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Centre for Asia Pacific Social Transformation Studies (CAPSTRANS)

CAPSTRANS Conferences and Workshops 2010

Capital, Labour and Crisis: implications for the clothing industry in the Asia Pacific”

Sponsored by the ARC Asia Pacific Futures Research Network (APFRN), CAPSTRANS and the Faculty of Arts at the University of Sydney.

Final Workshop Programme

Workshop Abstracts

Getting to UOW

Campus Map

Workshop Outcome

1. Main aims of this Workshop

The workshop aims to identify how the global economic crisis (GEC) is affecting globalised chains of commodity production and consumption and the outcome for workers in the industry. The workshop will draw upon the views of scholars from a range of disciplines to examine globalisation, transnational labour migration and the current crisis in the context of the clothing industry in the Asia Pacific. The workshop is primarily aimed at academics and post-graduates that will bring evidence together from their investigations of the effects of the serious financial crisis on the clothing industry and its workers and the future directions for research in this industry. The workshop will also provide an opportunity for workshop participants, representatives of trade unions, Clean Clothes and industry spokespersons to contribute to a roundtable discussion.

2. Significance and innovative aspects of the workshop

The workshop is timely and innovative from a theoretical perspective because it applies commodity chain analysis to the current global economic crisis. So far, research has determined that the world economic crisis has caused significant shifts in the clothing industry, with major downturns marked in India, and sackings in China. The full implications of the GEC will not be felt for some time but so far research is demonstrating a number of related trends. At present the demand contraction in consuming countries, such as the United States, Canada, Europe and Australia (including Asia) is affecting 'domestic' chains, leading to tendencies towards increased protectionism and signals of a 'reversal of globalisation'. These trends need investigating and as a result further collaborative projects will follow.

The workshop held at the University of Wollongong will:

• Question the contraction in consumption in developed countries.
• Bring together preliminary data and information on the impact of the crisis in SEA and these inputs will be explored and investigated
• Examine how changes in South Asia and China, affect the industry in SEA
• Focus on identifying whether change is governed by processes that are internal to globalised chains of commodity production and consumption that move across national borders or whether change is something that can be managed within national economies

This is a closed workshop but papers that fit the theme of the workshop will be considered and are now invited for submission by November 18. Proposals for papers should include a title, brief abstract and bio-data. For further information please contact Dr Vicki Crinis (email: vcrinis@uow.edu.au).