Editing Nicholas Kristof (section)

===Criticism of anti-sweatshop movement===
Nicholas Kristof argues that [[sweatshop]]s are, if not a good thing, defensible as a way for workers to improve their lives and for impoverished countries to transform themselves into industrial economies. In his argument, sweatshops are an unpleasant but necessary stage in industrial development. Kristof is critical of the way "well-meaning American university students regularly campaign against sweatshops", particularly the [[anti-sweatshop movement]]'s strategy of encouraging consumer boycotts against sweatshop-produced imports. Kristof and WuDunn counter that the sweatshop model is a primary reason that Taiwan and South Korea, which accepted sweatshops as the price of development, are today modern countries with low rates of infant mortality and high levels of education, but India, which has generally resisted sweatshops, suffers from a high rate of [[infant mortality]].<ref>{{cite news |first=Nicholas D. |last=Kristof |author2=WuDunn, Sheryl |author-link2=Sheryl WuDunn |title=Two Cheers for Sweatshops: They're dirty and dangerous. They're also a major reason Asia is back on track |url=https://www.nytimes.com/library/magazine/home/20000924mag-sweatshops.html |work=[[The New York Times Magazine]] |date=September 24, 2000 |access-date=October 25, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060423063301/http://www.nytimes.com/library/magazine/home/20000924mag-sweatshops.html |archive-date=April 23, 2006 |url-status=live}}</ref> Kristof and WuDunn admit that sweatshop labor is grueling and dangerous but argue that it is an improvement over most alternatives in extremely poor countries by providing much-needed jobs and boosting economies. They caution that anti-sweatshop boycott campaigns could lead to the closing down of manufacturing and processing plants in places like Africa, where they are needed most. "This is not to praise sweatshops", they admit:

<blockquote>Some managers are brutal in the way they house workers in firetraps, expose children to dangerous chemicals, deny bathroom breaks, demand sexual favors, force people to work double shifts or dismiss anyone who tries to organize a union. Agitation for improved safety conditions can be helpful, just as it was in 19th-century Europe. But Asian workers would be aghast at the idea of American consumers boycotting certain toys or clothing in protest. The simplest way to help the poorest Asians would be to buy more from sweatshops, not less.<ref>{{cite news |first=Nicholas D. |last=Kristof |title=In Praise of the Maligned Sweatshop |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/06/opinion/06kristof.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=June 6, 2006 |access-date=October 25, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120126074256/http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/06/opinion/06kristof.html |archive-date=January 26, 2012 |url-status=live}}</ref></blockquote>