Where am I Wearing?: A Global Tour to the Countries, Factories, and People That Make Our Clothes

Timmerman has loved flip-flops since wearing them as a SCUBA instructor in Key West, Florida. He associates them with fun activities and vacations. However, he realizes that workers in developing countries wear flip-flops because they are cheap and easy to repair.

Timmerman goes to a factory with his translator to talk to the workers outside. He meets a couple in their thirties, Zhu Chun and her husband, Dewan. They take Timmerman back to their windowless one-room apartment, mainly taken up by a bed. Zhu Chun and Dewan claim that they usually work between nine and 12 hours daily. Their 13-year-old son, Li Xin, lives with Dewan’s father in a village 30 hours away by train. It has been three years since they last saw him. Timmerman notices that they have no photos of their son on display and seem strangely emotionless when talking about him. The couple confirms that they make Teva flip-flops. Zhu Chun sews them, and Dewan paints them. Both express satisfaction with their life, stating that they are paid about $140-$225 monthly. Timmerman is puzzled by the encounter.

Timmerman recalls working in the footwear department of an outdoor store. When a woman asked for hiking boots not made in China, he realized that the store only stocked one pair. In college, he was taught about globalization and “the race to the bottom” (155), whereby Western companies outsource manufacturing to countries where the labor is cheapest and the workers are “most desperate.” China is winning the race to the bottom since it has trade advantages over other countries, including a vast supply of workers who lack democratic human rights. Timmerman’s sociology lecturer pointed out that the United States opposes China politically but supports the country economically through trade.

Timmerman takes Dewan and Zhu Chun to lunch and again asks how many hours they work. This time, the couple admits that they work between 80 and 100 hours over a seven-day week and haven’t had a day off in a month. Chinese labor laws state that employees should work a maximum of 203.4 hours per month, but the reality is entirely different. The couple does not get paid for overtime. Instead, they are instructed to clock out and continue working. If they complained, they would be fired. The couple confesses that they did not tell the truth initially because they thought that Timmerman was a customer. In China, there is no one to protect workers’ rights. Labor unions are run by the Communist Party, and public gatherings are illegal.

Dewan and Zhu Chun reveal that they took out a loan and had a two-story house built in their village. They want to return to their village for a better quality of life. However, they cannot move in with their son and his grandfather yet because they must pay off the medical bills that Dewan’s mother incurred before she died. They anticipate that it will be at least five years before they can do so. Zhu Chun admits that she misses her son and family. Timmerman offers to pay for them to take him to their village. The couple cannot take the time off work, but they give him the address to visit alone.

Timmerman watches men fishing in the Yangtze River in the shadow of the world’s largest dam. The Three Gorges Dam is 607 feet high and nearly a mile and a half wide. The dam’s hydropower will supply the growing population with electricity. However, the project will likely displace over five million people by its completion.

In the nearby city of Zigui, Timmerman interviews local people about their opinions on the dam. Zhou Zhi, who owns a restaurant on the river’s banks, reveals that her family grew oranges and that her home is now underwater. She claims that the dam has improved her life, as the $10,000 compensation from the government allowed her family to build the restaurant. Zhou Zhi’s neighbor, Wang Kai, was also an orange farmer and is now a handyman. He admits that he loved farming but, like Zhou Zhi, lists the benefits of the dam. The lack of complaints disconcerts Timmerman. In the United States, individuals affected by such changes would be outraged.

Timmerman reasons that the dam is part of China’s “growing pains” as a developing country. Recalling his childhood vacations at Lake Cumberland in southern Kentucky, he points out that the United States went through a similar process. Lake Cumberland was created in 1950 by the damming of the Cumberland River. Several small towns were flooded to make it, causing divided opinions among those affected. Families who had lived on their land for generations were displaced. However, Lake Cumberland prevented flood damage, produced hydroelectricity, and became a profitable tourist destination.

Timmerman describes how “the Northeastern United States was once the bottom” (165). Female textile and garment workers had few rights, as demonstrated by the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in 1911. The “bottom” then moved South and finally overseas. While this is the typical trajectory of developing countries, Timmerman expresses concern that China’s communist regime will prevent workers’ rights and pay from improving. He states that there is no evidence that democracies trading with China will improve the country’s human rights record. In fact, as Levi’s demonstrated, Western businesses are more likely to lower their ethical standards to outsource to China. Timmerman points out that the lack of workers’ rights in China is not limited to the garment industry. In 2007, 450 brick workers were rescued from a bare room where they had been imprisoned. The men were malnourished and had severe burns from carrying red-hot bricks on their backs. Several of their coworkers had starved to death, and another was beaten to death with a shovel.

