Challenging The Chip
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''Challenging the Chip'' is a 2006 book on "labor rights and environmental justice in the global electronics industry" edited by Ted Smith, David A. Sonnenfeld, and
David Naguib Pellow David Naguib Pellow (born 1969) is Dehlsen Chair and Professor of Environmental Studies and Director of the Global Environmental Justice Project at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Previously he was Professor, Don Martindale Endowed C ...
. It is published by
Temple University Press Temple University Press is a university press founded in 1969 that is part of Temple University (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania). It is one of thirteen publishers to participate in the Knowledge Unlatched pilot, a global library consortium approach ...
. In three parts, the book looks at global electronics,
environmental justice Environmental justice is a social movement that addresses injustice that occurs when poor or marginalized communities are harmed by hazardous waste, resource extraction, and other land uses from which they do not benefit. The movement has gene ...
and
labor rights Labor rights or workers' rights are both legal rights and human rights relating to labor relations between workers and employers. These rights are codified in national and international labor and employment law. In general, the ...
, and
electronic waste Electronic waste (or e-waste) describes discarded electrical or electronics, electronic devices. It is also commonly known as waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) or end-of-life (EOL) electronics. Used electronics which are destined ...
and
extended producer responsibility Extended producer responsibility (EPR) is a strategy to add all of the estimated environmental costs associated with a product throughout the product life cycle to the market price of that product, contemporarily mainly applied in the field of ...
. In four appendices, the book also deals with the principles of environmental justice, the computer take-back campaign, sample
shareholder resolutions With respect to public companies in the United States, a shareholder resolution is a proposal submitted by shareholders for a vote at the company's annual meeting. Typically, resolutions are opposed by the corporation's management, hence the insi ...
, and the electronics recycler's pledge of true stewardship. This 357-page book was put together by "scores of people around the world (who) have been involved over the course of several years in the conceptualization, development, editing and production (of it)".


"New wave of technology"

In his foreword to the text, former
Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
Agriculture Commissioner
Jim Hightower James Allen Hightower (born January 11, 1943) is an American syndicated columnist, progressive political activist, and author. From 1983 to 1991 he served as the elected commissioner of the Texas Department of Agriculture. He publishes a mon ...
makes out a case to explain how "technology happens". He writes: "Take cars. After Henry Ford began mass production, it took only a flash in time for these four-wheeled chunks of technology to wholly transform our landscape, environment, economy, culture, psychology, and ... well, pretty much our whole world. For better or worse, cars created freeways, shopping malls, McDonald's, drive-in banking – even the Beach Boys!" Hightower argues: "A new wave of technology is sweeping the land. It is embodied in the tiny chips (and the computers they power) that are radically and rapidly transforming our world – and, like the automobile, not always for the better." He also contends that the story of the "dark side of the chip" needs to be "told and retold" across the "global village" before it is too late to do anything about it. The book narrates the story of how the high-tech industry grew in the "Valley of Heart's Delight" (before the place got renamed to
Silicon Valley Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that is a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical area of the Santa Clara Valley ...
) and how
Santa Clara Valley The Santa Clara Valley (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Valle de Santa Clara'') is a geologic trough in Northern California that extends south–southeast from San Francisco to Hollister, California, Hollister. The longitudinal valley is bordered ...
fruit-processing workers such as Alida Hernandez got reinvented into "
clean room A cleanroom or clean room is an engineered space that maintains a very low concentration of airborne particulates. It is well-isolated, well-controlled from contamination, and actively cleansed. Such rooms are commonly needed for scientifi ...
" workers. This "deplorable pattern is still being replicated around the world".


Stories of electronic workers suffering toxic exposures

The book contains stories about
electronic Electronic may refer to: *Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductors * ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal *Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device *Electronic c ...
workers suffering toxic exposures and fighting over it. From the Southwestern US and the
Maquiladora A (), or (), is a factory that is largely duty (economics), duty free and tariff free. These factories take raw materials and assemble, manufacture, or process them and export the finished product. These factories and systems are present thro ...
region on the
Mexico–United States border The international border separating Mexico and the United States extends from the Pacific Ocean in the west to the Gulf of Mexico in the east. The border traverses a variety of terrains, ranging from urban areas to deserts. It is the List of ...
, to
Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...
,
Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...
,
Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...
, China, and India. The book argues that "far too (words) have been addressed to the downside of the (electronics industry's) revolution". Its co-editors, in a signed article titled "The Quest for Sustainability and Justice in a High-Tech World", say: "Although most consumers are eager to enjoy their latest electronic games, few relate the declining prices of these and other electronic technologies to the labor of Third World women, who are paid pennies a day." Other issues focused on by the co-editors include
environmental degradation Environment most often refers to: __NOTOC__ * Natural environment, referring respectively to all living and non-living things occurring naturally and the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism ...
,
occupational health Occupational safety and health (OSH) or occupational health and safety (OHS) is a multidisciplinary field concerned with the safety, health, and welfare of people at work (i.e., while performing duties required by one's occupation). OSH is re ...
hazards, and the "widespread ignorance" of the "health and ecological footprints of the global electronics industry". There are problems of contamination by hi-tech manufacturing (of workers, air, land and water) from all around—
Silicon Valley Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that is a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical area of the Santa Clara Valley ...
in the United States, Silicon Glen in Scotland,
Silicon Island Silicon Island is a Artificial island, man-made islet currently under Land reclamation, reclamation off the southern coast of Penang Island in the States and federal territories of Malaysia, Malaysian state of Penang. It is located off the shorel ...
in Thailand, and Silicon Paddy in China. It contrasts the reality between the "CEOs and upper management" drawing "multimillion dollar salaries and 'golden parachutes'" as against the reality of the production workers living in packed dormitories and often facing sweatshop conditions.


