Blog 11: The Fight for $15

Across the country low wage workers are rallying together under the "Fight for $15". The purpose is to raise the minimum wage in fast food and retail up to $15 an hour. They are fighting to have the right for payed vacation, sick days, and to have fair attendance policies. All with efforts of fair and respectful scheduling practices that would allow low wage workers to work only one job instead of two or three or even four jobs. With this formation of a union, the subjection of racism, sexism, and anti-immigrant discrimination comes along with the organization of the union without retaliation. There is an overwhelmingly number of low wage workers who are female and people of color. The hiring practices for these retail and fast food industries take part in the discrimination knowing that these people are only able to get these jobs yet, are still barely making it to survive.
Many big multi-million dollar corporations and business use scare tactics and intimidation to prevent workers from fighting for more rights and benefits. Many bosses threaten workers with being layed off in order for them to stay quiet about their wages and benefits that they are not receiving. In Fred Goldsteins' lecture "Low-Wage Capitalism" he looks at technology and how it has pushed many corporations into cheapening the worker, to improve the revenue production of labor and increase the overall surplus value. In his lecture he describes a company called Stanley tools who uses computers in their factories to show the workers how they compete with the other factory located in Thailand. Stanley tools uses this as a way to intimidate the workers and threaten them by telling the workers they will move the company to Thailand if they cannot keep up with production. Similarly, other companies are starting to incorporate this idea into their companies. McDonalds and Taco Bell are just two examples of companies beginning to introduce technology into automated ordering systems to basically quiet the complaints of the labor workers and push aside the rallying of many upset low wage workers.

Instead of helping the workers who are struggling to live in this free market economy the new automated ordering systems replace the people who take your order with machines thus, putting even more people out of jobs. In my opinion, the automated ordering systems are an easy and more accessible way for ordering food (aka fast food) but not only is it more lazy but with each new machine, comes one less job for someone else. How will customer service work? Would there even be customer service? And if so is that going to be an automated machine too? Our world is constantly striving to be at the most developed it can be through technology and fast food industries is only the beginning.

Blog 10: Making Stuff Cheap; Q & A

Mardi Gras Made in China is a documentary that confronts both cultural and economic globalism by humanizing the commodity chain from China to the United States. It follows the path of Mardi Gras beads from the streets of a Carnival in New Orleans, where people party and exchange beads for nudity, to factories in Fuzhou, China, where teenage girls live at and sew beads together all day and night. This film exposes the inequalities of globalization and how products that people enjoy and use carelessly affect both who make and consume them.

QUESTION AND ANSWER:

Q: What are your personal assumptions about “Made in China”?

A: Nowadays you see “Made in China” everywhere on almost everything in America. I always knew that there were disciplined factories in other countries producing goods for the US, but it never really hit me hard until I actually saw this for my own eyes. It makes me sick to see young girls who have dreams for themselves, slaving away on machines all day and night, only making 10 cents an hour or 10 cents just for the day! I understand that globalizing products such as Mardi Gras beads creates work for many people who need it, but the conditions of work would be unimaginable in America. Sadly, a lot of people when asked where products come from, have no idea that the product they might have just thrown away someone slaved for it so they could put food on their table. In the documentary Mardi Gras: Made in China, when a someone was asked where the beads were made, they had no idea. Then, when they were told the answer they said something similar to “I’m just trying to get drunk and enjoy my vacation.” Products “Made in China” are overlooked in the US.

Q: Why do more and more U.S. companies manufacture and source products overseas, and why do U.S. consumers purchase these products?

