IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/envira/v53y2021i5p1012-1030.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A practice ontology approach to labor control regimes in GPNs: Connecting ‘sites of labor control’ in the Bangalore export garment cluster

Author

Listed:
  • Tatiana López

Abstract

In this article, I develop a practice ontology approach to labor control regimes (LCRs) in Global Production Networks (GPNs). Thereby, I address the shortcomings of existing scalar approaches to LCRs, which have not yet produced a nuanced understanding of how labor control dynamics at different scales are interrelated. Building on Schatzki’s ‘site ontology’, I conceptualize LCRs in GPNs as emerging from the networked relationships between rather localized and rather unbounded constellations of exploiting and disciplining-practices ‘hanging together’ in socio-spatial ‘sites of labor control’. Drawing on empirical insights from the Bangalore export garment industry, I reveal how the highly localized labor process-site is linked to two larger sites, i.e. the sourcing process-site and the legal industrial relations process-site, through two practice-complexes: ‘production-targeting’ and ‘union-busting’. The contribution of this article is two-fold: First, the insights from the empirical analysis contribute to a more nuanced and relational understanding of the institutionalized, yet dynamic labor control architectures underpinning GPNs. Second, the practice ontology approach developed in this article contributes to the reinvigoration and further development of relational and network approaches in GPN analysis.

