Rana Plaza Fieldwork and Academic Anxiety: Some Reflections

• Published date: 01 November 2017
• Date: 01 November 2017
• Author: Rashedur Chowdhury
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/joms.12262

Rana Plaza Fieldwork and Academic Anxiety: Some

Reflections

Rashedur Chowdhury

University College Dublin

The Rana Plaza collapse, which took place in Bangladesh in 2013, killed and injured at least

1135 and 2500 people respectively. Although the structural fault with the building had been

identified before the collapse, the owner of the building and five garment factories housed in

Rana Plaza had forced workers to continue production for 31 Western multinational

corporations (MNCs). It was the deadliest structural failure in modern history, and resulted in

a horrific rescue operation. First, the fire brigade did not have the necessary training and

equipment to rescue the victims, and so the general public also participated in the rescue

operation. Second, when victims were rescued, it was found that many of them had lost their

limbs or suffered severe internal injuries, including internal organ failure, due to several days

without water. After the completion of the rescue, the victims received neither appropriate

compensation nor rehabilitation to overcome their psychological trauma and physical

disabilities.

As a Bangladeshi, I had always been accustomed to what poverty could mean to some-

one. I recall a huge slum behind our home in Chittagong. From the second floor,

I observed what happened there: the way people lived their lives, what they cooked,

how they shared moments, laughed, cried, quarrelled, and fought. One night, I even

observed a huge fire, a significant event to witness as a child. I saw people trying to save

their belongings – whatever small items they had in their tiny homes. I could hear the

screaming of elderly people, children stuck in the fire, and relatives rushing to save their

loved ones. The next morning, I saw no trace of the victims’ houses. Some slum-

dwellers were crying, others staring at the sky because they had no roof over their head.

I saw some start building their places again. They could not go elsewhere as they had no

other shelter or help from the local authority, government, or private landlords. I heard

some of their conversations. One of them observed: ‘In this world, no one looks after the

poor, not even God’. I also spent a great deal of time with the children from this slum as

my playfield was close to it. I knew how these children felt, thought, and saw the world.

Address for reprints: Rashedur Chowdhury, Michael Smurfit Business School, University College Dublin,

Blackrock, Carysfort Avenue, Co Dublin, Ireland (rashedur.chowdhury@ucd.ie).

V

C2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd and Society for the Advancement of Management Studies

Journal of Management Studies 54:7 November 2017

doi: 10.1111/joms.12262

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