Bangladesh Factory Collapse - Case Study Example

Bangladesh Factory Collapse Bangladesh Factory Collapse Introduction The Bangladesh factory collapse was responsible for the death of about 1,129 people. More than 2, 500 people were also injured with most of them having severe injuries. The incident is considered as the most deadly structural failure in modern times and it was also the deadliest garment factory accident. The building also contained some shops and banks on the lower floor. The clothing factory employed about 5,000 employees (Burke, 2013). The garments were being manufactured for the international companies from the west. Most of the employees of the company were women who provided cheap labour. This raised the question of exploitation of the poor countries by the multinationals belonging to the western countries. Although cracks had been noted at the building the previous day, the employees were forced to report to work the following day. The employees were told that they will not be paid if they did not report to work. It is during the following day that the tragic event took place. The paper thus discusses the Bangladesh factory collapse in relation to the feminist theory. Discussion The low standards of safety and poor working environment are largely blamed for the collapse of the factory building. The management of the company ignored the safety of the employees even after it was evident that there were cracks on the walls and beams. It is understood that the management of the company was under pressure to complete the orders from the multinationals based in the western countries. The rights of the workers at the factory were not considered which contributed to high number of deaths. A majority of the employees at the factory were women and they were highly exploited in terms of payment and the working conditions (Yardley, 2013). This is an indication that the management treated the employees with little respect for their rights since they were women and could not easily defend their rights. According to the theory of feminism, gender inequality is common in the society and the women are usually the victims of the inequality (Gunew, 2013). In most cases, the women are usually subjected to exploitation by virtue of being women. In the society, it is easy to exploit the women since they may not be able to defend their rights or their voice will not be listened to. In the case of the collapses of the factory, the employees who were mostly women were threatened. The employees had no choice but to resume their duties despite the looming threat that was evident. The concept of feminism is thus related to the accident that led to the loss of lives of many women who were employees of the factory. According to the theory of feminism, discrimination of women occurs at a large scale in the society (White, 2015). The reason for the discrimination of the women is because they are seen to be inferior in the society. The employees at the factory who were mainly women were highly exploited in terms of pay. This is despite the high quality garments that they were producing for the western multinational companies. Low payment is one way of exploitation and it has negative impacts on the working conditions of the employees. It was difficult for the employees to demand for their rights due to the poor working conditions and had to go back to work despite the high risks they were facing. At the society, it was difficult for the women to get other jobs. With the lack of jobs it was easy to exploit and threaten them. Most of the employees therefore had to risk their lives as there were no other opportunities (Manik & Yardley, 2013). The position of the women is thus complicated in the society and it exposes them to a lot of exploitation. The incident at the factory also indicates that the women in the society cannot find lucrative opportunities and have to take odd jobs which are quite exploitative. The theory of feminism also highlight that it is difficult for women to find jobs in the society due to the high levels of inequality. This has forced the women to take up any jobs as long as it generates an income. The employees at the company who were mainly women were not collectively organized. As a result of this they did not have unions that would pressure the management to stop forcing the employees to go back to work despite the risk that they were facing. On the other hand, it is also important to note that the law and administrative practices at the company put a lot of restrictions on the employees who wanted to join the trade unions (Karim, 2014). The names of the employees who wanted to join the trade unions had to submit their names. This is created fear among the employees as they would have ended up losing their jobs. On the other hand, the company considered the unions as costly to the management. This is an indication that the rights of the employees were not considered. The situation was far much complicated as most of the employees were women. According to the feminism theory, the laws that are in place can be used for the purposes of punishing the women (Gunew, 2013). However, it is difficult to use the same law for the purposes of protecting the rights of the women. This is an indication that the women cannot rely on the law for support when it comes to addressing the issues. This is applicable to the Bangladesh factory collapse. The law does little to protect the rights of women when it comes to the labour practices. This forces the women to work under oppressive circumstances at the workplace. According to the transnational theory of feminism, the issues of colonialism affected the community set up and it has negative impacts on the role of the women. Bangladesh is one of the countries that were faced with colonialism. The women in the third world were oppressed by the colonial rules. This continued to take place even after the colonialism. It is for this reason that the women were still subjected to poor working conditions at the factory. The poor working conditions could not be improved since the majority of employees were women. It is due to colonialism that the women continued to face the challenges. The colonial legacy has negative impacts on women in the third world countries like Bangladesh where women were treated as slaves who did not have any rights (White, 2015). The over consumption in the Global North has also resulted to the poverty in the Global South. It is for this reason that the factory had to meet the demands of the multinationals without considering the risks posed to the employees. This also contributed to the exploitation of the women who had to provide cheap labour. The provision of cheap is exploitative to the women according to the feminist theory which is an indication that the exploitation of the women is a result of many factors. The poverty being faced by the women also makes them desperate and they have to work under poor working conditions. The accident at the factory could have been avoided if the working conditions of the employees could have been improved. Conclusion In conclusion, it is evident that accident at the factory was as a result of the poor working condition and exploitation of the employees. It is evident that the most of the employees at the factory were women and most of them died during the accident. It is evident that the concepts of feminism and transnational feminism are relevant to the accident as the women were the main group that was affected. It is evident that the women at the factory were being oppressed and exploited which can be explained by the feminist theory. The concepts of feminist theory indicate that inequality in the society makes it difficult for the women to get better jobs. It is also evident that the law does little to protect the rights of women but it is quick to prosecute them. It is also evident that the colonial legacy has negative impacts on the rights of women contributing to their exploitation. References Burke, J. (2013). Bangladesh factory collapse leaves trail of shattered lives. The Guardian, 6. Yardley, J. (2013). Report on deadly factory collapse in Bangladesh finds widespread blame. New York Times, 22, 1-3. Manik, J. A., & Yardley, J. (2013). Building Collapse in Bangladesh Leaves Scores Dead. NY TIMES. Karim, L. (2014). Disposable Bodies: Garment Factory Catastrophe and Feminist Practices in Bangladesh. Anthropology Now, 6(1), 52-63. Gunew, S. (2013). Feminist Knowledge (RLE Feminist Theory): Critique and Construct. London: Routledge. White, P. (2015). Documentary Practice and Transnational Feminist Theory. A Companion to Contemporary Documentary Film, 217. Read More