Global Wardrobe: You Give Us Ten Labels, We’ll Give You the World
Purpose
The purpose of this writing assignment is to demonstrate how your everyday life is deeply embedded in a globalized world.
Time Estimate
Approximately 1.5 hours
Directions
Go through some of your clothing/shoes and list the following information for six different items:
Type of item (hat, coat, t-shirt, athletic shoes, etc.)
Brand of item
Approximate cost of item (your best guess)
Country where it was made
Type up your answers in a list, then pick three different countries from your list and go to the World Factbook website.
Find the following information for those three countries plus the United States and Japan:
GDP (Gross Domestic Product)
GDP per capita (per person)
Industries
Exports
Export partners
Total population
Poverty rate %
In addition, for each country listed, note the year in which it achieved independence from a colonial imperial power (or the official date of independence.) You can
find these dates at the Independence Day wiki?https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_national_independence_days?.
Add your answers in list form to your saved document.
Finally, below your lists, write 2-3 paragraphs about your findings (4-5 lines per paragraph).
Items you should address in your final paragraphs include:
What is your anthropologically informed reaction to any of the information you found?
Was it what you might have expected to find? Why or why not?
Was there anything you found that was particularly surprising, given what you learned in Chapters 14 and 15?
How does what you found demonstrate the global flow of goods as it relates to economic inequalities between highly developed nations and those in development?
What do your clothes tell you about the global marketplace?
Remember to reference, and draw upon, relevant content in the textbook readings for this week to help support and illustrate your responses.