018. On Subcontracting With Mr. Lin

This episode is based on a conversation Jessie had with Mr. Lin, a Chinese subcontractor in Phnom Penh. He doesn’t speak English – so bringing him on the show directly would have been impossible.

We start the episode with some general context: What is subcontracting? Why does it exist? Next, we get into Mr. Lin’s story. How did he end up in Cambodia doing subcontracting? What kind of products does he make? How has Covid-19 impacted his business? And how does he see the future? We conclude by sharing our own thoughts about how the sustainability agenda might more effectively protect the rights of workers in subcontracted factories.

Want to dig deeper?

Read Kim's article On Protecting the Rights of Workers in Subcontracted Factories: How Sustainable Fashion Advocates Get It Wrong.

Is the decision to subcontract predictable? And if it is, does that means brands can’t claim ignorance when human rights abuses arise in production facilities they weren’t aware of? A new research paper tries to answer these questions by analyzing more than 32,000 orders placed by an Asia-based supply chain manager.

How to Make Use the Crisis to Make Fashion Sourcing More Agile and Sustainable – a McKinsey Report.

Learn more about Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning, a book by Cathy Park Hong.

Photo Soroush Zargar