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October 29, 2007
Gap Factories Using Forced Child Labor
Children as young as 10
LONDON, England (AP) -- Clothing retailer Gap Inc. said Sunday that it will convene all of its Indian suppliers to "forcefully reiterate" its prohibition on child labor after a British newspaper found children as young as 10 making Gap clothes at a sweatshop in New Delhi. India's government vowed earlier this year to enforce laws governing child labor. The Observer newspaper quoted the children as saying they had been sold to the sweatshop by their families in Indian states such as Bihar and West Bengal and would not be allowed to leave until they had repaid that fee. Whole story via CNN
Posted by cat at 07:12 AM
October 27, 2007
Istanbul / Hackers & Haute Couture Heretics
Too little pictures from a trip to Istanbul in late-September for exhibit and workshops called Hackers & Haute Couture Heretics.
View from hotel in Taksim
Istanbul from a ferry on the Bhosphorus
Otto von Busch, curator of Hackers & Haute Couture Heretics.
Workshop patron with machine knit arm warmers.
Continue reading "Istanbul / Hackers & Haute Couture Heretics"
Posted by cat at 10:59 PM
October 20, 2007
Fashioning An Ethical Industry
Fashioning an Ethical Industry is a Labour Behind the Label project that works with students and tutors on fashion related courses to give a global overview of the garment industry, raises awareness of current company practices and of initiatives to improve conditions and inspires students - as the next generation of industry players - to raise standards for workers in the fashion industry of the future. We run student workshops, organise tutor training events, provide teaching resources and work with tutors to integrate ethical issues related to garment manufacture into their teaching.
Posted by cat at 01:56 PM
Undue Influence
Undue influence: corporations gain ground in battle over China's new labor law - but human rights and labor advocates are pushing back, March 2007 (link via Clean Clothes Campaign newsletter)
Global Labor Strategies has produced a paper concerning the behind-the-scenes battle that is raging over reforms in China's labour law. U.S.-based and other global corporations have been aggressively lobbying the Chinese government to weaken or abandon significant pro-worker reforms it had proposed in March 2006. In opposition are pro-worker rights forces in China, backed by labour, human rights, and political forces in the U.S. and around the world. Corporate lobbying has already resulted in a weakening of the proposed new law. However, US corporate groups have launched an unpublicised new attack demanding further amendment. The authors see the current focus on the role of global corporations in China as evidence of a "new paradigm" for analysing current forms of globalisation. Increasingly, they argue, the debate is not about free trade versus protectionism, but about the activities of a global "sweatshop lobby", which is deliberately shaping labour law and labour markets around the world.
Posted by cat at 01:43 PM
October 17, 2007
Traditional Peruvian Knitting
Posted by cat at 12:01 PM
How NOT to solve global warming: NAFTA for the Amazon!
Indigenous leaders from the Peruvian Amazon are in Washington, DC right now urging the U.S. Congress to save their Amazon rainforest home and help stop global warming by defeating the Bush administration's proposed NAFTA expansion.[1] But they need our help! via Global Trade Watch
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Posted by cat at 11:54 AM
October 12, 2007
Wireless World
My friend Jacqueline Passmore made a super cute video for LA/UK-based phenom Camille
Davila's new single "Wireless World" ... see it here (with support from the Experimental Television Center)
Posted by cat at 08:29 PM
October 08, 2007
Free Burma Stencil via Just Seeds
Just Seeds launched a blog... Here's a Free Burma Stencil from one of their posts ... more on this case here
Posted by cat at 05:11 PM
Rebecca Stephany now on-line
get a design refresh with Rebecca Stephany
Posted by cat at 05:00 PM
October 04, 2007
Bush Peru NAFTA Expansion Bill Now in Congress
The Bush administration has just sent the official Peru "free trade" agreement (FTA) legislation to Congress. Under Fast Track procedures, this means that this latest Bush NAFTA expansion must come to a vote within 60 days - most likely this month! Opposition is building in Congress, but unfortunately some powerful Democratic congressional leaders have begun to really pressure their colleagues to vote wrong on this NAFTA expansion.
Continue reading "Bush Peru NAFTA Expansion Bill Now in Congress"
Posted by cat at 12:25 PM
October 03, 2007
Fashion Film Festival - Sweatshops in Focus
On the second weekend of October 2007 Fashion in Film Festival (London) will present a two-day event focusing on the troublesome issue of sweatshops. Don't miss this unique opportunity to see two poignant documentaries, plus some militant art, and participate in a panel discussion that will conclude the sessions. Link
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Posted by cat at 11:48 AM
Tha Click
E:vent Gallery
96 Teesdale Street, Bethnal Green, E2 6PU (tube: Bethnal Green)
6 October - 4 November, 2007
[gallery open from 12 - 6pm Friday to Sunday]
Tha Click
Jessica Ciocci, Jacob Ciocci, Ben Jones [Paper Rad]
Paul B. Davis, Cory Arcangel, Joe Beuckman [Beige]
Curated by Heather Corcoran
E:vent presents a group exhibition of work by the American art crew Paper Rad along with Beige Programming Ensemble artists Paul B. Davis, Cory Arcangel and Joe Beuckman.
"Seizing upon the technological detritus spawned by advancements in computing over the last three decades, Beige's inclination is to tinker with the inner workings of ubiquitous platforms past and present. Paper Rad are similarly drawn to the gaudiest fixtures of pop culture, transmogrifying and amplifying them into a kaleidoscopic parallel universe all their own..."
Posted by cat at 11:42 AM