St. Lawrence University Isn’t Just Limited to Canton, NY
“It isn’t enough just looking for the quality in the products we buy, we must ensure that there is quality in the lives of the people who make them.”
-Orsola De Castro
Choosing a University sweatshirt is often the penultimate action for a student who just committed to their school. At St. Lawrence’s Brewer Bookstore, an entire wall is dedicated to multi-colored SLU themed apparel from crewnecks, to t-shirts, to even baby bibs (“St. Lawrence University Class of 20??” they don). Wearing the stitched emblem with pride carries around the notoriety of the school a student is attending, but never (as in most fashion cases) presents who these items were made by. Something I’ve learned in my time at SLU is to wield a critical eye to the world around you. The university is not exempt from this rule. It’s okay though, for I want SLU to do and be better, and I believe wholeheartedly that acknowledging something as imperfect is one of the highest forms of love. That is why I believe it is necessary to be aware and understand where the apparel our bookstore sells comes from, and to be aware of the complicity we may share in our consumption of them.
Being a popular destination for the entire St. Lawrence county (especially for local birthday parties), Brewer Bookstore does a good job in promoting and selling small business items and local goods. As the bookstore is a small business itself, it’s not surprising that they sell North Country art prints made by local artists, to drink Caribou Coffee created by a SLU alumnus, or even treat yourself to a delicious pastry item made by a local baker. Where the issue comes in is when looking at the way this store functions in a poorer county, as well as where their SLU themed merchandise comes from that isn’t locally made. Since the bookstore uses companies like Nike and Under Armour, there is no reason to deny or not acknowledge the transnational ties this small business in a small town in Northern New York can have. Working off our previous article, I want to show how the fashion and textile industry directly relate to on-campus consumption at our bookstore.
Above are a selection of some items at the bookstore. 1. A Nike SLU Hoodie retailing $60 2. A Local Art Print of Herring Cole in Postcard form for $2 3. A Vineyard Vines tie retailing $75, made in the USA. I decided to showcase these items to emphasize the range of items Brewer Bookstore carries, as well as getting a feel for prices.
Athleticwear in High Demand, But at What Cost?
In addition to not being size inclusive and being extremely expensive, the brands that the bookstore utilizes have extremely problematic and upsetting transnational implications. Though I will be focusing on Nike, as it is the brand I most often saw purchased as a cashier, Under Armour faces criticism for not disclosing whether or not their workers make a livable wage (Shop Ethical!).
Nike, just in 2017, failed to commit to the Workers Rights Consortium and received 51–60% in the Fashion Transparency Index, a numerical representation of how transparently the company reports data on how their clothing are made (Good on You, 5) . Nike also received only a “It’s a start” ratings (two or three stars out of five) for sustainability on the website “Good on You,” meaning that, like most fashion brands, the company harms the environment as well as harming all of us- especially the people working in sweatshops. Though websites like “goodonyou.eco” attempt to show the levels of sustainability and ethicality of companies like Nike, they call this relationship in ’17 “an on-again-off-again high school romance begging for some stability!” This presents fashion as if we were talking about some abstract non-human concepts, except we’re not (Good on You, 6). When we talk about how ethical a company is, we are talking about real people and real women. These people are on the receiving end of a capitalist transaction they don’t even get to negotiate or take part in.
As some of you may have read in our most recent post, the most basic essentials needs to ensure women’s welfare are healthcare, education, and safety. Under the exploitative nature of sweatshops that apparel companies use in other countries, women are barred from all of these things. In Indonesia, where the Nike headquarters are, “[women’s] working conditions endanger health, lacking guaranteed safety and occupational health (K3), lack of social security (Jamsostek), and no menstruation leave.” (Prianto 3). In addition to being subjected to such hazards, women need to make money to support themselves and their families. This prevents them from pursuing their education, which would allow them more agency, whether that be more job possibilities “drawing heavily on human capital perspectives concerned with the economic significance of getting girls into school, particularly in terms of poverty reduction,” or learn how to address gender inequities in their local patriarchies (Vaughan 496). Education also allows for a lowering of child labor, as it delays entry into the workforce (Lloyd 341).
