Sewing hope
Subtitle: how one factory challenges the apparel industry's sweatshops
By: Sarah Adler-Milstein and John M. Kline
Contributors: Kline, John M., author
Published: 2017
Language: eng
Number of pages: 229
ISBN-13: 9780520292901; 9780520292925; 9780520966246
Subjects: Clothing trade; Moral and ethical aspects; Alta Gracia Apparel; Sweatshops; Social responsibility of business
Description: "Sewing Hope offers the first account of a bold challenge to apparel-industry sweatshops. The Alta Gracia factory in the Dominican Republic is the anti-sweatshop. It boasts a living wage three times the legal minimum, high health and safety standards, and a legitimate union--all verified by an independent monitor. It is the only apparel factory in the global south to meet these criteria. The Alta Gracia business model represents an alternative to the industry's "race to the bottom" with its inherent poverty wages and unsafe factory conditions. Workers' stories reveal how adding $0.90 to a sweatshirt's production price can change lives: from getting a life-saving operation to reuniting families; from obtaining first-ever bank loans to getting running water; from purchasing children's school uniforms to taking night classes. Sewing Hope invites readers into the apparel industry's sweatshops and the Alta Gracia factory. Learn how the anti-sweatshop started, how it overcame challenges, and how the impact of its business model could transform the global industry."--Provided by publisher.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 205-210) and index.
Table of contents: title: The difference between heaven and earth : introducing Alta Gracia; title: From factory favorite to fighter : human cost of the "Race to the Bottom"; title: Risky proposition, unlikely alliance : founding a new factory; title: Ideals into action : building an anti-sweatshop model; title: Escaping scripted roles : unexpected benefits of a new approach; title: Stories of transformation : diverse impacts of a living wage; title: Surviving on our own : adjusting the business model; title: Replication or revolution : Alta Gracia in context; title: Afterword: taking action.