GEOG 210- Electronics

Fetish: the attribution of religious or mystical qualities to inanimate objects, known as fetishes
Commodity fetishism is a theory which invites us to see the hidden social and economic relations that give commodities value!

Surplus value refers to value of work that accrues to the capitalist over and above the amount of the wage received by the worker. So, a worker may produce the value of their wage within one or two hours of the beginning of the work day. The rest of the value– the surplus value—is accumulated by the capitalist as profit. Is profit theft?

For economic growth to be fueled by exports
Gov created conditions so multinational companies will come to them
Export oriented manufacturing sector powers the global south to development.

Possible because:
1. Liberalization of trade
2.‘Shrinking’ of geographical distance by enabling transportation and communication technologies
3. Prevalence and willingness of multinational corporation to invest
4. Strong states- eg korea and taiwan

the geography of global specialization and production.

“Classic” form: colonial countries specialize in manufacturing, colonies in the production of primary goods (natural resources).
“New” form: increasing emergence of industrialized countries in the Global South
THE NIDL WAS AND IS FAR MORE THAN MERELY A CHANGE IN LOCATION OF MANUFACTURE!

Products are for domestic consumption
National pride related to production…at least sometimes
Similarity– one job, repetitive…
Lived in suburbs…
Strong unions
Good benefits
Higher wages
Primarily male workers

•At least among workers, “it is just a job”
•Temporary jobs, brief!
•Gated factory and dorms…
•Neither strong unions nor good benefits
•Lower wages
•Primarily female workers

Saskia Sassen: “a place where the work of globalization gets done”
–Financial centers, e.g. NY, London, Tokyo
–Supra-national government centers
–Centers of culture, fashion communications
–Headquarters of multinational companies
–Command and control centers of New International Division of Labor

Rural areas become sites of mega-development including mining, hydro, large scale agriculture.

People living in rural areas (peasants) move to cities
In cities they (try to) work in factories
This “model” is promoted by governments and international organizations such as World Bank as a way to boost efficiency and production

Why rapid urbanisation?
Massive displacement in rural areas due to this export-led industrialisation
Export agriculture, minerals→ all harvested in rural areas

The large size of the informal economy with its low wages subsidizes the factory workers and allows employers to pay even less
•Think of all the cheap food, cheap care, cheap housing, etc that is produced by informal labor markets, and which permits factory workers to live at low cost and be paid low wages
•The large size of the informal economy with its low wages subsidizes the factory workers and allows employers to pay even less
•Think of all the cheap food, cheap care, cheap housing, etc that is produced by informal labor markets, and which permits factory workers to live at low cost and be paid low wages

They divide and separate their internal operations so that they can be located at different national sites in order to maximize efficiencies and minimize costs

•Intermodal distribution
•Dreaming of seamless movement
•Drastically reducing labor requirements (weakening organized labor and reducing costs)

•What is logistics?
–Popular idea of logistics

•The traditional notion of logistics?
–costs of transport
–costs of warehouse

•The new business logistics (logistics revolution)
–Optimization of distribution processes from raw materials to the final delivery and everything in between
–Quantitative side: mathematical models
–Qualitative side: expertise of managers

•The field of logistics recognizes that distribution adds value to commodities and is therefore part of the production process

Logistics is a business
Cities compete to attract flows of commodities
Expensive infrastructure is required
Commodities circulate within the city but also far beyond it
Logistics is a source of low paid labor
Logistics is a source of pollution, often affecting already marginalized communities

States create conditions for logistics based on massive investments in infrastructure
Example:
China Silk road initiative
“Road” network is the maritime route
Belt consists of linked roads and rails

the revolution in logistics reconcpetualises the circulation of commodities as adding value to production rather than as a cost

At every turn of the transnational production and delivery process, advances in logistics profits and employ huge number of workers

The work of logistics relies on marginalized and often racialised labour and capital-intensive technologies from robots to gantry cranes to container ships.

• The shipping container and other technologies of logistics have re-shaped the urban and the conditions of urban growth

•Logistics is a key factor in producing low-cost electronics made in China

These feelings are connected to the intense forms of human exploitation that are required to make low-cost electronics
exploitation= high level of extracting labour surplus
This exploitation is stitched through the many processes we have studied including:
–NIDL
–Export-led industrialization in rural and urban areas
–The use of space by multinational companies
–The revolution in logistics
–The prevalence of informal economies with extremely low wages

(1) Getting by and coping with the challenges of factory life
(2) Resistance, finding a meaningful life under difficult conditions, disobeying
(3) Mobilizing workers to make systematic change in the global factory

Key location where worker intervention can have maximum effect

•The work is assembly-line like in the fulfillment centers
•The lure of (relatively) high pay and upward mobility for a select few
•The brutal demands of the work (industrial athletes) with 300-400 moves per hour
•High attrition or 150% turnover / year
•Exhausted workers leave right after work
•Very easy to quit (one touch on your phone)

•The cost of a commodity is largely about the cost of labor*
•How are labor costs reduced in the capitalist international division of labor?
•Who suffers and who benefits when costs increase and decrease?
•How do workers in the global factory cope with the demands of factory life, resist those demands, and organize to change the conditions of the factory?