This book breaks the silence on the actual working conditions of those who produce our daily goods.

On September 11, 2012 in Karachi, Pakistan, 255 workers died in a fire at their factory, which made jeans. Taking the ensuing controversy of this catastrophe as a starting point, this exposé dives deep into the gray areas of globalization, showing how the manufacturing economy profits from conflict to the detriment of its laborers. Thugs, militias, and ex-soldiers prove to be fierce means of managerial domination. Comparisons with Europe, the United States, and Latin America confirm the central place such merchants of force occupy in the dynamic of capitalism. Such violence makes us question our behaviors: what is the human cost of our globalized economy?