A: More and more U.S. companies manufacture and source products overseas because it is cheaper for companies. Companies are realizing that they can go to developing countries where work is needed so that they can get their products made for the lowest price. To have people working in other countries for only 10 cents a day rather than making them in the United States for minimum wage of at least $5 dollars an hour, seems like a no brainer to these companies.  This way companies don’t have to spend as much on the labor but more importantly gain more profit out of their products being sold to the consumers.  U.S. consumers purchase these products for many reasons. Mainly, I believe is because of consumer ignorance against the harsh life of Chinese Factory workers. So many people do not know or understand what workers in China go through for things that we take for granted, because they are not experiencing it themselves. We are constantly corrupted with media and advertisements wanting us to buy more and value money and materialistic things in the U.S. It is hard for people to think in another way when the society you live in is surrounded by this idea.

Q: Why do factory workers in foreign factories work under the current conditions?

Sweatshop Factory in China

A: Factory workers in foreign factories work under the current conditions because they are desperate. They need the money so bad that they are willing 
to work in an unhealthy working environment. A lot of the time girls are sent to live at the factories and send money back to their families so that their family can eat or send siblings to school so they can receive an education to hopefully better their lives. To them working is for the money and that is the most important for them to survive. Same as people in the U.S. having no idea what it would be like to work in sweatshops, people working in foreign factories don't know another way of life, another way of making a living.


Q: What are the working conditions at foreign factories producing goods for the U.S. market? 

A: There is a variety of dangerous work conditions. Unfair calculations of work time, low basic wages which compel a force of overtime, a ridiculously high work intensity and working for 11-12 hours a day, underage workers, and failures for paying things such as social insurance, work-related injury insurance and other insurance that is required by law. Unfortunately there are many others....Would you work in these conditions?

  
      Q: Why do overseas factories welcome U.S. customers and investors?

A:  Overseas factories welcome U.S. customers and investors because these places need the money and it is an investment for them. Their goal is to reform their economy and by establishing business and production with wealthier countries creates more jobs for those who are desperate for it. Although the work conditions are harsh the more developed countries provide the product and what needs to be done, while overseas factories provide the labor and service to produce the product at a low cost. This not only provides jobs for countries such as Japan or China but also more work for people in the U.S.  Globalization plays a major role in this treadmill of production cycle, leaving people initially no choice but take whatever society can offer them and in order to best fit their needs and values. 

Blog 8: Gentrification in Silicon Valley

"The Google bus is a problematic symbol of inequality produced in the area by the tech boom and its high-earning progeny." 

The transportation of ushering thousands of workers from their homes in San Francisco to Silicon Valley through the Google Bus can be an issue pointing to social and technological inequality.
 "...the Google Bus has become the go-to symbol for discord in Silicon Valley", says San Francisco writer Julia Wong. Many view the Google Bus (a term used for any private bus chartered by employers) as a safe way to commute workers, have them arrive in a timely manner, and even take cars off of the street. But there are others who view the Google Bus in a completely different perspective. Not only do these private buses cause congestion, but they are using the routes illegally. And on top of that, what's really concerning people is that rent is going up in areas surrounding the bus routes. Rental owners are well aware of the highly paid techies from various companies who are being commuted every day. Recently there has been protests and blockades in an attempt to bring awareness to the issue, causing controversy in the streets of San Francisco.

These rising prices for rent are pushing those with lower income out, and recruiting those with substantial funds. This can be viewed as a form of gentrification, but should the google buses be blamed for this? Some definitely do not think so, “Wake the hell up! Stop trying to put transportation and housing issues together!” shouted Christa Jones, a shuttle bus employee, to a protesting crowd. I can see how employees for the shuttles and the riding employees see this as unfair treatment from the protesting individuals. People are always trying to put blame on one thing for the reason of their misfortune. The problem lies much deeper than the shuttle and company employees and I do not believe that it is their intention to drive locals out of their homes.

