"If we can’t get justice in the U.S. that claims to be champions of human rights and democracy, where would we get justice?" A landmark case tests the limits of corporate responsibility.
Global Goods, Local Costs
Behind almost every product we buy and the GDP numbers we worry over, there is a story whose trail crosses the globe. Every physical product starts as raw material somewhere, from the gold in our jewelry to the shrimp at our favorite restaurant and the minerals within our mobile phones and laptops.
The rapid industrialization of countries like India, China and Brazil and a voracious consumer culture in Europe, the United States and Japan mean ever greater demand for these raw materials--and ever greater pressures on the individuals, communities and environments that bear the cost of providing them.
These local costs too often remain hidden. They are obscured by companies and governments that put a premium on production and exports. They are little understood by consumers, whose concept of "price" and "value" doesn't include damage done to people and places far away.
The Global Goods, Local Costs Gateway is an effort to make those connections plain, to show the true costs of producing the commodities that have become essential to our lifestyles but that mostly we take for granted. These reports touch on goods and challenges across the globe that share a common theme: the implications of a vision of endless prosperity set against the reality of a finite planet.
Some of the Ivorian refugees who crossed into Liberia when fighting flared last year are trickling back--to both destruction and signs of new unity. Austin Merrill meets a convoy crossing the border.
In a world hungry for cheap shrimp, Burmese migrants are the backbone of a Thai shrimp industry that is the world’s third largest. But low prices often come at their expense.
The world--and especially the U.S--wants cheap shrimp. For the $1 billion plus shrimping industry in Thailand, satisfying this appetite comes at the expense of workers.
America's appetite for inexpensive shrimp from Southeast Asia is growing, but at what cost? In Thailand, illegal and abusive labor practices go unchecked to feed a booming demand.
Thanks to a bottomless appetite for inexpensive shrimp in the West, Burmese migrants are the backbone of a Thai shrimp industry that is the world’s third largest. But there's a darker side.
The Sea of Cortez is—or was—a vast and lush underwater paradise. Industrial fishing operations are now decimating the sea's bounty. Tuna, red snapper, and shark are all but gone.
Where we normally see only the extreme, Everyday Africa is a project focused on the mundane. Join us at the VII Gallery from September 20 - October 18.
Journalist Steve Sapienza's visit to High Point University reveals how global consumption of goods impacts precious resources and local people in Peru, Thailand and beyond.
Emmy Award-winning journalist Steve Sapienza and student fellow Yasmin Bendaas share the stage at Wake Forest University, discussing their unique reporting projects.