RUNNING HEAD: Socio-Geographic Factors

Theresa Good
MMPBL/560
Professor Kimberly M. Edwards

"Stratification is global. Social and economic inequalities stratify a world system defined by economic returns and political alliance. Billions of people have unequal access to life chances. The world is marked by strong disparities in income and living standards among and within nations. Most people now live under economic conditions over which they have little control" (Kottak & Kozaitis, 2003. ch 13. p.1).
What determines class is it a person’s economic and political position in society or is it determined by social status such as income which often determines power. Class or socioeconomic status (SES) permeates our social behavior and thought (Kottak & Kozaitis, 2003. p.2). Unfortunately, Americans determine a person's worth by his/her educational status and employment. However, organizations must incorporate social responsibility in order to facilitate the formation of cultural diversity. Currently, the Gap Inc. is one of the world's leading retail chain stores, with over 3,100 retail stores and fiscal returns in 2008 totaling $14.5 billion. The Gap Inc. is the pioneer of a chain of specialty retail store which include Banana Republic, Old Navy, Piperline and Athleta. The Gap proclaims that their stores seeks new ways to connect with customers globally, uphold value and integrity to all shareholders, in addition to making a positive contribution in the communities where they do business (Gap, Inc. N.D.). Gap Inc. was organized based a set of values and a belief system that dictates operating their business in a responsible and ethical manner. The Gap's code of ethics titled "Code of Business Conduct” was formatted to encourage and reassure accountability pertaining to ethical working conditions for all people employed by Gap Inc. The Code entails stipulations on mannerisms and behaviors that must be practiced in the workplace (Gap Inc., 2008). However, this is a philosophy that has developed at the organization as a result of trial and error. In 2007 following accusations of using Child labor, the perception of the company’s practices were temporarily altered, despite the fact that the Gap has been classified as one of the most ethically conscious apparel retailers, the company was accused of using child labor as a means of manufacturing their clothing. The Gap had employed a subcontractor in India who made the decision to participate in the violation of child labor laws unbeknownst to the Gap or so they claim. According to a British Newspaper The Observer, published statements of child workers informing the newspaper that they were sold by their parents, forced to work 16-hour days without payment, in addition to being beaten ( CNN, 2009). The conditions were described as being close to slavery. The Gap responded to allegations by stating that they were not aware that the clothing was inappropriately subcontracted to a sweatshop using child labor. As Kottak and Kozaitis (2003) describe, for North Americans, our lineage often means that a person may have been born in one geographic location that they called home and migrate to another location to develop your education, career or your lifestyle in general. In reading these unimaginable conditions, it helps one to realize how much of a privilege it is to for the most part be in control of the decisions that are made pertaining to my life and destiny. This also leads me to think about whether are not the children of India forced into child labor are ever given the opportunity to aspire for more because of their ascribed status. Are they afforded the ability to change their status? As it has been described children are born into the lifestyle of child labor pretty much in the same matter that children are born into wealth. As the laws prevail and promote the prohibiting of child labor, some children are lucky enough to escape this fate but, many do not and are forced into a life where they are never afforded the opportunity to aspire to be more than what their occupation dictates. HBO televised a documentary that investigated child labor for the production of soccer balls. The documentary showed several children in India, some as young as 5 years-old working in an outside alley way stitching leather skin for soccer balls. One mother described that her infant child was ill and needed medicine and in order to pay for the medicine her 7-year-old son was required to work for payment of the medicine. The younger child later died, however her eldest was still mandated to work off the debt of the medication. The documentary stated that many die still owing monies and therefore the next of kin must take on the task at that point. Thus the cycle is perpetual. As these allegations came into the forefront, the Gap announced that the company had withdrawn the articles of clothing associated with the allegations while they investigated breaches of the ethical code. The findings of the children working in these sweat shops in the Shahpur Jat area of Delhi, India, working in filthy conditions reaffirmed the Gap's uneasiness about globalization and outsourcing by large retail chains of the manufacturing of their clothing to India, nationally known by the United Nations as the world capital for child labor. According to research, more than 20 percent of India's economy relies on children, the equivalent of 55 million youngsters under age 14. With the support of world renowned celebrity endorsements that include Madonna, Lenny Kravitz, and Jessica Parker, the Gap has developed into a highly successful retail giant. The Gap made a public statement in San Francisco: “We firmly believe that under no circumstances is it acceptable for children to produce or work on garments. These allegations are deeply upsettling and we take this situation very seriously. All of our suppliers and their subcontractors are required to guarantee that they will not use child labour to produce garments. In this situation, it's clear one of our vendors violated this agreement and a full investigation in under way.' "Professor Sheotaj Singh, Co-founder of the DSV, or Dayanand Shilpa Vidyalaya, a Delhi based rehabilitation centre and school for children working towards saving children from child labor, reported that the appeal for Western retail organizations is that India proposes the most inexpensive labor that the global economy has to offer and the fact of the matter is that there are over 15,000 insufficiently regulated apparel factories, that house the most unscrupulous sweatshops ever to taint the human conscience" (McDougall, D, 2007). As a result of the accusations of child labor, in addition to the "Code of Business Conduct," the Gap has also developed a "Code of Vendor Conduct." This Code is addressed to all manufacturing factories employed by Gap Inc. which is inclusive to its subsidiaries, division, affiliates or agents. The Gap explains that although there are varying laws and cultural environments that these factories are housed in and around the world, this Code stipulates the requirements that all factories must meet in order to do business with Gap Inc. This Code is primarily based on laws and stipulations generated internationally, inclusive to International Labour Organization (ILO)'s deep rooted principles and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. (Gap, Inc.). Although the Gap states that they were unaware of the fact that their contractor was practicing child labor and denies accountability, from a consumer prospective it is difficult to consume that an international conglomerate would not be abreast of the manner in which their clothing is being produced. Why would the Gap choose India as a place to manufacture their clothing line, simply put, because of the cheap labor which of course is associated with exploitation of a disenfranchises class of a people living in economic hardship. There are not allegations of a child labor in the North America region. Child labor has been a significant part of the industrial revolution. For example, Charles Dickens was employed from the age of 12 in a blacking factory as a result of is his family being held in a debtor's prison. The heirs of the impoverished were slated to contribute to the household income, which often consisted of working around the clock in unsafe environments for exceedingly low pay. Poverty-Stricken families have no choice but to depend on the labor of their offspring as their only means of survival. "Child labor is employed in subsistence agriculture and in the urban informal sector; child domestic work is important" There has been much distress over the "buying public's moral complicity and purchasing products assembled or otherwise manufactured in developing countries with child labor. However, others have raised concerns that boycotting products manufactured through child labor may force these children to turn to more dangerous or strenuous professions, such as prostitution or agriculture. Child labour limits children from obtaining skill sets and education required for a productive outcome in the future, "it also perpetuates poverty and affects national economies in competitiveness, productivity and potential income" (Wikipedia, 2009).
In an effort to improve public relations the Gap proclaims that they are working globally on a continuum to amend that state of affairs in their factories. The Gap maintains there positions of manufacturing clothing abroad. However, the Gap wants the world to know that they strive to ensure that the company is a place where people have a sense of pride about being employed there. In order to create a relationship with its consumers and employees here in North America and around the world they have issued a full report available on www.gapinc.com/socialresponsibility. "The new online format allows the company to communicate more frequently to more people on important social responsibility issues" (Gap Inc. 2009). Some of the questions that Kottak and Kozatis query are what determines class in the world? Does what you do to earn an income or your educational stature affect class? “Class is defined as collection or configuration containing members regarded as having certain attributes or traits in common; a kind of category; A division based on quality, rank, or grade; and a social stratum whose members share certain economic, social, or cultural characteristics; Social rank or caste, especially high rank” (Falex, Inc. 2009). Is class perceived or define by who you perceive yourself to be or whom other perceive you to be and does class really matter in a given society as long as you are happy with whom you are as a person. One of the things that seems to be overwhelming clear is that Americans view class as a prohibited subject. It is because we are afraid of what others may really think of us or it is because we are afraid of not measuring up to what others perception of us are?

