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Designing for the Other: Using Knowledge to Upgrade Manufacturing in the Garment Industry

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  • Aspers, Patrik

Abstract

The first purpose of this paper is to theorize on the kind of knowledge that firms need in order to upgrade. The second purpose is to discuss some specific ways to upgrade, especially given the problem of contextual knowledge that manufactures face. To understand upgrading among garment manufacturers in developing countries, we must analyze the meaning of fashion garments. The paper introduces the theoretical notion of contextual knowledge, which furthers the two main findings of the paper. The first finding is empirical: it is a different situation to have a garment-producing firm in a developing country design for final consumer markets in developed countries than it is to have garments designed by someone close to these markets. This is due to a knowledgegap in the global market. As a result of this first finding, the second and more theoretical one deals with the knowledge context by examining its two dimensions - the lifeworld and the province of meaning.

Suggested Citation

  • Aspers, Patrik, 2006. "Designing for the Other: Using Knowledge to Upgrade Manufacturing in the Garment Industry," MPIfG Discussion Paper 06/9, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:mpifgd:069
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Palpacuer, Florence & Gibbon, Peter & Thomsen, Lotte, 2005. "New Challenges for Developing Country Suppliers in Global Clothing Chains: A Comparative European Perspective," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 33(3), pages 409-430, March.
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    5. Bair, Jennifer & Gereffi, Gary, 2001. "Local Clusters in Global Chains: The Causes and Consequences of Export Dynamism in Torreon's Blue Jeans Industry," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 29(11), pages 1885-1903, November.
    6. H. Schmitz & P. Knorringa, 2000. "Learning from Global Buyers," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(2), pages 177-205.
    7. Gereffi, Gary, 1999. "International trade and industrial upgrading in the apparel commodity chain," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 37-70, June.
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    Cited by:

    1. Beckert, Jens, 2009. "Pragmatismus und wirtschaftliches Handeln," MPIfG Working Paper 09/4, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies.
    2. Fischer, Edward F., 2017. "Quality and inequality: Taste, value, and power in the third wave coffee market," MPIfG Discussion Paper 17/4, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies.

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