https://www.invisibleworkers.org.uk/journal daily 0.75 2025-10-06 https://www.invisibleworkers.org.uk/journal/behind-the-scenes-sound-map monthly 0.5 2025-10-13 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/651d459e6d76eb6cf60323a4/1758190356133-DI1GVT8WSTDIUDK5Z9E4/fig.+2.jpeg Journal - Behind the Scenes: Making the Al-Hassan Sound Map https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/651d459e6d76eb6cf60323a4/1758190364336-0DX6S52RGHB2QHUGI36J/Fig.+3.JPG Journal - Behind the Scenes: Making the Al-Hassan Sound Map https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/651d459e6d76eb6cf60323a4/1758190363260-3S5OEM67EEWMANVSC67T/Fig.+4.jpeg Journal - Behind the Scenes: Making the Al-Hassan Sound Map https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/651d459e6d76eb6cf60323a4/1758190367420-PBFMEWCMOA7DM00VXUGT/Fig.+5.jpeg Journal - Behind the Scenes: Making the Al-Hassan Sound Map https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/651d459e6d76eb6cf60323a4/1758199911510-QXFV6P0MNMQ87B4E0OJE/Fig.+6.JPG Journal - Behind the Scenes: Making the Al-Hassan Sound Map https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/651d459e6d76eb6cf60323a4/1758199908044-Z9K76UTOUUXRPCJQ7ODQ/Fig.+7.jpeg Journal - Behind the Scenes: Making the Al-Hassan Sound Map https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/651d459e6d76eb6cf60323a4/1758209851360-QZMYXT1LZC1DFWYQAUGN/Fig+B.jpg Journal - Behind the Scenes: Making the Al-Hassan Sound Map https://www.invisibleworkers.org.uk/journal/leicester-clothes-the-world monthly 0.5 2025-10-06 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/651d459e6d76eb6cf60323a4/1758124854327-2U2GGWF3A4O0NYC27AB4/Leicester1.png Journal - Leicester clothes the world? Walking through Leicester’s industrial estates in 2025, it is difficult to imagine that this city once stood at the centre of the global garment trade. Many of the factories are shuttered, their signage faded or torn, units behind rusted gates. A prominent image in the media is of the old Imperial Typewriter building, now split into small workshop style factories, with the majority of the building unused, and small vacancy and To Let signs hanging over the windows. Once dubbed "Leicester Clothes the World," the city is central to the UK’s textile manufacturing past. In the 20th century, factories like Corah and Stibbe employed thousands of workers. The scale of production was immense, but Leicester’s manufacturing base was hit hard by the global shift to offshore production from the 1970s onwards. Just as factories were closing, the city became home to waves of South Asian and East African migrants arriving in search of work. These new communities brought skills and supported the continuation of the textile industry. Former factory workers became owners and managers, adapting to a changing industrial landscape. Garment manufacturing transformed in Leicester. By the early 2000s, the city had become the centre of fast fashion in the UK. Small units, often housed in converted warehouses, fulfilled the ultra-rapid production schedules of online brands. Boohoo in particular drove local production but this came at a human cost. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/651d459e6d76eb6cf60323a4/1758125361969-CWTG3AUQE3ZQ095B6ZW5/Leicester%2B2.png Journal - Leicester clothes the world? Our research has taken us to industrial sites around Spinney Hills where small scale workshops continue to produce clothing, and textiles are carted between small garages in shopping trolleys. In the wake of the 2020 Boohoo scandal, in which journalists exposed illegal wages as low as £3.50 per hour and unsafe conditions, the industry imploded, and brands wiped their hands clean of their association with Leicester. The scale of exploitation in Leicester shocked consumers. Many factories operated with “composite wages,” where a worker might be paid officially for 20 hours, but expected to work 40 or more. As a result, the number of active units in Leicester fell from over 1,000 to under 100. For workers, most of whom had no formal contracts, minimal legal protections, and few alternatives, this has meant sudden unemployment and even greater precarity. While the Boohoo scandal brought public attention to labour abuses at home, the exposé did little to address systemic abuses, instead leaving behind widespread unemployment. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/651d459e6d76eb6cf60323a4/1758125376802-MKT7H2UZ4O37NFOWJCGR/Leicester%2B3.png Journal - Leicester clothes the world? Despite the industry's collapse, the workforce in Leicester still bears the traces of its embeddedness in local neighbourhoods. Many workers live just streets away from the factories, and childcare, housing, and community life have long revolved around garment work. The majority of the workforce are South Asian, some from Gujarati communities expelled from Uganda in the 1970s, others more recently arrived from India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. Increasingly, Eastern European workers have also become part of the sector’s shifting demographic. Garment work has long been one of the few accessible employment options for Leicester’s working-class communities, especially women. Many women have worked for decades without ever needing to learn English. This closeness, however, also creates insularity and limits access to wider employment or support services. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/651d459e6d76eb6cf60323a4/1758125161220-UHUV31UGJY87WWXVH21Q/Leicester%2B4.png Journal - Leicester clothes the world? The Boohoo exposé was supposed to bring change, but it has not done so in the way workers may have hoped. With factories closed, thousands of workers have found themselves without income and reliant on community centres for access to food banks and employment, housing and welfare advice. Exploring the old factory sites there was definitely an atmosphere of suspicion, with local business owners checking to see if we were reporters to talk about Boohoo again. The significant research and media attention has generated a fear that the perception of Leicester has discouraged investment, making it even harder for workers to find new opportunities. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/651d459e6d76eb6cf60323a4/1758124849423-4M2L2HSWZSOCPX7ESS15/Leicester+5.png Journal - Leicester clothes the world? Yet, the industry persists and there is growing attention on the future of manufacturing in Leicester through initiatives such as ‘Leicester Made’. While the original factory sites are much quieter than during the city’s manufacturing prime, campaigns are seeking to transform the sourcing site as one with potential for a role in sustainable fashion. https://www.invisibleworkers.org.uk/journal/notes-from-the-field-jordan-t4pgd monthly 0.5 2025-05-28 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/651d459e6d76eb6cf60323a4/1696858415559-HOGE2K2E2782JESWMYIU/photo_1.jpeg Journal - Asian Garment Workers Sewing American Clothing in Jordan In Jordan, the export-oriented garment industry is mainly concentrated in three industrial zones, Al-Hassan (Irbid), Tajammoat (Sahab) and Ad-Dhulayl (Zarqa), the entrance of which is pictured here. These industrial zones were created in the end of the 1990s as so-called Qualified Industrial Zones (QIZs), as part of an American policy aimed to foster economic integration through Israeli-Jordanian joint ventures in the context of the 1994 peace accords. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/651d459e6d76eb6cf60323a4/1696858415766-RZU4XZUCQR1ZB7V9NRC1/photo_2.jpeg Journal - Asian Garment Workers Sewing American Clothing in Jordan Today, most of the garment factories located in these industrial zones produce synthetic clothing for US brands, benefitting from a free trade agreement (JOFTA) – signed in 2001 and fully entered into force in 2010 – that exempts apparel made in Jordan from import tariffs in the United States. The majority of garment producers located in Jordan are multi-national Asia-headquartered firms, and many of them operate production units in several countries. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/651d459e6d76eb6cf60323a4/1696858420349-H3EGF418ETQJPBT8CXVH/photo_3.jpeg Journal - Asian Garment Workers Sewing American Clothing in Jordan 75% of garment workers in Jordan are migrant workers, and 25% are Jordanian, a quota imposed by the Ministry of Labour since 2012. The vast majority of workers come from South Asia, most importantly Bangladesh and India, and over 70% of workers in the garment sector are young women. Migrant workers live in dormitories, like the ones pictured here, within or right adjacent to the industrial zones and the rent is directly deducted from their monthly salaries. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/651d459e6d76eb6cf60323a4/1696858420487-K0YGDT392WYWV119J7TD/photo_4.jpeg Journal - Asian Garment Workers Sewing American Clothing in Jordan Our research in Jordan examines garment workers’ priorities and concerns regarding health and well-being, with a focus on gendered perceptions and experiences. Beyond an assessment of access to health services, occupational health and safety and social protection, we interrogate the broader impact of factory work, but also of living routines in the secluded industrial zones and of migration experiences, on workers’ physical and mental well-being. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/651d459e6d76eb6cf60323a4/1696858424446-CP7TDBZTPHURG0HZIWFE/photo_5.jpeg Journal - Asian Garment Workers Sewing American Clothing in Jordan Most workers eat at least one meal a day in the factory canteen, and migrant workers have the cost for catering automatically deducted from monthly wages. As garment workers are paid below the national minimum wage (230 JD/month), they routinely supplement wages through overtime work and often remain on their machines for more than 60 hours a week (the legal maximum). As work times fluctuate with production levels, migrant workers’ lives are dominated by hyper-intensive and unpredictable rhythms that leaves little time for reproductive activities like cooking, let alone leisure activities or a social life. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/651d459e6d76eb6cf60323a4/1696858426868-F8SODL4RFPIBBBHWWWJK/photo_6.jpeg Journal - Asian Garment Workers Sewing American Clothing in Jordan Friday is the only weekly holiday for garment factory workers and it transforms the industrial zones and their surrounds, as thousands of workers flock to the markets to go shopping, frequent Asian restaurants, or meet colleagues and friends. Next to the Ad-Dhulayl industrial zone, an inconspicuous street (pictured here) has turned into what locals call Souk Al-Bengal (the Bengali market). On a stretch of only 500 meters, a mix of Jordanian, Yemeni, Pakistani and Bangladeshi traders offer local and Asian consumer goods, cooked food and fresh produce, including South Asian vegetables and fruit that are difficult to find elsewhere on the Jordanian market. Permanent shops are joined by mobile vending stalls and street vendors on Friday, and a unique mix of Arabic, Hindi, Bangla and Sinhala forms the soundscape of market negotiations. https://www.invisibleworkers.org.uk/events daily 0.75 2026-02-24 https://www.invisibleworkers.org.uk/events/many-drops monthly 0.5 2026-02-24 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/651d459e6d76eb6cf60323a4/e4c4f1f3-f4e0-407e-b6dd-9bdb62f318ab/Many+Drops+Event.png Events - Many Drops - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.invisibleworkers.org.uk/events/fair-work-and-supply-chains-in-the-uk-garment-industry monthly 0.5 2025-11-04 https://www.invisibleworkers.org.uk/events/counter-mapping-garment-labour-launch-of-drawing-dreams-in-the-dust monthly 0.5 2025-11-04 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/651d459e6d76eb6cf60323a4/1762166258190-L0WCO15JU2D8ROPUIL3R/Cairo1.png Events - Counter-Mapping Garment Labour – Launch of Drawing Dreams in the Dust https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/651d459e6d76eb6cf60323a4/1762166259280-8B5DQSVJGPHVE8J61EGQ/2.png Events - Counter-Mapping Garment Labour – Launch of Drawing Dreams in the Dust https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/651d459e6d76eb6cf60323a4/1762166259566-STPP7SC6BHI2PSGPCNBK/Cairo3.png Events - Counter-Mapping Garment Labour – Launch of Drawing Dreams in the Dust https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/651d459e6d76eb6cf60323a4/1762166260452-D6VSO1YLXWPP751JDX1Q/Cairo4.png Events - Counter-Mapping Garment Labour – Launch of Drawing Dreams in the Dust https://www.invisibleworkers.org.uk/events/call-for-papers-a3gzw-ctaej-4hkda monthly 0.5 2025-04-28 https://www.invisibleworkers.org.uk/events/call-for-papers-a3gzw-ctaej monthly 0.5 2024-11-25 https://www.invisibleworkers.org.uk/events/call-for-papers monthly 0.5 2024-11-25 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/651d459e6d76eb6cf60323a4/d6b91b40-70cd-4081-a820-147564beb4b3/joeg_ogimage.png Events - Call for papers: workshop and special issue - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.invisibleworkers.org.uk/home daily 1.0 2023-12-06 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/651d459e6d76eb6cf60323a4/1e28762f-901b-4bd0-ab07-5fe4d92020dc/Artboard+33+copy.png https://www.invisibleworkers.org.uk/contact daily 0.75 2023-12-01 https://www.invisibleworkers.org.uk/about daily 0.75 2023-12-05 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/651d459e6d76eb6cf60323a4/1b14996f-2468-473a-bd87-8d10f0dc10c4/Sewing+machine.png https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/651d459e6d76eb6cf60323a4/dbe546c5-54c0-4393-b0e2-ba768e8e37c4/All+partner+logos.png https://www.invisibleworkers.org.uk/team daily 0.75 2025-06-24 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/651d459e6d76eb6cf60323a4/267a8e53-3eb9-46b0-9860-a861832b3376/Workers.png https://www.invisibleworkers.org.uk/media daily 0.75 2025-12-08 https://www.invisibleworkers.org.uk/sites daily 0.75 2025-04-16 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/651d459e6d76eb6cf60323a4/1191f566-e502-49e9-821d-b06bd4c93636/Artboard+34.png https://www.invisibleworkers.org.uk/publications daily 0.75 2026-03-16 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/651d459e6d76eb6cf60323a4/f0f13a90-807d-43f3-992b-8bdd1a41347e/Drawing+Dreams+Cover+English.png https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/651d459e6d76eb6cf60323a4/fd0da152-9001-471f-b9b3-eb4a3a4291cd/Drawing+Dreams+Cover+Arabic.png