China’s Slave Labor Toy Factories and Globalization

In Mardi Gras: Made in China, we have witnessed the extremely terrible working environment of bead industry. However in the film, the manager of the factory, Roger, kept reiterating that his employees had holidays and they could even play basketball in the spare time. These statements seem ridiculous to us since we know that workers have little time for entertainment. Then, why could Roger declare with confidence that his employees were enjoying their works? The answer: his factory already treats workers much better than majority of factories.

Santa’s workshop—Inside China’s Slave Labor Toy Factories gives us a precious perspective on factory workers’ workplace environment in China. In the video, the workers told the interviewer that they usually had to work 14 hours a day, 7 days a week. There was no minimum wage—the more you work, the more you get. If you work only the normal shifts of 8 hours, you could only get ￥200，or $30 each month, which is even less than the social security aid in major cities. Therefore these workers had to work overtime “voluntarily” so as to earn enough money to make a living. Besides low wages, the workers suffer from unbearable hot environment at workplace. In the video, the narrator claimed that it was “difficult to breath” in the factory. There are also safety issues in the factories. In spite of its obvious delinquencies, the factory was seen to abide the ethic code by its customers every time they visited. In addition, there was no worker’s union in the factory to help workers strife for their rights. The commonly existence of this kind of factory in China certainly made Roger believe that he has done his best for the welfare of his workers.While workers in Roger's factory are essential parts of Mardi Gras, they do not enjoy being that particular part of the festival.

On the other hand, the factory in this video has its own difficulty: customers always want to get goods in a very short period, which could only be achieved with overtime working. To fulfill the requirement so that they can continue to get contracts, factories have to encourage their workers to work overtime to accomplish the task. Had the customers grant longer production period, the overtime could be largely avoided.

The video also inspires us to reassess the cost of globalization which was mentioned in our discussion. It is true that globalization makes goods cheaper. But the cost to the development country is substantial. The factories, committed to finish tasks on time to win future contracts, force their workers to work overtime by setting low wages for regular work time. Also as a result, the pollution to the local environment is conspicuous as mentioned in the video. In short, the industry chose developing countries to maximize profit. However, the industry takes its toll on the workers and on the environment in developing countries.

Link to the video:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6733564947664645042#

Houses of the Future

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2009/11/houses-of-the-future/7708/1/?

This article “Houses of the Future” from The Atlantic focuses on the rebuilding of the Lower Ninth Ward in New Orleans. The author highlights five different houses that have been built using modern materials and ideas as part of the effort to rebuild New Orleans. These houses, and the housing projects that have produced them, have originated from independent neighborhood projects, created by “an assortment of foundations, church groups, academics, corporate titans, Hollywood celebrities, young people with big ideas, and architects on a mission.” These new developments are rising next to houses that were destroyed in Katrina and at the same time they differ from and are influenced by their surroundings. Many on the housing designs take inspiration from traditional New Orleans housing staples- porches are nearly always included. They also try to prevent devastation from happening in the future- some houses are elevated or feature roof access in case of an emergency. Most of these projects also use green technology to reduce their environmental impact.

I connected this article to Trouble the Water. The people in the film complained that the government did not send enough help to New Orleans during Katrina and they also did not send enough help to rebuild afterwards. The evidence from this article proves that. In New Orleans, “depending on whom you talk to, government at all levels has been passive and slow-moving at best, or belligerent and actively harmful at worst.” Because of this, independent entities have some up with their own plan to try and rebuild after the disaster. With so many ideas, New Orleans has turned “into something of a Petri dish for ideas about housing and urban life.” Hopefully all these ideas will continue to take root in New Orleans and neighborhoods will be revitalized so that Katrina’s effects can be reversed.

"Belle calas, tout chaud!"

As Clyde Woods describes in “Katrina’s World,” the Bourbons ruled France and its colonies, including New Orleans, for nearly two centuries. One of the hallmarks of their colonial rule was the Code Noir, which has been seen as a progressive document ensuring that slaves in the Louisiana territory were treated more humanely than their counterparts in Anglophone North America. Of course, this humane treatment only extended to the replacement of “the rack, mutilation, and dismemberment” with such tactics as “being branded with the fleur-de-lys” (431).

One notable policy of the Code Noir was the ability of slaves to purchase their freedom. In “Calas: The Rice Fritter That Freed the Slaves,” Francis Lam discusses the role of the cala, a rice fritter originating in Ghana and similar to the more famous beignet, in the history of slavery in New Orleans. Because work was forbidden on Sundays, some slaves supposedly sold calas on the street on that day in order to raise funds to buy their freedom. The tradition of selling calas on the street continued past the end of the Code Noir and outlived slavery in the United States, only ending around World War II.

As a result, calas are deeply entwined with the history of free and enslaved blacks in New Orleans. In fact, calas were not only sold by slaves, but by free blacks as well. And some slaves were selling at their owner’s behest, earning money for their master rather than their freedom. One of the most prominent cala chefs, Poppy Tooker, repeats the comment “I think if you have the calas tradition in your family and y'all think you're all-white folks, you have to look a little harder.” As Lam concludes, this intermingling of cultures is what makes New Orleans distinct among American cities.

