Simply CBSE

A Shirt in the Market — Class 7 Social Science

Quick revision notes for exam preparation.

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📌 Key Points

  • The chapter traces the journey of a shirt from cotton farming to the foreign buyer, revealing inequality in the market chain
  • Market chain: Cotton Farmer → Trader → Ginning Mill → Spinning Mill → Weaving → Garment Factory → Exporter → Foreign Brand
  • Cotton farmers own small land, take loans from traders at high interest, and must sell cotton only to that trader at low prices
  • Farmers fall into a debt trap: borrow for seeds → sell at low price → repay loan with interest → left with nothing → borrow again
  • Ginning = removing seeds from cotton; Spinning = making yarn from fibres; Weaving = making cloth from yarn; Garment making = cutting and stitching
  • Putting-out system: merchants give raw materials to home workers who produce goods for very low wages; merchant sells at a profit
  • Garment workers: 12-15 hour days, very low wages, no job security, no benefits, no overtime pay, temporary contracts
  • Foreign buyer sets the design, quality standards, and delivery deadline for the Indian exporter
  • Profit distribution: Foreign brand gets MOST (60-67%), Exporter gets moderate (20-27%), Farmer gets LEAST (3-5%)
  • Cotton farmer earns Rs 50-75 per shirt; garment worker earns Rs 30-50; shirt sells for Rs 1,500 abroad
  • Inequality exists because farmers and workers have no bargaining power; brands and traders control the chain
  • Workers accept exploitation due to poverty, lack of alternatives, surplus labour, and fear of job loss
  • Government measures: Minimum Support Price (MSP) for crops, minimum wages, labour laws, fair trade policies
  • Chapter 7 shows local inequality; Chapter 8 shows global inequality — both demonstrate markets are unequal
  • Key message: those who do the hardest work (farmers, workers) earn the least; those who control brands earn the most

📘 Important Definitions

Market Chain
The series of people and processes through which a product passes from the raw material stage to the final consumer — each person adds their cost and profit.
Putting-out System
An arrangement where merchants give raw materials to home-based workers who produce goods and return them for very low wages; the merchant controls everything and earns the profit.
Ginning
The process of separating seeds from raw cotton fibres at a ginning mill.
Spinning
The process of converting cotton fibres into yarn (thread) at a spinning mill.
Weaving
The process of making cloth from yarn on looms (handloom or powerloom).
Exporter
A person or company that sells goods to buyers in foreign countries. In the shirt chain, the exporter runs the garment factory and ships finished shirts abroad.
Minimum Support Price (MSP)
The minimum price guaranteed by the government for certain crops, ensuring farmers receive a fair price and are not exploited by traders.
Minimum Wage
The lowest wage that an employer is legally required to pay workers. It aims to protect workers from exploitation.
Debt Trap
A situation where a person keeps borrowing to repay previous loans, sinking deeper into debt with each cycle. Common among small cotton farmers.
Bargaining Power
The ability to negotiate favourable terms in a deal. Farmers and workers have low bargaining power while brands and traders have high bargaining power.
Surplus Labour
A situation where there are more workers available than jobs. This keeps wages low because workers can be easily replaced.

⚠️ Common Mistakes

✗ Wrong: Thinking the exporter earns the most profit

✓ Correct: The FOREIGN BRAND earns the maximum profit (60-67% of retail price), not the exporter. The brand puts its label on and sells at a huge markup.

✗ Wrong: Confusing ginning with spinning

✓ Correct: Ginning = removing SEEDS from cotton. Spinning = making YARN from cotton fibres. They are two separate processes at different mills.

✗ Wrong: Thinking farmers choose to sell at low prices

✓ Correct: Farmers are FORCED to sell to the trader who gave them the loan. They have NO CHOICE in who to sell to or at what price. It is not a voluntary decision.

✗ Wrong: Thinking garment workers are paid well because they make shirts for foreign brands

✓ Correct: Despite making shirts that sell for Rs 1,500 abroad, workers earn only Rs 30-50 per shirt. The massive profit goes to the brand, not the workers.

✗ Wrong: Thinking all markets are equal and fair

✓ Correct: Markets reflect and reinforce inequality. The rich and powerful (brands, traders) benefit more than the poor and powerless (farmers, workers). Both Chapters 7 and 8 demonstrate this.

✗ Wrong: Forgetting the putting-out system in answers about market inequality

✓ Correct: The putting-out system is a KEY mechanism of exploitation. Merchants give materials to home workers who produce goods for low wages. The merchant controls everything and earns the profit.

📝 Exam Focus

These questions are frequently asked in CBSE exams:

Trace the journey of a shirt from cotton farming to the foreign buyer
5m
Describe the conditions of cotton farmers. Why do they fall into a debt trap?
3m
What is the putting-out system? How does it exploit workers?
3m
Describe the working conditions of garment factory workers
3m
Who benefits the most and least in the shirt market chain? Why?
5m
Compare the inequality shown in Chapters 7 and 8
3m
What role can the government play in reducing market inequality?
3m
Explain how markets create and reinforce inequality
5m
What is MSP? How does it help farmers?
1m
Why do garment workers accept poor working conditions?
3m

🎯 Last-Minute Recall

Close your eyes and try to recall: Key definitions, formulas, and 3 common mistakes. If you can recall 80% without looking, you're exam-ready!