The Globetrotting Sneaker
The high end shoes made by American companies such as Nike or Reebok serve as iconic moves towards post-Cold War modernization for several countries overseas, namely Russia and China. The introduction of Michael Jordan’s sneakers is supposed to convince the underpaid laborers (i.e. women) that their country is progressing. By operating under this façade, the big business looks like the hero who has brought job opportunities and income to a helpless country. The goal of the sneaker executive is to pay wages that are just high enough to keep their employees loyal, but not a penny higher than that. They will shift factories from one country to another as trade barriers change without giving a second thought to the women who are stitching the company’s shoes. American-based companies not only looked abroad for a labor market, they shifted their liability overseas by sub-contracting their manufacturing out. Their attitude was “Let Korean [or other Asian] male managers be responsible for workers’ health and safety” (46). By moving the management to the producing country, American executives distanced their attention even further, making their ignorance of human rights violations and discriminatory work conditions more credible, while still maintaining their power. But women workers did not put up with this maltreatment forever. They began to organize in response to their dangerous work conditions and low pay. Their resistance was met promptly with government intervention which included “sexually [assaulting] women workers, stripping, fondling and raping them] as a means to break up the labor movement. The feminist activists did not give up, and their tenacity served them well. South Korean women won the right to organize and their pay increased. The corporate execs in America claim to be upholding these standards in the businesses abroad by instituting regular inspections on work conditions and wage earnings. The reality does not live up to its ideals however and the injustices still continue.
