Global Restructuring and Garment Workers in Canada:
Rethinking Transnational Movement of Labour and Organizing
Abstract
Submitted to the “Embodied Workers in the New Economy” Conference
Syracuse University
Syracuse, NY
February 27-29, 2004.
The Canadian garment industry, like this sector around the world, has undergone major transformations since the 1980s, corresponding to the current period of globalization. This presentation explores the changing organizing of garment production with the increasing integration of national economies into a global system. It is argued that these changes are neither natural nor inevitable; they are the result of deliberate institutional policies designed to facilitate globalization at the national and international levels. Data on which this argument is based are derived from two projects on the experiences of garment workers, and from analyses of statistics, media reports, and in-depth interviews using mapping as a methodological tool. The presentation ends with a discussion on the implications for organizing women workers across national boundaries in light of the analysis undertaken.