The term ‘fast fashion’ can be defined as the mass manufacturing of affordable and stylish clothes for the sake of consumption. As a global venture, it has created millions of jobs in the world. The main aim of fast fashion is to make fashionable clothes available to a wider market and make clothes affordable, as opposed to premium luxury brands. In supply chain management, this model relies on three crucial steps quick yield, high volume of clothes produced and cheap prices of the produced garments. Over time, with ease of access to new markets and the growth of a new consumer base, this has led to over-consumption.
With globalization, markets have become international. The corporations have their work spread far and wide. This is true for fast fashion retailers as well. Production of raw materials, production of fibres, manufacturing of textiles, assembly and consumption all take place in different countries at different rates. Except for consumption, most of the other steps involve operations in low and medium-income countries. This is because in these countries labour costs are lower and labour legislation is weak.. Countries like Bangladesh and China have emerged as major destinations for the manufacturing of ready-made garments.
Global fast fashion names like Zara, and H&M engage a large proportion of the workforce from these countries in the whole process. However, practices associated with the whole process of fast fashion in these countries are often mired in a number of ethical and socio-political controversies.
For instance, global fashion retailer H&M faced severe criticism from human rights activists for indulging in dealing with Chinese firms accused of eliciting forced labour from people belonging to the persecuted Uighur minority in the Chinese province of Xinjiang. It has created storage problems in these countries and many countries have protested against these unethical practices.
In addition to that, producing cheap and disposable garments on such a large scale is bound to carry some hefty environmental costs. It has been found that the developing world mainly bears this cost. Over the decades, the whole fashion industry has been questioned again and again over the ecological and labour costs of their operations in the Global South. This has gained traction with the humongous consumption of ready-made garments and their careless disposal. Many retailers have also been accused of ‘dumping’ surplus clothes in the countries belonging to the Global South.
The United Nations Environment Programme insists upon the fashion industry to actively involve itself with several developmental goals as identified in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in its programme of Sustainable Fashion: Communication Strategies, 2021-2024. Given the sector is responsible for between 2 and 8 per cent of global carbon emissions, with some studies putting it at 4 per cent, the industry is not doing enough. Though the United Nations (UN) has not been able to rein in fast fashion retailers as they continue to “greenwash” their policies. The reason being it is difficult to map the impact of fast fashion on the environment in an exact way because the supply chains remain defused. In addition to that, these retailers shift operational costs associated with textile manufacturing away from the developed countries, in order to bypass the strict regulatory provisions. This is often shifted to the LMICs, usually in collusion with the local administration. Due to such practices, these countries and the workers suffer from many implications, particularly low-wage workers and women.
In order to understand the above in a nuanced way, in this article, Bangladesh is taken up as a case study to understand the impact of fast fashion on the workers and the environment. It is a major RMG exporter and analyzing these issues in the country would provide valuable insights.
A Brief History of the Fast Fashion in Bangladesh
Bangladesh is a small, coastal country with one of the highest population densities in the world. The country was formerly known as West Pakistan, and after a long and brutal war, it got liberated from East Pakistan and became Bangladesh. Due to the separation, most of the cotton-producing areas, upon which their economy depended remained with Pakistan. The country had jute-producing areas with it. In the 1970s, due to various reforms and credit schemes initiated by the government, the Bangladesh economy transformed from an aid-based economy to a trade-based one. Currently, Bangladesh is one of the fastest-growing economies in Asia. This became possible due to many reasons like, in South Asia, Bangladesh has the lowest labour unit cost (Absar S, 2001). Also, the government has provided garment factories and mill owners with a number of incentives like privatization, to keep the economic trend upward (Chowdhry et al, 2014). These factory owners and mill owners enjoy relative autonomy in dealing with foreign clients and employing locals. RMG exports from Bangladesh account for a significant share of apparel distribution in Europe and North America (Bhattacharya D. et al, 2002). The growth of the RMG sector in Bangladesh has also led to the growth of accessory industries providing services like dyeing, weaving and sewing.
