Assignment 2The Geography of Your ClosetThe goal of this assignment is to introduce you to geography within the context of your day-to-day activities. You'll be analyzing the ways in which you interact with others around the world, based on what you wear, and explaining how those interactions came about.Clothing is one of the most common (and conspicuous) markers of cultural identity. But the clothing industry is also oftremendous economic importance to workers around the world.As a consumer, you are the final link in a commoditychain that may include cotton farmers in Africa, chemical factories in New Jersey, designers in Italy, and sweatshop workers in Vietnam. In this assignment, you'll look at the second half of that commodity chain, from where the clothing is produced to where it is consumed (purchased), and figure out the geography of that commodity chain.Step 1: Identify all of the clothing you would wear in a normal week. Either go through your closet and pick seven outfits that you'd wear in a typical week, or just keep track when you get dressed each morning for seven days. For each top and bottom (don't worry about socks or underwear), write down the type of clothing, the country where it was made, and the name of the manufacturer or designer.Step 2: Make a table like the one below. For each item of clothing, you'll need to findout the country where the manufacturer is headquartered in addition to where the garmentwas produced. Then for each country, you'll need three pieces of information: population, GDP (gross domestic product) per capita (or GNP if GDP is unavailable), and HDI (human development index). You can get this information in the attached handout or from an online sources such as the United Nations (http://hdr.undp.org/statistics/data/cty/cty_f_AGO.html). Keep track of your data sources and list them at the end of your report, including the URLs and titles of any web pages you consult.Sample table:Product Company HQ locationPopulation GNP percapitaHDI Production locationPopulation GNP per capitaHDIStep 3: Map out your findings. On the blank world map attached, construct a thematic map that illustrates the commodity chains of your clothing. Identify where your clothes are produced and where the headquarters are of the companies that produce them.Use point, line, and area symbols as appropriate, as well as the six visual variables (color,size, etc.), to indicate different features on your map. Remember to include a key. Make sure the map symbols that you choose are meaningful and easy for the reader to follow.Step 4: Answer the following discussion questions in 1-2 total pages, based on your table and map. The same rules about format and grammar/spelling apply as in the previous assignment.1. Production. Describe the spatial patterns you see on your map. Are the headquarters and production facilities located in the same countries? If not, why not? Pick one of yourgarments and discuss why you think the headquarters are in the country that they are (or state or city, if you have more detailed information), and why the production facilities are in the country that they are. Be specific.2. Consumption. Connect the commodity chain down to you as an individual. Where didyou buy your clothing? Where did you do the labor that produced the income that paid for your clothing? What do the table and map that you made say about your consumption habits? 3. Consequences. Pick one of your garments. Approximately how many miles did that piece of clothing travel to get to you? What mode of transportation did it probably use? Where might it have passed through along the way? How are you connected to other parts of the globe through the goods you consume?This assignment is worth 125 points. You will be graded as follows:Correctly following procedure 5 pointsAn easy-to-read and accurate table 30 pointsA creative, attractive, and accurate map 45 pointsWell-written answers to the questions 45
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