Reframing Supply Chain Narratives
Eang Khoing Pav (left), General Manager & Phet “Por” Sopanhchakpor (right), Digital Printing and Sublimation Development Manager
“I THINK A LOT OF PEOPLE IN POWERFUL POSITIONS REALLY DO SUBSCRIBE TO THIS SAVIOR/EMPOWERMENT NARRATIVE. AND THOSE NARRATIVES NEED TO BE UNSPUN IN THEIR HEADS AND THEIR DECISION MAKING.”
On this episode of Unspun, Bangladeshi scholar and NYU Professor Dr. Dina Siddiqi joins Danielle, Catherine, and Lauren to talk about her work undoing harmful narratives of Bangladeshi garment workers, what is missing from conversations about the Bangladesh garment industry, and the importance of structural change.
Dr. Dina Siddiqi grew up in Bangladesh and studied the country. She found that she was most comfortable in the in-between spaces, though she acknowledges that it is not always easy to be on the outside. While she didn’t want to be a full-time academic, with questions that didn’t bring quick and easy solutions she also didn’t fit into the space of NGO activism. Instead, she has carved out her space for a primarily Bangladeshi audience to show how the national and international can’t be separated. While the problems Bangladeshis face are related to international factors and dynamics they need local (not international) stakeholders.
Dr. Siddiqi explains that though Bangladesh isn’t exceptional, it is one of the countries in which there is a sense of urgency to improve lives. The purpose of research and knowledge is to fix the system; there is no time to account for any of the complexities, inconsistencies, and contradictions that may present obstacles to these solutions. And knowledge production and the development industry have been inextricably linked in Bangladesh. The types of questions, models, and projects have all been a part of or involved the larger development industry, leading to similar framings and questions regardless of the organization or group in the solutions conversations.
“I WANTED TO SHOW PEOPLE THAT THE FRAMING OF THE PROBLEM ITSELF WAS PROBLEMATIC.”
The Accord and Supply Chain Dynamics
The 2013 tragedy at Rana Plaza intensified the global gaze on Bangladesh and stands as a turning point for the approach and organization of global supply chains. One outcome of the tragedy was the creation of the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh. This multi-stakeholder, legally-binding agreement was first-of-its-kind legislation that served as a model for other countries to hold corporations accountable for building safety, an essential part of garment workers’ lives. But the legislation’s scope was limited and crucial stakeholders were left out of the development.
“THE ACCORD LEFT SUPPLY CHAIN DYNAMICS UNTOUCHED. IT WAS A VERY CORPORATE-FRIENDLY POLICY. THE BASIC POWER ASYMMETRIES WERE UNTOUCHED AND THE BASIC PROBLEMS THAT BANGLADESHI WORKERS HAD THAT WEREN’T JUST ABOUT BUILDING SAFETY HAVE CONTINUED.”
As Dr. Siddiqi explains in “Starving for Justice: Bangladeshi Garment Workers in a ‘Post-Rana Plaza’ World”, the legislation didn’t address other essential issues such as back wages, overtime, and a festival bonus. These unaddressed challenges were a focus of the Toba Group hunger strikes in 2014 in which workers’ demands included immediate payment of unpaid salaries, and overtime and Eid bonuses.
The Accord didn’t address, and even reinforced, the power imbalances that exist throughout the supply chain. While Dr. Siddiqi acknowledges that there are problems with the Bangladeshi government and Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), they weren’t involved in the Accord and should have been. Unfortunately, the resulting framing of the problem looked all too familiar, with Bangladesh, the Bangladeshi government, and factory owners as the “bad guys” and brands as the “good guys.”
Going Up The Supply Chain
“WE NEED TO NOT JUST FEEL ENTITLED TO EDUCATING PEOPLE IN BANGLADESH.”
There are often conversations about the need to train and educate Bangladeshi garment workers on their rights and responsibilities, but very little training and education for brands and buyers about how they contribute to supply chain dysfunction. Dr. Siddiqi gives the example of training Bangladeshi garment workers on the dangers of the pandemic. Garment workers have had to make the impossible decision of losing their jobs or source of income and dying from starvation, or dying from the virus. It’s not a matter of training, though training can have a place in factories, but rather of addressing the structural problems that lead to such horrible choices.
“WE’VE SPENT A LOT OF TIME DOWN THE SUPPLY CHAIN. IT’S TIME TO GO UP THE SUPPLY CHAIN. AND ONE OF THE THINGS WE NEED TO DO IS LOOK AT LEGAL ARRANGEMENTS.”
Brands can arbitrarily lower prices, especially in negotiating in Bangladesh where factory reputations have been tainted since the Rana Plaza collapse. To mitigate the effects on profits, factory owners pass the burden onto garment workers by increasing individual quotas and hiring fewer workers. Though not all Bangladeshi firms do this, some factories, especially smaller ones, have little choice if they want to stay in business. Instead of just criticizing factory owners for their approaches, it’s crucial to address the power dynamics that allow brands to push prices below profitability or pull orders during the pandemic. Dr. Siddiqi urges us to address the systems and not just the symptoms.
To dig more into Dr. Siddiqi’s work and her vision for making meaningful change in the Bangladeshi garment industry tune into this episode of Unspun.