ITAA Proceedings 2000 Distinguished Scholar Lecture

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© 2000, International Textile and Apparel Association, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
ITAA Proceedings, #57 – www.itaaonline.org
2000 Proceedings Cincinnati, OH USA
UNEVEN INTERACTIONS:
BEFORE NORMA RAE, BEYOND NEW ECONOMY
Sara U. Douglas: Distinguished Scholar
University of Illinois, Urbana, IL 61801
Diversity characterizes our interdisciplinary field. My own academic background includes a BS in
textile commerce, an MS in textile science, and a Ph.D. in communications research. My
research interests developed out of this education and include textile economics, international
textile trade, public policy and legal analysis, and political economy.
The term "uneven interactions" seems to connect these varied interests coherently. By uneven
interactions I mean relationships between and among individuals, groups, and institutions
characterized by differences in levels of power (that may be either perceived or real). Much of
my research examines relationships between players in a triangle: transnational corporations
(TNCs), civil societies, and nation‐states. What attracts me most in these relationships are
various situations, each of which entails unequal interactions within, between, and among the
players in the triangle—or situations between the players where one is disadvantaged and
another is advantaged.
My definitions for none of the above terms are unusual, but further explanation of some may
be helpful. International political economy can be defined in many ways, but essentially it is a
social science that deals with political science and economics together, as interrelated
processes. By civil societies, I mean people—not just individuals but people in various
collectivities. Separation of the two words in "nation‐state" serves to emphasize the two parts
of "country": one, its "nation" or culture, referring to a group of people who share a sense of
cultural identity, usually by language and heritage, and often territoriality; and two, its state,
which is a legal concept that describes a social group that occupies a territory and is organized
under common political institutions and a government.
My approach to examination of triangular models often comes simply from questions I wish to
explore rather than development of formal hypotheses. The methods or tools that I prefer to
use are qualitative, mostly because of the nature of the research problems I select. These
methods can be used to study groups, individuals, and institutions. One purpose of my projects
always is to build theory or at least to contribute to that process. Theory building contributes
value to a project in that it requires exploration, getting out into the field, and trying to
understand how people change and actively contribute to change in their worlds. The purpose
and challenge of grounded theory is to build theory that is faithful to the evidence.