Canada and the Developing World -A comparative framework

Thesis on children/youth:Increasing global corporatization has integrated children/ youth in the Core and Peripheral countries into a global commodity chain. • Most children/youth in the Core help extract a major

share of surpluses (corporate profits) through their consumption within a stable political economy. Thus, a majority of the children/youth in the affluent Canada (Core) have been transformed into conspicuous consumers or service sector commodities, while a minority of them (1 in 10 (circa 2010)) live in poverty

Thesis (cont’d)• In contrast, through poorly paid or unpaid

household labour children/youth in the Peripheries are exploited through surplus extraction for profit for and consumption in the Core. In the Periphery, those children/youth who are from the rich and middle classes, become comprador consumers. But most of the peripheral countries’ children are absolutely poor and must work for their livelihood. Thus they become labour commodities

Comparative arguments using WST: 1. Global corporatization has integrated children/ youth in the Core and

Peripheral countries into a global commodity chain.2. Most children/youth in the Core help extract a major share of

surpluses (corporate profits) through their consumption within a stable political economy. Thus, a majority of the children/youth in the affluent Canada (Core) have been transformed into conspicuous consumers or service sector commodities, while a minority of them (1 in 10 (circa 2010)) live in poverty

3. In contrast, through poorly paid or unpaid household labour children/youth in the Peripheries are exploited through surplus extraction for profit for and consumption in the Core. In the Periphery, those children/youth who are from the rich and middle classes become comprador consumers. But most of the DWs’ children are absolutely poor and must work for their livelihood. Thus they become labour commodities

WST concepts that explain the reasons for the increase in child poverty in the Core and in the Peripheries:

Neoliberalism:• Declining role of the State • Deregulation results in Financial

Meltdown (2008)• Global Commodity Chain (GCC)

Neoliberalism & its result: GCC in Core:Declining role of the StateFinancial DeregulationDismantling of Social WelfarePrivatization of child careYouth integration into GCC

• Weakening of social policy towards children• State is unable to compensate the impact on child poverty generated by the shocks• Declining funding for youth programs & educ.• Youth unemployment

WST concepts that explain the reasons for the increase in child poverty in the Core and in the Peripheries:

Neoliberalism:• Declining role of the State • Deregulation resulted in Financial

Meltdown (2008)• Global Commodity Chain (GCC)

1. Global corporatization has integrated children/ youth in the Core and Peripheral countries into a global commodity chain.

CHILD LABOR/SLAVERY: NIKE, APPLE, GAP, MICROSOFT -- CHINA, INDIA, PAK

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57v_v6oSGZI 2010 4min

• Single division of labor: core accumulates capital as periphery supplies labour

WST & Global Commodity Chain (GCC):Commodity Chain Research HD http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bs65dIcRKXE

Core: Capital richMNCs’ corporate Head Office:

R&DProduct designCustomization

Market distributionProducts RetailAds

Inequitable Impacts of global Commodity Chains on workers in Canada (Core): Wilma A. Dunaway,

Economic Costs

Educational &cultural costs

Critical individual costs

Wealth & Capital ConcentrationIn Commodity Production, lower wages for the workersLow Remuneration for Non-Wage Labor (e.g. household work)

HealthCivic freedomsDiscrimination: gender & AgeHuman rights Law & Order (prejudice against the poor)

Conspicuous ConsumptionDevaluation of Arts & HumanitiesCommodification of Youth, child, women as Ads, Logo

GCC Peripheries: Labour surplus

Production process:

• Vertically integrated • GCC

Vertically integrated Model: MNCs’ GCC

Foreign subsidiary or Subcontracting local company

Manufacturing factories or Sweatshops

Extract raw materials from resource rich areas

Extract surplus from labour

Household labour of the poor (low/no wage or slavery): Men, Women, Youth & Children

GCC (contd.)Peripheries: Labour surplus

Production process:

• Vertically integrated • GCC

Hidden Inputs of the Peripheries’ child & women in the global Commodity Chain

Typical Production Node of aCapitalist Commodity Chain

Cheap Labor

Working classchild & women subsidize the Production Process

Capitalist Costs that areExternalized to Households

Inequitable Impacts on children & women

Surplus extraction from labour: No-wage, Unpaid & Low-wage subsidize commodity production

