Introduction

A cartoon composed of 2 frames made by CorpWatch (their website address is indicated in the bottom right hand corner). The topic is probably Outsourcing (offshoring/Relocating) of production by big American corporations. The organization is concerned about corporations which increasingly relocate their production overseas to reduce (cut down) costs.

CorpWatch probably tries to watch/study corporate activities closely.

First frame

There is a caption which describes the drawing below and provides historical information. Christopher Columbus who mistakenly arrived in America, although he thought he had landed in India.

Christopher Columbus sailed across the Atlantic Ocean and landed in America although he was looking for a route to India. In the background, we can see his ship (a galleon / "g&lI@n /).

CC is seated at a table with a napkin tied around his neck (as if he were a baby) and is wolfing down food served by Natives or Indians who seem very submissive and generous. He seems greedy and very hungry. The Indians who are serving him look puzzled.

The balloon confirms his mistake as CC believes that the food he is eating is Tandoori, a traditional Indian dish.

However, the second frame is really set in India.

Frame 2

This time, we learn in the caption that American corporations/companies wanted to lower costs. That is why they went to India, where there are low-cost workers/white collars.

The cartoon shows a CEO (Company Executive Officer) who is ordering/is bossing around his employees who are all Indians. The employees are making phone calls to an English-speaking country and their boss orders them to pronounce the words properly as they probably speak English with a strong/slight accent. The employees are supposed to be Americans and therefore have to sound like them. Their working conditions do not seem good as what is supposed to be their office looks like a cellar with a bulb hanging from the wall. The place looks more like a sweatshop in which workers toil for long hours for very low wages.

Conclusion

  • The cartoonist uses humour as CC looks ridiculous/ is a caricature and behaves like a pig; he doesn’t seem well-educated although he is supposed to civilize the Natives.
  • The CEO in the second frame behaves in a very authoritarian/patronizing and is very cruel/heartless/demanding (=exacting) with his employees. He is overfed while his workers look quite skinny which refers to the social, economic divide between the haves and the have nots.
  • The cartoonist is speaking out against big American corporations (multinational companies/ corporate America) which relocate production to reduce costs. They relocateproduction and jobs overseas in countries which have vast sources of cheap labour. It is a way to remain competitive in the world market even if it implies job losses in the United States.
  • The white man is still exploiting people around the world. Relocation represents a new form of colonialism as rich countries take advantage of developing countries’ cheap labour force to make more profit. The oppressors have not changed much since the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus.