ABSTRACT
The garment industry is particularly associated with women and work. On the production side, women form the backbone of the garment industry's labor force. On the consumption side, women are a targeted market segment because they are more likely the household purchasers of clothing. Furthermore, in the process of producing and marketing garments, this industry has played an important role in integrating women immigrants of various racial and ethnic backgrounds into American society, and has served as a social context wherein important labor struggles have occurred. However, in the late twentieth century, the garment industry's use of production facilities and marketing networks organized on a global scale has meant that there are both increasing worker exploitation and greater challenges for labor organization.