Economic Costs to the Periphery

State Subsidies: in providing societal Infrastructure of maintaining stable social order

State Subsidies to Capitalist Enterprises

External costs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yC5R9WPId0s (7.39min)

Inequitable Impacts of global Commodity Chains on Children/youth workers: in the Periphery: Wilma A. Dunaway,

Economic costs:• Negative impact of loss of education years on a

country’s development• Country loses skill development in its future

populationHealth costs• Children in hazardous work: Life span, health and

welfare irrecoverably affectedSocial costs• Cycle of Poverty – destitution becomes endemic

Comparative conceptual arguments: 1. Global corporatization has integrated children/ youth in the Core and

Peripheral countries into a global commodity chain.2. Most children/youth in the Core help extract a major share of

surpluses (corporate profits) through their consumption within a stable political economy. Thus, a majority of the children/youth in the affluent Canada (Core) have been transformed into conspicuous consumers or service sector commodities, while a minority of them (1 in 10 (circa 2010)) live in poverty

3. In contrast, through poorly paid or unpaid household labour children/youth in the Peripheries are exploited through surplus extraction for profit for and consumption in the Core. In the Periphery, those children/youth who are from the rich and middle classes become comprador consumers. But most of the DWs’ children are absolutely poor and must work for their livelihood. Thus they become labour commodities

Canada: Core country’s children/youth:

Most are higher or middle income classes (80% all children in Canada):

• Children at school• Youth at school/work• Consumers: Conspicuous Consumption

Canada: Child/youth are transformed into:

• Conspicuous consumers (endless consumption)

• Service sector commodities

Conspicuous consumers Rich Kids for Romney http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fit79MQwyeY

50sec 2012

• Creation of artificial wants• Persuaded to consume endlessly• Ads & Peer pressure lure the young

Core’s Child/ Youth conspicuous consumption: manufactured and manipulated by:

• Adult-led army of advertisers• Marketing consultants • Youth researchers

Child/youth in the Core transformed into:

• Conspicuous consumers (endless consumption)

• Commodified in the Service sector

Core: youth work is:

• Low-end service work • Low in status, value and skill • Not “real” work• Corporations view youth work as hobby

Consumerism - Commodification Link:• Circularity in youth employment

Service sector employers:• Hire young workers because ‘youth’ sells product • Youth/child often is the real product being sold

e.g.: Ads of child/youth in jeans or t-shirts, sneakers or snowboards, soft drinks or CDs

• Youth as consumers

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1587254,00.html

e.g.: Retail and food service companies:

• Exploit the sexuality of young workers (esp. women) to attract customers and increase sales

• Staff stores by hiring youth as workers with the right “look”

• Hire by screening for an appearance, attitude and demeanor based on age, gender, race and class

The company hires “brand representatives”:

• Not cashiers or clerks • Exhibiting the “A&F Look” (to experience

Abercrombie & Fitch stores)• Selling an experience for customer to

experience again and again through the Brand

Commodification of YouthYouth workers: • wear brand name perfumes as directed.

But, in Starbucks: no colognes and perfumes – only the “romance of coffee” aroma

• Faces freshly scrubbed with Body Shop Blue Corn Mask • Apartments furnished with Ikea self-assembled bookcases and coffee tables

Circularity in youth employment:

• MNCs created mass consumerism (in post-WW II era)

• Commodification of youth in mass advertising

• Demand for youth as service sector workers

• Canadian youth want stable economy: why? (Jobs & MNCs’ profits will remain stable)

Globally Integrated conspicuous consumption

•Kinko’s, Starbucks and Blockbuster clerks buy their uniforms of khakis and white or blue shirts at the Gap

• “Hi! Welcome to the Gap!” greeting cheer is fueled by Starbucks double espressos

• Résumés that got them the jobs were designed at Kinko’s on friendly Macs, in 12-point Helvetica on MS Word.

Why Commodity Chains are created by global corporation? How does it work?

