US Anti-Outsourcing Movement Doomed
America and the World
Harpriye Juneja
Issue date: 1/20/05 Section: Perspectives
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Last week, a Philadelphia hip hop and R&B station, Power 99 FM, was forced to suspend two radio DJs for making offensive remarks on the air during a "comic" segment. In the course of the segment, a host tried to order hair beads from a U.S. manufacturer's call center in India. He hurled racially charged abuses (relating to the supposed loss of U.S. jobs to Indians) at the attendant, before hanging up and laughing triumphantly. As the issue was trumpeted across the Indian media, it proved to be just the latest ugly episode in the U.S. anti-outsourcing movement, which continues to damage America's image overseas.
The anti-outsourcing movement received significant attention from across the political spectrum as a hot-button issue in the 2004 elections. While President Bush and Republicans in the Senate mostly quietly towed their free trade party line, portions of their electoral base (particularly the rural working class) have fumed about what they see as a "hollowing out" of America. On the opposite side of the spectrum, John Kerry, pandering to labor unions, a key constituency of the Democratic Party, chastised "Benedict Arnold" corporations for "sending jobs" offshore, in spite of his sterling Senate voting record in support of free trade. A host of grassroots anti-outsourcing movements have also sprouted across the United States. Some of these movements are simply opportunistic. For instance, one Milwaukee-based advertising firm, perhaps sniffing a commercial opportunity, recently launched a "certification" process aimed at declaring selected corporations as free from the apparently heinous sin of "doing business overseas." Some media outlets have also been awash with similarly charged rhetoric: Most notably, the ominous host of CNN's "Tonight with Lou Dobbs" "exposes" American corporations who "send jobs to cheap overseas labor markets."
The cacophony of anti-outsourcing rhetoric and movements might seem quite overwhelming and confusing for most Indians - and not a trifle hypocritical, given its origins in the world's foremost champion of free trade and globalization. However, despite the natural unease that many in India might feel over U.S. opponents of outsourcing, it is helpful for Indians to keep in mind similar rhetoric of the past, which targeted Japan in the 1980s, and the firmness of America's longstanding commitment to free trade.
The anti-outsourcing movement received significant attention from across the political spectrum as a hot-button issue in the 2004 elections. While President Bush and Republicans in the Senate mostly quietly towed their free trade party line, portions of their electoral base (particularly the rural working class) have fumed about what they see as a "hollowing out" of America. On the opposite side of the spectrum, John Kerry, pandering to labor unions, a key constituency of the Democratic Party, chastised "Benedict Arnold" corporations for "sending jobs" offshore, in spite of his sterling Senate voting record in support of free trade. A host of grassroots anti-outsourcing movements have also sprouted across the United States. Some of these movements are simply opportunistic. For instance, one Milwaukee-based advertising firm, perhaps sniffing a commercial opportunity, recently launched a "certification" process aimed at declaring selected corporations as free from the apparently heinous sin of "doing business overseas." Some media outlets have also been awash with similarly charged rhetoric: Most notably, the ominous host of CNN's "Tonight with Lou Dobbs" "exposes" American corporations who "send jobs to cheap overseas labor markets."
The cacophony of anti-outsourcing rhetoric and movements might seem quite overwhelming and confusing for most Indians - and not a trifle hypocritical, given its origins in the world's foremost champion of free trade and globalization. However, despite the natural unease that many in India might feel over U.S. opponents of outsourcing, it is helpful for Indians to keep in mind similar rhetoric of the past, which targeted Japan in the 1980s, and the firmness of America's longstanding commitment to free trade.