A-Infos (en) France, UCL AL #366 - Spotlight - Fast Fashion: Anti-Shein is good, anti-capitalist is better! (ca, de, fr, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

Recently, we've heard many voices criticizing the opening of Shein 
stores in France. But what's behind these arguments, especially those of 
the French government? ---- For the past few weeks, the French 
government has been attacking Shein, a Chinese online clothing platform. 
The brand has garnered attention, notably because it sold sex dolls 
representing children. Yet, we hear less about Western companies like 
eBay or Amazon that sold the same dolls. In reality, it's capitalism, in 
its quest for profit, that is willing to offer such abhorrent products.

An icon of "ultrafast fashion," this company has tripled its CO2 
emissions since 2021. The brand is known for manufacturing polyester 
clothing, which is responsible for 16 to 35% of the microplastics found 
in the oceans. To offset its carbon footprint and circumvent the 
upcoming tax on small packages, Shein is opening stores in France 
selling its products.

Beyond the pollution, Shein employees endure appalling working 
conditions, and the company is even accused of employing children. 
Through the denunciations of our French politicians, one might think 
that the time has come to criticize the capitalist model. But as we see, 
this attack is directed specifically at this company, even though this 
economic model exists in Western and even French societies.

The political class is not denouncing destructive capitalist 
exploitation. This protectionism, like that of Trump's United States, 
serves to protect "our" French capitalists who can no longer compete 
with their Chinese counterparts. It's the return of the "yellow peril," 
a late 19th-century expression of white supremacy that predicted Asian 
peoples would surpass white people. The economic war against Chinese 
state capitalism is devastating for the working class. US and Western 
imperialism exploited China's cheap labor, thereby creating a major 
industrial power. Now, it denounces this unfair competition... by 
pitting national proletariats against each other.

Shein's consumers are also heavily criticized. Yet, they turn to this 
online platform because the products are very cheap. The criticism 
leveled against them stems from class contempt: they are expected to 
"consume better" and stop participating in an immoral model. Leaving 
aside the problems of compulsive shopping addiction found in the working 
class, no one would turn to this online store if wages were rising.

Faced with this situation, it is becoming urgent to propose an 
alternative future. A society in which workers manage their own 
activities, in which users determine their own needs. A society whose 
production is no longer driven by the pursuit of profit, but by the 
needs of the population.

Antoine (UCL Alsace)

https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Fast-fashion-Anti-Shein-c-est-bien-anticapitaliste-c-est-mieux
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