Video: “The Big One” – Michael Moore (Excerpt).
To which extent companies should lower the cost of their human “resources”? In fact, companies do produce a lot of their products in countries where wages are much lower than in Europe or in the United States. We study the production of soccer balls by children in Pakistan and the policy towards child labour adopted by companies of the sporting goods sector. Finally, we discuss the promises and pitfalls of global labour standards.
Preparation (300 words)
Building on the required reading, and maybe a look at some optional ones, is business exploitative of people?
Required reading
Meyers, C. “Wrongful Beneficence: Exploitation and Third World Sweatshops” in Journal of Social Philosophy, vol. 35 No. 3, Fall 2004, pp. 319-333.
Optional readings
Consult UNICEF “Child Labor Today” 2005.
Rothstein, Richard. “The Global Hiring Wall: Why we Need Worldwide Labor Standards”, in The American Prospect, Vol. 5, No. 17 (March 21, 1994).
Dahle, C.: “Gap’s New Look: The See-Through”. Fast Company, Sept. 2004.