• NDL: International division of labour (post colonial)• Endless accumulation: economic growth to maximize profits• Commodification of everything;• Global search for surplus extraction• Repeated cycles of innovation, change, and expansion

Nike World Headquarters in Oregon

Profits & PatentsResearch Lab: tests in biomechanics, physiology, sensory Customise to suit the interest of clients’ geography, age, gendere.g., Runners

- in the United States prefer hard surfaces - in Europe prefer trails

Ads (consumerism): e.g.: 2001 the Nike Goddess outlets

Profit percolates upCommodification of the Young:

child & youth workersconsumers

Extraction of Raw materials (mostly from peripheries):

Rubber, leather and plastic

Extracted from places located in close proximity

Household labourWomenYouthChildren

Sent to the factories or “Sweatshops” for manufacturing

Peripheral states: Subcontracts the production process:

900 contract factories Independent private contractors in

China, Indonesia and Vietnam Vertically integrated model

Comparative conceptual arguments: 1. Global corporatization has integrated children/ youth in the Core and

Peripheral countries into a global commodity chain.2. Most children/youth in the Core help extract a major share of

surpluses (corporate profits) through their consumption within a stable political economy. Thus, a majority of the children/youth in the affluent Canada (Core) have been transformed into conspicuous consumers or service sector commodities, while a minority of them (1 in 10 (circa 2010)) live in poverty

3. In contrast, through poorly paid or unpaid household labour children/youth in the Peripheries are exploited through surplus extraction for profit for and consumption in the Core. In the Periphery, those children/youth who are from the rich and middle classes become comprador consumers. But most of the DWs’ children are absolutely poor and must work for their livelihood. Thus they become labour commodities

Peripheral states:MNCs’ Subcontractors (owner class):

Upper income class (global Elite class)• luxury goods consumer household

Rich Kids Gone Wild? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tW_VDMYxhvc4.37 min 2011Who made our shirt child lab in china http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2KCYsmWFP8 3min 2009

Educated & skilled workers:Middle income class (White or Blue collar)• Children & youth at school• Formal sector: Working men/women • Consumer household (beyond basic

goods)

Peripheral states:

Lower income and Poorer classes: • Working Men• Working Children• Working youth• Working women

Fourth World:

Indigenous population:• Unemployed & discriminated men• Children exploited in boarding schools• Culturally alienated youth• Working and abused women

Child/youth Poverty in Peripheral countries:

International Labor Organization (ILO) reports:2010 Global total of Children (age 5-17): 1.586 billion20 mil. more than in 2004 (1.3% increase)

In the Developing World (2010):

Working children. (age 5 - 17): 306 mil.Child labour (5-17): 215 million

http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/@dgreports/@dcomm/documents/publication/wcms_126752.pdf

Source for 2004: http://www.ilo.org/global/Themes/Child_Labour/lang--en/index.htm

Child labourers are defined as those:

•Under the minimum age for work, or• Engaged in work that poses a threat to their health, safety or morals, or are subject to conditions of forced labour.

Source: http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/@dgreports/@dcomm/documents/publication/wcms_126752.pdf

Child Labour: Breaking the Cycle of Poverty 2010 (5 min)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1cZFgJwzYM

*Child Labourhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruh0O_mj1v0 5.20min 2006

Children in hazardous work: 115 million

2004 - 2010: 20% Increase in child labour in the 15-17 years age group: (from 52 million to 62 million)

http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---dcomm/documents/publication/wcms_126685.pdf

India: children working

(pop:363 m. (31%) Age<14) (2009) https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/print/in.html)

• 13.6 million (Indian census) in 1981

• 20 million children in hazardous condition (Labour Ministry) in 1994

• 77 million computed on basis of # below poverty line in 1995

(Commission on Labour Standards)

Mexico: children working

(pop: 32m. (29%) Age <14)(2009)

• 8-11 million children under the age of 15 years are working in Mexico in 1994 (US Dept of Labor, Sweat and Toil of Children, 1994, citing US Dept of State, Human Rights Report, 1993)

• 16 % of children (age 5-14) -15% of male & 16% female - in child labour (1999-2003)

http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/mexico_statistics.html

India (cont’d) :

• 60-115 million (Human Rights Watch) (1996)

• Child Economic Activity rate: 13.5% (Male) 10.3% (Female)

• Largest number of working children in the world - Child labour productivity accounts for 20% of India’s GNP

L Am (Mexico) (cont’d)

• 40 million children (total pop. 500 mil in LAm) living or working on the streets of Latin America

