TEACHING AND LEARNING

JUST DO IT? Branding, fashion and Giobaiisation

A Teaching and Learning Unit in Global Citizenship for the Middle Years Warren Prior and Julie Dyer, Deakin University

Rationale
Young people have been recognised by advertisers (and parents!) as huge consumers of popular culture, including fashion, music, food, technologies and leisure activities. Increasingly in a global world, transnational organisations have been able to capitalise on the buying power of young people by developing marketing strategies which have almost universal appeal regardless of location. This unit presents to students another view about global consumerism and in so doing asks them critically examine their personal consumer patterns. This unit introduces students to the background behind the label. In a globalised economy with multi-national companies, the buying of particular labels of clothing,-music is now possible in most countries of the world. At times we are all seduced into the slick advertising, the offer of 'specials' and the buz;^ that comes when being noticed by others with our 'global gear'. As parents we are also likely to have participated in the sometimes irrational and very emotional purchasing of these items - the 'must-haves'. But let's be frank We are all seduced at times into this world of 'fashion-buying', Tlie argument is made that this unit enables students to explore a wide range of issues, to further enhance their inquiry skills, to reflect on their attitudes and values about global branding and to consider forms of social action. All of these goals we believe, are valuable in the development of young people as active and engaging citizens in a globalised world. This unit has been written by Warren Prior and Julie Dyer Deakin University, as part of a series of Global Citizenship units for the Discovering Democracy website (not vet araitabte).

Teacher Notes
in a globalised economy, citizen and consumer roles involve a common domain of behaviour that is increasingly related to public policy issues linking economics and politics. Indicators oi" this trend in Australia include: an increasing role for governments in the economy ;i,s regulator and as a partner in private enterprises an increase in the privatisation of key public facilities an increasing impact of multinational corporations on global consumer patterns a growing concern for the social responsibility of corporate behaviour an emerging concern for the ecological consequences of consumption This unit explores the two way processes of Australian goods being placed on the global market place and also the impact of overseas developed labels finding their way into the Australian market place, [t explores social, poiitical, economic an ethical issues associated with the production of these items, for example, social justice issues and impacts on the environment in both the countries of production and the countries at point of sales. The assumption is made that for many young people the purch:ising of clothes and music places them in a pressured position of 'slaves to fashion'. Here is a topic/issue where it is possible to make direct links between the daily 'cultural' practices of young people and a number of broad social issues. Capitalising on this connection might reveal a generation gap betvi'een you and your students! It might also entail sensitive issues about parental buying patterns. It will

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certainly involve factors of inclusion/exclusion, haves/ have-nots, and the power of the dollar. References will be made mostly to fashion, but this are just one area for consideration. Opportunities exist to explore similar issues in other areas such as music, sport and food. It would be possible therefore to encourage students to explore their area of choice, to engage in collaborative group work with presentations of a range of areas and to utilise the power of the WW^' to gather data. The broad approach to this unit involves three phases. 1. An analysis of your students and other young people's current consumer patterns. 2. A broad understanding of global economies and global transnational corporations. 3. Reflecting on the implications of their actions and considering possible alternative approaches to consumerism.

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Globalisation Citizenship Interdependence Consumerism Multinational corporations Social Justice

Long term goals

This unit will eiiabie to students to: utilise technologies to gain an understanding of a 'typical' transnational corporation. explore the marketing of the label investigate the implications associated with ranking countries on a global economic ladder understand and reflect on global employment practices and their links to principles of Human Rights think creatively about solutions and alternatives to their current buying patterns

Concepts
The following concepts will be developed throughout this unit:

Local/Global goals
This unit will enable students to; enhance competencies in acquiring and processing information enhance competencies in assessing involvement and stake in political/economic/social issues, decisions and policies develop a sense of iudgment when buying 'labelled' items. " enhance skills in collaborative research and presentation of findings. develop skills in conducting interviews and surveys identify appropriate strategies for taking social action in response to an issue.

Skills
Specific skills/competencies to be developed throughout the unit: Collecting, analysing and organising information Communicating ideas and information Planning and organising activities Working with others and in teams Solving problems Using technology

1. What are my current consumer patterns?

Concepts: Consumerism and Multinational corporations What influences me buying an item of clothing or music? How important is the label when buying items? 1.1 What label is that? Students bring to class items or advertising materials illustrating what they consider to he top global clothing/fashion labels
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Discussion of what makes a label a 'top' label. Survey a small sample of people from an older generation about their views about 'top' labels. What differences are there in consumer patterns? Why? Students develop a ranked list of criteria for use when buying items, for example, value for money, durability, label, locally made. 1.2 Where in the world.? Ask students to do an analysis of the clothes (or music, food, leisure products) currently forming the major part of their wardrobe (the activity could be broadened to include a larger sample of students from a nuige of yeai" levels, or from anollier generation, eg. pai'ents) An alternative might be, in a school without compulsory school uniform, to list the items of clothing currently being worn by sUideiiLs. With your students develop a checklist for understanding their clothing wardrobe, for example, label, country where the clothes were made, place where clothes were bought, composition of clotlies, age of clothes, etc. Graph the results and/or ask students to write a brief summary of the data. Plot the findings on a world map in order to gain a global perspective of the distribution of manufacturing locations.

2. Why did I buy it? (The psychology of buying)

How do advertisers and manufacturers get me to buy my clothes? What do I know about who makes my clothes and where they come from?

