Conclusion

Clearly the research that each individual group member has undertaken on their own has related in different ways to our chosen points of analysis. As a group we felt it was important to address each statement with our own individual research, as this would allow us to have a clearer view of how the individual products are connected to our analysis. For our class presentation, we will not have the time to go over each point of analysis in relation to all four products. The blog that we have created has also allowed us to individually present the information that we have been looking at, as well as synthesize and summarize our ideas.

            We plan on creating a PowerPoint centering on these five points of analysis to present to the class, and each group member will deal with a different point in relation to their individual product. This will allow us to demonstrate the globally connectivity of our research, without attempting to present all the information we have compiled. We will continue to use Robbins’ article “The Sweatshop Sublime” to frame our analysis, as Robbins’ suggests that by understanding where our products come from, we change the way we see ourselves and how we are implicated in the extraction of products.

As a group we feel the most important conclusion that has come from our research is the interconnectivity of our world and the problematic rhetoric used by transnational corporations to foster consumerism. In tracing a product like tea from its source in Sri Lanka, along the Pacific container shipping trade route to Vancouver, we have found many connections to other products like cotton, TOMS shoes, and complicated electronic devices like the iPad which are the end product of many components. The design, manufacture and export of textiles and apparel is one of the biggest industries in Sri Lanka. Even though Toms aren’t made in Sri Lanka, Tommy Hilfiger clothing is, and all these products join each other in the container shipping lanes bringing these products from the east to the west. Our research has allowed us to see that this is problematic; often these global connections can be a detriment to other parts of the world. We extract many resources, but even when corporations appear to be giving back to other parts of the world, they are often constructing themselves as charitable for selfish purposes. Our choices connect us to the products we consume, and all the products we have looked at are clearly interconnected.