Conclusion and Outlook

Abstract

The Ethiopian textile and garment industry is portrayed and discussed controversially. For some, the industry depicts the dawn of industrialization and a bearer of economic growth, for some it is characterized by heavy shortcomings, while for others it seems to be both: important for the creation of jobs for the masses and exploitative. What has become clear throughout this edited volume: The textile and garment industry in Ethiopia requires change. This change could be driven domestically through workers’ collective bargaining towards introducing a minimum wage/living wage. On a global level, there needs to be an increased effort in ensuring human rights in global value chains, making brands responsible for keeping higher labor standards and making fast fashion less profitable. The Ethiopian experiment “textile industry” is at a crossroad: It can succeed, or it can fail. This is a challenge for the government, for the investors, for the management of the industrial parks, for the agencies of international development cooperation and, ultimately, for the mainly female workforce in the textile industry, on whose cooperation and resistivity the prospects for the industry’s future also depend.