of China, Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, et al.
How do we know that the Chinese person who made the Globe skate shoes I’m wearing isn’t bringing home enough money to provide for his family, or isn’t satisfied with his job?
Should I stop buying them until I have proof that no-one is being exploited by Globe shoes?
Is there some sort of place where one could go to find this sort of information, aside from the country itself? Web-locally?
Maybe Dev-Zone. They live in the James Smith building on the corner of Manners & Cuba.