This video was posted about four years ago in December of 2010, when fifteen Foxconn workers in the first five months of 2010 committed suicide. This drew international attention about the terrible working conditions at Foxconn’s facilities, and the video shows a group of students investigating Foxconn. This video was likely created to further inform the public about the company’s inner workings, and it is especially relevant to those who buy products from Apple, Microsoft, HP, Sony, and the many other companies that manufacture there.
The main message of “Deconstructing Foxconn” is that Foxconn has committed deplorable and illegal acts toward its employees, and a group of students is looking into Foxconn’s management, salaries, and employees’ lives.
The purpose of this video is mainly to expose Foxconn’s inner workings and amoral practices, but from the way the video is made, it is also meant to have viewers sympathize with the workers. This may move some people into taking action to hold Foxconn responsible and improve working conditions. At the very least this video raises awareness about the company.
Something I appreciated about “Deconstructing Foxconn” was its video clips of people, presumably workers, in China carrying on seemingly normal lives. This serves to humanize the workers, and it reminds viewers that they are human beings with real needs and dreams. The music in the background seems to represent the thoughts in the back of their minds throughout the day. It’s actually communicates quite a bit.
The first time I heard about Foxconn was on the gaming website Screwattack.com where someone made a post detailing the then-recent suicides at Foxconn. I remember being taken aback because I hadn’t known that Foxconn manufactured electronics for Apple and other companies. As I read on in the post, I felt terrible because I liked the electronics, and I was contributing to these corrupt business practices. I knew that demand for those products was too great, though, and I felt I couldn’t possibly change anything then. It was upsetting news, and while the name “Foxconn” always stuck around in my head, the incident kind of faded away online.
I’ve done some searching online, and I can’t seem to find anything on their employee treatment past 2012. Have they ameliorated their issues, or have people just stopped looking forward to them. Also, Foxconn was apparently one of the better places to work at in China; has anything been done about other, worse-off facilities?
I apologize for commenting so late!
If you want to find out more about the group who made the video, there is some information here: http://www.sacom.hk/?p=740. They seem to be an activist collective of students and faculty who are working to try and improve conditions at many other employers in addition to FoxConn.
Your last points, about the seeming ‘forgetting’ of FoxConn after the moment of outrage following reports of the suicides, and about the many other employers who treat workers just as badly or worse, are really important. They point to the global systems that are at play in the question of labor practices; we actually don’t get very far in highlight one ‘bad apple’ when the forces encouraging poor treatment of workers are so powerful, unfortunately.