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A factory where workers make products in very poor working conditions. This can include exposure to harmful materials, dangerous situations, extreme temperatures, abuse from employers, extended overtime hours, very low wages and child labor. Sweatshops came into existence during the Industrial Revolution with the invention of the foot-powered sewing machine in 1846. Since then, they have been a symbol of the end of the artisan system of creating unique products made by hand. Sweatshops have a negative connotation and have proved a difficult issue to resolve because their roots lie in the conceptual foundations of the world’s present economy. With the transformation towards a more sustainable fashion industry, the concept of sweatshops might be subject to great alterations or possibly die out over time.
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