Suggested Citation

  • Tatiana López, 2021. "A practice ontology approach to labor control regimes in GPNs: Connecting ‘sites of labor control’ in the Bangalore export garment cluster," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 53(5), pages 1012-1030, August.
  • Handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:53:y:2021:i:5:p:1012-1030
    DOI: 10.1177/0308518X20987563
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0308518X20987563
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0308518X20987563?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jonathan Pattenden, 2016. "Working at the margins of global production networks: local labour control regimes and rural-based labourers in South India," Third World Quarterly, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(10), pages 1809-1833, October.
    2. Jeroen Merk, 2014. "The Rise of Tier 1 Firms in the Global Garment Industry: Challenges for Labour Rights Advocates," Oxford Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 42(2), pages 259-277, June.
    3. Andy Cumbers & Corinne Nativel & Paul Routledge, 2008. "Labour agency and union positionalities in global production networks," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 8(3), pages 369-387, May.
    4. Andrew Jonas, 1996. "Local Labour Control Regimes: Uneven Development and the Social Regulation of Production," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(4), pages 323-338.
    5. Adrian Smith & Mirela Barbu & Liam Campling & James Harrison & Ben Richardson, 2018. "Labor Regimes, Global Production Networks, and European Union Trade Policy: Labor Standards and Export Production in the Moldovan Clothing Industry," Economic Geography, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 94(5), pages 550-574, October.
    6. Alessandra Mezzadri, 2016. "Class, gender and the sweatshop: on the nexus between labour commodification and exploitation," Third World Quarterly, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(10), pages 1877-1900, October.
    7. Gale Raj-Reichert, 2020. "The powers of a social auditor in a global production network: the case of Verité and the exposure of forced labour in the electronics industry [Corporate social responsibility and freedom of assoc," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 20(3), pages 653-678.
    8. Raj-Reichert, Gale, 2020. "The powers of a social auditor in a global production network: the case of Verité and the exposure of forced labour in the electronics industry," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 20(3), pages 653-678.
    9. Elena Baglioni, 2018. "Labour control and the labour question in global production networks: exploitation and disciplining in Senegalese export horticulture," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 18(1), pages 111-137.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Oya, Carlos & Schaefer, Florian, 2021. "The politics of labour relations in global production networks: Collective action, industrial parks, and local conflict in the Ethiopian apparel sector," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    2. Marslev, Kristoffer & Staritz, Cornelia & Raj‐Reichert, Gale, 2022. "Rethinking Social Upgrading in Global Value Chains: Worker Power, State‒Labour Relations and Intersectionality," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 53(4), pages 827-859.
    3. Krzywdzinski, Martin & Lechowski, Grzegorz & Mählmeyer, Valentina, 2019. "Lean Work and Gender Inequalities: Manufacturing Consent at a Multinational Car Plant in Provincial Russia," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 10(2), pages 123-141.
    4. Fuchs Martina & Dannenberg Peter & López Tatiana & Wiedemann Cathrin & Riedler Tim, 2023. "Location-specific labour control strategies in online retail," ZFW – Advances in Economic Geography, De Gruyter, vol. 67(4), pages 189-201, December.
    5. Helwing Veronique & Verfürth Philip & Franz Martin, 2023. "Trucking (un)limited – the impact of digital platforms on labour in production networks of logistics," ZFW – Advances in Economic Geography, De Gruyter, vol. 67(4), pages 177-188, December.
    6. Annelien Gansemans & Marijke D’Haese, 2020. "Staying under the radar: constraints on labour agency of pineapple plantation workers in Costa Rica?," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 37(2), pages 397-414, June.
    7. Jenny COLLINS & Julian S. YATES, 2023. "Leveraging transparency to shift capital‐labour relations in garment sector production: A critical analysis of the design and structure of the Bangladesh Accord," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 162(4), pages 641-664, December.
    8. Elena Baglioni, 2022. "The Making of Cheap Labour across Production and Reproduction: Control and Resistance in the Senegalese Horticultural Value Chain," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 36(3), pages 445-464, June.
    9. Elena Baglioni, 2018. "Labour control and the labour question in global production networks: exploitation and disciplining in Senegalese export horticulture," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 18(1), pages 111-137.
    10. Céline Louche & Lotte Staelens & Marijke D’Haese, 2020. "When Workplace Unionism in Global Value Chains Does Not Function Well: Exploring the Impediments," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 162(2), pages 379-398, March.
    11. Dev Nathan, 2021. "From Monopoly to Monopsony Capitalism," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 64(4), pages 843-866, December.
    12. Francis L Collins & Christina Stringer, 2023. "The trauma of exploitation: Emotional geographies of temporary migration and workplace unfreedom," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 55(2), pages 303-319, March.
    13. Patrick Bottazzi & Sébastien Boillat & Franziska Marfurt & Sokhna Mbossé Seck, 2020. "Channels of Labour Control in Organic Farming: Toward a Just Agroecological Transition for Sub-Saharan Africa," Land, MDPI, vol. 9(6), pages 1-21, June.
    14. Neethi P, 2010. "Globalisation Lived Locally: New Forms of Control, Conflict and Response Among Labour in Kerala, Examined Through a Labour Geography Lens," Working Papers id:2431, eSocialSciences.
    15. Oya, Carlos & Schaefer, Florian, 2023. "Do Chinese firms in Africa pay lower wages? A comparative analysis of manufacturing and construction firms in Angola and Ethiopia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    16. Tom Barratt & Caleb Goods & Alex Veen, 2020. "‘I’m my own boss…’: Active intermediation and ‘entrepreneurial’ worker agency in the Australian gig-economy," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 52(8), pages 1643-1661, November.
    17. Sara Stevano & Rosimina Ali & Merle Jamieson, 2021. "Essential Work: Using A Social Reproduction Lens to Investigate the Re-Organisation of Work During the COVID-19 Pandemic," Working Papers 241, Department of Economics, SOAS University of London, UK.
    18. Liam Campling & James Harrison & Ben Richardson & Adrian Smith & Mirela Barbu, 2021. "South Korea's Automotive Labour Regime, Hyundai Motors’ Global Production Network and Trade‐Based Integration with the European Union," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 59(1), pages 139-166, March.
    19. Kristoffer Marslev & Cornelia Staritz & Gale Raj‐Reichert, 2022. "Rethinking Social Upgrading in Global Value Chains: Worker Power, State‒Labour Relations and Intersectionality," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 53(4), pages 827-859, July.
    20. Hamilton-Hart, Natasha & Stringer, Christina, 2016. "Upgrading and exploitation in the fishing industry: Contributions of value chain analysis," Marine Policy, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 166-171.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:53:y:2021:i:5:p:1012-1030. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.