Timmerman and his translator visit a rural village to see Dewan and Zhu Chun’s son, Li Xin, and his grandfather, Zuyang. They also meet Dewan’s sister, Ling Chang, and her daughter. Curious neighbors soon congregate at the house. The building has no running water, and Li Xin and his grandfather share a bed. Dewan and Zhu Chun’s upstairs bedroom is empty.

Timmerman shows the family a recent photograph of Dewan and Zhu Chun. Their relatives approvingly comment on how the couple has gotten “fat” while living in the city. Timmerman notices that almost everyone present is a grandparent or a child. He learns that the older villagers’ adult children work in the city and send money home. Zuyang states that the advantages of rural life are being one’s own boss and fresh air. However, resources are more abundant in the city. Lin Chang reveals that she used to work in the same factory as Dewan, but now she farms while caring for her daughter. In the city, she worked 15-16 hours daily and now works only two or three. She nevertheless insists that life in the city is “better” since it is more profitable and “modern” and the food is better. The author reflects that he cannot judge which lifestyle is better for Chinese people since in the United States, it is possible to live in the countryside while still enjoying plentiful resources.

Timmerman limits himself to a food budget of less than $3—the amount Dewan and Zhu Chun live on. He admits that the gesture is “pathetic” when compared with the actions of Jim Keady. Keady was a graduate assistant soccer coach at St. John’s University in 1997. The university had a lucrative contract with Nike, and the sports teams were contractually obligated to wear the brand. However, after researching Nike’s labor sources in developing countries, Keady refused to wear anything made by the company. He was forced to quit and became a labor activist. Keady went to Indonesia and survived on the daily budget of Nike workers for a month ($1.25). He lived in a cement room in an unsanitary neighborhood as an act of solidarity with the workers.

Timmerman outlines the theory of French sociologist Emile Durkheim. Durkheim argued that different labor sectors of society have a symbiotic relationship “like organs of the body” (180). As individuals, people depend on other people’s skills, so solidarity is essential. Timmerman suggests that his skills as a writer are relatively insignificant in their contribution to society. However, he relies on others to make his clothes—a more essential role. Timmerman wonders whether his most useful function is as a consumer. If so, restricting what he buys betrays his responsibility toward “social solidarity” (180).

Timmerman visits a Chinese Walmart and notes how it differs from its American counterparts. The Walmart has no parking lot and is inside a shopping mall. Barbie dolls dominate the single toy aisle. Meanwhile, there is an alligator in the fish section and live snakes in a tank. Timmerman feels disgusted when he sees expensive flat-screen TVs on sale, as only the rich can afford them in China. He then reminds himself that a flat-screen TV was the first thing that he and Annie bought for their new house.

The Chinese store manager, Tony, says that the number of Walmarts in China is growing. When Timmerman explains that most American Walmart products are made in China, Tony confirms that the same is true there. Timmerman tries to get to know Tony on a more personal level, but Tony keeps returning to Walmart’s merits. Timmerman hopes that Dewan and Zhu Chun can someday afford to shop here like other middle-class Chinese people.

Zhu Chun and her husband invite Timmerman for dinner. Dewan is late since he had to visit the doctor and was made to finish his work at the factory without clocking in. Timmerman has discovered that Pat Devaney, the vice president of Global Sourcing for Deckers Outdoor, earns $200,000 per year plus a bonus. He works out that Devaney makes more in three days than Dewan or Zhu Chun earns in a year. He shares this information with Dewan and Zhu Chun since he feels that the couple should know that their pay is inadequate. Timmerman answers the couple’s questions about his life, including the cost of his flight to China and the value of his house. He realizes that guilt previously stopped him from sharing these details with interviewees.

Timmerman gives the couple a framed photograph of Li Xin, which he took during his visit. Zhu Chun expresses concern that her son looks skinny and stores the picture under the bed. Timmerman realizes that the couple may find displaying photographs of their absent son painful. Dewan suggests that Timmerman needs a Chinese name. He suggests Xiong Di, which means “brother.”

In 2009, 25 million Chinese workers lost their jobs due to the West’s economic recession. By 2010, the economy had improved. However, by this time, many young Chinese people had taken the opportunity to attend university. Since more factory workers were needed but the labor market was limited, wages increased in Guangzhou by 40% and continued to do so. Timmerman hopes that these events have benefited Dewan and Zhu Chun. Their telephone numbers are out of service, so he has been unable to contact them.

In 2011, Timmerman visits Deckers Outdoor’s California headquarters but learns that Pat Devaney now works at a different branch. Timmerman leaves a copy of Where Am I Wearing? for Jaime, his other contact at the company. Shortly afterward, Deckers Outdoor officially responds to the company’s portrayal in the book, stating that its “transparency” has improved since 2007. Factory addresses are now publicly available, and monitoring systems are in place to check suppliers and factories.