REFERENCES

CNN. (2009). Gap: Report of kids' sweatshop 'deeply disturbing.' Retrieved on September 28, 2009 from http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/10/29/gap.labor/. Falex, Inc. 2009 Class. Retrieved on September 28, 2009 from http://www.thefreedictionary.com/class.
Gap Inc. (2009). CSR Press Release: GAP Inc.'s Fourth Social Responsibility Report Reveals Successes and Challenges. Retrieved on September 27, 2009 from http://www.csrwire.com/press/press_release/27415-GAP-Inc-s-Fourth-Social-Responsibilit...)
Gap Inc. (2008). Code of Business Conduct. Retrieved on September 27, 2009 from http://www.gapinc.com/public/Investor/inv_compliance_cbc.shtml.
Gap Inc. (N.D.). About Gap Inc. Retrieved September 28, 2009 from http://www.gapinc.com/public/About/about.shtml. Kottak, C. P. (2003). On Being Different: Diversity and MultiCulturalism in the North American Mainstream, 2e. Chapter 13:Class. Retrieved on September 21, 2009 from the University of Phoenix eBook Collection. The McGraw-Hill Companies.
McDougall, D, 2007). Indian 'slave’ children found making low-cost clothes destined for Gap. Retrieved on September 27, 2009 from http://.guardian.co.uk/world/2007/oct/28/ethocal; business. retail.
Wikipedia. (2009). Child labor. Retrieved on September 27, 2009 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_labour.