Threads Of Labour

Threads of Labour presents new empirical research by a network of garment workers' support organizations and makes sense of global supply chains from the bottom up. Presents new empirical research by a network of garment workers' support organizations in ten different locations in Asia, Europe and Mexico. Creates a blueprint for conducting worker-orientated action research in order to better understand and resist the negative impact of globalization on labour. Ensures that workers' voices reach those who are already trying to reconfigure global capitalism in more humane directions. Explores the ways in which workers might begin to develop new forms of organization that are more suited to securing gains in the global garment industry. Bridges the gap between activist and academic research, improving the conversation between these two groups.

Americans have been shocked by media reports of the dismal working conditions in factories that make clothing for U.S. companies. But while well intentioned, many of these reports about child labor and sweatshop practices rely on stereotypes of how Third World factories operate, ignoring the complex economic dynamics driving the global apparel industry. To dispel these misunderstandings, Jane L. Collins visited two very different apparel firms and their factories in the United States and Mexico. Moving from corporate headquarters to factory floors, her study traces the diverse ties that link First and Third World workers and managers, producers and consumers. Collins examines how the transnational economics of the apparel industry allow firms to relocate or subcontract their work anywhere in the world, making it much harder for garment workers in the United States or any other country to demand fair pay and humane working conditions. Putting a human face on globalization, Threads shows not only how international trade affects local communities but also how workers can organize in this new environment to more effectively demand better treatment from their distant corporate employers.

This book offers a view of shifts in labour relations in various parts of the world over a breathtaking span, from 1500 to 2000, with a particular emphasis on colonial institutions.

Scholars turn to reproduction for its ability to illuminate the practices involved with negotiating personhood for the unborn, the newborn, and the already-existing family members, community members, and the nation. The scholarship in this volume draws attention to doula work as intimate and relational while highlighting the way boundaries are created, maintained, challenged, and transformed. Intimate labour as a theoretical construct provides a way to think about the kind of care doulas offer women across the reproductive spectrum. Doulas negotiate boundaries and often blur the divisions between communities and across public and private spheres in their practice of intimate labour. This book weaves together three main threads: doulas and mothers, doulas and their community, and finally, doulas and institutions. The lived experience of doulas illustrates the interlacing relationships among all three of these threads. The essays in this collection offer a unique perspective on doulas by bringing together voices that represent the full spectrum of doula work, including the viewpoints of birth, postpartum, abortion, community based, adoption, prison, and radical doulas. We privilege this broad representation of doula experiences to emphasize the importance of a multi-vocal framing of the doula experience. As doulas move between worlds and learn to live in liminal spaces, they occupy space that allows them to generate new cultural narratives about birthing bodies.

A modern refresh of an age-old craft! Author Libby Moore teaches basic embroidery stitches and how to choose materials, and shares original patterns with easy-to-remove perforated pages. Thread Folk Includes: • 15 embroidery projects • Step-by step instructions & modern patterns • 14 different stitches, from straight stitch to lazy daisy • Techniques to stitch on clothes, shoes, tote bags, and pillows Thread Folk also features Artist Collaborations, a series of projects based on the curated artwork of several distinctive, talented artists, including clothing designer Audrey Smit, and illustrators Alli Koch and Lauren Merrick. Materials Used: • Thread (Embroidery Floss or Metallic Thread) • Fabric (Quilting Cotton or Calico) • Embroidery Hoop • Embroidery Needle • Embroidery Scissors • Needle Minder

**SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER** **RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK** **WATERSTONES SCOTTISH BOOK OF THE MONTH** 'An astonishing feat' Christina Patterson, Sunday Times 'An inspiring and moving sideways look at history' Eithne Farry, Sunday Express An eloquent blend of history and memoir, Threads of Life is an evocative and moving book about the need we all have to tell our story. From political propaganda in medieval France to secret treason in Tudor England, from the mothers of the desaparecidos in Argentina to First World War soldiers with PTSD, from a POW camp in Singapore to a family attic in Scotland, Threads of Life is a global chronicle of identity, protest, memory and politics. Banner-maker, community textile artist and textile curator Clare Hunter chronicles the stories of the men and women, over centuries and across continents, who have used the language of sewing to make their voices heard, even in the most desperate of circumstances. 'A beautifully considered book... Clare Hunter has managed to mix the personal with the political with moving results.' TRACY CHEVALIER

At the dingy, overcrowded Acme Garment Factory, Emily Watson stands for eleven hours a day clipping threads from blouses. Every time the boss passes, he shouts at her to snip faster. But if Emily snips too fast, she could ruin the garment and be docked pay. If she works too slowly, she will be fired. She desperately needs this job. Without the four dollars a week it brings, her family will starve. When a reporter arrives, determined to expose the terrible conditions in the factory, Emily finds herself caught between the desperate immigrant girls with whom she works and the hope of change. Then tragedy strikes, and Emily must decide where her loyalties lie. Emily's fictional experiences are interwoven with non-fiction sections describing family life in a slum, the fight to improve social conditions, the plight of working children then and now, and much more. Rarely seen archival photos accompany this story of the past as only Barbara Greenwood can tell it.