{"id":26037,"date":"2025-07-14T14:54:14","date_gmt":"2025-07-14T14:54:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/followthethings.com\/?p=26037"},"modified":"2026-03-03T14:13:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T14:13:10","slug":"handbook-advice-to-filmmakers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/followthethings.com\/?p=26037","title":{"rendered":"Handbook: advice to filmmakers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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FEATURED EXAMPLES<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Primark – on the rack
Mangetout
Ilha das Flores<\/a>
Blood, sweat & takeaways
Girl model
Ghosts
UDITA<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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INGREDIENTS<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

INTENTIONS<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Reach new audiences
Pop the bubble
Change consumer behaviour
Change corporate behaviour
Improve pay and conditions
Show what’s possible<\/p>\n\n\n\n

TACTICS<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Hold ’em accountable
Blame, shame & guilt
Lie to tell the truth
Start somewhere different
Involve consumers
Humanise workers
Find the unions
Find a character
Give workers the mic!
Encourage empathy
Juxtapose extremes
Suggest concrete action
Encourage feminist solidarities<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RESPONSES<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Attack your critics
Liar! Fraud!
Wow \ud83d\udca5 WTF?
I’m so angry
This is disgusting
Guilty as charged
I just cried
I gotta do something
Who’s responsible?
These people are inspiring<\/p>\n\n\n\n

IMPACTS<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Now we’re talking
Corporations change
I shop differently now
Workers suffer
Activism is inspired
Debts are paid off
Workers’ pay & conditions improve<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“Get people to reflect, not recoil<\/strong>“ <\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n
By Abbie Gollings<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

IN BRIEF<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Student Abbie Gollings has taken the ‘Geographies of material culture’ module at the University of Exeter. She’s been watching trade justice documentaries, analysing the comments on their followthethings.com pages, and making sense of them using a draft copy of ‘The followthethings.com handbook for trade justice activism’. She knows a thing or two about how trade justice documentaries work and what they can do. She’s been asked to imagine meeting a filmmaker who’s planning a new trade justice documentary. What advice could she give? Consider the emotions your work could evoke in its audiences. Which ones will encourage them to act in ways that could improve workers’ pay and conditions? And maybe start with the workers first? What’s her theory of change? What activism are they involved in. How could a filmmaker help?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More about this page.<\/summary>\n

We are slowly piecing together a followthethings.com handbook for trade justice activism<\/em> and are publishing draft pages here as we write them. This is an ‘advice’ page. The main text is an example of student work from the ‘Geographies of material culture’ module which followthethings.com CEO Ian ran at the University of Exeter in the 2024-25 academic year. Students watched 8 films, and read their pages on followthethings.com (with the expeption of an unfinished film called The ginger trail<\/em>). They were asked to pair the comments brought together on each of the films’ followthethings.com pages with the appropriate ingredients phrases (naming their intentions, tactics, responses and impacts – show in bold below) being drafted for the Handbook<\/em>. Using these phrases as a pattern language (see FAQs), students were tasked to work out how specific intentions (e.g. improve workers’ pay & conditions<\/strong>) needed specific tactics (e.g. flip the script<\/strong>) to generate different kinds of responses (e.g. this is disgusting<\/strong>), which could generate different kinds of impacts (e.g. audiences are empowered<\/strong>). [NB pages about each of these ingredients are coming soon] At the end of the module, students were asked to imagine that they had met someone who was about to make their first trade justice documentary. Drawing on what they had learned in the module, what advice could they give them on how to make it effective?<\/p>\n<\/details>\n\n\n\n

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Question<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

