ABSTRACT
Discourses on globalization are characterized by references to interstate relations, transnational corporate policies, international law, and multilateral negotiations that point to a singular and simplistic focus on ‘the economy’. The ‘data’ that reflect and reference these discourses are usually available through statistical information such as figures about trade, investment, and profit. When referring to garment production, for example, policy-makers, retailers, manufacturers, and industry experts speak of the decline of this sector in Canada in terms of global competition, free trade, export/import figures, the size of the labor force, and so forth. Rarely is the discussion focused on people – the actors, who are the real forces behind statistics and economic trends. Linking the global trends with the everyday lives of people is thus a problem for researchers of economic globalization who begin with the daily lives of people. This was the challenge we faced when we conducted a study of changes in the garment industry in Toronto, Canada, between 2001 and 2005.
