Given the widely-accepted premise that free trade is the best means of maximising overall societal welfare, why has it proven so difficult to achieve in certain industries? This book tackles arguably the most perennial and deep-rooted of all questions in political economy, and questions the incumbent orthodox liberal theories of collective action. Using a historical institutionalist framework to explore and explain the political economy of trade protectionism and liberalization, this book is based on detailed case studies of the textiles and clothing sector in the EU, United States, China, Caribbean Basin and sub-Saharan Africa. From this, the book expands to discuss the origins of trade protectionism and examine the wider political effects of liberalization, offering an explanation of why a successful conclusion to the WTO 'Doha' round has proven to be so elusive. The book argues that the regulation of global trade - and the economic consequences that this has for both developed and developing countries - has been the result of the particular way in which trade preferences are mediated through political institutions. The Global Political Economy of Trade Protectionism and Liberalization will be of interest to those studying and researching international and comparative political economy, developing area studies, economics, law and geography.

"The Clean Clothes Campaign is a worldwide movement that aims to improve the wages and conditions of sweatshop workers. This is the story of their struggle. Large retailers such as Tesco, Walmart and Carrefour lure shoppers in with prices that seem too good to be true. This book shows that they're too good to be fair. All along the industry's supply chain, workers, often children, are exploited through poverty wages, unpaid overtime and harsh anti-union measures. The campaign urges those in charge of the garment industry's supply lines to protect their workers and treat them fairly. This dynamic account of direct engagement by concerned consumers is a must read for those that see globalization differently and want their shopping choices to support the most vulnerable people involved in the clothing industry"--Publisher description.

This informative volume reflects the state of art in the science of color-changeable materials and provides an abundance of in-depth knowledge about the field of colorimetry. The book describes the facts behind the chromic phenomena from the point of application, spectrophotometry of chromic materials, and instrumentation and testing. The authors begin with a short historical overview of the chromic phenomena, chromic materials, and classification of chromic materials and then go on to provide comprehensive treatises on chromic (or color-changeable) textiles and production techniques. Detailed descriptions of measurement methods that are usable in cases of translucent or opaque materials are provided as well. A number of new concepts are discussed along with standardized CIE (International Commission on Illumination) colorimetry with various CIE color space systems. Chromic materials appear as a dynamic system, which allows for a wide range of potential applications and related research. The authors share their own experiences with measurement of color chromic materials with the view to help fill the huge gap in field of measurement from the point of view in standardization. The authors conclude with an in-depth study of the testing of chromic testing, including testing for color fastness, fatigue resistance, light fastness, wash fastness, and rubbing fastness.

Economic development that is environmentally, socially and ethically sound is at the forefront of contemporary debates all over the world. This is especially relevant to international trade where goods manufactured in least developed countries (LDCs) are being exported to developed countries (DCs) via international supply chains. This book looks at Bangladesh's ready-made garments (RMG) industry -- the seventh largest in the world -- facing demands for environmental and social management according to standards set by consumers in environmentally progressive societies. Apart from these concerns not having found cultural or institutional resonance in Bangladesh, the pressures for cost reduction, on-time delivery and cheap labour in a highly competitive international market make the problem that much more complex. In this book Selim uses the analytical framework provided by the ecological modernisation theory to examine the economic, communicative and social political aspects of ethical trade, and argues that the economy-ecology relationship can indeed be a positive sum game if nation-states and economic actors change their policymaking styles and greening behaviour to take advantage of scientific evidence and green technological opportunities.

By looking at the decline of the jute industry, this study assesses the successes and failures of Britain's managed economy. It also addresses broader arguments about the political economy of twentieth-century Britain.

