Since their invention in 1871 by Jacob Davis in partnership with Levi Strauss, jeans have reached almost all parts of the world and entered all walks of life. Among the global goods, they are one of the most widespread products traded for decades. Globalization of jeans has occurred not only in the use of jeans but also in the production of jeans. Already for decades, jeans are no longer just the rough and tough clothing of workers but a fashion item, worn throughout the world in all societal groups and by all generations.

Most people see their pair of jeans as something of daily use or as a fashion item. Most people do not see their pair of jeans as a part of a global production system – which it is! Therefore, we chose ‘jeans’ as a familiar item of everyday use to open the world of systems thinking.

The ten steps towards systems thinking use the jeans to illustrate a specific system. Thus, the course is not about cotton and jeans production but about a specific way of thinking, illustrated through the world of jeans.

Nevertheless, to explore this way of thinking, some familiarity with the basic situation about cotton and the production of jeans is needed. The status of cotton growing, and production of jeans may change from time to time. Therefore, placed here are some sources of information and regularly updated data about cotton that may be useful to understand the cotton and jeans system.

For further reading, please see:

Beckert, Sven (2015). Empire of Cotton: A Global History. Vintage, New York

auf Deutsch (2019). King Cotton. Eine Geschichte des globalen Kapitalismus. München.

Dagenais, Jules (2019. Cotton: History, Properties and Uses.

Riello, Giorgio: Cotton: The Fabric that Made the Modern World. 2015

For facts and figures, please see:

1.Statista-service

https://www.statista.com/topics/1542/cotton/#dossierSummary

2.The World counts

https://www.theworldcounts.com/challenges/consumption/clothing/world-cotton-production-statistics/story

3.World Trade Organization
https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/agric_e/wcd_2020_fact_and_figures_e.pdf

4.Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO)
http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#search/cotton