Bangladesh Garment Industry: Economic Determinism Analysis on Labour Exploitation

HAFILDA ESTININGTYAS, Dr. Maharani Hapsari

2021 | Skripsi | S1 ILMU HUBUNGAN INTERNASIONAL

Holding the key role on Bangladesh� economic development as the backbone of the country, the system was claimed to allegedly benefiting from systematic violation on labour rights. The breach of labour standards has formed problematic phenomenon which attracts local and global attempts to curb the exploitative practices. Looking at the conditions, this thesis aims to analyse the rationale behind the continuum of labour exploitation in Bangladesh� garment industry amidst increasing domestic and international pressures. Methods used to figure out whether there is causal relationship between the structure in the system and the initiatives of labour standards application is done by utilising the causal-process tracing during the analysis and comprehensive storyline during data collection. Complementing previous studies around the issues, the writer provides the outlook of economic structure focusing on the characteristic of primary labour, constraining behaviour, supporting agencies, and the system which sustain under certain �structural� condition as stated by Marx in economic determinism as the derivative of historical materialism. Furthermore, how base and superstructure portray structural economic condition will be further explained by the writer whilst re-examining whether or not the four normalised phenomenon was what made changes hard to execute. Including challenges from external agencies with their supports for labour standards under the priority of trade strategy. Not only the needs to develop overall welfare, but the country also needs to review ideas on navigating the perfect fit quality control to wider scale of factories in order to enable stronger class consciousness. Hence this research is expected to meet the needs of the above.

Holding the key role on Bangladesh� economic development as the backbone of the country, the system was claimed to allegedly benefiting from systematic violation on labour rights. The breach of labour standards has formed problematic phenomenon which attracts local and global attempts to curb the exploitative practices. Looking at the conditions, this thesis aims to analyse the rationale behind the continuum of labour exploitation in Bangladesh� garment industry amidst increasing domestic and international pressures. Methods used to figure out whether there is causal relationship between the structure in the system and the initiatives of labour standards application is done by utilising the causal-process tracing during the analysis and comprehensive storyline during data collection. Complementing previous studies around the issues, the writer provides the outlook of economic structure focusing on the characteristic of primary labour, constraining behaviour, supporting agencies, and the system which sustain under certain �structural� condition as stated by Marx in economic determinism as the derivative of historical materialism. Furthermore, how base and superstructure portray structural economic condition will be further explained by the writer whilst re-examining whether or not the four normalised phenomenon was what made changes hard to execute. Including challenges from external agencies with their supports for labour standards under the priority of trade strategy. Not only the needs to develop overall welfare, but the country also needs to review ideas on navigating the perfect fit quality control to wider scale of factories in order to enable stronger class consciousness. Hence this research is expected to meet the needs of the above.

Kata Kunci : Labour exploitation, garment industry, economic determinism, Bangladesh.