How can I make an effective trade justice documentary? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Answer<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Screenshots from the Handbook.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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‘Effective\u2019 means many things: matching impacts to intentions, getting people talking<\/strong>. But you can do more. Effective documentaries can lead to action; the ultimate goal: improve<\/strong> workers\u2019 pay and conditions.<\/strong> I assume this is your aim. But not just as a temporary \u2018lifeboat\u2019 (Kister and Wenner, 2024) – you want long-lasting change. I\u2019ve watched some trade justice films. Some missed this mark. But they all point towards it. You can learn from them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Start ambitious. Change corporate behaviour. <\/strong>Expose how they exploit workers, shame them into action. Corporations can change structurally – improve pay and conditions! This is what Primark on the Rack<\/em> attempted. Posing as buyers, narrator McDougall\u2019s team went to hold Primark accountable<\/strong> for \u2018its illegal labour activities\u2019 (Maroney; 190-1; in Adley et al., 2025), capturing footage of young boy Mantheesh working illegally on Primark garments in India. This scene caused outrage. Primark became the \u2018poster boy\u2019 for child labour (Cook et al., 2018; 483, in Adley et al., 2025) \ud83d\ude2c<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Screenshots of Mantheesh testing sequins in Primark – on the rack.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Primark caught? Nope! They<\/em> fired back. Attacked their critics. <\/strong> \u2018Liar! Fraud!<\/strong> The footage is fake!\u2019 I didn\u2019t know who to believe. Commenters argued over who\u2019s right. This pivotal scene of Mantheesh became about everything but his struggles. Backfire! Panicking, Primark abruptly closed the three factories blamed of outsourcing and child labour. Rid themselves of the problem, leaving \u2018hundreds of garment workers in an even worse position than before\u2019 (Arnott; 36; in Adley et al., 2025). Workers suffer.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thanks to the film, ”good days\u2019 for Mantheesh have come to an abrupt end\u2019 (Hunt; 22, in Adley et al., 2025). \ud83d\ude33 . This is the opposite of its intention. I\u2019ve used this example to show you how impactful film can be – and how risky. DON\u2019T lie to tell the truth. Workers might<\/strong> suffer.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Screenshots from the Handbook.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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SO.. let\u2019s start smaller – a different angle. Target consumers<\/em>. Try to change consumer behaviour<\/strong>. If you want people to rethink where their stuff comes from, pop the bubble.<\/strong> All activists need to shine light on the hidden realities (Duncombe, 2012). Cook and Woodyer (2012) explain how the \u2018fetish\u2019 of commodities hides the hands making them. So, as Boyd says (2012; in Duncombe, 2016, 122), you must make \u2018the invisible visible.\u2019 Showing the workers juxtaposing extremes <\/strong>can do this – it gets people questioning without blame, shame or guilt<\/strong> – which clearly didn\u2019t work for Primark on the<\/em> Rack<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Screenshots from the Handbook.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Mangetout <\/em>and Ilha das Flores<\/em> did this. But you can\u2019t just throw any scenes together.Bloomfield and Sangalang (2014) helped me get this – you\u2019ve gotta show the relationship between the scenes, like cause and effect, or moral contrast – so people connect the dots themselves. Leave space for imagination (Cook et al., 2007; 118). Like how Mangetout<\/em> juxtaposes middle class diners who ate mangetout \u2018between outbursts of smug crassness, [as] the African pickers were being treated as slaves\u2019 (Holt, p.5; in Cook et al., 2025). Meanwhile Mark Dady, Tesco manager, smiles over his workers. It showed how Tesco policy exploits workers who completely rely on them, ignorant of their struggles, giving more attention to the vegetable than those producing it. Tesco weren\u2019t explicitly blamed<\/em> – viewers drew \u2018their own depressing conclusions\u2019 (Truss, np, in Cook et al., 2025) about how the workers were treated. I was so angry<\/strong>!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Screenshots of Mark Dady, Tesco buyer, visiting the farm (top left), Blessing Blessing Chingwaru, the farm’s chief mange-tout picker (bottom left) and the UK home counties dinner party guests eatinjg and discussing mage-tout farming in Zimbabwe: all from Mangetout.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Ilha das Flores also juxtaposed extremes<\/strong> showing the tomato-connected lives of workers, animals, and consumers. For some, it hit hard – \u2018impossible not to shed tears while watching\u2019 (Anon; 17; in Pavalow, 2025). Wow \ud83d\udca5 WTF?<\/strong> I was shocked seeing dead bodies, children eating scraps a family had previously deemed inedible. But the shock didn\u2019t lead me anywhere. If you look at Chouliaraki (2010), she explains this problem. She says when films show suffering too graphically or abstractly, they risk fetishising all over again. It becomes a spectacle of disgust (Lissner, 1981; 32, in Chouliaraki, 2010). I felt bombarded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Screenshots from Ilha das Flores.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