The RMG sector and its growth have proved to be beneficial for the young population in the country. It has also helped people belonging to the disadvantaged sections in Bangladeshi society (Bhattacharya D. et al, 2002). Although it is impertinent to say that impact has been uniform, analyzing the same for the worker is noteworthy.
Fast Fashion and Workers’ Rights in Bangladesh: Understanding Implications of a global phenomenon on the local economy
There are over eight thousand garment manufacturers. For Bangladeshi textile workers, fast fashion has meant keeping up with the newer styles but it has also meant insufficient wages and hazardous working conditions. Even if the fast fashion industry has created numerous job opportunities in the informal sector, especially for women, it demands a large workforce for simple tasks like sewing, cutting, and stitching garments. These workers in the informal sector often face low wages and poor working conditions and the industry's focus on cost-cutting and producing cheap clothing leads to the exploitation of labour.
In order to understand the magnitude of consequences for the workers engaged in textile manufacturing, a brief interview of three such workers, all women, belonging to different age groups was conducted. Three workers from three different garments named Roksana Begum (34, Operator at PNG Textiles), Halima Akter (32, Helper at Mujahid Garments), and Masuma Sultana (19, Helper at Ityadi Fashion) agreed to participate in a brief interview.
The one thing that all of the participants seemed to agree upon was the requirement to work more than they agreed due to the demand from Western countries. Most of the parent companies station local agents and employers to seek workers. This is done on a commission basis. In order to maximize profits, these employers often indulge in fraudulent practices by not paying workers adequately. Due to geographical differences between the parent company and the workers, their grievances are not even registered properly. The workers are often forced to work in unsafe conditions by the local employers. There is also a lack of consideration among the parent companies towards the same. Additionally, workers are required to work extraneously long shifts to fulfil the production demand within a constricted time span. Dwelling on unreasonable work hours required to keep up with the pace of fast fashion, Roksana added, “We, as an operator get 9500 BDT which is insufficient for surviving in a city like Chittagong, but whenever a company comes and ask us about our salary, we are asked to tell that we get 12000 BDT by the factory authority”.
Halima also complained about the long working hours and replied “while joining we were told that the working hour is 8 hours per day but whenever the factory gets orders from outside, we have to work more than 10/11 hours, and we don’t get enough salary for this overtime.”
Masuma, a garment worker that started working at the factories at a young age said, “ Friday is a holiday but due to work pressure we don’t get the opportunity to spend this day at home with our family sometimes”. These issues are quite common for almost every female worker working in the informal sector in the country. Workers cannot communicate with the parent company because of the physical distance between them. Speaking on the socio-economic reasons to endure such hardships, Nazma Akter, a seamstress that started working at age eleven said, “We are cheap labour — that is why we are scared; we need money, we need to survive”.
There are several cultural norms that prioritize job security over problematic exploitative treatment, a lack of viable alternative occupations, and the absence of effective labor unions or protections that may force people to put up with poor working conditions to keep their jobs. Cultural norms that place a premium on loyalty to employers or aversion to reprisals may also influence workers' decisions to stick with a company even when they are being exploited.
Besides the several challenges, there are also concerns regarding the safety measures taken for the protection of workers inside these factories. In 2013 Rana Plaza incident in which fire engulfed more than 1000 workers and injured many others shed light on this. Also, workers in the informal sector are financially susceptible during emergencies or major life events because they lack access to crucial benefits like health insurance, maternity leave, or retirement plans.
In addition to domestic and social constraints, these workers, especially women, find themselves at odds with their employers over issues like sexual harassment at workplaces. In recent years, women-led platforms and various organisations across the country, have sought improvement in working conditions and redressal of the workers’ issues. While the government has enacted various laws in this regard, there is still much to do.
