Annette Stock '05 has a modest
goal: “I want people to look at the tags when they put their clothes on in the
morning.”
Stock is just back from China,
where she used a mini-term at Tianjin University School of Traditional Medicine
to lay the groundwork for an extensive study about Chinese perceptions of their
labor economy.
The work will become the basis for
her senior thesis, about which she says, “I want it to be amazing. I want to
put as much time into this as I can.”
Stock said she wants to raise the
consciousness of American consumers, especially her fellow college students, to
make them aware that their purchases have a direct impact on people halfway
around the globe.
About five years ago, college
students across the country learned from various labor organizations that their
colleges and universities were investing and contracting with companies who
used so-called sweatshop labor. These students wanted a stricter code, designed to ensure that factories producing clothing and other goods
bearing school names respect the basic rights of workers. Over 100
colleges, including Union, withdrew from the Fair Labor
Association (FLA) and joined the Workers Rights Consortium (WRC). These campus boycotts helped call attention
to the plight of workers in China
and other countries.
Now, Stock wants to take what she
calls a “second step,” raising awareness so that consumers will push for
humanitarian support to those workers.
Stock, a native of St.
Johnsbury, Vt., is a senior
political science major with a minor in philosophy. She is a president of both Pi
Sigma Alpha (political science honor society), and the College's chapter of
Amnesty International.
Her idea to study Chinese views on
labor began to take shape during a class called Politics of China with Prof. Ted
Gilman, and came into sharper focus during an American Higher Education seminar
with Prof. Terry Weiner. She has also been aided
by Prof. Richard Fox, her political science advisor, and Prof. Jianping Feng, the leader of the China
mini-term. “So many Union faculty came together to make my project possible,”
she said. “Without their help I would have never left Schenectady!”
Her visit to China
was supported by a grant from the East Asian Studies Department, with funding
from the Freeman Foundation.
By interviewing Chinese citizens,
Stock hopes to gain a deeper understanding of their perception of sweatshops.
“It's such an important issue,” she said. “College students are painfully
unaware of the international labor economy, especially about the complex nature
of sweatshops.”
Stock, a member of the executive
committee for the Minerva Houses, said she plans to return to China with the
contacts she has developed at Tianjian University, where one dean circulated
her questionnaires to the students in his classes.
“We don't even know what the
Chinese think,” she said. “Having more information may allow consumers to look
at other alternatives.”
Stock credits faculty support and
her experience in Minerva's Green House, where she lived last year, for helping
develop her leadership skills. “If you have a good goal and want to make a
difference,” she said, “Union can give you the support
to reach it.”
Stock said she is considering law
school, but plans to take a year to do humanitarian work, most likely in China.