ABSTRACT
Footwear manufacturing may occur in a variety of production settings: mechanized factories, craft work or subcontracting practices in small workshops which are often home-based. Shoemaking is one of the most globalized industries. This chapter reflects lessons learned from case studies of Bandung and Binan where the rudiments of shoemaking are learned at a young age to earn income as soon as possible. Contractors usually independently owned businesses are responsible primarily for the actual footwear manufacturing. According to the American Apparel & Footwear Association, in 1965, a total of 642.4 million shoe pairs were manufactured in the United States. Thousands of footwear workers participated in labor protests against giants like Nike and Reebok in 2002. Newsweek International reported that Marikina's footwear industry has been vital to the Philippines economy for decades. In the mid-1980s, the Philippines was a big shoe exporter to the United States and other countries.