So, same technique, totally different outcomes. Emotions can work against you \u26a0\ufe0f . Ilha<\/em> das Flores<\/em> left people feeling disgusted – <\/strong>by the end \u2018I just felt like being sick\u2019 (Redroom Studios, np; cited in Pavalow, 2025). Disgust can make your audience recoil (Ryyn\u00e4nen, Kosonen, and Yl\u00f6nen, 2023). Someone said \u2018the holocaust images made me stop watching\u2019 (@andrewsharpe2587, np, in Pavalow, 2025). Not exactly the spark you need to fuel activism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Screenshots from the Handbook.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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But anger you can work with! Anger at Mangetout\u2019s<\/em> revelations inspired activism.<\/strong> Read Micheletti and Stolle (2008, p.749) to understand this emotional mobilisation. They explain how strong emotions like anger can drive change consumer behaviour<\/strong> and change corporate behaviour<\/strong>. That\u2019s an effective outcome! Unlike disgust, anger is intentional (Ryyn\u00e4nen, Kosonen, and Yl\u00f6nen, 2023). Mangetout<\/em> was effective because, as Brown and Pickerill (2009) explain, there was somewhere to aim it: Tesco<\/em>. Tesco felt pressured to join the Ethical Trading Initiative. Corporations have changed!<\/strong> SUCCESS!! \ud83c\udfaf You see there are different ways to apply pressure. Different emotions get different responses. Get people to reflect, not recoil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Targeting consumer audiences seems to be effective – you can target them other ways! Try to change consumer behaviour<\/strong>. Kahn (2016) explains that consumers are more responsible than ever – the solution to fast fashion problems! Make them feel they gotta<\/strong> do something<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Screenshots from the Handbook.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Involving consumers<\/strong> can be a powerful way to show them how to change. Blood Sweat and<\/em> Takeaways<\/em> tried this by taking 6 British food lovers to \u2018walk-a-mile\u2019 in workers\u2019 shoes in Thailand and Indonesia (Cuthbertson; 46; in Clarke et al., 2025). Millions watched – it reached new audiences <\/strong>and opened viewers\u2019 eyes: \u2018I never gave much thought to where my food comes from\u2019 (Lynn, np, in Clarke et al, 2025). But the show failed to tell viewers how to help – \u2018boycott tuna or buy more of it?\u2019 (Sutcliffe 2009 np, in Clarke et al., 2025).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\ud83e\udd14 What was the point?<\/strong> Instead, it focused on participants\u2019 personal journeys, like Manos\u2019 emotional revelation and apology to the workers shown below. It didn\u2019t push for social change (Gupta and Fawcett, np, in Clarke et al., 2025), and letting consumers ‘play at’ being workers only extended the gap between \u2018us’ and \u2018them\u2019 (Yang, 2017; 61).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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‘I have to apologize … I need to change.\u2019 British food lover Manos apologies to Indonesia fishermen in Blood, sweat and takeaways.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Screenshot from the Handbook.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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You must TELL consumers what to do (Haug and Busch, 2016). Explicitly link consumer habits with workers\u2019 lives. In Primark on the Rack, a<\/em> young woman is shown video evidence of children working on a top from Primark that she owned. She was shocked! Guilty as charged!<\/strong> Trust in Primark – gone. \u2018It\u2019s the end of the affair\u2019 says McDougall (Panorama, 2008; 48:43). Consumer behaviour changed \ud83d\udc4d . people said they’d shop differently now<\/strong> \ud83d\udc4d . Did they?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Screenshots of journalist Mark Heap shows a British consumer some foilm footage of the children who made her top, in Primark – on the rack.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I felt guilty too. All those times I\u2019ve ventured to Primark for another cheap top. But what about the factory owners I\u2019d seen? The children\u2019s parents? Who\u2019s responsible?<\/strong> I started justifying my actions, I\u2019m a student. I can\u2019t afford to shop elsewhere. \u2018How dare that reporter incline towards that woman [shopping] in anyway that it\u2019s her fault for buying clothes from Primark\u2019 (Maddox 2008 np; in Adley, 2025). Young (2003) explains this response. Guilt is backwards-looking, people get defensive (Bartky 2002; in Yang 2017) and angry. Instead of collective action, blaming a consumer caused resentment and refusal to take responsibility (Young, 2003). I came to a dead end. But then I returned to Young (2003). She says you want to show people that it\u2019s everyone\u2019s responsibility.Y ou need to show them how to make a difference, but don\u2019t blame. Guilt isn\u2019t always effective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Screenshots from the Handbook.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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So avoid responses that will backfire. Your doc could be more effective by humanising workers<\/strong>. Get people talking about them. You\u2019ve learnt about emotional responses – which ones should you evoke? Here you could turn to Kemp (2025) who explains that empathy can motivate helping behaviour and catalyse action (Nash and Corner, 2016). You want action! So encourage empathy.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Screenshots from the Handbook.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The unintentional popularity of Girl Model <\/em>shows that finding a character<\/strong> can really effectively connect an audience to workers struggles through empathy<\/strong>. \u2018It became \u2018essential viewing for adolescent girls\u2019 (Burr, 2012, np; in Hambly et al., 2025) because people had been emotionally impacted. Aspiring model Nadya (13) is carted off to Tokyo with hope for a better life, and money for her family. But these promises dissolve and the glamour and gloss of the industry was stripped away (Kermode, 2012, np, in Hambly et al., 2025). The images show her real emotions under the fake glamour. I<\/strong> just<\/strong> cried<\/strong> \u2018I wanted to give Nadya a hug, because I felt her pain\u2019 (DisturbedPixie, np; in Hambly et al, 2025).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Screenshots of Nadya Vall modelling and crying IRL, in Girl Model.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The rawness of disappointment touched a nerve. Canning and Reinsborough (2012) explain that your audience cares more when they relate. So you could include relatable characters to engage your audience. Point your camera towards the workers and it becomes an \u2018empathy machine\u2019 (Jackson in Nals, 2018; 135). But there was nothing I could for Nadya. I was invested but at a dead end. But Ghosts<\/em> shows how empathy CAN effectively inspire action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ghosts<\/em> finds a character<\/strong>: Ai Qin. We follow her closely as she migrates to the UK for better wages and work. But she becomes trapped in a modern slave system. She repeatedly suffers. She cries and then\u2026 I cried<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Screenshots of modern slave Ai Qin in Ghosts.<\/em> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Screenshot from the Handbook.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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My emotions mirrored hers (Nals, 2018). Her plight comes up to you like an unforgiving tide (Keak np; in Allen et al., 2025). You want to help her. Some viewers said that showing her ordinary emotions brought her closer to ‘us’ bridging a ‘gulf’ between viewer and subject (Brass; 346; in Allen et al., 2025), but I felt like I was framed in an oppressor vs oppressed dynamic (Bardan, date; in Pereen, 2014; 44). She was a victim, the audience are saviours (Pereen, 2014; 44). Ghosts<\/em> ends with the Morecambe Bay tragedy: Ai Qin survives, but viewers learn the victims’ families struggle with debt. Broomfield established the Morecombe Bay Victim\u2019s fund (O\u2019Keeffe 2006; in Allen et al., 2025) and emotionally-connected viewers, now cast as saviours, donate to clear these debts. Debts are paid off.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

