Clean Clothes

In 2006 journalist and photographer Liesbeth Sluiter decided to write a book about the Clean Clothes Campaign because its “international reach and ‘light’ organisational model fascinated me”. When the CCC gave her the green light and the UK’s Pluto Press agreed to publish it, Sluiter set about interviewing dozens of people and making her way through piles of archival material to find those little gems that make the story of the CCC come alive. The fruits of her labour, Clean Clothes: A Movement to End Sweatshops, will appear in November this year. The book charts the history of the garment industry’s globalisation and, in its wake, the rise of the Clean Clothes Campaign. Sluiter concludes that in the last twenty years, the CCC network has been successful in raising awareness on labour right violations in the garment industry and in promoting corporate social responsibility, but there is a lot of work to be done to actually improve conditions on the work floor. She fears that the current financial crisis may pose an extra challenge in that regard. But it’s a challenge that the CCC should be able to take on, according to Sluiter. What she has learned from writing the book is that the network’s flexible and organic way of organising is a successful model for this type of work, enabling the CCC to respond effectively to developments. The enthusiasm, knowledge and hands-on mentality of the people involved infuse the network with an ‘enormous spirit’. One area the CCC could improve on, she says, is communicating effectively through the use of images. High-quality visuals illustrating the issues that the CCC is working on could go a long way in bringing home the message.