Aeon has posted a short documentary on those in Japan unable to find or keep full-time jobs. Estimated to comprise more than a third of the nation's labor force, temporary workers earn a fraction of their former pay, and therefore many have sought housing in low-rent cubicles available in Internet cafes. This video made by Shiho Fukada tells the compelling story of two net-cafe refugees--how they got there, how they manage to endure, and what they hope to become.
Note that the video is part of Japan's Disposable Workers, a larger project sponsored by MediaStorm that is documenting the changing nature of employment and hardship in that nation. In addition to addressing net refugees, this excellent collection includes films and stories about such subjects as workplace stress, depression, and karoshi (death by overwork) and karojishi (work-induced suicide).
For more information in this blog about net-cafe residents, see Poverty in Japan by Carol Walden and Earl Venne.
The phrase poverty porn has become increasingly employed in the UK to describe film medias' growing tendency to exploit poor people for entertainment value (see this recent article in Tonight.) The most popular of this genre based on a reality-show format focuses on residents in a Birmingham neighborhood in the Channel 4 series, Benefits Street.
Permanently Temporary is a documentary series recently produced by VICE News that examines the nature and scope of temporary work in the U.S., how businesses are able to exploit temp workers for profit and gain, and what such work means for these workers in terms of livelihood and their lives. Read Krishna Andavalu's background story on temporary workers here, and see full-length documentary here. (Also see earlier post on part-time work.)
Several months ago, The Toronto Star published a series of articles and videos on the global supply-production-consumption chain of clothing, The Clothes on Your Back. The series examines such interrelated topics as slave labor in Uzbekistan cotton fields, clothing production in Asian sweatshops--particularly involving child labor, and the current retail boom in Canada.
Consider the global supply and production chain involved in making a simple clothing article, such as a T-shirt. NPR's Plant Money recently did, and from it created this enlightening rich-media series. Each of the five parts (cotton, machines, people, boxes, you) is comprised of a short overview video, followed by images, text, graphics, and links to additional resources, deconstructing the process. The series was initially funded as a Kickstarter project, in which the intent was to finance the manufacture of 2,000 shirts; 25,000 were ultimately made. Note: the deadline for ordering a project T-shirt is December 31, 2013. (YouTube playlist available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2Zod7Sd3rQ&list=PLp-wXwmbv3z8aAJrhyttiqPMiKy0WVJym).
PhDs in many fields face significant obstacles to gainful employment in academia. This information graphic defines the problematic nature and scope of the current exploitation of adjunct professors.
The following post was contributed by SOC 3193 student, Roxana Guerrero.
Rape in the Fieldsaddresses the experiences of immigrant farm-worker
women who have been raped by their supervisors. These women come to the United
States with hopes of a better life for themselves and their families, and they are
mainly undocumented. They risk much to cross the border, and the risk of losing
their jobs and being deported makes speaking out about this crime extremely
difficult. Although so ashamed, they also fear reprisal so much that they may continue to bear repeated assault. Most of the U.S.-grown
food we eat has been touched by women like these who work long, difficult hours
for poverty wages. Field labor is physically hard and exposes workers to
dangerous equipment and the elements, as well as pesticides. These hazards and
hardships are compounded by criminal victimization. Female workers endure
sexual coercion and are consistently in fear. Their supervisors see them as
easy, disposable targets. There are always more women behind them desperate for
work. The value of machismo
tends to amplify the problem. Men dominate women, and women are submissive to men.
This leads men to see women as objects they can use whenever they want without
a thought to their feelings.
My father supervised many
undocumented immigrants years ago in the orange groves across the Rio Grande
Valley of Texas. He typically had about fifteen people working for him. Most
were men, but wives often worked alongside them. I told him about this
documentary and asked him if he knew of instances in which women were
assaulted or harassed while on the job. He told me that he could see how
assault could happen. Orange groves are often located on the outskirts of
town, isolated from the population, and stretching for miles on end. If
she yelled at all, a woman’s cry for help would be hard to hear. Many women in
these jobs were in such need that they would have endured almost anything. The fact
that only a few women spoke out is not hard to believe. Although my dad said he
never witnessed such behavior, he did say he heard verbal abuse at times
that would lead to scuffles between men.
This documentary helps to give voice to women all over the country who fall victim to assault at the hands of their bosses. Obviously, all women, documented or
undocumented, should have the right to work without fear of harassment or
violence. At present, the only federal agency that is pursuing this
problem is the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Victims are
reluctant to come forward, but as they do, this will empower others to do the
same. I admire these women for their strength and courage, and hope that more
will be done to protect them should they continue to labor in the fields.
