A Shirt in the Market — Class 7 Social Science

A shirt that you buy in a shop has a long journey behind it. It passes through many hands and many markets before reaching you. This chapter traces the journey of a shirt to understand how markets work and who benefits and who loses in the process.

The Journey of a Shirt:

• Step 1: A cotton farmer grows cotton on a small piece of land
• Step 2: The raw cotton is sold to a trader at the local market
• Step 3: The trader sells it to a ginning mill where seeds are removed
• Step 4: The ginned cotton goes to a spinning mill where it is made into yarn (thread)
• Step 5: The yarn goes to a weaving factory where it is woven into cloth
• Step 6: The cloth is sent to a garment factory where it is cut and stitched into shirts
• Step 7: The shirts are packed and exported to foreign countries (like the USA or Europe)
• Step 8: A foreign company puts its brand name on the shirt and sells it in shops at a very high price

The journey of a shirt begins with a cotton farmer. In India, most cotton farmers are small farmers with small landholdings who face many challenges.

Conditions of Cotton Farmers:

• Most cotton farmers own small plots of land — often less than 2 hectares
• They need to buy seeds, fertilizers, and pesticides to grow cotton
• To buy these, they take loans from local traders at high interest rates
• The trader often sets the condition that the farmer must sell the cotton only to him
• This means the farmer has no choice in who to sell to or at what price

Problems Faced by Farmers:

• Low prices: The trader pays a very low price for the cotton — far below the market rate
• Debt trap: Farmers take loans to buy seeds and fertilizers; if the crop fails, they cannot repay and fall into a cycle of debt
• Dependence on rain: Most cotton farming depends on rainfall; drought can destroy the entire crop
• No bargaining power: Since farmers are tied to the trader through loans, they cannot negotiate better prices
• Rising costs: The cost of seeds, fertilizers, and pesticides keeps increasing
• After paying back the loan with interest, the farmer is often left with very little profit

After the cotton is bought from the farmer, it goes through several stages before becoming cloth:

1. Ginning:

• Raw cotton contains seeds mixed with the fibres
• At a ginning mill, the seeds are separated from the cotton fibres
• The cleaned cotton is pressed into bales for transport

2. Spinning:

• The cotton fibres are sent to a spinning mill
• Here, the cotton is spun into yarn (thread)
• This can be done in large factories or by small-scale workers at home

3. Weaving:

• The yarn is sent to a weaving factory
• Yarn is woven into cloth on looms (handloom or powerloom)
• In many places, weaving is done by small-scale weavers who work from home

4. Garment Making:

• The cloth is sent to a garment factory
• Here, it is cut, stitched, and finished into shirts and other garments
• Workers do the cutting, sewing, buttoning, and packaging

The Putting-out System:

• In many cases, merchants give out raw materials (like yarn) to small producers or home workers
• These workers produce the goods (like cloth) at home using their own tools
• The finished product is then collected by the merchant, who sells it in the market
• This is called the putting-out system
• The merchant controls the supply of raw materials, the production process, and the final sale
• Workers in the putting-out system are paid very low wages

The garment factory is where cloth is made into finished shirts for export. The working conditions in many of these factories are harsh.

How the Export Business Works:

• A foreign buyer (brand company from the USA, Europe, etc.) places an order with an Indian exporter
• The foreign buyer sets the design, quality standards, and delivery deadline
• The Indian exporter runs the garment factory and is responsible for completing the order on time
• The exporter buys cloth, employs workers, and produces the shirts
• The finished shirts are packed and shipped to the foreign country

Working Conditions of Garment Workers:

• Workers have to work long hours — often 12 to 15 hours a day
• Pay is very low — often below the minimum wage
• Workers are often hired on a temporary or contract basis with no job security
• During peak order periods, they may have to work overnight to meet deadlines
• No overtime pay in many cases
• No paid leave, health benefits, or insurance
• Women workers face additional challenges — they form a large part of the garment workforce
• Workers cannot unionise or demand better conditions because they can easily be replaced

Why Workers Accept These Conditions:

• Poverty and lack of other job opportunities
• Fear of losing their jobs
• No formal education or skills for other work
• Surplus labour means there are always others willing to work for low wages

When a shirt finally reaches a shop in the USA or Europe, it is sold at a very high price. But the profit is not distributed equally among all the people who contributed to making it.

Price Distribution Example:

• A shirt sold in the USA for Rs 1,500 (approximately)
• The cotton farmer gets only about Rs 50–75 for the cotton used
• The garment worker's wages per shirt are about Rs 30–50
• The Indian exporter gets about Rs 300–400
• The foreign brand and retailer get the rest — about Rs 900–1,000

Who Benefits the Most?

• The foreign brand/company makes the maximum profit — they put their label on the shirt and sell it at a huge markup
• The trader/merchant in the market chain also earns significant profit
• The exporter earns a moderate profit

Who Gets the Least?

• The cotton farmer gets the lowest return despite doing the most physically demanding work
• The garment workers get very low wages despite working long hours
• Both the farmer and the worker are at the bottom of the market chain

Why This Inequality Exists:

• Farmers and workers have no bargaining power — they are too poor and too many
• They do not own the means of production (land, factories) — they only provide labour
• Traders and brands control the supply chain and pricing
• Globalisation has connected markets but has not ensured fair distribution of profits

The story of the shirt reveals a deeper truth about how markets create and reinforce inequality in society.

How Markets Create Inequality:

• Unequal access to resources: Big businesses have capital, technology, and market connections; small farmers and workers do not
• Power imbalance: Traders and brands set the prices; farmers and workers have to accept what they are offered
• Exploitation: Those with money and power can exploit those without — paying low prices for raw materials and low wages for labour
• Globalisation: While goods flow freely across borders, the benefits are not shared equally among all participants

Comparison: Markets Around Us vs. A Shirt in the Market:

• In Markets Around Us (Chapter 7), we saw inequality between small traders and big shop owners within India
• In A Shirt in the Market (Chapter 8), we see inequality on a global scale — Indian farmers and workers vs. foreign brands
• Both chapters show that markets do not treat everyone equally
• In both cases, the poor and powerless suffer the most

Role of the Government:

• The government can set minimum wages to protect workers from exploitation
• Minimum Support Price (MSP) for crops ensures farmers get a fair price
• Labour laws regulate working hours, conditions, and benefits
• Fair trade practices can ensure better payment for producers in developing countries
• However, enforcement of these laws remains a challenge