I have used the term the White Woman's Burden. Unlike Kipling's poem which shows the harsh, masculine world of colonialism and enforced governmental control (which also still continues today), the White Woman's Burden in the contemporary world is the justification of this exploitation in the fast fashion industry that the female workers in sweat shops are better off with this form of employment. This inherently undermines any agency to these women of colour, and perpetuates the myth that European, modern people are better at controlling economies and governments.
And I do see the line of thought here. Any job is better than no job. However, this argument has been produced for centuries, and was seen as one of the rebuttals produced by pro-slavery advocates against abolition. The idea was, without the institution of slavery, the enslaved people of African descent, thousands of miles from their homeland, would not have a place to work, and so were better off enslaved in an American plantation. And the idea today, is that without the system of sweated labour to produce disposable items for the enjoyment of Westerners, people in these developing countries would have no work. The chance of people working to fulfill their own needs and desires, rather than the desires of the capitalist Western world? Impossible.
In reality, people are not better off because you bought into the capitalist advertisement for a one pound bikini, or some luxury good. In case you didn't know, places outside of the Western world ruled themselves pretty well before European colonial powers came and started exploiting everyone everywhere. Pre-colonial African and Asian history is filled with cases of great civilizations with beautiful architecture, brilliant academics and religious teachers - with trade across the Sahara, across the Indian ocean and across the Mediterranean. News flash: People of colour do not need the help of white people to run a country successfully! In fact, the intervention of Europeans into the economies and politics of other countries has actually caused much more damage than benefit.
In Walter Rodney's brilliant work How Europe Underdeveloped Africa, he articulates the history of Africa prior to European exploitation, and how the intervention of European colonial powers stunted African development. In forcing subsistence agricultural economies to switch towards a capitalist cash-crop model, European colonial powers helped to create more instances of famine, and hinder indigenous economic growth in favour of European financial gain. Though we often read a work like this in the context of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, it is necessary to view the contemporary world through this history. European underdevelopment of other nations is still happening across the world today. The laptop I am currently writing on has a high probability of being related to underdevelopment, child slavery and sweat shops, from the mining of the minerals needed to create it, to its construction in a factory. The same with my phone, my makeup and my jewellery.
The fast fashion industry is also inherently a part of this system of underdevelopment and exploitation. And the justification that the workers in sweat shops need this form of employment is a derogatory statement, borne out of the white supremacist beliefs that justified the development of European Empires. Though most countries have been granted political independence from these empires, the economic system is still booming, and we cannot continue to justify this mistreatment of people around the world in favour of a white supremacist economic system.
This International Womens's Day, please think less of the needs of White Feminism, like treating yourself to a cute bodycon, or a nice necklace, and rather, integrate socialist, anti-colonial and anti-racist thinking into your worldview. It is a hard task to fight the lure of capitalist advertisement and completely change your buying habits so that you are not harming anyone in the process. Even if you shopped solely in charity shops, the scandal of the sexual exploitation by Oxfam workers demonstrates that this is not a morally pure act. I am not asking you to be perfect in your purchasing habits, because by all means, I am not. However, we need to continue to resist the white supremacist beliefs that fill contemporary justifications for the global economic system which places colonial, white powers like Western Europe and the U.S. at the top. This International Women's day, look at your shopping habits, your political mindset, and focus on the word international. We live in an inter-connected world, and we live in an exploitative, capitalist world. So though your purchasing habits might seem like a self-care treat, try to remember that you are not the only woman affected in this process. From a utilitarian philosophical model, you are probably doing more harm than good if you are buying from a fast-fashion business.
I really do not think wearing the sweat and tears of a woman of colour who is struggling to feed her family is a good look. Fight against capitalism, resist colonialism and educate others this International Woman's Day. We can change this abominable system of sweated labour. And we will.
