The study reveals that, Readymade Garment (RMG) sector has positively influenced the socio-economic condition of women garment workers. Employment opportunities for women in the garment industry have created the scope to cross the threshold of economic space. In Bangladesh, the readymade garment sector plays a significant role, in creating employment opportunity of women and accelerating economic growth as well. Women could ensure the sustainable livelihood, after getting employment in the garment industry. It could be mentioned that, sustainable livelihood is the combination of concept of capabilities, equity and sustainability. As, three concepts has played as a role of means and ends of livelihood. In this paper, sustainable livelihood, measured through analyzing the four indicators of socioeconomic condition, which are income, health, education and decision making power. This paper relied on secondary sources, for instance- articles, research reports, thesis papers and newspapers, related with women garment workers. There are four millions of workforce in the RMG sector, of which, 80% are women, who are considered as 'the engine of growth' of the garment industry.

Ready-made garment (RMG) industry has emerged as an important economic sector through its significant contribution to the national export earning of Bangladesh. This sector provides employment to a noteworthy numbers of rural women in Bangladesh and is considered as a way to bring desired changes in women's status. This book, therefore, analyzed at what extent the ready-made garment industry has changed the lives of rural women workforce. The employment opportunity in the industry enables some of the rural women to become economically solvent, providing women with more freedom to participate in decision making activities. These types of changes in women lives influence women to take challenges in patriarchal social system through increasing their social and economic participation. Some of the rural women workers are getting more secured life than before that help to change their family status through contributing financially as they have close connection with their family. In future, this analysis should help the policy makers to develop policy on garment sector and to change in existing policy that will contribute to the overall economic development of the country.

Naila Kabeer examines the lives of women workers in different urban centers to shed light on the question of what constitutes 'fair' competition in international trade.

Broken Promises of Globalization: The Case of the Bangladesh Garment Industry analyzes the consequences of the latest wave of globalization within the context of the Bangladesh garment industry's integration into world markets and production chains. Shahidur Rahman has found that although globalization has created opportunities, the process of globalization has also triggered a deformed development leaving Bangladesh increasingly vulnerable to shifts and tensions within the world trading regime. Bangladesh’s vulnerability, experienced as a constraining framework by all the major actors in dependent industrialization, is of particular importance to the progress both of workers and of Bangladesh’s industrializing modernizers in the garment industry. This book intends to respond to three questions. First, has the garment industry been able to counteract the vulnerability that women garment workers had experienced in their villages? Second, is the formation of a welfare committee a substitute model for unions when it comes to protecting women’s rights? Finally, how is a Least Developing Country dealing with both domestic and external pressures in its response to globalization? Rahman argues that in spite of the opportunities created by the growth of the garment industry, the key actors such as workers, entrepreneurs, unions, and even the government have become vulnerable in the process of the global integration of this industry. This is an ethnographic study that tells the story of the rise, growth, and demise of a Bangladeshi garment company. From a broader approach, an internal force such as the government of Bangladesh is not alone in being responsible for pushing the workers into a vulnerable position; external pressure on the state is also responsible for intensifying the vulnerability of Bangladeshi institutions and actors. Broken Promises of Globalization exposes the crisis Bangladeshi garment companies face as a result of the momentous pressures emanating from the regime of neo-liberal globalization. This ethnographic study, exploring a wide range of contemporary and recent development issues, holds particular relevance for students and scholars of sociology, political science, political economics, labor, and development studies.

This article is a literature review in which a comprehensive understanding is developed of the multiple and contemporary facets of the problem of gender inequality in international supply chains of ready-made garments (RMG). The main focus of the study is on the RMG manufacturing sector in Bangladesh, since this sector represents a hub in international RMG supply chains. The issue of gender inequality in the RMG sector represents a main concern of NGOs, the OECD, the ILO, national governments, international buyers and brands, and other stakeholders. Using a structured literature review method, literature is selected from various international academic sources in a systemic way. The selected literature is analysed by employing Lessig's analytical framework, developed as the New Chicago School. The authors apply this framework to identify which forces and constraints influence the situation of gender inequality in the Bangladeshi garment sector. The influencing factors are organised in the four categories acknowledged by Lessig: law, cultural norms, market and architecture. Through this lens of a regulatory ecology approach, various types of constraints are identified that need to be addressed in order to solve the issue of gender inequality in the RMG industry in Bangladesh. In addition,the Capabilities Theory of Martha Nussbaum provides a basis for the discussion on how to improve the situation of female garment workers in Bangladesh. Accordingly, this research contributes to a holistic and institutional understanding of the options of how to improve the status of gender equality in the Bangladeshi RMG sector. The options discussed cover legal, regulatory and semi-legal instruments and market behaviour of local RMG companies, international buyers and brands, NGOs and unions.

Women’s empowerment is an important aspect of the social, political and economic life of developing countries. Globally, women’s economic and political empowerment performance has changed through education and labor, but it is still unsatisfactory. Bangladesh is a developing country with a key role in the global competitive Ready-Made Garment (RMG) industry where women are the majority. This paper discusses the existing societal inequalities in Bangladesh, the condition of female workers in the RMG industry, and challenges the current built environment of the garment industry. How can architecture influence the RMG Sector of Bangladesh leading to women empowerment? It includes literature pertaining to the rights of female workers, the environmental and safety issues of the garment industry in Bangladesh to identify the key problems and explore aspects of the built environment helping women to be self-independent and educated about their rights. Observation of factory practices and quantitative data based on interviews with female workers are the methods of this research. Analysis of architectural projects such as Knitexpo Limited, Whitex Limited and Nandan Apparels (Bangladesh) frame design issues within current RMG conditions, and MAS Intimates Thurulie and Ipekyol Factory offer opportunities to reconsider the Bangladesh factory environment as these examples are from RMG global counterparts in other countries and successful addressing users’ need. This paper identifies the key elements of the garment manufacturing context to form a new architectural approach politically, culturally and socially to improve the condition of female workers in Bangladesh, elevate their value and provide opportunities leading to empowerment.