Introduction
American shoppers may not know it, but many of the name-brand products they purchase - from clothing to carpets to sports equipment - were made under appalling circumstances. Grim reports of worker exploitation contain images straight out of a Charles Dickens novel: children kidnapped and sold into prostitution, or toiling at age four in hazardous worksites alongside adults struggling for subsistence- level wages. Though the bulk of the abuse takes place in Third World countries, Americans were stunned by the recent discovery of virtual slave-labor conditions in garment sweatshops in California and New York City. Now a growing movement of U.S. and international officials, union and business leaders, human rights activists and celebrities has mobilized to challenge these deep-rooted practices.
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