The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy (A Book Review)

Rivoli, P. (2009). The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy: An Economist Examines the Markets, Power, and Politics of World Trade (2nd ed.). Hoboken, New Jersey, USA: John Wiley & Sons.

You might be wondering why on earth is a "Savage Girl" reading this book. LOL. I am challenging myself to read more this year, so when the opportunity came across my desk at work to join a book discussion and have a common reading experience with colleagues I thought "why not". So here are my thoughts on my most recent read.  
 

Rivoli’s book “The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy: An Economist Examines the Markets, Power, and Politics of World Trade” is not for the fashionista queen looking for a how-to guide on t-shirts and traveling. Instead, it is for the reader who wants to get engrossed with wanting to hear an interpretation and “story” of sorts from the author concerning where and how a T-Shirt travels throughout the world based on history, politics, international textile trade, free trade, and economics.

The author follows her T-Shirt throughout the world from its starting place in Texas on the farm to China. Then the author tells how our T-Shirts make their way back to American, then back into the economy into the free market as a “donation” in a recycle bin, which is then taken to another country like Japan Tanzania, Russia, etc.

She recounts the history associated with the textile manufacturing industry and highlights many truths of the industry. It saddened me to think that workers “left” the farm for a better life and entered “factory” jobs then to experience horrors throughout their day working in the garment industry just so that their family could survive on a daily basis. This was the reality of the people in the communities of where I am from in Celina, Tennessee and Tompkinsville, Kentucky! What makes it sadder is that those jobs were stripped away from our small American communities while many larger cities moved up in the industrial economy with other manufacturing opportunities yet our small communities experienced lay-offs and eventual factory closings. Many workers moved away for work, others used this as an opportunity to re-educate themselves to get better jobs, while others took jobs in the retail industry when the major retailer Wal-Mart moved into town. The latter is sad to me now after reading this book because I came to realize that this is ironic and one of the double-edge swords we face in America. This retailer sells cheap low-end products manufactured in the countries that received work from the communities that once employed the workforce that the major retailer now employees yet they pay them less money and offer fewer benefits. I somehow see something wrong with this picture. Slowly but surely, our local communities here on the Tennessee/Kentucky border are pulling themselves out of this slumber as new industries and opportunities are sought out and made available to the workforce.

However, what does this mean for you and me today? Should we still buy t-shirts? Here are some practical implications that I learned from reading this book:

1. I think we should be more consumer and buyer aware whenever we purchase items. We should ask questions.
2. We should seek out good quality items that will hold up and last when we buy items. We should not necessarily buy in “quantity” to fill our large spacious closets.
3. I also think we should be conscious of the items we discard out of our closets. Our “donation” so to speak can sometimes be a burden on someone else when we give our items away if they do not have the means of “handling” it properly. We can create more of a “disaster” without ever knowing the reality of the result because we are too caught up with “me” and “I” in American to think sometimes about others in the world around us.
4. We also need to know that things change because people in government make new rules and laws. It is our duty as citizens to play a part in the political system by voting during the elections! We should exercise that right by seeking out the candidates and get to know them before election day so that we can vote for the candidate that best supports our viewpoints and political stances.     

The author concluded that the world argument for “free trade” is very strong both morally and economically. The book challenges us to refocus our thoughts and see the textile industry in a new light. Personally, I felt the book was a good read, but you might want to pick it up for yourself and read to see the ins and outs of the politics and the human side of the globalization debate of a simple T-Shirt.