Environmental Concerns in Bangladesh
One of the main reasons Bangladesh emerged as a destination for fast fashion-related exports is its coastal character. The whole process, ranging from production to the finishing, of making a garment requires uninterrupted supply and large quantities of water. For example, a single pair of jeans requires almost 2000 litres of water in its production (Bick, R. et al, 2018). Related industries like those producing dyes, release toxic chemicals in the rivers. They have also faced allegations of releasing untreated waste into the water bodies and thereby rendering water bodies unfit for local use and consumption. According to a study, of textile dyeing industries in and around Gazipur and Narayanganj, solid waste generated is directly discharged into the surrounding channels, agricultural fields, irrigation channels, surface water, and into the rivers of Turag and Shitalakkhya. There are different groups of chemical substances including dyes, solvents, optical brighteners, crease-resistance agents, flame retardants, heavy metals, pesticides, and antimicrobial agents that also act as pollutants (Islam, M. et al, 2011). In the textiles industry, respiratory and skin sensitizers are found in the textiles fibers, reactive dyes, synthetic fibers, and formaldehyde.
Workers in the textile industry have been assessed to be at an increased risk of cancer due to presence of carcinogenic components in the solvents and dyes. Several studies have shown an increased risk of nasal, laryngeal and bladder cancer in women.
The corporations have managed to evade larger accountability in this case also due to the physical distance between the local units and parent companies. Though fast-fashion retailers commit themselves to environmental protection and sustainable fashion, such issues on the ground are often neglected. Also, due to a lack of resources, the corporations per se cannot be brought to book according to the local rules and regulations. This is a serious ethical issue because in order to maximize profits, factory and mill owners are often seen flouting environmental regulations. It often happens in collusion with the local administration and thrives due to the indifferent attitude of these corporations towards the local environment (Islam, M. et al, 2011).
Challenges for the Local Governance
Bangladesh has emerged, in just under decade, as the twelfth largest garment-manufacturing nation in the world, thanks largely to the Multi-Fiber Agreement (MFA), and the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) of the European Union, that conferred significant quota benefits to the country. The garment sector now accounts for about 77% of the country’s foreign exchange earnings, and 50% of its industrial workforce (Islam, M. et al, 2011).
For Bangladesh, things are neither completely positive nor negative. The RMG has paved the way for Bangladesh to emerge as a self-sufficient country given the circumstances at the beginning of its creation.. However, exploitation of workers and environmental hazards associated with the sector has meant there is more to the picture. The government has come up with various anti-poverty initiatives, placed a priority on economic diversification, made infrastructure investments, and tried to address climate change adaptation. Bangladesh interacts with numerous organizations and other governments on a global scale to seek aid and collaboration, particularly in areas like economic development and climate change. An expanding middle class is a result of economic expansion that is being driven by sectors like textiles. However, it has also led to inequities in wealth distribution by escalating income inequality. In addition, the demands on resources and governance have increased due to population expansion and environmental issues. The government has also enacted a number of laws for the protection of workers and the environment. The stricter regulations have led to a rethink from the fast fashion retailers on investing in the country. This goes on to show how the corporations remain sceptical in following the regulations laid down by the governments and invest in the LMICs as long as they are able to get their way. The Union Movement in Bangladesh remains weak. And women constitute an insignificant part of these unions. Hence, the workers find themselves caught between the local government and global giants, often exploited both ways.
Conclusion
Due to the dominance of the RMG sector in Bangladesh’s economy, it is a perfect example to illustrate how fast fashion has impacted the developing world. While on one side it has led to more exposure, growth and employment opportunities for the country, on the other side it has created a hierarchy within the local economy and led to environmental mismanagement. It is important to note that fast-fashion industries are one of the major sources of waste generation and carbon footprint, and have been outsourcing these to the LMICs. Also, these retailers are often found in violation of local regulatory frameworks or remain too indifferent when they are violated by their local agents. It is required on these companies’ part to first address the challenges in the developing world before virtue-signalling on the Internet and in magazines. It also tends to explain the need for collaboration between local actors and international organisations to assess the ground picture and arrive at substantial solutions in an informed way. Otherwise, the whole idea of slow fashion/ sustainable fashion remains mere words and no substance.
1. United Nations Environment Programme. (n.d.-b). The environmental costs of fast fashion. UNEP. https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/environmental-costs-fast-fashion
2. It does not mean Premium Luxury brands do not indulge in harmful consumption patterns. It is that their target market is quite limited compared to the fast fashion brands.