So if you encourage empathy<\/strong> and suggest concrete action<\/strong> you can drive effective change. But this help was temporary. And empathy donation relationships rely on the colonial gaze being maintained (Hall, 1992; in Chouliaraki, 2010) which is part of the problem. Your film can use empathy to get immediate change, but you need to switch it up to improve workers pay and conditions long-term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Screenshots from the Handbook.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Individualising and blaming consumers and corporations can undermine your goal. An effective doc must promote trade justice without endangering workers. So start somewhere different. Let workers<\/strong> take<\/strong> the mic<\/strong>. Like UDITA (Arise) did. Following 5 female union workers, it shows what\u2019s<\/strong> possible<\/strong>: powerful, collective<\/em> action – \u2018women\u2019s hope and commitment to create better conditions for the next generation\u2019 (Spooner; 32, in Barker et al, 2025). These people are inspiring<\/strong>. Empowered workers showed how resistance is already improving<\/strong> pay and conditions<\/strong> (Siddiqi, 2019). They had a voice – and knowing best how the garment industry should change (Khan, 2016), they can tell us what they want – (O\u2019Neill, np; in Barker et al, 2025). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Left: screenshot from UDITA.<\/em> Right: screenshot from the Handbook.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I could no longer excuse ignoring how my t-shirts are made because \u2018[T]he actual garment workers themselves are saying that they want us to shop consciously. WE CAN DO IT\u2019 (Gregory, np, in Barker et al., 2025). It shows that the workers don\u2019t need \u2018saving\u2019 – Primark<\/em> – On the Rack<\/em> showed how victimising workers can harm their interests (Siddiqi, 2019), moving beyond the \u2018us\u2019 and \u2018them\u2019 divide. Before, I was encouraged to be a guilty consumer . Now I was encouraged to be a feminist in<\/strong> solidarity – <\/strong>an important move for audiences to make because it shows the collective responsibility we all have – that workers need to resist too (Young, 2003; 42). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Screenshot from the Handbook.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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After so much despair, witnessing their resilience gave me hope<\/strong>. Your film can help apply pressure in the right places. Find the unions<\/strong> and help them to improve pay and conditions<\/strong>. Inspire viewers to work collectively. Make it forward-looking (Robin Zheng, 2019). Show there is an alternative, and you will make real change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Left: screenshot from UDITA.<\/em> Right: screenshot from the Handbook.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