• 20% begging to survive

• 24% by selling goods

• rest by doing subcontracting work. (Xinhua: Comtex , 2000)

Working Children

India (cont’d)

• 85% of rural child laborers work in cultivation and agriculture, e.g., tea plantations,

• 40% of urban child laborers work in manufacturing and repair

• Also in carpet making, gem polishing, fireworks

http://www.indianchild.in/Child_Exploitation/

(acc. April 09)

L.Am (Mexico) (cont’d) (2000)

• L.Am children working in the streets, markets, tourist & other areas of 108 cities -70% are boys and 30% girls

• work as cart-pushers, kitchen help, and vendors

• children in the age group of 7 to 14 make up 30% of day laborers in the agriculture sector

http://www.globalmarch.org/resourcecentre/world/mexico.pdf

(acc. Ap 09)

http://www.hrw.org/children/labor.htm 2004

Why is child labour bad for the children?

• Four-year-olds tied to rug looms to keep them from running away - Working at rug looms, for example, has left children disabled with eye damage, lung disease, stunted growth, and a susceptibility to arthritis as they grow older

• Work prevents the child from going to school

• Work long hours, often in dangerous and unhealthy conditions, are exposed to lasting physical and psychological harm

… bad for children:

• Children work for too many hours and too many days, for too little, or no pay

• subject often to physical abuse• exposed to dangerous pesticides• work with dangerous tools

What did World Bank and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation do?

• financing sericulture projects dependent on child labor( Human Rights Watch, 2004)

… bad for children: Children making silk thread in India

• dip their hands into boiling water that burns & blisters

• breathe smoke and fumes from machineryhandle dead worms that cause infectionsguide twisting threads that cut their fingers

Children harvesting sugar cane in El Salvador:• use machetes to cut cane for up to nine hours a day in

the hot sun

• injures their hands and legs • medical care often not available

http://www.unicef.org/publications/index_30398.html

1999-2004

2012: (source: http://www.globalissues.org/article/26/poverty-facts-and-stats

Number of children in the world 2.2 billion

Number in poverty1 billion (every second child)

Total Global/ Regional Children/Youth in ’000 (March 2012)Countries <18 <5

Africa 477,383 155,135Middle East and North Africa 156,444 47,524Asia 1,151,806 316,151Latin America and Caribbean 195,713 53,461

Industrialized countries 203,008 57,212Developing countries 1,953,940 563,545Least developedcountries 389,258 122,520World 2,201,180 633,933

http://www.unicef.org/sowc2012/ accessed jan26,2013

Core: Canada & children in poverty

• Affluent country• Child benefits• Social institutions &

financial support for children

• Poorer countries• Child poverty leads

to child labour• Basic needs not met

Periphery: Mexico & India: Child Poverty

Concepts Comparing on Children & poverty

Children’s povertyin DW: 2004

• 250 million•Absolute poverty • Lack basic needs• Hunger and death• AIDS & blindness• Severe disabilities•Violence and orphans

Children’s povertyin Canada: 2005

•1.2 million• Relative poverty• Generational welfare trap• Poverty cycle• Social Security• Publicly funded schools• Universal medical care

Contrasts between Canada & DW

Affluent Canada (2005): Child poverty• 1.2 million children, or (1 in

6) children live in poverty.• # in poverty- 20% rise

(1989-2004)• 18% increase in (rate of)

poverty 2002- 2005 • 41% users of food banks, are

childrenChild Poverty in Canada: Why are 10 percent of kids poor? 1hr April 2010http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qt6s1maEMtw

Income Inequality and Child Poverty in Canada: from Poor No More, a Canadian fe 2.53min oct 2009http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIWroI1wymg

Peripheries or DW (2004)Child poverty :• 674 million in poverty

(2005)• 70% poor in rural

(agriculture) Gordon, D, et al (2003) "Child

poverty in the developing world"

Child labour (2004)• 250 million working• 120 million work full time • 61% in Asia, 32 % in Africa,

7% in Latin Am http://www.hrw.org/children/labor.htm accessed oct 2010Canada: http://www.campaign2000.ca/rc/rc04/04NationalReportCard.pdf

accessed Jan 2010

Canada (cont’d) (groups that are in worse situation)