Unsung heroines and heroes

While acknowledging the work of the hi-tech revolution pioneers, the book's editors also point to the "accomplishments of the unsung heroines and heroes of this revolution's other side". Including Santa Clara Center for Occupational Safety and Health founder Amanda Hawes;
San Jose, California San Jose, officially the City of San José ( ; ), is a cultural, commercial, and political center within Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area. With a city population of 997,368 and a metropolitan area population of 1.95 million, it is ...
housewife Lorraine Ross, who battled against Fairchild Semiconductor Corporation's polluting practices in
Silicon Valley Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that is a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical area of the Santa Clara Valley ...
; Thai occupational health physician Orapan Metadilogkul who confronted Seagate Corporation; and Scottish semiconductor worker Helen Clark "who gave her life fighting to provide a voice for poisoned workers of
National Semiconductor National Semiconductor Corporation was an United States of America, American Semiconductor manufacturing, semiconductor manufacturer, which specialized in analogue electronics, analog devices and subsystems, formerly headquartered in Santa Clara, ...
's plant in Silicon Glen".


Globalisation of electronics, labor rights, product end-of-life

Its editors say the book has "two geographical frames of reference"—the vicinity of San Jose, California (or, Silicon Valley), and "parts of the world increasingly integrated into global networks of electronics production, consumption, and disposal". The volume looks at three "broad, integrative themes": the globalization of electronics manufacturing; labor rights and environmental justice; and the product end-of-life cycle issues (e-waste, and extended producer responsibility). In terms of global electronics, the book focuses on Silicon Valley (where the United States electronics industry's roots lie, and which has a three-decade history of community and worker dialog and struggle). It also looks at electronics manufacturing in China, India, Thailand, and Central and Eastern Europe. In terms of labor rights and "environmental justice", the book looks at the stories of workers and environmentalists taking up such issues -- "work hazards, antiunion hostility, and environmental health perils"—in countries that range from the United States, to Mexico, Scotland, and Thailand, among others.
E-waste Electronic waste (or e-waste) describes discarded electrical or electronic devices. It is also commonly known as waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) or end-of-life (EOL) electronics. Used electronics which are destined for refurbi ...
issues get looked at in the context of trading or dumping from the North to South. "But as nations like India and China increasingly modernize, their own industries and consumers are contributing to the problems as well," says the editors.


Failed to keep pace with social and environmental advances

They argue that while the electronics industry leaders have produced "enormous technical innovation over the years", they have failed to keep "sufficient pace with the socially and environmentally oriented advances that are available to them." In their chapter titled "The Quest for Sustainability", the co-editors suggest that sustainability, environmental justice and labor rights "cannot lie solely in the hands of either the social movements or the captains of industry or the representatives of the state". Instead, it suggests, all citizens and stakeholders must play a role in shaping the industry, its workers, and the environment wherever communities get affected.


"Downside not addressed"

Says an introduction to its contents: "Of the millions of words written over the past several decades about the electronics industry's incredible transformation of our world, far too few have been addressed (to) the downside of this revolution. Many are surprised to learn that environmental degradation and occupational health hazards are as much a part of high-tech manufacturing as miniaturization and other such marvels".


Third World women's labor, pollute surroundings

The editors also comment: "Although most consumers are eager to enjoy their latest computers, televisions, cellular phones, iPods, and electronic games, few relate the declining prices of these and other electronic technologies to the labor of Third World women, who are paid pennies a day. Fewer still realize that the amazingly powerful microprocessors and superminiaturized, high-capacity memory devices harm the workers who produce them and pollute the surrounding communities' air and water".


Comments on the book

Sandra Steingraber calls this book "essential reading for anyone who owns a cell phone or a computer" and says "our digital possessions connect us not only to global information but also to global contamination and injustice". Nicholas Ashford calls the work "an impressive, comprehensive critique and hopeful, but realistic, blueprint for transforming the global electronics industry into a sustainable one encompassing technological advance, environmental improvement, and equitable, safe, and secure employment". Jan Mazurek says that "contrary to high tech's clean image, this pioneering work illustrates the industry's environmental and economic downsides from the birthplace of Silicon Valley to the four corners of the globe to which the industry recently has spread". Mazurek comments that this book is "told from the compelling and passionate perspective of workers and activists involved in these struggles".


Regions covered

Chapters of the book cover "Made in China" electronics workers, Thailand's electronic sector's corporate social responsibility, electronic workers in India, workers in and around Central and Eastern Europe's semiconductor plants (Russia, Belarus, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Poland and Romania), Silicon Valley's Toxics' Coalition and workers' struggles, Mexico, Taiwan's Hsinchu Science Park, other issues from Taiwan, high-tech pollution in Japan, the electronic
waste trade The global waste trade is the international trade of waste between countries for further treatment, disposal, or recycling. Toxic or hazardous wastes are often imported by developing countries from developed countries. The World Bank Report '' ...
, e-waste in Delhi, producer responsibility laws in Sweden and Japan, among other themes.


See also

*
List of environmental books Humans have been writing about the environment for centuries, and the environment has figured prominently as a theme in both Western and Eastern philosophies. Books about or featuring the environment as a prominent theme have proliferated especial ...


References

https://web.archive.org/web/20170328014135/http://www.temple.edu/tempress/titles/1788_reg.html {{Reflist


External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20170328014135/http://www.temple.edu/tempress/titles/1788_reg.html
''Challenging the Chip''
- David A. Sonnenfeld's webpage at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry Environmental non-fiction books Electronics and the environment 2006 non-fiction books 2006 in the environment Books about globalization Electronics books