Could the Effects of Climate Change be Profitable? A case study of climate induced migration into the Bangladeshi readymade garments industry.

Abstract

This thesis examines the possibility of a relationship between climate change and profitability in Bangladesh’s readymade garment (RMG) industry. It investigates specifically the phenomenon of climate induced migration and how this may affect competition for employment in urban RMG production zones. This study was carried out through fieldwork interviews conducted with migrant female RMG employees, living in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The findings of this study conclude that climate related environmental changes constitute a significant migratory push factor, encouraging some women to move to urban areas and seek employment in RMG factories. The push factor of climate change is intertwined with the pull factor of potential RMG employment, and these are both tightly related to economic hardships and the limited employment opportunities available to women in Bangladesh. With the use of Marx’s theory of the industrial reserve army, this is contextualised within a discussion about the role that such a climate mobilised labour army could play with regards to the wages, working conditions, and profitability of the RMG factories. This issue is framed in light of Core-Periphery dynamics as they relate to both the causes/effects of climate change and the garment commodity production chain. In light of these dynamics, I assert that it is possible that the creation of climate change may be a cyclical reinforcing process and that the challenges presented by climate change must be addressed through a lens which recognises the global intricacies of the relationship between climate change and capitalism.

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