Trained but trapped? A case study on capacity building and female garment workers' well-being on and beyond the shop floor in Bangladesh

Abstract: The purpose of this thesis is to illustrate how capacity-building training impacts women's well-being. The study was carried out using a case-study approach on a women's training centre in Bangladesh and 25 women that had previously undergone training were interviewed. Their stories were analysed using the capability approach theorised from a critical realist stance. The results show that the training leads to paid garment work, which has mixed effects on women's well-being. However, the overall impacts appear to be predominantly positive compared to the women's prior situation. The women furthermore consider garment work only a temporary solution in their lives. Hence, our thesis raises the question whether training women to become garment workers can be considered sustainable. The study adds to the research on the impacts of corporations' social initiatives and on the well-being of garment workers both on and beyond the shop floor. Further, the thesis examines well-being through a bottom-up perspective, adding to the current social sustainability discourse. Lastly, this case study shows how capacity building and paid work can assume a social-welfare function in the women's lives, thus demonstrating how corporations' boundaries of responsibility may change depending on the context.