Global culture and ethical design

Notes from the lecture 

The Global Village 
• Shared common destiny: health, environmental & sustainability issues?
• Cultural exchange & hybridity: mix of the local/indigenous culture with global influences.
• Cultural imperialism:the disproportionate effect of one culture over another.
• The post-traditional community:economic and technological impact on community relations.

Blog Task

Choose one of the following;
• Analyse one of the written extracts (see Learning Materials folder)

Naomi Klein- No Logo 

​Naomi Klein’s ‘No Logo’ was published in a never seen before phase of globalisation, in which brands such as McDonald’s, Nike, Shell, Starbucks, Disney, Coca-Cola, Pepsi and Microsoft could ignore workers’ rights, local laws and civic opposition in order to produce more profits and use the majority of income to fund ads and sponsor athletes/celebrities for endorsement. Rather than selling a product these corporations are selling an idea, a life style and the brand itself. Rather than buying the product for its quality, consumers now buy into the brand for how it makes them appear.
 In chapter 9, ‘The disregarded factory’ Klein talks about how many companies bypass production completely, no longer sourcing employees from the UK and closing existing factories, choosing instead to  contracted out, offshore manufacturing, usually in Free Trade zones such as Indonesia, China, Mexico, Vietnam and the Philippines etc. As well as this company’s purposefully hide the location of their production operation, in order to hide the unfair mistreatment of their factory workers and the conditions in which they are forced to work in, not to mention their lack of a fair wage.
​ It’s shameful to think that in the 20 years since ‘No Logos’ publication things haven’t gotten better when it comes to big brands, their exploitation of garment workers still clear to see and the lack of accountability for their actions a clear warning for the consumer. Although their is progress in some areas it is slow in making things better for people and the environment, the only saving grace is that with today’s social media, information is much more accessible and there is a push in areas such a sustainable fashion, supporting small business and shopping locally. 

Visual resources