Fleur de Lis Blooms as Symbol of Katrina

I found this article about the Fleur de Lis and post Katrina New Orleans. The symbol originally represented french monarchy and was brought to the US to show France's influence in Louisiana and Quebec. It later transformed, however, into a profound icon for those affected by hurricane Katrina. The image of the Fleur de Lis has underlying social and political meaning for those trying to rebuild their lives after the storm; people of all races, classes, and ages. The image offers individual meaning (as a symbol of defiance) as well as communal meaning (as a symbol of the restoration of New Orleans the city). The article draws a comparison between the Katrina Fleur de Lis to the iconic image of the three firefighters raising the American Flag on 9/11 (symbolic of "American resilience in the face of the murders of 2,819 innocent people"). This article explains that New Orleans residents frequently have the Fleur de Lis tattooed on their bodies, have a tendency to buy products with the symbol plastered on it, and truly believe the fluer de Lis is representative of New Orleans restoration.

http://jscms.jrn.columbia.edu/cns/2008-04-29/mabe-

katrinatattoohttp://cndls.georgetown.edu/applications/posterTool/data/users/9-11_firefighters_w_flag.jpg

I found another article that displays what the symbol represents for the restoration of the collective New Orleans community. This poster, titled "Resurrection” and created by a Louisiana native, signifies the strength and solidarity of New Orleans after Katrina. Part of the proceeds from the poster sales go to New Orleans Habitat for Humanities projects.

http://everythingandnothing.typepad.com/katrinaartists/

New Orleans woman being considered for Sainthood

I found an article about a New Orleans nun, Henriette Delille, who worked caring for cast-off slaves in antebellum New Orleans. She's being considered for sainthood by the Vatican. On Monday, Pope Benedict XVI declared Delille to be "venerable," which is two steps away from formally being recognized as a saint. The article claims that "Delille's story could have happened only in pre-Civil War New Orleans." The city contained a large, eclectic group of people from different racial, social, and economic backgrounds. Delille was a French-speaking woman of African descent, which is speaks to the diversity of races and unique cultures found in the city to this very day. There are many connections to be made to things we have discussed in class. First of all, Delille's story reminds me of the pastor in the graphic novel, New Orleans AD, who went back to the city to care for victims of Katrina. Religious leaders often have an important role in rebuilding communities. Also, the fact that Delille could canonized for caring for cast-off slaves reminds one of New Orleans' tumultuous past and the racial tensions that still exist in the city. For example, there are the rather baseless claims that the government did not respond so quickly to Katrina because it was mostly minority communities that had to bare the brunt of the damage. Regardless, Dellile's story is an important example of New Orleans culture.

Here is a link to the article: http://www.nola.com/religion/index.ssf/2010/03/henriette_delille_moves_closer_to_sainthood_for_work_with_new_orleans_slaves.html

Self-Empowerment or Self-Exploitation?

“What they really need to do is self-exploit.”

Vibrant in color and garishly adorned with beads, shining rhinestones and feathers, the traditional costumes of the Mardi Gras Indians celebrate the bounty of life and serve to lay their claim to the space around them. They are physical manifestations of the process that brings them together in camaraderie, sharing skills, attitudes, and traditions as they build their elaborate suits. This year, however, Indians have a new goal in mind: making money.

In Campbell Robertson’s article Want to Use My Suit? Then Throw Me Something (NYTimes), he explains a recent movement among participants in the Indian ritual to seek copyright protection for their suits. Frustrated with the pictures snapped of their costumes each Mardi Gras, proponents of the copyrights hope to receive financial compensation for the photos. One photographer who Robertson interviewed, Christopher Porché West said, “What they really need to do is self-exploit. If they want to make money from their culture, they should find a way to commodify it and bring that to the market.”

The comments in the article brought to my mind the questions raised by Lipsitz’s piece concerning the Mardi Gras Indian ritual’s role as a counter-narrative. It’s clear that the influence of commercial culture has altered the folk tradition, but it also demonstrates the ability of a marginalized group to introduce their values into popular culture. Still, now I’m left wondering, does the Indians’ opposition to the pictures challenge a form of exploitation?... or does it simply highlight the unequal resources and opportunities which define life in New Orleans society?

link to article: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/24/us/24orleans.html?scp=1&sq=new%20orleans&st=cse

Marie Laveau and Louisiana Voudou

In our class with Professor Huang, the concept of "syncretism" was mentioned, which immediately called to mind the practices of Marie Laveau, who incorporated Roman Catholic beliefs into Louisiana Voudou. Louisiana Voudou, which is different from Haitian Voodoo, was brought to the United States through the slave trade and gained great popularity as an underground religion for the French, Spanish, and Creole speaking African-American population in Lousiana. Marie Laveau herself is a mysterious figure, enhanced by the fact that Marie Laveau was actually two women- a mother and daughter with the same name. Laveau's freedom of religion was aided by her friend/mentor Pere Antoine, who allowed her to practice Catholicism by day and Voudou by night. Rumors about her Voudou practices frequently included her use of snakes, especially of her pet snake named Zombi with whom she danced during rituals. Other, more extreme rumors, claim that her Voudou rituals frequently tranformed in large orgies, sometimes involving the blood of sacrificed animals. The only things known for sure about Marie Laveau are that she was beautiful, always wore a tignon, a headdress that free women of color were required to wear as a symbol of "working, domestic, and enslaved women," and was the most powerful woman in New Orleans during her lifetime.