Mass Production

Vocabulary

• Factory - 工厂 (Gōngchǎng)
• Environment - 周围 (Zhōuwéi)
• Industry - 工业 (Gōngyè)
• Work - 工 (Gōng)

Vocabulary

• Mass production - 大量生产 (Dàliàng shēngchǎn)
• Human rights - 人权 (Rénquán)
• Wages - 工资 (Gōngzī)
• Hukou (Household registration system) - 户口 (Hùkǒu)

What are human rights?

• Human rights are rights inherent to all human beings
• We are all equally entitled to our human rights without discrimination
• These rights are all interrelated, interdependent and indivisible

Where did human rights come from?

• The idea of human rights has been a very universal topic
• Many religions and ideologies emphasize the importance of human rights
• There is no definitive place and time where human rights originated

Are there different types of human rights?

• There are many types of human rights, some examples are:
• The right to live a life
• The right to the pursuit of hapiness
• The right to be free from slavery
• The right to freedom of speech
• The right to be free from prejudice

What are the human right standards?

• The most notable example is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
• It was a document created by the UN in 1948 as a response to the atrocities of WWII
• The international community vowed never again to allow such atrocities to occur

Why are human rights important?

• Human rights allow all people to live with dignity, freedom, equality, justice, and peace
• Every person has these rights simply because they are human beings

Why did we pick this topic?

• People in factories are being treated unfairly.
• They work in poor conditions and with low wages.
• This is a violation of human rights

Statistics

• More than 482 million people in China, 36% of the population, live on less than $2 a day
• The average monthly wage with overtime is ¥1,690 ($250)
• In 2009 alone, approximately one million workers were injured at work and about 20,000 suffered from diseases due to their occupation

What is the history behind this?

• Before opening up its economy in 1978, China had strict controls on migration from rural to urban areas
• These controls were part of the permit (hukou) system, in which welfare benefits such as housing, education, and education were tied to a person's place of birth

What is the history behind this?

• As China moved towards a market economy, cheap rural labor helped fuel the country's growth and constraints on migration were reduced, however the restrictions on household registration of the hukou stayed the same, so migrant workers became outcasts without access to any state benefits or protection, despite Chinese laws enshrining "equal rights” for all

What is the history behind this?

• As China has become more integrated in the global economy, there has been a larger emphasis on large outputs from factories.

What is the history behind this?

• Low wages and nonexistent environmental standards made China a favorable country for foreign companies to set up factories in.

How are these people treated?

• Poor living conditions
• Being overworked
• Petty hourly wages
• Forced to work overtime in order to make a living

Foxconn

How does this compare to America?

• America has much better standards in wages, living conditions, and environmental safety.
• They have laws set up to prevent this.

What is the best way to solve this issue?

• We have seen that public attention and outcry causes companies to reform their ways
• Increased awareness on these issues in the public is important
• This will be a hard reform since much of the west relies heavily on products manufactured in these factories

What is the best way to solve this issue?

• Nike in the late 1990's and early 2000s
• Nike received a lot of criticism in the late 1990s for its poor working conditions in its factories in Indonesia
• After much protest which led to decreased profits, Nike shifted its ways
• Nike now actively checks on its factories and posts annual reports on their working conditions

How can we make a difference?

• Increase awareness and activism on this issue
• Vote for government representatives that will help this issue
• Donate to organizations that will make a change

How can we make a difference?

• While it may seem that high school students do not have much power, we can make a lot of change
• Telling and informing the public is crucial for this

Kahoot!