The “Oh Shit,” Moment
September 15th, 2007 by AndrewAs I’m sure is experienced by anyone when they exit, even briefly, the bubble of comfort that surrounds us everywhere we go, my first time in China had a few of those bleak “oh shit,” moments. These are the times when you see and can almost comprehend, for the first time, the worst things you have feared about the world, but never really wanted to admit. And this, with the full knowledge that the company I worked at undoubtedly had more modern, better equipped facilities than the majority of industrial communities in (rural) China.
It really hit me when I saw the dramatic disconnect between the work I do as a designer and the work that the labourers in the factory do. This is, of course, astoundingly obvious. I’ve always known that the job I do as a designer (or that those in the offices in China do) is significantly different than those who actually make the product - I’m not that naive. That said, it never truly occurred to me that seemingly insignificant choices like changing the type of resin wicker we used to our new patented ™ natural-feel PE wicker would end up hurting the hands of the weavers on the line producing the furniture.
Before hearing that, I’d acknowledged, and probably even internalized to some degree that the conditions I was seeing weren’t always the greatest. Deafening factory floors with zero ear protection. Cleaning aluminium tubes in vats of industrial chemicals without even the most basic of respirators. Powder-coating entire lines of furniture while wearing rudimentary dust masks only. It was heartbreaking, but to think that even something so minor as the wicker texture I’d chosen would have ramifications was the real eye-opener.
It’s depressing, but I feel it’s desperately important for designers to experience this kind of thing. Design can’t change the world by itself, and realizing that is hugely important in evaluating the kind of solutions we can bring to the table. To take an example from Africa, when the choice is between a few cords of wood to boil your water, or a $14.50 LifeStraw that isn’t even as effective, the choice for the less sexy, undesigned choice becomes obvious. Recognize it!
September 23rd, 2007 at 4:58 am
Shit, man. That’s rough.
Glad you had that experience, though.
The ‘best’ part about all this is that those people would never give up their jobs. Though I’m not sure of the source (because I kinda got a different vibe from No Logo, though I was reading between the lines), there was a survey done of a bunch of workers in Chinese apparel companies - you know, sweatshops. Every single lady they spoke to said they were glad to have their job and wouldn’t give it up.
This is despite facing conditions such as no bathroom breaks, blazing heat, prohibition on talking, and sexual harassment/assault.
Oh, shit.
September 23rd, 2007 at 2:54 pm
Yeah, I suspect clothing is a bit worse than other kinds of manufacturing. Where I was, the factories were reasonably airy and well lit, and there were big box fans for ventilation (though it still got very hot). I don’t know about talking or bathroom breaks (though there were facilities in place). I think they were paid reasonably well, too, whatever that means.
A job is better than no job, I guess. The tricky thing is, paying people’s wages by North American standards would probably produce a host of social problems by creating an artificial class. Though a lower pay in keeping with regional economics certainly doesn’t preclude tolerable working conditions.
September 25th, 2007 at 8:12 pm
This is true, absolutely. The key (well, a key) is a living wage. The legal minimum wage in many ‘developing’ countries often not enough to even buy three meals a day (let alone pay for housing or school fees, or whatever else).