Economic reorganization may go a long way in promoting upward social mobility. This Visual News post features, Rags2Riches, a Philippines project that has purportedly lifted hundreds of poor Manila women out of poverty. According to the post, "Reese Fernandez, a 27-year-old humanitarian woman figured out a way to take women who were used to living in a garbage dump into nice apartments for their entire families and salaries that are comparable to those of nurses... Before Rags2Riches, middle men were exploiting the poor women of Manila, taking the scraps from the factories, then paying the women the equivalent of 2 cents per rug, and taking the rest of the profits. Fernandez cut out the middle men and brought the income back to the women who deserved it, so that they could feel pride from their work and care for their families." The video clip shown above was recently released on YouTube by Journeyman Pictures.
This post was contributed by Marta Gordon, student in Miller's SOC 3013 class.
Everyone agrees we need more
jobs, but is part-time employment the answer? Some people may just need extra money
for a short time, or can only work part
time due to other responsibilities, and for them it is a
boon. However, for many other workers, part-time jobs are a trap. In fact, a growing employer practice is to require part-time workers
to have around-the-clock availability. And if such workers cannot report for duty when called, or are even found to have another job, they then may be terminated. This recent On Point panel interview, Stuck in Part Time, examines these pitfalls and other problems with part-time employment.
One of the biggest
financial problems with part-time jobs is that such workers not only may make less, but
they also may not qualify for benefits. And with the new health-care provisions that
will be enacted, there appear to be clear incentives for employers to increasingly transform jobs from full-time to part-time status. Indeed, a recent article by Furchtgott-Roth of the Manhattan Institute suggests that employers could theoretically reduce their cost-per-labor-hour by half should they go to an all part-time work force in order to minimize mandate penalties.
However, there is already evidence that shifting to part-time workers may generate backlash. For example, in anticipation of health-care insurance changes which become effective January 1, Darden Restaurants, owner of Olive Garden and Red Lobster, announced in October that it would be moving even more of its 185,000 employees over to part-time status, despite the fact that about 70 percent were already part time. However, citing adverse public reaction leading to lower sales in test market areas, Darden just announced that it was suspending such efforts for now.
STEPS has created a multimedia initiative to reignite interest in the problem of global poverty. Why Poverty?will feature 8 documentaries and 30 shorter videos that will be released for online and television viewing later this month (trailers and some shorts are already available on its YouTube channel). According to STEPS, the objectives of the initiative are to: produce narratives that inspire people to think and be part of the solution, involve the best filmmakers in the creation of bold and provocative factual films, bring together broadcasters worldwide and engage audience through multiple media platforms, create a global outreach campaign, supplementing the broadcasts with extra teaching materials, and engage with decision-makers and influencers to find solutions for change.
In addition to KONY 2012, other multimedia pieces on abduction and modern slavery have recently come online. In the top video, photographer Lisa Kristine gives a TED-talk on modern-day slavery around the world and the abolitionist efforts of Free The Slaves. The bottom clip is from CNNs Slavery's Last Stronghold, examining conditions in Mauritania where a sizable minority of the population remains enslaved.
Despite widespread criticisms among progressives about The Help, Ilyse House reports in a recent article in The Nation that the Oscar-nominated film has served as a positive force for domestic workers by bringing their plight to national attention. According to labor activists, the movie has served to give their cause a significant voice, as well as a yardstick by which to educate the public that conditions among those in this occupation have not appreciably improved since the Civil Rights era a half-century ago.
Notwithstanding the Emancipation Proclamation, slavery did not end in the south until well into the 20th century. A host of laws were enacted following the Civil War which ensured the
forced labor of black men in mines, fields, and factories. Now available online, this just-released PBS documentary examines the nature and consequences of the wholesale enslavement of southern blacks through the criminal justice system. The video website also offers a collection of visual history interviews produced by StoryCorps.
Gold lust is exacting a heavy price among children living near the mines of northern Nigeria. According to this Human Rights Watch article and video, over 400 children have died in this area from lead poisoning, and thousands more remain in need of critical medical treatment. Children are largely exposed to lead as they work in local gold mines, and by general environmental pollution throughout miner homes and in soil and water. To date, no clean-up efforts have begun. (See related videos at this site.)
In October, 2011, The Los Angeles Times ran a three-part series on the predatory used-car industry that recycles, over-priced, often shoddy vehicles within the poor community through a process characterized by high interest rates and repossession. While such operations have long been found in low-income areas, the industry now is being marketed nationally through such chains as J.D. Byrider, and is being financed by Wall Street investors. Be sure to see related interactive, Cash Car, that outlines this recycling process. Also, includes series of videos, detailing relevant topics such as Wall Street involvement.
A shout-out goes to Karen Sternheimer for bringing this site to my attention. See her incisive comments about this piece and problems with urban transportation in general at her Cars and Class.