Blog 6/7: Free Labor in the Digital Economy & the Deadly Labor Behind our Technology

Stefana Broadbent’s Ted Talk, “How the internet enables intimacy” looks at how the internet has become a “democratization of intimacy”. We are progressing into this modern world where communication technology such as; texting, facebook, IM are actually cultivating deeper relationships rather than spoiling human intimacy. The world is breaking an imposed isolation that institutions are imposing on people. Over 50 years ago, when you went to work, or institution, during the day there was this focus, this full commitment to the task at hand. People would go about their day not able to talk to those they enjoy or love. Now, there is this great possibility to be in contact throughout the entire day. She uses an example of a baker who works early in the morning and hours later in the morning, he sneaks away to call his wife to wish her a good day when she is starting her day. Its taking a moment to chat whether it be email or IM at work or students sneak text messages at school. Even using social networks at institutions is turning into a common norm. Its this idea of possibility that she points out where people are able to communicate and connect with people we love most through the use of our new technologies, that other generations before never had before. For example she tells us of a couple who each week sets up a Skype webcam at the dinner table to “eat dinner” with their other family across the globe. The close connection we can get through technology aids this degree of intimacy with one another at anytime, at all times.

Institutions try to block the movement of greater possibility of intimacy and have social control for who has the right to self determine their attentions to be isolated. Work and schools try to enforce these “codes” by taking away cell phones, creating fines, or use a version of punishment to make sure people are focused. I agree that there are times when it is ineffective and somewhat distracting to be using communication technology, BUT like everything else moderation is key. It is important to be focused at school and to be hard working when at work, yet if studies are done, if such work is completed and it does not interfere with what is expected, then I don’t see why people can’t take a second to check their private email, facebook, text messages, etc.

In Sophia Cheng's article “The Deadly Labor Behind our Phones, Laptops, and Consumer Gadgets” we are reminded that getting to use these devices are a privilege in itself. While we are using these gadgets on a day to day basis, to ease or communication with one another, poor developing countries are slaving away with nothing else but making these “gadgets” for us at a cost no one would work for in America. People are in a factory working way too long of hours, making less than a dollar each day, hurting themselves making the products, and then head home for bed only to start the same day all over again.

I agree that technology has helped us into a better intimacy and connection with one another but it is to that extra degree that I believe is wrong. When we are constantly on our technology sometimes we forget how to be intimate in actual reality. Are need for having not just a smartphone (similar to a small computer at hand) but in addition we must also have a laptop, tablet, ipod, etc. While all these devices are incredible and enjoyable to use we must understand that there are countries of people suffering to make what we hold so much value to. We need to start critically thinking about when and how we are using our technology on a day to day basis, and how it is effecting not only us but the people producing these “gadgets” for our ongoing cycle of consumerism.

Photo of the working conditions in a factory in China for electronics 

Blog 5: Embodiment

Embodiment is defined as the tangible, visible form of an idea, quality, or feeling. Pornagraphy embodies the idea of exploiting women and children in the global industry of prostitution. People use the internet as a way of open communication to anyone around the world. Any information that is loaded onto the internet may be used or misused by anyone, as talked about in lecture. The internet has shaped global domination and is showed by the use and control of it by the military. Although there is little regulation of what is being put on the internet. The standards of the internet are being set by the sex industry and the consumers supporting it. Due to such high profits for pornagraphy there are few barriers on the net. In the internet’s own way slavery is accepted and exploited by men who feel ownership over the women and children that they are buying for their own personal desires. Women are dehumanized and seen as items in the ‘sex market’ . “Porn is the business of crafting, packaging and selling fantasy” according to the article E-Rogenous Zones by Blaise Cronin and Elisabeth Davenport. They go on to say that porn has become this code word for corrupt male lust. There is this ability for men to interact with porn online, anywhere. “Digital distribution directly to the consumers domestic environment or workplace brings a reassuring sense of privacy to the transaction that heretofore has been uncomfortably public for many individuals.” (E-Rogenous Zones, Positionging pornagraphy in the digital economy, Blaise Cronin and Elisabeth Davenport) This enhances the allowance for men to use these sites whenever they want to connect to them.