The documentary “Nike Sweatshops: Behind the Swoosh,” tackles both environmental and human rights concerns involving the company. It follows former St. John’s University coach Jim Keady. He and a peer explore the conditions of Nike sweatshops and how they affect women’s quality of life. Within the first five minutes, he notes that because wages in sweatshops are so minimal, that the homes women can afford are often near sewage ditches, which rise and cause health concerns when it rains (Nike Sweatshops: Behind the Swoosh, 5:30). The women are paid $1.25 a day, with which they are barely able to pay for the day-to-day necessities for their families (Nike Sweatshops, 4:56). As the filmmakers lived off of this wage in Jakarta, Keady’s peer, Leslie Kretzu, wound up getting extremely ill, which posed numerous problems: could she survive financially with missing days of work or still keep a job? (no). How does she pay for the medicine she needs to fight her fever? (she sacrifices her meal to afford aspirin) (Nike Sweatshops, 8:28). The health damage goes even further as the fumes from burnt rubber soles put toxins and carcinogens in the air, harming both adults and children that live near the sweatshops (Nike Sweatshops, 10:54). It is very apparent through the entire documentary that these unsustainable and poor conditions are kept through Nike’s wages and demands for their products. All the while, the company totes around a performative agenda in countries like America. While the documentary does not highlight many voices of the women working in Jakarta, the film did make waves within the company, as it was one of the first explorations into Nike’s unethicality.
By consistently utilizing them as a line for University apparel, both at SLU and across the country, we are causing a demand for these products to be created at the greatest profit margin. Though it isn’t beneficial to place complete blame on the consumer, as it is mainly the corporation that pulls strings in every direction, seeking out fair-trade companies will heighten demand for more ethical measures. Through this, they will see people are willing to give their money to these groups. We can also hold Nike accountable, keeping pressure on them to pay their workers and improve conditions. If you are interested, I suggest you watch another documentary: The Corporation, where the history of capitalistic greed from corporations are proven to harm women in other countries:
Finally, as advertising plays a huge role in demand/trends, Nike has a history of performatively promoting gender equality, such as their “What Girls Can Do” ad, begging us to question if their activism is anything but performative- how could you promote feminism here, but put women in poor and inescapable conditions to make your products? The answer is that you can’t- not without it being performative. Transnational Feminists must consider women in other countries and how these women are affected by actions that we would see as normal occurrences, such as buying a pair of Nike shoes. Check out some of Nike’s ads below:
Expensive Taste at St. Lawrence University
It is also worth acknowledging that even though St. Lawrence county is the fourth poorest county in New York State, many products (not just apparel) at Brewer Bookstore are extremely expensive. Increased costs are an expectation for most small businesses who cannot rely on outsourcing cheap or unethical labor from other countries, but the expense of things at a bookstore that sells other products that are unethical at a high cost too is important to acknowledge, especially if we consider its location. It is a conflicting position that the bookstore sits in, one that utilizes local talent and contribution but is very clearly split between this and selling expensive brands, whether that be Vera Bradley (who we have alumna connection with), Vineyard Vines, Nike, or Kate Spade. Catering to the plentiful alumni needs is a goal for the store, but where’s the line between remaining in business and bowing to customers and being complicit in capitalist structures that are harmful to people across the world? While it is easy to critique a large corporation, there is more difficulty in trying to critique a small business who on the outside look like they’re doing a great thing. However, if Brewer Bookstore has so much interest in uplifting local artists/sellers, why do we still need to carry the big brands- why can’t we source from more local and small businesses to print SLU apparel for us, or even other products we source from big companies?
By buying products made with cheap labor and selling them at a high price so that mostly only rich alums and rich Canton residents (who are few and far apart as chances are the richer Canton residents are mostly people who work at one of the nearby universities- Clarkson, Potsdam, etc.), we are creating externalities. Externalities are defined in Oxford Languages as “a side effect or consequence of an industrial or commercial activity that affects other parties without this being reflected in the cost of the goods or services involved.” Thus, by making the women working in sweatshops provide products like Nike hoodies, we create an externality, while the other parties (Brewer and customers) benefit.
What Can We Do?
The first step in righting this wrong is acknowledging its existence and educating yourself on the way we interact with the world and impact other people. It is a constant action you must take, and it doesn’t end with just one book, one article, or one Instagram infographic. Discourse is always changing and evolving- you need to be evolving and learning with it. Additionally, here are other ways you can help fight injustice:
- Apply Pressure: this can be for any participants in the retail/corporate world. Stores like Brewer Bookstore, companies like Nike, and especially government officials. Call representatives in these spaces and let them know that you don’t want to support groups that are harmful to other countries and the women in them. Tell them that you want fair trade/ethical products that give an appropriate wage to women for their work.
