Examining the Impacts of Fast Fashion in Bangladesh Through the Lens of the Treadmill of Production Theory
Ava Ramachandran
Fast fashion is an industry that in recent years has sparked intense controversy throughout the world. Ranging from its many environmental degradation factors, exploitation of workers, to its affordable prices, and convenience, fast fashion ultimately demonstrates how corporations will prioritize profit at the expense of the environment and their workers. The small villages of Bangladesh have been recently enduring a vast majority of the detrimental consequences from the fast fashion industry. Popular retail companies like Zara and H&M have been the biggest culprits of exploiting their workers and damaging communities’ ecosystems. There are many complexities when it comes to trying to regulate these massive corporations, as shutting them down overnight would have drastic social, economic, and environmental impacts.
The Rana Plaza collapse in 2013 was a significant yet tragic event throughout the country of Bangladesh. Claiming the lives of over 1,000 people, the collapse resembles the inhumane and dangerous working conditions that employees have to endure in order to put food on the table for their families. In addition, the factory collapse symbolized the corruption that is perpetuated by the fast fashion industry, drastically impacting social and environmental factors. This devastation is a direct result from the horrors that the fast fashion industry insinuates and how large corporations neglect the needs of their workers and their environment1.
Rana Plaza was an 8 story high building that was located in the suburb of Savar just outside the capital of Bangladesh, Dhaka. The building was constructed illegally by Sohel Rana, as he avoided many safety inspections and permits1. The owner was even warned by ample engineers that different levels could not be added to the building. Rana ignored what had to be said and continued to expand his building, exceeding the structural capacity. He advised his employees to keep working despite these conditions until it was too late .
From an environmental sociology perspective, this collapse demonstrated the social and economic factors that drive globalization and industrialization in our world today. The collapse was ultimately a result of poor building construction and lack of any safety inspection prior to it being put into use. The rapidly growing garment industry demands the production for cheap materials to arrive as fast as possible at one’s doorstep. These qualities are essentially the driving factors for quick production within the country.
Ian Taplin, author of Who is to blame? A re-examination of fast fashion after the 2013 factory disaster in Bangladesh, gathered evidence from the area in which the factory was located, and concluded that there were ample systematic issues that almost guaranteed an accident or labor abuse to occur. This included taking note of the number of workers allowed in the building at a time and the actual location placement of this building. In addition, data was gathered from many different factories throughout countries in Asia whose workers have also experienced death or injuries as a result from the garment industry. This method of including the actual numbers, names of countries, and dates that different incidents occur help drastically improve the credibility and validity of the source. Also, this helps answer the question that the author is posing because it demonstrates how extreme the labor exploitation has gotten and how the retail companies are willing to place their workers in dangerous factory locations so they are able to uphold low labor wages and not have to abide by any environmental policies, like the dumping of polluted water into streams3. Some of the evidence consists of making statements like 800 deaths in Bangladesh caused by factory fires, 7 deaths in Cambodia, and over 1200 dead in 2013 after the factory collapse again in Bangladesh3.
The global demand for cheap garment items have led major retail companies to continue to take advantage of developing countries labor and environmental laws and therefore construct many different factories throughout the country. The collapse also highlights how these “labor-rich” but “capitol-poor countries’ ‘ are exploited and perpetuated by the neglect of consumers and large retail corporations. Fast fashion within these countries are single handedly destroying the environment and labor workers lives. More important findings consist of emphasizing the many systematic flaws that retail companies partake in in order to achieve the lowest wage produced products. This includes unsafe and questionable locations of factories in order to avoid environmental and labor law policies4.
The conceptual frame that can be applied to this scenario would be the treadmill of production theory. The treadmill of production theory highlights the idea that economic growth and consumption is a continuous cycle that requires copious amounts of products that are obtained in an unsustainable manner. The theory also emphasizes that this framework only benefits the consumers and corporations insinuating this process. Fast fashion is an accurate example of the relationship between resources, growth and consumption, and production. The large retail industries are responding to mass consumerism requests at the expense of the environment. The treadmill of production highlights how advanced companies will become stuck on treadmill as a result of their desire to acquire economic prosperity without actually being able to reap the benefits5.
