Many living in the developed world perceive sweatshops as factories that contain inhumane working conditions and desperate laborers toiling away for unlivable wages, according to Suffolk University economics professor Benjamin Powell. In his Thursday lecture, however, Powell, worked to refute this perception, arguing instead that sweatshops are beneficial to the average "third world" worker.
Powell contended that while the wages of sweatshop workers are extremely low compared to Western standards, a job in a sweatshop is much more desirable than other options, such as an agricultural occupation. Misconceptions about sweatshops come from people's lack of information about economics in developing countries, according to Powell.
"It is important to keep in mind that a lot of the alternatives they face are worse than sweatshops, and there is even a status difference of moving inside compared to working outside in the sun," he said.
Powell demonstrated how sweatshop wages raise workers above the average national income level, and how workers voluntarily choose to work in various factories and manufacturing plants.
"These aren't the jobs that are jeopardizing the country," he said. "These are the good jobs."
Powell condemned much of the anti-sweatshop movement, which seeks to establish international labor standards and the right to organize, raise minimum and living wages and organize boycotts against companies that utilize sweatshop labor. He said boycotts organized by the anti-sweatshop movement can be counter-productive.
"It decreases the demand of the product, which decreases the price the company can set for the product, and now the upper bound [of wages] goes down," he said.
Powell described how sweatshops are actually a necessary part of economic development and advancement for "third world" countries. Many countries in generations past, that were once known as "sweatshop countries," have been able to improve their economies and shed this label, according to Powell.
Because of examples of former "sweatshop countries" like Taiwan and Japan, Powell emphasized the importance of patience and understanding when considering countries that are still developing. Wages in such countries are low because productivity is low and worker alternatives are limited, he said. Workers in developing countries are unwilling to make trade-offs that would jeopardize their wages, according to Powell.
"The best cure for this is the process of economic development," he said. "Policies that risk raising compensation above productivity risk cutting short the very process that raises wages and undermining the very process that will raise standards of living over time." Joshua Schiefelbein '14, president of the College Libertarians, said he became interested in Powell after watching videos of his past lectures.
"I had previously seen videos [of Powell], and I found his arguments to be really compelling, and I wanted to bring Powell in and see if other Dartmouth students would find it as compelling," he said.
For some of the students in attendance, the lecture was eye-opening and informative because of its logical presentation, they said.
"I'm really passionate, and my emphasis is on social inequality, and a lot of times we let our passions blind us from what's really going on," Danielle Coleman '12 said. "I heard about sweatshops and jumped on the [anti-sweatshop movement] bandwagon without really doing enough research. He completely changed my views in an hour."
At the end of his lecture, Powell declared his support for sweatshops and encouraged others to support sweatshops in the developing world.
"For right now, I love sweatshop labor," he said. "And if you care about the workers in the third world, you should too."