!\iJii//H^. (.himi - Cbhtd hritndmg behind liwal issues

The students can work on this activity both in class at home with a presentation being made, perhaps by power-point. Activity 2.2

2.1 Scenario
Your parents have recognised the need for you to buy another piiir of shoes. Tliey have agreed to give you $80 Ciiih. You have discussed the possihilitv' of some of your relatives ;ilso giving you some money, probably about $25, for your birthday in four weeks time. Currently you have about S30 in your special money jar from doing some jobs around the house and/or a part-time job. The students' task is to develop an action plan to buy a pair of shoes. The plan/report should, for example, include: realistic current prices, a rationale for the style of chosen shoes, a description of, drawing of, photograph of, the shoes an outline the factors influencing the buying of the particular style of shoe. a prediction about what might be the reaction of their parents to the selection of the shoes. a prediction about what might be the reaction of their peers to the selection of the shoes.

Invite a speaker to your class who is involved on marketing to discuss the practices adopted by advertisers to sell products. Encourage your students to develop a set of questions to ask the speaker Make a video recording of a number of television, advertisements, cut out print media advertisements, and audio record some radio advertisements for products made by international corporations. You might ask students to choose the products, perhaps a range, or to select the same product in a range of media. Identify a company, for example, the Body Shop, that attempts to combine both marketing strategies and ethical concerns about raw materials, working conditions, etc. Discuss why they approach their business in this way and what impact, if any, it has on your buying of their products.

Activity 2.3
Some companies are truly global players in that they operate in many countries of the world. If we believe in the idea of social justice and human rights, an understanding of their activities

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might provide useful information when making decisions about buying their products. Website investigation Locate :i number of international corporations that have company websites, for example. NIKE. ROXY. BIU.ABONG, OAKLEY, COa COIA Locate their headquarters, owners, areas of distribution of sales, scale of operation, effectiveness of the website. Collect a copy of your chosen company's advertising brochure, poster, etc for display in your classroom. Using this data develop a company profile Some questions which might frame your investigation are: What does the company sell? What strategies do they use to sell their products? How persuasive do you fiud their marketing strategies? 3 Can you be both a global citizen and a giobal consumer? How docs the global fashion industry work? What's my role in being a consumer of global liishion? Activity 3.1 Encourage your class to investigate a case study of a worker in a multinational corporation. A web-based example of a useful source is: <http://www.caa.org.au/pr/i997/ghosts.html> What are the facts of the case study ? Are some facts missing? What else is needed in order to make it a convincing case? How are these working conditions able to exist? What is the responsibility, if any. of the employer? What is the responsibilit}', if any, of governments? What is our responsibility, as individual citizens, if any to the situation? Activity 3.2 There are number of interesting websites that focus on global consumerism and the links to exploitation of workers, particularly in the clothes industry Here are some examples, and you may discover many more websites during your inve.stigation. <http://www.saigon.com/~nike> (NIKE Boycott campaign) <http://www.cleancl0thes.0rg/l/> (Cleanclothes Campaign) <http://www.vic.uca.org.au/fairwear> (Fairwear) <http://www.sweatshopwatcli.org> (Sweatshop Watch) There are a number of issues that could be taken using these sites, including gaining an understanding of exploitation of workers, campaign strategics, geuerai issues of social justice, tlie fairness oi' the sites, the implications for us as consumers.. To balance this approach your students could then look at work place benchmarks established by global organizations.
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Some useful websites are: <http://www.crin.ch/> (Children's Rights Information Network) <http://.www.ilo.org/> (International Labour Organisation) <http://www.oneworld.org/oxfam> (Oxfam's Clothes Campaign) <http://www.senser.com/> (Human Rights for Workers) Students could then return to their earlier investigation of the multinational corporation's sites for a three way comparative analysis and evaluation study. Some questions that might be asked include: Is there enough evidence to clearly support one side of the issue? If not, what other evidence is needed? What are the views of your students? Is there consensus? Why/Why not? If there is a problem what are some solutions? What forms of social action appear to be both appropriate and effective?
Note the four units as part of this series on Gtohat Citizenship are yet to appear on the Discovering Democracy website.

Indonesia: Causes of conflict and resolution (cont. from page 20)

These organisations are the direct linear descendants of radical Islam going back to the 1940s. Trace the lineage of the individuals who lead these organisations, their philosophy, their influence their history, it all goes hack to 1976, 1978 when there was a brief resurgence of some these groups and in turn goes back to 1950s to the Darul Islam rebellion and in turn goes back to the Islamic guerrillas - the Islamic groups who fought against the Dutch in the 1940s and tliese in turn drew on the Wahabism the purist form of orthodox Isiam which came out of Saudi Arabia in the early 18th century

Conciusion
Tliese inllucnccs are now coming into the fore; economic chaos prevails; and there is an elite which historically has been a disengaged community going back to the mandala model. The one thing that has happened is that the centre does not engage with the group where it does not see the interest of the group that is being contrary to its own interests, that is the periphery is there to be exploited and not there to be nourished or nurtured or to be developed which of course leads to resentment in tlie periphery So you find in the centre a iiigh level of corruption. Among the elite which are the centre you find a high level of self aggrandisement of self image at the expense of the local little people and the group which again feeds its notion of separation of values. I think this starts to explain why we have a myriad of problems in Indonesia now and why they continue. The causes of conflict are therefore relatively easy to discern. The issue of resolution, however, is much more intractable, and for this, I do not have a solution,
Ethos : Volume 12, No 2 : May 2004