Introduction

This introductory chapter lays out characteristics of the Bangladeshi garment industry that led to the Rana Plaza tragedy. Using the literature around international interventions, it makes several arguments critiquing the strategies of the international brands and buyers after the disaster. At the end, the chapter lays out innovations in rethinking the global supply chain, direct worker empowerment through the use of technology, community initiatives, the enforcement of gender protections, and a renewed role for the domestic private sector, the Bangladeshi government, and international buyers.