A Walk in Your Shoes

A Walk in Your Shoes

Andrea Mavroides
ENG 1003 03
Dr. Cassatly
April 6th, 2010

Mavroides 1


A Walk in Your Shoes
Merriam-Webster defines globalization as the development of an increasingly integrated global economy marked especially by free trade, free flow of capital, and the tapping of cheaper foreign labor markets. This phenomenon has affected many Third World countries including, India, South America, and Africa. Two authors, Marie Javdani and Chitra Divakruni, have written essays concerning the effects of globalization which include problems with legislation and the effects of America’s actions.
According to the Indian government, there are over 20 million child laborers. How can this be? Carpet weaving industries pay very low wages to child laborers and make them work for long hours in unhygienic conditions. Many families depend on their child’s income, which forces them to endure the onerous work conditions in the carpet factories (childlabor.in). In “Live Free or Starve” Chitra Divakruni describes how a bill that deals with overseas Child Labor could detrimentally affect millions of lives in India. The bill Divakruni addresses is The Child Labor Deterrence Act of 1993, which prohibits importing to the U.S. any product made, whole or in part, by children under 15 who are employed in industry (Burton).
In her essay Divakruni acknowledges this is a despicable act but, she states, “It is easy for us in America to make the error of evaluating situations in the rest of the world as if there were happening in this country and propose excellent situations that make excellent sense – in the context of our society” (Divakruni 443). Divakruni then begins to describe an instance in her childhood when her family took in a servant named Nimai and how the impoverished children of that village would beg for a fraction of a penny. She then describes Nimai feeling very proud and “walking a...

Similar Essays