The higher demand there is for cheap clothing, the less of a say the workers and countries have in defending their well being and their land. In this situation in particular, it illustrated how the specific selection of dangerous factory locations can be seen as intentional in order to avoid the scrutiny of labor and environmental policies in different areas. Retail companies do not take any safety concerns into account and are only responding to the needs of the consumers. This element of the Rana Plaza disaster is what correlates positively to the treadmill of production ideology6. This company was seeking out economic benefits at the expense of its workers and the environment by placing the factory in a poorly built and cheap building. If there is a particular product that needs to be mass produced rapidly, there is no doubt that thousands of workers may be shoved into one old, uninspected building in order to accomplish this. This portrays the needs of the consumer pushing the treadmill at a fast rate to produce, without considering the resources and lives exploited while doing so. Again, this established the continuous cycle of labor worker neglect but consumer necessities6. A main discussion point throughout the article is the corporate social responsibility and how ethical roles of consumerism and capitalism are being questioned during fast fashion practices. If more consumers were aware of the true harm caused by their purchases, this institution of consumerism would gain a chance to combat the needs of the consumers and eventually alleviate the adversity of the workers and their country as a whole.
One may ask, how does this building collapse have any correlation to the environment? Well, the collapse signified the overarching theme of corporations placing factories wherever they can avoid the most laws and regulations which almost always result in social or environmental disaster. The building collapse was one of the many things that fast fashion perpetuates, however, they are not only deadly to the workers, but also the environment. This disaster in particular helps shed light on all the many flaws that are hidden within the fast fashion industry. As many of the industries place their factories in areas with minuscule labor laws, they also strategically place them where there are few environmental laws, to permit dumping of toxins, emitting large amounts of Carbon Dioxide into the air, and the release of chemicals into local waterways. This connection demonstrates the conceptual frame of environmental justice that is seen all throughout the world.
Environmental justice is the right for people of any race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, or any other minority group to be entitled to equal treatment of the enforcement of any environmental laws or outcomes8. The Rana Plaza collapse was an indication of thousands of impoverished people facing the extreme consequences of inequality present in the fast fashion industry realm. Prior to the crash, workers were already living in extreme poverty and enduring the consequences from the vast amounts of pollution emitted by the many factories that surrounded their communities . One of the most prominent factors being water pollution. The theory of environmental justice indicates that these low income, impoverished workers are forced to reek consequences of the country’s poor environmental and labor laws. Just because of their low socioeconomic status, these individuals are forced to endure inhumane working and living conditions.
For example, Dhaka, Bangladesh was home to Rana Plaza and also is currently home to one of the most polluted rivers in the world, the Buriganga River, better known as the “Dead River”9. The hazardous quality of water within this river prevents it from being used entirely, this includes drinking water, fishing, irrigation systems, and habitat. The unfortunate reality as the reason behind this water pollution is due to major retail companies dumping their waste into large bodies of water 9. The discharge of the untreated water waste ends up into rivers like the Buriganga River and makes it unusable and dangerous to even be near. The large amounts of chemicals that are used to create dyes and textiles are allowed to be dumped into various places because of the loose policies that the country obtains . The environmental and labor laws that are present within the country do not require water waste to be treated before it is released into the environment and essentially results in the damage to aquatic and human health.
In addition to toxins being dumped into waterways from the retail companies, synthetic fibers that are frequently used throughout the industry like nylon and polyester do not biodegrade easily, and it may take hundreds of years for the products to be completely broken down. The microfibers that are inside of the textiles not only contaminate the water itself, but also become a part of the food chain, as many fish and other species eat these microfibers and plastics. Since polyester and nylon take years to decompose, it is more likely that they will be consumed by humans and wildlife before they have time to degrade10. The negligence that the companies have for cities like Dharka demonstrate how there needs to be stricter reinforcement on laws and regulations in order to protect the ecosystem and citizens of Bangladesh from social and environmental exploitation.
Fast fashion glorifies itself based on their cheap prices and efficient fashion trends. As a result, consumerism within this industry is growing more and more popular causing retailers to expand their factories across the world to places where they do not obey environmental or labor laws. The consumption of the cheap, fragile clothing perpetuates the treadmill, causing more attention to the needs of the consumer instead of the needs of the environment and countries enduring the harm . It also plays a role in understanding why the factories are unable to relocate their manufacturing plants to different areas because that means they will have to obey labor laws and environmental policies. This may sound beneficial, but it would not appeal to the typical consumer as manufacturing and production prices will increase and therefore product prices will as well. The labor wages would increase meaning there would be an undeniable large amount of layoffs, leaving thousands of workers unemployed. This would have a direct impact on not only the global west economy, but also the developing countries who produce the clothing.
The Bangladesh workers and locals who live in the city of Dharka are under such environmental scrutiny and if they try to stop the environmental and labor exploitation, they will be unemployed. If they continue to produce clothing at the current rate, there is a chance nearly all of the rivers will be polluted. This proves that the consumerism that is making the treadmill “turn” is based on the economic benefit of a select few, the consumer and producer, while neglecting locals and their waterways.