• Child poverty rates for Aboriginal, immigrant & visible minority groups are more than double the average of that of all children

First Nation Children are Living in Poverty 5.16 min 2012http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zI1D9k4AdwoSupport for First Nations' Children 2010 3 min 2010http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2AqunAgY2A

• child poverty rate among children with disabilities is 28%

Developing countries (cont’d) (work)

• work as domestics • work in trade &

services • work in manufacturing

& construction

Canada: 2009Child Poverty: declined since

2005• 639,000 children live in

poverty• Poverty rate: 9.5%• Youth unemployment• 14.1% unemployment rate • Aged 15-24: 408,000 youth

unemployed in Oct. 2011.• weekly wage $398.74 -

$525.90 less than those aged 25 and over

• 30% of these youth find themselves in precarious jobs

REVISITING FAMILY SECURITY IN INSECURE TIMES 2011 Report Card on Child and Family Poverty in Canada

Peripheries or DW (2011)Child poverty : • 1 out of 6 infants are born

with a low birth weight in developing countries.

• A third of all childhood death in sub-Saharan Africa is caused by hunger.

• Every five seconds, a child dies from hunger-related diseases.

• 22,000 children die each day due to conditions of poverty

http://www.thp.org/learn_more/issues/know_your_world_facts_about_hunger_and_povertyKnow Your World: Facts About Hunger and Poverty 2011

Canada: Child poverty is defined in the 2011 Society report as “The proportion of children 17 years and under living in households where disposable income is less than half of the median in a given country.”

Ref: 2011 Society report (2011). The Conference Board of Canada, Ottawa

Child poverty in BC 2011 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVXzsxc4ikY 1.37min April 2011

.

http://www.globalissues.org/article/26/poverty-facts-and-stats

Child Poverty in Canada

LIC: Low income cut-off LIM: low income measure http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/75f0002m/2012002/lico-sfr-eng.htm

2011 Report Card on Child and Family Poverty in Canada

http://www.campaign2000.ca/reportCards/national/2011EnglishRreportCard.pdf

Canada’s Children in Poverty

http://www.campaign2000.ca/reportCards/national/2011EnglishRreportCard.pdf

Child/youth Poverty in Peripheral countries:

International Labor Organization (ILO) reports:2010 Global total of Children (age 5-17): 1.586 billion20 mil. more than in 2004 (1.3% increase)

In the Developing World (2010):

Working children. (age 5 - 17): 306 mil.Child labour (5-17): 215 million

http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/@dgreports/@dcomm/documents/publication/wcms_126752.pdf

Source for 2004: http://www.ilo.org/global/Themes/Child_Labour/lang--en/index.htm

http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/@dgreports/@dcomm/documents/publication/wcms_126752.pdf

http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/@dgreports/@dcomm/documents/publication/wcms_126752.pdf

http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/@dgreports/@dcomm/documents/publication/wcms_126752.pdf

http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/@dgreports/@dcomm/documents/publication/wcms_126752.pdf

http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/@dgreports/@dcomm/documents/publication/wcms_126752.pdf

Children in hazardous work: 115 million

2004 - 2010: 20% Increase in child labour in the 15-17 years age group: (from 52 million to 62 million)

http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---dcomm/documents/publication/wcms_126685.pdf

http://www.tagg.org/rants/OECDChildPov.html

% Children in Poverty in OECD: Impact of State’s decline? (2000)

Poverty

Poverty

Poverty

INDIA (2004):• Conditions of ‘real’ poverty (worse than

‘monetary’ measure)– 26% of children are education poor; (cf. 52 %

of adults)– 70% of children <13 years old are

undernourished, 44% severely; – 7% of individuals aged 7 to 59 suffered from

chronic illness.

hdr.undp.org/.../presentations/2004/topic_3/Approaches%20to%20Measuring%20poverty,%20Frances%20Stewart.ppt

PERU: (2004)•Condition of poverty (better than monetary measure)

–7 % of children are education poor.(cf. 20 % of adults–29 % of children < 5 years were undernourished. (10 %

of adults were health poor).

hdr.undp.org/.../presentations/2004/topic_3/Approaches%20to%20Measuring%20poverty,%20Frances%20Stewart.ppt