3.Ibid(1)
4. Ibid (1)
5.Bick, R., Halsey, E., & Ekenga, C. C. (2018). The global environmental injustice of fast fashion. Environmental Health, 17(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12940-018-0433-7
6. Ibid (5)
8. Global South is a term that refers to industrialisation, economically impoverished countries of the Southern Hemisphere.The usage of term remains controversial in wider public discourse because of the false binary it tends to enforce and paint all the ethnically diverse and economically different countries with one colour.
10. Cambridge Dictionary defines Greenwashing as “behaviour or activities which make people believe that companies are doing more to protect the environment than they usually are.”
11. Abbv. Low and Middle-Income Countries. Includes countries where per capita income is lower than that in industrialised countries.
13. Bangladesh emerged as an independent nation in 1971-Liberation War.
14. Ibid (14)
16. Abbv. Bangladeshi Takka, the currency of Bangladesh
17. The interview was possible, courtesy of Sumaiya Islam, a Bangladeshi student who has pursued LL.B from Southern University, Bangladesh and LL.M from the South Asian University, New Delhi, India. She collected answers to the questions from native participants and also translated the answers from Bengali to English for this article.
18. Bangladesh: 10 years after Rana Plaza Factory collapse, fast fashion resists change. (n.d.). The Wire. https://thewire.in/south-asia/bangladesh-10-years-rana-plaza-fast-fashion
Further Readings
Bangladesh: 10 years after Rana Plaza Factory collapse, fast fashion resists change. (n.d.). The Wire. https://thewire.in/south-asia/bangladesh-10-years-rana-plaza-fast-fashion
Bick, R., Halsey, E., & Ekenga, C. C. (2018). The global environmental injustice of fast fashion. Environmental Health, 17(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12940-018-0433-7
Jazeera, A. (2023a, January 11). Global fashion brands exploiting Bangladesh workers: Study. Fashion Industry News | Al Jazeera. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/1/11/fashion-brands-paid-less-than-production-cost-to-bangladesh-firms
Stallard, B. E. (2022, July 29). Fast fashion: How clothes are linked to climate change. BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-60382624
United Nations Environment Programme. (n.d.). The environmental costs of fast fashion. UNEP. https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/environmental-costs-fast-fashion
Jani, S. A., & Jatmika, S. (2023). Impact of Fast Fashion in Bangladesh: An Analysis of the Role of the UN Alliance for Sustainable Fashion. International Journal of Multicultural and Multireligious Understanding, 9(12), 592-605.
Bhattacharya, D., Rahman, M., & Raihan, A. (2002). Contribution of the RMG Sector to the Bangladesh Economy. CPD Occasional Paper Series, 50(6), 1-26.
Chowdhury, M., Ahmed, R., & Yasmin, M. (2014). Prospects and Problems of RMG Industry: A study on Bangladesh. Prospects, 5(7), 103-118.
Absar, S. S. (2001). Problems surrounding wages: the ready made garments sector in Bangladesh.
Niinimäki, K., Peters, G., Dahlbo, H., Perry, P., Rissanen, T., & Gwilt, A. (2020). The environmental price of fast fashion. Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, 1(4), 189-200.
Islam, M. M., Mahmud, K., Faruk, O., & Billah, S. (2011, December). Assessment of environmental impacts for textile dyeing industries in Bangladesh. In International Conference on Green technology and environmental Conservation (GTEC-2011) (pp. 173-181). IEEE.
United Nations Environment Programme. (n.d.-b). The environmental costs of fast fashion. UNEP. https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/environmental-costs-fast-fashion
Sustainable Fashion: Communication Strategy 2021 - 2024. (n.d.). UNEP - UN Environment Programme. https://www.unep.org/resources/publication/sustainable-fashion-communication-strategy-2021-2024
Goodman, P. S., Wang, V., & Paton, E. (2021b, July 2). H&M and Other Brands Face Backlash From Chinese Consumers. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/06/business/xinjiang-china-cotton-brands.html
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