Foreign Capital and Garment Export from Myanmar: Implications for the Labour Process
Main Article Content
Abstract
This paper examines the impact of foreign capital inflows on employment, wages and skills, in the export-oriented garment manufacturing sector of Myanmar. The paper argues that global developments driven by the World Trade Organisation have stimulated foreign capital inflows into Myanmar in export-oriented labour-intensive industries such as garment manufacturing. Despite a rise in exports to countries such as Japan, the paper provides evidence to show that international economic and political isolation and poor infrastructure have left Myanmar’s workers vulnerable to the vicissitudes of capitalist exploitation. Women particularly face a highly uncertain future as the poor working conditions include very low wages, little exposure to training and transient work. It is clear that the host-government is the critical agent here to ensure cohesive integration in the global economy as well as to provide the basic infrastructure and the bargaining power required to leverage improvements in working conditions of garment workers in Myanmar.
Downloads
Article Details
Submission of a manuscript implies: that the work described is original, has not been published before (except in the form of an abstract or as part of a published lecture, review, or thesis); that is not under consideration for publication elsewhere; that its publication has been approved by all co-authors, if any, as well as tacitly or explicitly by the responsible authorities at the institution where the work was carried out. Transfer of copyright to the University of Malaya becomes effective if and when the article is accepted for publication. The copyright covers the exclusive right to reproduce and distribute the article, including reprints, translations, photographic reproductions, microform, electronic form (offline and online) or other reproductions of similar nature.
An author may self-archive the English language version of his/her article on his/her own website and his/her institutions repository; however he/she may not use the publishers PDF version which is posted on www.ijie.um.edu.my. Furthermore, the author may only post his/her version, provided acknowledgement is given to the original source of publication and a link must be accompanied by the following text: The original publication is available at www.ijie.um.edu.my.
All articles published in this journal are protected by copyright, which covers the exclusive rights to reproduce and redistribute the article (e.g. as offprint), as well as all translation rights. No material published in this journal may be reproduced photographically or stored on microfilm, in electronic database, video disks, etc., without first obtaining written permission from the publishers. The use of general descriptive names, trade names, trademarks, etc., in this publication, even if not specifically identified, does not imply that these names are not protected by the relevant laws and regulations.
The copyright owners consent does not include copying for general distribution, promotion, new works, or resale. In these cases, specific written permission must first be obtained from the publishers.