The keys to global business success, as taught by a T-shirt's journey The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy is a critically-acclaimed narrative that illuminates the globalization debates and reveals the key factors to success in global business. Tracing a T-shirt's life story from a Texas cotton field to a Chinese factory and back to a U.S. storefront before arriving at the used clothing market in Africa, the book uncovers the political and economic forces at work in the global economy. Along the way, this fascinating exploration addresses a wealth of compelling questions about politics, trade, economics, ethics, and the impact of history on today's business landscape. This new printing of the second edition includes a revised preface and a new epilogue with updates through 2014 on the people, industries, and policies related to the T-shirt's life story. Using a simple, everyday T-shirt as a lens through which to explore the business, economic, moral, and political complexities of globalization in a historical context, Travels encapsulates a number of complex issues into a single identifiable object that will strike a chord with readers as they: Investigate the sources of sustained competitive advantage in different industries Examine the global economic and political forces that explain trade patters between countries Analyze complex moral issues related to globalization and international business Discover the importance of cultural and human elements in international trade This story of a simple product illuminates the many complex issues which businesspeople, policymakers, and global citizens are touched by every day.

Marine accidents can occur at any time and everywhere in the world, resulting in loss of life, property, environment and reputation of the companies involved. Preventing accidents and establishing a safer world without accidents is an important agenda for the maritime industry. Since the enforcement of the International Safety Management Code in 1998, companies have taken various kinds of measures to prevent accidents. Unfortunately, measures have been undertaken in a disorganized manner, and have not been effective. Experts of risk management, the safety management system, and accident models have each undertaken accident preventive measures within the scope of their specific fields, but have not looked beyond the realm of their own fields. This book discusses systematic accident prevention by integrating multi-disciplinary expertise based on academic research, the quality management system which has already proved its effectiveness in other fields, and findings of the author's research. In systematic accident prevention, the weaknesses of a system within which accidents and incidents have occurred are viewed by combining scientific accident investigation data based on the International Maritime Organization model and the accident model. The nature of every type of marine accident, such as collisions, groundings, occupational casualties, etc., are derived by combining the accident model and statistical data. System weaknesses are rectified by the risk reduction method of risk management, and the rectified performance is incorporated in improvement in the system by the PDCA cycle, which is the core of the Safety Management System. We can see the weakness in the system and reduce the number of accidents and incidents while utilizing limited resources optimally to prevent accidents and incidents.

The cotton processing industry is a distinct sector of China's rural economy which recently underwent a momentous transition from plan to market. China is the world's largest producer as well as consumer of cotton, and cotton processing links the agricultural production of this important commodity to China's booming textile industry.

Alpermann examines the political economy of the cotton processing industry, analyzes the process of cotton policy making and discusses reform outcomes on a national scale and the central state's response. He then goes on to examine the implementation of economic transformation and institutional change in two traditional cotton-growing regions, looking at how local governments and the former monopolist cope with the changes brought about by marketization.

Studying the cotton industry provides a lens through which to observe the changes in the way the state governs the economy during China's transition and helps to assess the diverging claims about the nature of the political economy in China. As such China's Cotton Industry is an essential read for anyone studying Chinese business, econmics or politics.

This book aims to provide a broad conceptual and theoretical perspective of apparel manufacturing process starting from raw material selection to packaging and dispatch of goods. Further, engineering practices followed in an apparel industry for production planning and control, line balancing, implementation of industrial engineering concepts in apparel manufacturing, merchandising activities and garment costing have been included, and they will serve as a foundation for future apparel professionals. The book addresses the technical aspects in each section of garment manufacturing process with considered quality aspects. This book also covers the production planning process and production balancing activities. It addresses the technical aspects in each section of garment manufacturing process and quality aspects to be considered in each process. Garment engineering questions each process/operation of the total work content and can reduce the work content and increase profitability by using innovative methods of construction and technology. This book covers the production planning process, production balancing activities, and application of industrial engineering concepts in garment engineering. Further, the merchandising activities and garment costing procedures will deal with some practical examples. This book is primarily intended for textile technology and fashion technology students in universities and colleges, researchers, industrialists and academicians, as well as professionals in the apparel and textile industry.

Despite increasing academic interest in both the study of masculinity and the history of consumption, there are still few published studies that bring together both concerns. By investigating the changing nature of the retailing of menswear, this book illuminates wider aspects of masculine identity as well as patterns of male consumption between the years 1880 and 1939. While previous historical studies of masculinity have focused overwhelmingly on the moral, spiritual and physical characteristics associated with notions of 'manliness', this book considers the relationship between men and activities which were widely considered to be at least potentially 'unmanly' - selling, as well as buying clothes - thus shedding new light on men's lives and identities in this period.

