Following up on the discussion on NAFTA, we will be looking at the maquiladora industry more in depth, with a focus on gender roles, health, and environmental degradation. For your reading assignment, there are two articles to read. The first is "Women, Migration, and Household Survival Strategies: Mixtec Women in Tijuana," by Laura Velazco Ortiz, from the book Women and Migration in the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands. This reading is important as it gives insight on the rural populations that migrate to the border, which includes indigenous groups like Mixtecs. In contrast, the film we will be watching in class presents a different group of women working in the maquiladoras. These women come from urban areas around Mexico and are generally more educated and skilled, as the article will mention.
The second reading is an "Environmental Justice Case Study," which provides an introduction to environmental issues around the maquiladora industry. This article mentions the case of our community partners in Tijuana (Metales y Derivados), which also appears in the film.
Please respond with a blog comment to these readings, either one or both, with a paragraph after this post. Are there any questions that you still have after these readings?
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8 comments:
Environmental Justice Case Study:
Reading about the maquiladoras was very interesting to me because it covers the effects that the border tension and issue have on females. Females are usually double exploited because their minority is being exploited and their minority is exploiting them. Therefore, it is nice to hear from the women, as well as children. I also found that the maquiladoras directly connect to NAFTA. Again, as we read last week, NAFTA made all these promises but it seems that they find ways to avoid being responsible for the promises that they made. Repetitive themes that I saw in this article from last week's readings, are that NAFTA has a great effect on the environment and labor. Actions resulting from the NAFTA are damaging the environment, yet nothing is being done to help the environment by the governments. The help that is being made for the environment is done by grassroots groups and movement. Moreover, although NAFTA promised more jobs, it does not improve wages--wages may increase but the prices of goods also rise. It seems that the greedy people at the top are the only ones really seeing the benefits of the NAFTA program.
It was interesting to read this article from the perspective of how NAFTA and the maquiladoras effected women and the household. Often articles, including the article we read last week debating the benefits and detriments of NAFTA, assume that the experience of poverty or wealth is the same across gender and class variations in a certain nation. In this article, Women, Migration, and Household Survival, the author illuminates how disparities in income disproportionately effect women i.e. putting more responsibility to care for the family and make money while men who are struggling to make ends meet are not expected to be responsible for the children. In this way, women have much more at stake and very little bargaining room in terms of wages and treatment in factories etc. Their priorities and reasons for migrating are economic and these economic factors are directly related to their gender roles and their desperate situation.
I read the article about 'environmental justice' (the second article) and it was really interesting because I didn't realize how many different environmental affects NAFTA has caused especially in the maquiladora system. I realized how sever these problems were when the article went on to talk about how birth defects have really increased in the maquiladora towns. Also it seems difficult to solve this problem because if workers try to speak out and address the issue, they might risk getting fired or may receive some kind of punishment. Also with NAFTA, American companies have literally just been exporting their wastes to Mexico and one of the many problems in my opinion is that these companies aren't really regulated to take care of their wastes. Even NAFTA in a way is saying it is okay for them to dump their wastes on Mexican soil and not bother to think about what the environmental and health affects will be on the populations that live there.
I found the environmental justice case study very informative. It seems to bring issues that we have been discussing such as NAFTA, environmental effects, precarious employment, exploitation, and outlets for justice, into conversation with each other. I find it interesting that the maquiladoras do in fact provide jobs to tons of people, and typically it would seem that providing jobs to individuals is always of benefit to them, but in this instance, their employment seems to hurt them more than it helps them, probably putting them in a worse situation than they might have been in to begin with. The case of the maquiladoras seems to exemplify the complexity of border issues because it draws attention to the multiple players that are affected and the how the impact of decisions can be immeasurable and often unforeseen.
After reading "Environmental Justice Case Study," I have come to similar conclusions as Adriana and Tessa about the exploitations done against women in the maquiladoras as well as the environment.I feel that even though NAFTA has specific clauses warranting the protection of workers and the environment, as well as many other provisions, these transnational contracts are meaningless unless regulation is enforced. Clearly, all three governments are more worried about the economic benefits of trade rather than the social and environmental impacts that arise out of trade.
I'm glad to read that advocacy groups for workers in the maquiladoras and agencies for environmental protection have come forward to stop and alleviate further atrocities, but matters of this size proportion need direct facilitation by the government. I believe that, overall, NAFTA has failed in its attempts to deliver many of its promised benefits, and a major reworking or reconfiguration of the treaty must be done to amend issues of health and environmental conditions.
In Women, Migration, and Household Survival Strategies, Laura Ortiz Velasco describes the underlying reasons why Mixtec women migrate. There have been some instances when I am crossing back to the United States and I see women dressed in indigenous clothing that makes me wonder where their journey began and how they ended at the border zone. This article sheds light to those questions that I asked myself as it found it interesting that for the most part it was indigenous women and not men. One aspect that I find really interesting about this article shift in migration patterns. Velasco states that migration was tied “primarily to the migratory route that the male partner had established” (352) and it has shifted to an increased migration of single women engaging in “survival strategies” (353). Furthermore, it is always interesting to investigate the reasoning behind their departure, and the networks that made this journey possible.
After reading both of the articles, I gained a different and more specific perspective of the human exploitation that occurs all over the world by large corporations. The Environmental Justice Case provided clear statistics and numbers to the working conditions of the jobs that the United States views as beneficial to the Mexican population. Though these establishments may provide jobs, the opportunities are only completely beneficial if salaries are set to a level that can sustain a person's and family's needs. Furthermore, I am positive that most of these corporations do not give a damn about improving the work force in Mexico (displayed by the extrememley low wages, on-site conditions, and environmental damage), but are only concerned with maximizing their profits, even if it costs the dignity of thousands of human beings!
However, it is pleasing to read about the various groups that have organized to express the complaints and emotions of the maquiladores. However, the fight to recieve this proper representation will take much time and hard efforts, as the other side consists of individuals who possess great political power in their billions of dollars.
The Environmental Justice Case Study reveals rather quickly, yet effectively, the complexity of Maquiladoras in Mexico. In one hand, there is the availabilty of jobs and enhanced production, but at what cost? Irreversible environmental consequences? Overpopulation and the creation of semi-peripheral and peri-urban slums? To simply state that Maquila workers are being treated unfairly is an understatement--much like their relatives in the Bracero Program, they are being exploited and abused, except this time in their native country.
That many campaigns and programs do exist to counter the unjust system of Maquiladoras is somewhat of a comfort. Still, Maquila workers and supporters are insitutionally rendered helpless and oppressed by set laws, such as one proclaiming an unlimited amount of time to respond to an environmental hazard petition. The regulations set in place do not consider anything on the welfare of employees. The system set in place does not even allow for filers to be directly involved in the process or counterargue the offenders, systematically stripping workers of a voice. Bolterstein lists recommendations that includes a comprehensive reform of NAFTA with worker rights similar to those of the ILO (International Labor Organization). What is missing is a plan for enforcement--Maquilas must be held accountable and liable for their actions. Just as Bernstein points out however, this issue is much more complex--this passage within the article states it best: "There are policy issues, legal issues, compliancy issues, technological advance issues, financial issues, social, cultural, political and infrastructure...ALL of these are factors that contribute to environmental justice problems."
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