- Seek out Fair Trade/Ethical Goods: This one can be hard, because sometimes fair trade clothing is more expensive, and it’s unfair to expect everyone to be able to afford it in order to be a “good person”. One way to encourage ethicality at Brewer Bookstore is to purchase the items that are made by people in the North Country and those local goods, but we cannot fully stop buying other products or else the women who are creating the supply for Nike won’t have any job. This, in combination with the first point is a way to show that there is less demand for products that are made in an exploitative manner.
- Tag Products that Use Exploitative Labor: some activists have taken to retail spaces by marking clothing items with stickers or tags that make buyers aware of the conditions the products were made in. Even sweatshop workers have used this method as a plea for help and to make others aware of their exploitation, such as the workers at Zara’s factories that placed tags on clothing items explaining that they were not paid to make the products (Segran 1). These are great because you can give people information without placing the blame on single consumers. Here is a tag I made if anyone is interested in tagging products at the bookstore!
There is also a very interesting art project Rethink Canada took on, in which they created what clothing labels should really say if they were being honest. Check it out!:
https://awesomesauceasshattery.com/2016/02/19/if-unethical-clothing-tags-were-honest/
- Make your own SLU Apparel: As was mentioned in the previous post, thrifting can be a great way to repurpose old clothes as opposed to buying new from an exploitative company. Grab some embroidery floss and a thrifted sweatshirt to make your own St. Lawrence University apparel! This way, you’ll also ensure that your piece of SLU “merch” is unique!
On a wider-scale than just SLU products, here are some resources that help fight exploitation in sweatshops:
Works Cited
Directory.goodonyou.eco, July 2020, directory.goodonyou.eco/brand/nike.
Lloyd, Cynthia B. Growing up Global the Changing Transitions to Adulthood in Developing Countries. National Academies Press, 2005.
Nike, director. One Day We Won’t Need This Day | Nike. YouTube, YouTube, 8 Mar. 2020, www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzYYUGnmqLA.
Nike, director. Powerful Nike Women Ad: “What Girls Are Made Of”. YouTube, YouTube, 9 Nov. 2019, www.youtube.com/watch?v=anIOUgLczNo.
“Oxford Languages Dictionaries.” Home : Oxford English Dictionary, 2021, www.oed.com/.
Pavlović, Sheri. “If Unethical Clothing Tags Were Honest.” Confessions of a Refashionista, 6 Apr. 2018, awesomesauceasshattery.com/2016/02/19/if-unethical-clothing-tags-were-honest/.
Peppin Vaughan, Rosie. “Global Campaigns for Girls’ and Women’s Education, 2000–2017: Insights from Transnational Social Movement Theory.” Comparative Education, vol. 55, no. 4, 2019, pp. 494–516., doi:10.1080/03050068.2019.1657701.
Prianto, Budhy. “Developing Women Laborers’ Understanding About Their Public Role Through Civic Education Training: Study on Cigarette Industry in Malang, Indonesia.” Journal of Public Affairs, vol. 19, no. 1, 2019, doi:10.1002/pa.1912.
Robertson, Lara. “How Ethical Is Nike?” Good On You, 17 Nov. 2020, goodonyou.eco/how-ethical-is-nike/.
Segran, Elizabeth. “The Real Story Behind Those Desperate Notes That Zara Workers Left In Clothes.” Fast Company, Fast Company, 6 Nov. 2017, www.fastcompany.com/40492215/the-real-story-behind-those-desperate-notes-that-zara-workers-left-in-clothes.
TeamSweat, director. Nike Sweatshops: Behind the Swoosh. YouTube, YouTube, 28 July 2011, www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5uYCWVfuPQ&t=1041s.
“Under Armour.” Under Armour | Shop Ethical! Company Profile, guide.ethical.org.au/company/?company=2319.
“Welcome to the St. Lawrence University Brewer Bookstore.” Welcome to the St. Lawrence University Brewer Bookstore | St. Lawrence University Brewer Bookstore, www.brewerbookstore.com/welcome-st-lawrence-university-brewer-bookstore.