For the last three decades, social historians who studied early America expanded older interpretations of colonial economy and society to include family, social position and gender as legitimate topical themes. During that same period, economic scholars have used social historians' community and household studies to explore rural self-sufficiency, the development of commercial agriculture and the Atlantic sea trade. Despite the recent use if family household economics to explore and explain colonial economy and society, most have entirely neglected one of the most fundamental early American industries: domestic textile production.
Colonial historians have previously used information about wool, flax and hemp in broad based arguments about the productive side of the colonial economy, yet few have considered textile production a significant colonial economic activity. As a result, textile-producing networks, construed as either economics or social phenomenon, have largely gone unnoticed.
This study draws from a broad array of sources including the probate inventories of Essex and Suffolk County, Massachusetts, extant account books, trial transcripts, court records and material culture. Combined with a working knowledge of cloth-making, those records reveal that domestic textile production was a major form of social organization, especially in early Massachusetts. Textile-reproducing networks clearly served to draw households, neighborhoods and regions together in particular ways. From the processing of fibers to the finishing of cloth, intense cooperation and an extensive system of corporate labor were key elements of textile production. Simply put, no one gender or age wasresponsible, rather a confluence of females and male as well as young and old laborers were necessary to the ensure the success of the industry.

The properties of woven and knitted fabrics differ largely due to the path yarn follows in the fabric structure. This path determines the fabric's physical properties, mechanical properties, and appearance. A slight variation to the design may result in entirely different properties for the fabric. Structural Textile Design provides detailed insight on different types of designs used for the production of woven and knitted fabrics, highlighting the effect design has on a fabric's properties and applications. With focus on the techniques used to draw designs and produce them on weaving and knitting machines, this book will be of great interest to textile engineers, professionals and graduate students in textile technology and manufacturing.

The wool market was extremely important to the English medieval economy and wool dominated the English export trade from the late thirteenth century to its decline in the late fifteenth century. Wool was at the forefront of the establishment of England as a European political and economic power and this volume is the first study of the medieval wool market in over 20 years. It investigates in detail the scale and scope of advance contracts for the sale of wool; the majority of these agreements were formed between English monasteries and Italian merchants, and the book focuses on the data contained within them. The pricing structures and market efficiency of the agreements are examined, employing practices from modern finance. A detailed case study of the impact of entering into such agreements on medieval English monasteries is also presented, using the example of Pipewell Abbey in Northamptonshire.

Marine accidents can occur at any time and everywhere in the world, resulting in loss of life, property, environment and reputation of the companies involved. Preventing accidents and establishing a safer world without accidents is an important agenda for the maritime industry. Since the enforcement of the International Safety Management Code in 1998, companies have taken various kinds of measures to prevent accidents. Unfortunately, measures have been undertaken in a disorganized manner, and have not been effective. Experts of risk management, the safety management system, and accident models have each undertaken accident preventive measures within the scope of their specific fields, but have not looked beyond the realm of their own fields. This book discusses systematic accident prevention by integrating multi-disciplinary expertise based on academic research, the quality management system which has already proved its effectiveness in other fields, and findings of the author's research. In systematic accident prevention, the weaknesses of a system within which accidents and incidents have occurred are viewed by combining scientific accident investigation data based on the International Maritime Organization model and the accident model. The nature of every type of marine accident, such as collisions, groundings, occupational casualties, etc., are derived by combining the accident model and statistical data. System weaknesses are rectified by the risk reduction method of risk management, and the rectified performance is incorporated in improvement in the system by the PDCA cycle, which is the core of the Safety Management System. We can see the weakness in the system and reduce the number of accidents and incidents while utilizing limited resources optimally to prevent accidents and incidents.

Volume 40.3 of the journal Textiles Progress, this book describes advanced technical textiles products according to the application fields of the fiber materials. Although it does not cover all of the end-uses, the book contains major parts of advanced technical textile products, including products for resources and environmental issues, automobiles, medical and protective uses, information technologies, civil engineering, and electronics textiles.

