Sweat or No Sweat: Foreign Workers in the Garment Industry in Malaysia

In the last decade factory owners, in response to brand-name Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) parameters, have joined associations that verify (through a monitoring and audit system) that management does not exploit labour. There have been no reports of violations of codes of conduct concerning Malaysian workers but for foreign workers on contract there are certain areas that have been reported. These areas, including trade union membership, the withholding of workers' passports and unsuitable accommodation, generally escape notice because auditors who monitor factory compliance do not question the terms of contracts as long as they comply with national labour standards. This paper is based on research with foreign workers in Malaysia and argues that despite the success of the anti-sweatshop movement in a global context, the neo-liberal state in Malaysia continues to place certain restrictions on transnational labour migrants which breach garment industry codes of conduct. Available evidence does not support the assumption that CSR practices provide sufficient protection for both citizen and foreign workers on contract in the garment industry.     

Reviews

The expansion of the global economy and the governance deficit it has generated raise questions about the possibilities for regulating the practices of participants in global production networks. This paper focuses on the regulation of industrial relations in Cambodia's textile and garment industry – a unique ensemble of state, trade union, private sector and international institutions that is promoted as a “fair model of globalisation.” We track the trajectory of Cambodia's industrialisation and insertion into the global economy over three interrelated phases: first, the beginnings of export-orientated garment production in the mid- to late 1990s; secondly, the promotion of Cambodia as an “ethical producer” from 1999; and, thirdly, privileging “competitiveness” in global production networks over labour compliance for its advantage. In doing so we centre our analysis on the complex intertwining of global production, the genesis of the unique ensemble of actors in Cambodia and the anomaly of Cambodia's labour movement.     

Gender,Work and Resistance: South Korean Textile Industry in the 1970s

This paper examines the forces behind South Korean women workers' labour activism in the 1970s, an era of rapid export-orientated industrialisation. Most of the labour strikes initiated by women occurred in the labour-intensive manufacturing sector, and they were in sharp contrast to the overall labour quiescence of male workers during the same period. The actions of South Korean women refute widely held assumptions about the docility of Asian women workers. This case study suggests that women rebel when their lives undergo drastic changes under a set of macro and micro circumstances. Women dialectically interact with the capitalist-patriarchal structure as conscious human agents, and the result of such interaction is their gender- and class-based collective resistance.     

宁夏文化体制改革要把握的几个重点

深化文化体制改革,推动文化事业繁荣和文化产业发展,建设社会主义文化强国,是党的十八大提出的文化发展战略目标,要认真学习中共中央国务院《关于深化文化体制改革的若干意见》,推进宁夏文化体制改革.     

扩大文化消费——宁夏文化产业发展的根本动力

2011年宁夏人均GDP已达到5062美元,正处在消费结构升级换代的关键时期。然而,由于多种原因,宁夏的文化消费还处在一个较低水平上,大大影响了宁夏文化产业的发展。因此,增加文化消费总量,提高文化消费水平,是推动宁夏文化产业发展的源泉和动力。     

基于全球价值链视角的中国制造业国家价值链的构建

中国制造业经过30多年的对外开放已经全面融人全球价值链体系,这种融入主要是通过中国出口产品的国际市场份额、RCA指数以及产业内贸易IIT指数等三个指标来反映,但在全球价值链分工中中国一直处于低位徘徊的地位,而要改变这种状况必须在全球价值链体系下构建中国制造业国家价值链。该文着重分析了影响中国制造业国家价值链构建的主要因素,包括来自发达国家的干涉和封锁、中国的政府行为及政府间利益冲突等,强调在中国制造业国家价值链重构过程中要积极发挥政府的作用,包括政府要切实降低本国制造企业构建国家价值链的制度成本、规范地方政府竞争行为的导向、促进加工贸易企业转型升级以及要加快培育中国的中等收入阶层等方面的思路和建议。     

粮食产业支持保护对象的选择与主要思路

粮食是一个具有经济性质,又具有公共品性质的特殊商品。国家要保证粮食的经济安全、保证粮食生产者的利益,必须进行支持保护。支持保护的对象不能像过去一样进行“普惠式”的支持,也不能进行间接支持,而是进行区域性直接支持。对国家粮食主产区(或者国家粮食优势生产产业带)的生产者进行直接的补贴。     

结构变动与经济增长研究——对长江三角洲地区的实证分析

改革开放以来,长三角地区产业结构发生了巨大变化,第一产业所占份额大幅度收缩,第二产业小幅收缩,第三产业则强力扩张。其经济增长速度与产业结构变化速度密切相关,呈现出显著的正向对应关系。其中上海市产业结构变化程度最大,其次是浙江省,江苏省最小。沪苏浙三省市第一产业相对规模收缩和第三产业相对规模扩张的幅度均比较大,但在第二产业相对规模上,上海市大幅度下降,江苏省基本持平,浙江省小幅度扩张。上海市相对于经济增长的结构变化弹性最大,江苏省最小,浙江省则介于二者之间。今后一个时期长三角地区各省市仍应积极促进产业结构转换和升级,提高产业结构层次,以继续维持经济快速增长。     

论发展茂名港口经济

作为一个新兴的沿海港口城市,茂名拥有天然良港茂名港,还具有极其优越的货源条件,充分利用茂名港口区位、交通、资源优势,做大港口经济具有重大的现实意义。当前茂名港口经济的发展已取得了一定成就,加快茂名港口经济朝纵深发展的对策建议有:推进港航企业的规模化、多元化和标准化经营;深化港口自身的功能,促进茂名港向第三代发展;充分挖掘渔港海岛旅游潜力;以服务贸易和加工贸易为核心,形成粤西临海产业带。     

近代山东娼妓业的兴衰

近代山东娼妓业依然盛行。民国以来山东政府的废娼运动,因政局的混乱时断时续,导致娼妓屡废不止。新中国成立后,伴随全国范围废娼运动的开展,山东的娼妓业得到根除。娼妓的废除,成为近代妇女求解放的重要部分。