Description
Book SynopsisSewing Hope offers the first account of a bold challenge to apparel-industry sweatshops. The Alta Gracia factory in the Dominican Republic is the anti-sweatshop. It boasts a living wage three times the legal minimum, high health and safety standards, and a legitimate union-all verified by an independent monitor. It is the only apparel factory in the global south to meet these criteria. The Alta Gracia business model represents an alternative to the industry's race to the bottom with its inherent poverty wages and unsafe factory conditions. Workers' stories reveal how adding $0.90 to a sweatshirt's production price can change lives: from getting a life-saving operation to reuniting families; from obtaining first-ever bank loans to getting running water; from purchasing children's school uniforms to taking night classes. Sewing Hope invites readers into the apparel industry's sweatshops and the Alta Gracia factory. Learn how the anti-sweatshop started, how it overcame challenges, and how the impact of its business model could transform the global industry.
Trade Review“Full of data with academic rigor arguing for a living wage as well as rich stories of the impact in human lives of such a wage. We highly recommend the book.” * The Human Thread *
"This is a must read for anyone concerned with escalating inequality globally and the potential of labor organizing in tandem with more humane corporate management for transforming communities." * New York Journal of Books *
Table of ContentsPreface
1. The Difference between Heaven and Earth
Introducing Alta Gracia
2. From Factory Favorite to Fighter
Human Cost of the “Race to the Bottom”
3. Risky Proposition, Unlikely Alliance
Founding a New Factory
4. Ideals into Action
Building an Anti-Sweatshop Model
5. Escaping Scripted Roles
Unexpected Benefits of a New Approach
6. Stories of Transformation
Diverse Impacts of a Living Wage
7. Surviving on Our Own
Adjusting the Business Model
8. Replication or Revolution
Alta Gracia in Context
Afterword: Taking Action
Acknowledgments
Notes
Bibliography
Index
About the Authors
