Chapter 23, Maya Coffee, Cobalt Mines

 Chapter 23 talks about how there's a global dimension of inequality. Reason for that is that there are greater movement of factors of production across borders, and there is a greater influence as well. There are movements of labor present independence. A concept of inequality is focused on nations in the world. The average incomes of households are surveyed without the population weight. A graph shows that different concepts go different paths throughout history. Generally speaking, inequality has been around for centuries, usually with wealth status. The Maya Coffee article discusses about the fair trade with coffee. Guatemala is known for their coffee. There was a growth in agriculture production. The methodology was that the writer made evaluations with limitations and benefits of fair trade as alternate development. Data was gathered through semi structured interviews with members with the community. The finals results show that coffee prices were market sized, there were connected trade relations, there was organizational capacity taken place, access to credit were shown, and that importance of gender were involved. There were long-term contracts within the benefits. Access to credit gave cooperative offers that were loans that were both short and long-term. Some limitations were high rates of insolvency may lead to reduced income within the members, and low market success. The Cobalt Mines shows that there are harsh conditions with children within the labor. It goes back to the sweatshops in China and other asian countries with harsh working conditions. The pictures show that the work is grueling and dirty. A video shows that going into the mines with limited gear is dangerous and risky. Any storms that occurs can become lethal to the workers in the mines. Another video shows child labor and women at work. Their work looks to be less dangerous to the men's, but it can also be tiring. A graph shows that there is a high demand for lithium which is a key material from 2000 to 2025. These types of jobs gives high risk to the workers' health. It's sadly common with developing countries having workers doing dangerous jobs.