Global High Tech Industry’s Dark Side
From the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition
The electronics industry is the largest and fastest growing manufacturing industry in the world. The rapid rate of globalization is made possible by the rapid development and expansion of the Internet economy, which in turn is fueled by the unprecedented growth of high-tech electronics manufacturing.
In just one human generation, the high-tech revolution has spread out from its birthplace in Silicon Valley to encompass vast sections of the globe. A typical computer now contains components manufactured and assembled all over the world: semiconductor chips made in New Mexico or Scotland or Malaysia, a disk drive made in Singapore or Thailand, a CRT (cathode ray tube) monitor made in Japan, circuit boards made in China, and assembled in Mexico or Costa Rica.
As the global economy becomes larger, more complex and more interdependent, global trade issues have begun to dominate international relations. International bodies, such as the World Trade Organization, and treaties, such as the North American Free Trade Agreement, have been enacted to set the rules for international commerce. These new initiatives are driven by international trade and business concerns. Global high-tech giants often play a dominant role. Environmental, labor and human rights issues have taken a back seat.
For example on October 5, 1998, the Wall Street Journal reported that women workers at a National Semiconductor factory in Scotland were suffering from breast, uterine and cervical cancer that they believe is related to their work with chemicals. Other media reports by the BBC, New York Times, and NBC Dateline have connected the health of workers in electronics manufacturing plants to their chemical exposure.
Meanwhile, China and other developing countries have become dumping grounds for computer parts and waste from industrialized countries. They are paid to store this toxic waste, usually in open-air dumps, and there poor people including many children are exposed to highly toxic compounds as they sort through the waste for scraps which they can sell for salvage.
The Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition (SVTC) tracks the global expansion of high-tech electronics manufacturing. As in the Silicon Valley experience, rapid technological change has too often led to adverse social, political and economic impacts. As the industry began to expand to other parts of the U.S., the SVTC built a new network called the Campaign for Responsible Technology to promote broader participation in the design and development of sustainable technologies.
More recently, CRT expanded into the International Campaign for Responsible Technology, which has been working with environmental, labor, community and health NGOs in other high-tech corridors for more than 10 years and has built good relationships with many other groups throughout the U.S. and around the world.
We envision a world where technology better serves social and environmental needs and empowers communities and workers. For this vision to become a reality, vastly increased citizen participation is required to ensure the responsible development and implementation of new technologies.