Journalist and author John Bowe will discuss the mistreatment of illegal immigrant workers who work for major corporations, and how this modern-day slavery keeps prices low in his upcoming UW-Oshkosh Speaker Series presentation “The Dark Side of the New Global Economy.”
The name of Bowe’s presentation comes from his book, “Nobodies: Modern American Slave Labor and the Dark Side of the New Global Economy,” which exposes illegal workplaces where immigrant employees go without pay and pick produce for major companies.
The Speaker Series chairperson, David Rathsack, said that when looking for possible speakers, they look for people who not only educate but entertain.
“Current events are something students always want to hear,” Rathsack said. “(They’re) a little more hard-hitting and more educational, and we thought that would be something that could be very beneficial to campus.”
Rathsack explained that the committee is driven to bring lecturers in that speak on a wide range of topics that would appeal to many students. UW-Oshkosh’s Speaker Series is different then most at other colleges, Rathsack said, because they bring in five to seven speakers per year as opposed to only having two more expensive, popular speakers.
“We pride ourselves on bringing a series,” Rathsack said. “We always want to educate our campus and not just be a one-time event.”
“He’ll look at slave labor, immigration issues; all those current events and hot button issues that are close to home,” Rathsack said.
Students should expect to be shown a very different side of these issues and Rathsack stressed they aren’t one sided and don’t have an agenda to push.
“We are expecting a very graphic inside look on all the products we see on our shelves today,” Rathsack said. “When people show up to these events they always seem happy to be here. We just want to look at issues with a different light. It’s our mission.”
He encourages students to not be skeptical about the title, because it won’t be anything like a class lecture and almost anyone can relate to the topic being discussed because we all shop at the places Bowe will be talking about.
Also, many majors can relate to this issue and get information they might not normally get from a classroom.
“When you can relate it back to a class I think you can generate a lot of discussion after the event,” Rathsack said.
Student Melissa Hayes heard about the speech and was interested in the message Bowe would be focusing onsince some of her classes have touched on the subject too.
“We were talking a lot about globalization and all the negative implications it’s had on our market and how cheap everything is, but who’s paying for it?” Hayes said.
She understands how our society craves the lowest prices and how our consumerism is causing the conditions some people have to work in today in order to provide those low prices.
“We have to have everything; we don’t have a good set of values anymore,” Hayes said. “Our entire culture is based on throwaway products, and we don’t care about value.”
Another member of the Speaker Series committee, Katrina Hinds, is very excited to hear what Bowe has to say, and she hopes students will walk away with a new perspective on what they buy.
“We go to McDonalds and JCPenney and Wal-Mart and all these places,” Hinds said. “We want the lowest prices available, but I don’t think people really understand how that affects our country and people in our country and how democracy in the U.S. lets this happen.”
She also hopes it will be a big eye opener as well and since Hinds is a human service major, she can relate closely to the subject. She also thinks students will be able to relate to the topic and hopes they will walk away thinking about what they can do to change the situation.
“I‘m looking forward to hearing his research,” Hinds said. “It’s going to be really interesting and important. (I hope students) just get a better idea of how their consumerism affects not only themselves but other people around them.”
Clarissa Slama, the secretary of the Speaker Series, said she talks to friends and classmates to see what they would be interested in so the committee can get speakers they know students would be interested in.
She is also very interested in the travel side of Bowe’s speech and she’s looking forward to hearing stories about places he’s been and what he’s seen.
“It will be nice to put it all in perspective,” Slama said.
Slama thinks this topic hasn’t been addressed by any speakers yet, so hopefully people will be interested in the topic because it is so current.
“I had never seen a speaker that was talking about modern-day slavery and we always think the economy is boring, but it’s not,” Slama said.
Slama, like Hinds, just hopes students walk away with a new perspective on what they consume and give some thought to what they purchase and where they get it from.
“I hope they take a second guess at what they are buying I hope they think about how this product got into their hands,” Slama said.
Bowe’s speech will take place on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in Reeve 227. You can visit the Speaker Series’ Web site (www.uwosh.edu/speakers) to get more information.
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