a) The textile industry has had various locations throughout history. From Great Britain to the Far East, textiles have rewarded many different locations. The changes in locale of the textile industry show something about the global economy. Nothing is fixed. If it was, textiles would never have left the shops in England, there is always going to be someone willing to manufacture the same goods at a lower cost. That fact is enough to shift markets and manufacturing hot spots as with textiles, they went east for cheaper production costs.
b) Postive: Industrialization provides a source of income for many people. It is able to provide jobs. "In 1980, the industry's peak employment year, nearly 400,00 people were employed in Hong Kong's textile and apparel industries."
Negative: Industrialization can also take jobs away. As more and more countries become industrialized more and more people need jobs and recently industrialized nations are able to provide cheaper labor than established ones. Companies realize this and relocate to the cheaper countries taking jobs away from the established workers.
c) "Globalization's skeptics are quick to point out that even if the conditions in apparel factories are a step up from those on the farm, it does not follow that workers in developing countries should simply accept their fate, working day and night in poor conditions, for pitiful wages and with limited rights. While free trade advocates may wish to isolate the activists as an uniformed fringe element, research shows that most Americans have reservations about the slippery slope in the race to the bottom of the working conditions in overseas apparel factories." pg 120
-I thought this quote was interesting because it is a very sensitive issue in today's world. Yes the working conditions might be poor but are they still better off than they wold be without the jobs? It is a very difficult question to answer and the correct response might never be truly understood.
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