The Grammar of Pattern describes characteristics of textile and other surface patterns, and identifies, illustrates, and reviews a wide range of pattern types including spotted, striped, checked, tessellating and other types of all-over patterns with original drawings and images. This book includes original black-and-white line drawings and color images. The modular nature of patterns is explored, and attention is focused on the vast diversity of pattern types which can emerge from a small inventory of components. The book features material that is easily accessible with obvious mathematical content kept to a minimum and offers fresh perspectives on the nature of tessellating and other all-over patterns. This book serves as an effective practical guide for both students and professionals. Select sample exercises and student assignments are included, making this an ideal course text for teachers engaged across the full range of design education.

Sustainability, digitalization, and artification have become the cornerstones of a successful business model in a world rocked by the effects of a pandemic and a climate crisis. Organizational strategies in the art, fashion, and wine industries have to be redesigned to reflect these changes. The circular model discussed in this work provides guidance and a vision for systematically moving towards social and environmental sustainability from both a production and consumption perspective. Digitalization provides a viable alternative to brick and mortar and helps create a hybrid presence for brands in both real and virtual worlds. Artification is the process of elevating an object into a work of art and closely mirrors the aestheticization of society in a postmodern world. While selling online is a given, creating an auratic atmosphere to envelop and provide an unforgettable experience requires greater levels of creativity. Each chapter focuses on aspects of consumer culture theory, with its emphasis on identity, lifestyle, and symbolic meaning, with the introductory chapter paying more attention to the application of practice theory to the study of sustainability, artification, and digitalization. The complementarity between the practice turn and the cultural turn promises new insights.

One of the world's largest sellers of footwear, the Bata Company of Zlin, Moravia has a remarkable history that touches on crucial aspects of what made the world modern. In the twilight of the Habsburg Empire, the company Americanized its production model while also trying to Americanize its workforce. It promised a technocratic form of governance in the chaos of postwar Czechoslovakia, and during the Roaring Twenties, it became synonymous with rationalization across Europe and thus a flashpoint for a continent-wide debate. While other companies contracted in response to the Great Depression, Bata did the opposite, becoming the first shoe company to unlock the potential of globalization. As Bata expanded worldwide, it became an example of corporate national indifference, where company personnel were trained to be able to slip into and out of national identifications with ease. Such indifference, however, was seriously challenged by the geopolitical crisis of the 1930s, and by the cusp of the Second World War, Bata management had turned nationalist, even fascist. In the Kingdom of Shoes unravels the way the Bata project swept away tradition and enmeshed the lives of thousands of people around the world in the industrial production of shoes. Using a rich array of archival materials from two continents, the book answers how Bata's rise to the world's largest producer of shoes challenged the nation-state, democracy, and Americanization.

Fashion Retail Supply Chain Management: A Systems Optimization Approach is a comprehensive reference source that provides the state-of-the-art findings on many important emerging research issues related to retail supply chain management and optimization problems. The book takes an explicit systems approach, and discusses retailled fashion supply chain coordination mechanisms and consumer market informationdriven fashion retail supply chain models, as well as suggesting future research avenues. This volume will be of interest not only to those involved in the fashion industry, but also to academics and practitioners in the wider fields of business, manufacturing engineering, systems engineering and supply chain management.

Fast fashion is an industrial trend that refers to the concept of shortening lead time (production, distribution) and offering new products to the market as fast as possible. Despite an abundance of research results, there is no comprehensive reference source that covers the state-of-the-art findings on both theoretical modeling and empirical research on fast fashion systems. This edited volume consists of three sections - review and exploratory studies, analytical models, and empirical research - made up of many interesting contributions in the respective domain. The result is a well-balanced handbook which includes both theoretical results (from various perspectives) and empirical findings. This volume will be of interest not only to those involved in the fashion industry, but also to academics and practitioners in the wider fields of business, manufacturing engineering, systems engineering and supply chain management.

"The Cotton Dust Papers" is the story of the 50-year struggle for recognition in the U.S. of this pernicious occupational disease. The authors contend that byssinosis could have and should have been recognized much sooner, as a great deal was known about the disease as early as the 1930s. Using mostly primary sources, the authors explore three instances from the 1930s to the 1960s in which evidence suggested the existence of brown lung in the mills, yet nothing was done. What the story of byssinosis makes clear is that the economic and political power of private owners and managers can hinder and shape the work of health investigators.

First Published in 1966. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.