The media spectacle plays a major role into the expectations that facilitates men’s desires over the internet. The influence of society and especially the media generalizes the belief of what is to be a ‘male’. The pop-up advertisements, the constant advertisements, strip clubs, and so forth that justify men’s interest for buying sex or to see woman as a body nonetheless. The use of discussion boards for sex tourism enables an exchange of information and can give immediate feedback about their experiences, which gives sex tourism and prostitution more power.  From the article, Race, Gender, and Sex on the Net by Chow-White, he said, “Cyberspace enables sex tourists to build deeper connections between the rationalization, sexualization, and commodification of sex workers' bodies and Western masculinity.” Also, mens expectations of what women “should” look like or should act is unrealistic and reflects a negative expectation of the ‘real’ woman with the use of prostitution and pornography. The culture of pornography is marketing efficiently to not just men but aids the tactics of advertisements marketing towards women to look like the those in the sex industry. Creating this whole idea of how a woman should look and act, and again justifying the power practices of men consuming acts of sexual fantasies.

Blog 4: The 'World' in www.

It was interesting to watch Office Tigers and how globalization has come so far and is still advancing. Technology plays a major role in this, if not the biggest. Technology opened the door for many opportunities and ways to communicate and do business over seas. Office Tigers is set in India yet the work that they do is based off of an American culture. The business provides high end outsourcing services to major American and European companies. To get a job at Office Tiger is very desirable among many of the people that live there. When asked most of the employees said it was "All about the money".

Office Tiger CEO Joseph Sigelman

The Americans who started the company and those that work there, want to guide the Indians to become professional hard working employees like such in the American business world. In many cases in the documentary the CEO asked some employees why they weren't wearing there ties and to make sure that they are wearing them. In this business working hard is must or, as they said they will "weed out the under performers". I was surprised to see how much they emphasized on working hard. Working Saturdays and longer hours, working at home, and to live by the Office Tigers slogan, "We never sleep". Call center such as these like Office Tigers in India, are products of globalization. The employees are trained to work professionally like and with Western advanced countries. Like Drori explains, "We rely on technology to expedite human communication, thus exchanging more information, more intently and faster. Through e-technology we also extend our human networks into new spaces, thus establishing more contacts with more people and institutions" (Global E-Litisim, Drori). Office Tigers is a great example in which the company's value is based around using technology to outsource information across the globe, as quickly and efficiently as possible. In doing so, they have extensive training for each of the employees such as "having good English" and hope to turn English into the first language. They want the employees to develop the Indian professions into a Western business. As more advanced countries gain more power the developing countries are trying to copy those ideas so they to can gain power and develop. As Nakamura said, "The internet can be seen as part of the context of multimedia globalization, a fostering of a Western (as yet) cultural practice upon 'third world', minorities, and marginalized populations"(Cybertyping and the Work of Race in the Age of Digital Reproduction, Nakamura). The fact that we have technology and are able to globally communicate at anytime is useful, but also creates a digital divide. It separates those that are of higher class and with more money to those that have less money and do not have the resources to use technology to their advantage. Cultural imperialism is seen by the many developing countries who are influenced to be like the Western and most powerful countries. In the end the developing countries are always trying to catch up, as technology increasingly improves and changes. At first when we began Office Tigers I kept asking myself if this was suppose to be a good thing or a bad thing. The fact that these Indians are able to learn the Western culture and advance their lives is great, but I can't help but dislike the overall outcome of the exploitation of cheap labor in other countries. Advanced countries are able to take business globally (outsourcing) with the use of technology, around the world and get cheap labor to increase their global power and capital.

Defining Digital Culture Visually

http://www.pinterest.com/brookelarsenpbp/digital-culture/

I created a Pinterest Board to visually define Digital Culture. I picked a Pinterest board over doing it on a sheet of paper because I think a website in itself defines digital culture more than a sheet of paper could. The images and captions provide an understanding and clear visual to a person who might be unfamiliar with the idea of and meaning behind Digital Culture. In our world today we go about living through the digital culture without actually taking a step back and truly identifying and analyzing what society is like today.