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Article
Moral Imagination and the Future of Sweatshops
Business and Society Review (2003)
  • laura hartman, DePaul University
  • Denis Arnold
Abstract

Disputes concerning global labor practices are at the core of contemporary debates regarding globalization. In this essay we explore two multinational corporations’ global labor programs in an effort to illustrate the positive impact of moral imagination at the individual, organizational, and systems levels on the “sweatshop” problem. The intent is to identify the factors that have allowed particular multinational corporations (MNCs) to respect at least some of the basic rights of workers and thereby exhibit positive deviancy from historical norms in the apparel and footwear manufacturing industry. The labor initiatives discussed in this paper were trailblazing at their inception. However, they have become increasingly common thereby raising stakeholder expectations to the extent that a failure to provide these basic standards is regarded as morally unacceptable.

Keywords
  • global labor,
  • sweatshops,
  • multinationals,
  • moral imagination
Publication Date
Winter 2003
Citation Information
laura hartman and Denis Arnold. "Moral Imagination and the Future of Sweatshops" Business and Society Review Vol. 108 Iss. 4 (2003)
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/laurahartman/54/