So to improve pay and conditions: target consumers and corporations, but be cautious \u26a0\ufe0f . Get people talking about the workers, and mobilise emotions like empathy and anger into concrete action. Collate these ideas – have a theory of change<\/strong> and apply pressure from different angles. Like UDITA, give workers opportunity to show what\u2019s possible to give the audience hope, a sense of togetherness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Screenshot from the Handbook.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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SOURCES<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Adley, K., Keeble, R., Russell, P. Stenholm, N, Strang, W, and Valo,. T (2025) Primark \u2013 on the rack. <\/em>followthethings.com\/primark-on-the-rack.shtml (last accessed: 28th April, 2025)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Allen, H, Heaume, E, Heeley, L. Hedger, R, Johnson, S, McGregor, O & Webber, L (2025) Ghosts<\/em>. followthethings.com\/ghosts.shtml (last accessed: 25th April 2025)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Barker, T, Collier, T, Baker, A, Coppen, L & Eve, H (2025) UDITA (ARISE).<\/em> followthethings.com\/udita.shtml (last accessed: 25th April, 2025)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bloomfield, E.F. and Sangalang, A. (2014) Juxtaposition as Visual Argument: Health Rhetoric in Super Size Me and Fat Head. Argumentation and Advocacy<\/em>, 50(3), pp. 141\u2013 156<\/p>\n\n\n\n

+25 sources<\/summary>\n

Brown, G. and Pickerill, J. (2009) Space for Emotion in the Spaces Of Activism. Emotion, space and society<\/em>, 2(1), pp. 24\u201335<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Canning, D. and Reinsborough, P. (2012) Lead With Sympathetic Characters. in Beautiful Trouble<\/em>. OR Books, p. 146<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chouliaraki, L. (2010) Post-humanitarianism: Humanitarian Communication Beyond a Politics of Pity. International journal of cultural studies<\/em>, 13(2), p. 107\u2013126. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clarke, M Thomson, B. Bartley, V. Ibbetson-Price, K. Christie-Miller. E. & Schofield, H. (2025) Blood, Sweat & Takeaways<\/em>. followthethings.com\/blood-sweat-takeaways.shtml (last accessed: 28th April, 2025)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cook, I. and Woodyer, T. (2012) Lives of Things. in The Wiley\u2010Blackwell Companion to Economic Geography<\/em>. Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, p. 226\u2013241<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cook, I. et al. (2007) \u2018It\u2019s More Than Just What It Is’: Defetishising Commodities, Expanding Fields, Mobilising Change. Geoforum<\/em>, 38(6), p. 1113\u20131126<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cook, I, et al., (2025) Mangetout<\/em>. followthethings.com\/mange-tout.shtml (last accessed: 28th April, 2025)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Duncombe, S. (2012) It Stands On Its Head: Commodity Fetishism, Consumer Activism, And The Strategic Use Of Fantasy. Culture and organization<\/em>, 18(5), p.359\u2013375.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Duncombe, S. (2016) ‘Does It Work? The \u00c6ffect of Activist Art. Social research<\/em> 83(1), p.115-134.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Duncombe, S. (2023) A Theory of Change for Artistic Activism. The Journal of aesthetics and art criticism<\/em>, 81(2), pp. 260\u2013268<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hambly, A, King, E, Keogh, A, Renny-Smith, C, Callow,E, Thorogood, J & Alloy, V (2025) Girl Model: The Truth Behind The Glamour<\/em>. followthethings.com\/girl-model.shtml (last accessed: 28th April, 2025)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Haug, A. and Busch, J. (2016) Towards an Ethical Fashion Framework. Fashion theory<\/em> 20(3), p.317\u2013339<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pavalow., M (2025) Ilha das Flores<\/em>. followthethings.com\/ilhadasflores.html (last accessed: 28th April, 2025)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kemp, D. (2025) Comparing Disgust and Sadness: Examining the Interaction of Emotion and Information in Charity Appeals. Journal of social marketing<\/em>, 15(1), p.42\u201358.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Khan, R. (2016) Doing Good and Looking good: Women in \u2018Fast Fashion\u2019 Activism. Women & Environments International Magazine<\/em>, 96\/97, p.7-9<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kister, J. and Wenner, M. (2024) Living Wages as Life Boat to Rescue Fairtrade\u2019s Values for Hired Labour? The Case of Indian Tea Plantations. Die Erde: journal of the Geographical Society of Berlin<\/em> 154(3), p.80-94<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Micheletti, M. and Stolle, D. (2008) Fashioning Social Justice Through Political Consumerism, Capitalism, And The Internet. Cultural studies<\/em> 22(5), p.749\u2013769<\/p>\n\n\n\n

