Rana Plaza - ten years on

Regular readers will know that I have been involved with the work of the Follow the Things project for some time now.

This is a project based at Exeter University, which started with the work of Professor Ian Cook, exploring global supply chains, trade justice and the stories of the things that we own and consume.

One of the associated projects that explores this area is Fashion Revolution Day.

We are approaching the tenth anniversary of the Rana Plaza tragedy on Monday and a pack of materials has been produced to help teachers and students think through its significance and the wider question of 'who made my clothes?' 

The education materials can be seen and downloaded at this page.

There are also Top Trumps cards to be made as part of the activity, exploring the impact of globalisation.
Ian Cook writes about using the cards here. Make sure that you are using the most up to date Transparency Index.

We will be using the materials at my school with Year 8 in some format and marking the tenth anniversary of Rana Plaza.

Happy Earth Day 2023

Happy Earth Day!

Dennis Hayes started the first event back in 1970.


‘Preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we’ve ever known’ - Carl Sagan

#EarthDay2023 #ClimateChange is about consumption of the very richest people in our global society.

50% of global emissions are emitted by just 10% of the population.

90% of global emissions by 50% of the population.

We need to recognise climate justice to save our planet pic.twitter.com/qhZoOTVqeG

— Professor Mark Maslin 👍 (@ProfMarkMaslin) April 22, 2023

and a cartoon:

Ella Baron on #EarthDay2023 #ClimateEmergency – political cartoon gallery in London https://t.co/dePcTdnXF6 pic.twitter.com/u9LJCcKNHC

— Political Cartoon (@Cartoon4sale) April 22, 2023

As part of Earth Day, why not have a go at the Sustainable Fashion Quiz, which links closely with our Fashion topic in Year 8.

Rana Plaza trial about to start

In 2013, when I joined King's Ely, I introduced a unit drawing on the work of Fashion Revolution: an organisation that started on the day of the collapse of the Rana Plaza factory in Savar, Dhaka, Bangladesh in April 2013.

The owner of the factory fled after the collapse, and was eventually arrested but actually charged initially with tax offenses rather than mass murder...

The Rana Plaza collapse was one of several similar incidents, some including fires rather than collapses, and people trapped by poor attention to health and safety.

Ian Cook et al completed some work exploring the lead up to the collapse, using LEGO reconstructions.

A few weeks ago, someone tweeted from the Dhaka Tribune that the murder trial is finally going to get underway and over 500 witnesses are going to be called.

Made in Bangladesh...

Year 8 will be familiar with the links between their clothes and the countries where they are made. We looked at the situation where Rosa (from Manila in the Philippines) took Rosa (from the UK)'s job manufacturing clothing, but was then prone to being exploited, with the rise of factories called sweatshops. We also discussed the fact that not all factories in these countries are sweatshops...

We also mentioned the Rana Plaza disaster, just over a year ago, when a factory collapsed in part of Dhaka, Bangladesh, and over a thousand workers were killed. Labels from many UK high street stores were found in the rubble, and implicated in the decision to keep the factories in the building open despite safety concerns.

Although Bangladesh are not going to be playing football in the World Cup finals, they will be 'represented'. The Brazilian team's kit is going to be made in Bangladesh and will also have the words 'Made in Bangladesh' on the bottom of the shirt, as well as on the label.

For more on the issues, check the Follow the Things website and resources, which Mr Parkinson was involved in writing.