N\u00e5ls, J. (2018) The Difficulty of Eliciting Empathy in Documentary. in Brylla, C & Kramer, M. (eds) Cognitive Theory and Documentary.<\/em> Oxford: Palgrave Macmillan, p.135-148<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nash, K. and Corner, J. (2016) Strategic Impact Documentary: Contexts Of Production And Social Intervention. European journal of communication<\/em> 31(3), p.227\u2013242<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Peeren, E. (2014) The Spectral Metaphor: Living Ghosts and the Agency of Invisibility<\/em>. London: Palgrave Macmillan<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ryyn\u00e4nen, M., Kosonen, H.S. and Yl\u00f6nen, S.C. (2023) From visceral to the aesthetic: tracing disgust in contemporary culture. in their (eds.) Cultural Approaches to Disgust and the Visceral. <\/em>London: Routledge, p.3-16<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Siddiqi, D.M. (2009) Do Bangladeshi Factory Workers Need Saving? Sisterhood In The Post-Sweatshop Era. Feminist review<\/em>, 91(91), p.154\u2013174<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yang, J. (2017) Screening privilege: global injustice & responsibility in 21st-Century Scandinavian film & media.<\/em> PhD thesis: University of Oslo (https:\/\/www.duo.uio.no\/bitstream\/handle\/10852\/70905\/Yang%2bPhD%2bScreening%2bPrivilege.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y last accessed 28th April 2025)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Young, I. (2003) From guilt to solidarity: sweatshops & political responsibility. Dissent <\/em>50(2), p.39-44<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zheng, R. (2019) What Kind of Responsibility Do We Have for Fighting Injustice? A Moral- Theoretic Perspective on the Social Connections Model. Critical horizons : journal of social & critical theory<\/em>, 20(2), p.109\u2013126<\/p>\n<\/details>\n\n\n\n

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Image credits<\/summary>\n

Icon: conversation (https:\/\/thenounproject.com\/icon\/conversation-6769395\/<\/a>) by kliwir art from Noun Project (CC BY 3.0)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Primark on the rack:<\/em> credit BBC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mangetout<\/em>: credit BBC<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ilha das Flores: <\/em>credit Casa de Cinema de Porto Alegre<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Blood, sweat & takeaways<\/em>: credit BBC<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Girl model<\/em>: credit Carnivalesque Films<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ghosts: <\/em>credit Beyond Films<\/p>\n\n\n\n

UDITA<\/em> – credit Rainbow Collective<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Handbook<\/em> screengrabs: credit followthethings.com<\/p>\n\n\n\n




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SECTION: <\/strong>advice <\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Written by Abbie Gollings, edited by Ian Cook (first published July 2025)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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FEATURED EXAMPLES Primark – on the rackMangetoutIlha das FloresBlood, sweat & takeawaysGirl modelGhostsUDITA INGREDIENTS INTENTIONS Reach new audiencesPop the bubbleChange consumer behaviourChange corporate behaviourImprove pay and conditionsShow what’s possible TACTICS Hold ’em accountableBlame, shame & guiltLie to tell the truthStart somewhere differentInvolve consumersHumanise workersFind the unionsFind a characterGive workers the mic!Encourage empathyJuxtapose extremesSuggest concrete actionEncourage […]<\/p>\n

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