IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecolec/v167y2020ics0921800919308432.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Private sustainability standards as tools for empowering southern pro-regulatory coalitions? Collaboration, conflict and the pursuit of sustainable palm oil

Author

Listed:
  • Macdonald, Kate

Abstract

The social and environmental impact of commodity production in the global south is now governed by an array of global market-driven standard-setting schemes, which interact with state-centred legal and administrative governance ‘on the ground’ in producing countries. Drawing on a case study of contested regulatory governance in the Indonesian palm oil sector, this paper investigates the effects of interactions between (northern) market-based and (southern) state-centred regulatory authorities. Analysis shows that it is not the collaborative or conflictual character of governance interactions that matters most in shaping regulatory capacity, but rather how such interactions influence the motivations, capacities and legitimacy claims of competing regulatory coalitions within commodity producing jurisdictions. While conflictual pathways of regulatory empowerment can sometimes be productive, their effects on destabilizing power relations between elite and marginalised actors in producing countries render them distinctively vulnerable to legitimacy challenges from incumbent powerholders. This generates dilemmas for global regulators, whose efforts to influence change through strategies of empowering southern pro-regulatory coalitions are subject to challenge from competing coalitions of southern actors.

Suggested Citation

  • Macdonald, Kate, 2020. "Private sustainability standards as tools for empowering southern pro-regulatory coalitions? Collaboration, conflict and the pursuit of sustainable palm oil," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:167:y:2020:i:c:s0921800919308432
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2019.106439
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921800919308432
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2019.106439?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
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Anthony Bebbington, 2003. "Global networks and local developments: agendas for development geography," Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG, vol. 94(3), pages 297-309, August.
    2. John F. McCarthy, 2012. "Certifying in Contested Spaces: Private Regulation in Indonesian Forestry and Palm Oil," Crawford School Research Papers 1210, Crawford School of Public Policy, The Australian National University.
    3. Acharya, Amitav, 2004. "How Ideas Spread: Whose Norms Matter? Norm Localization and Institutional Change in Asian Regionalism," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 58(2), pages 239-275, April.
    4. Hamish van der Ven, 2018. "Gatekeeper power: understanding the influence of lead firms over transnational sustainability standards," Review of International Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(5), pages 624-646, September.
    5. David L. Levy & Peter J. Newell, 2002. "Business Strategy and International Environmental Governance: Toward a Neo-Gramscian Synthesis," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 2(4), pages 84-101, November.
    6. Helena Varkkey, 2013. "Malaysian investors in the Indonesian oil palm plantation sector: home state facilitation and transboundary haze," Asia Pacific Business Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(3), pages 381-401, July.
    7. Sandra Moog & André Spicer & Steffen Böhm, 2015. "The Politics of Multi-Stakeholder Initiatives: The Crisis of the Forest Stewardship Council," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 128(3), pages 469-493, May.
    8. Ponte, Stefano, 2008. "Greener than Thou: The Political Economy of Fish Ecolabeling and Its Local Manifestations in South Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 159-175, January.
    9. John McCarthy, 2012. "Certifying in Contested Spaces: private regulation in Indonesian forestry and palm oil," Third World Quarterly, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(10), pages 1871-1888.
    10. Shadlen, Kenneth C., 2017. "Coalitions and Compliance: The Political Economy of Pharmaceutical Patents in Latin America," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199593903, Decembrie.
    11. Andreas Georg Scherer & Guido Palazzo, 2011. "The New Political Role of Business in a Globalized World: A Review of a New Perspective on CSR and its Implications for the Firm, Governance, and Democracy," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(4), pages 899-931, June.
    12. Amengual, Matthew, 2010. "Complementary Labor Regulation: The Uncoordinated Combination of State and Private Regulators in the Dominican Republic," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 38(3), pages 405-414, March.
    13. R. Kaplinsky, 2000. "Globalisation and Unequalisation: What Can Be Learned from Value Chain Analysis?," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(2), pages 117-146.
    14. Braithwaite,John & Drahos,Peter, 2000. "Global Business Regulation," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521784993.
    15. Anuradha Joshi & Mick Moore, 2004. "Institutionalised Co-production: Unorthodox Public Service Delivery in Challenging Environments," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(4), pages 31-49.
    16. Benhabib, Seyla, 2009. "Claiming Rights across Borders: International Human Rights and Democratic Sovereignty," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 103(4), pages 691-704, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. van der Ven, Hamish & Sun, Yixian & Cashore, Benjamin, 2021. "Sustainable commodity governance and the global south," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 186(C).
    2. Hanna Hilbrandt & Monika Grubbauer, 2020. "Standards and SSOs in the contested widening and deepening of financial markets: The arrival of Green Municipal Bonds in Mexico City," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 52(7), pages 1415-1433, October.
    3. José Carlos Marques & Burkard Eberlein, 2021. "Grounding transnational business governance: A political‐strategic perspective on government responses in the Global South," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 15(4), pages 1209-1229, October.
    4. Moreno-Miranda, Carlos & Dries, Liesbeth, 2022. "Integrating coordination mechanisms in the sustainability assessment of agri-food chains: From a structured literature review to a comprehensive framework," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 192(C).
    5. Arya Hadi Dharmawan & Dyah Ita Mardiyaningsih & Faris Rahmadian & Bayu Eka Yulian & Heru Komarudin & Pablo Pacheco & Jaboury Ghazoul & Rizka Amalia, 2021. "The Agrarian, Structural and Cultural Constraints of Smallholders’ Readiness for Sustainability Standards Implementation: The Case of Indonesian Sustainable Palm Oil in East Kalimantan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-20, March.
    6. Marije Schaafsma & Ilda Dreoni & Lacour Mody Ayompe & Benis Egoh & Dewa Putu Ekayana & Arilson Favareto & Sonny Mumbunan & Louise Nakagawa & Jonas Ngouhouo‐poufoun & Marieke Sassen & Thiago Kanashiro , 2023. "A framework to understand the social impacts of agricultural trade," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(1), pages 138-150, February.

    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. Gardner, T.A. & Benzie, M. & Börner, J. & Dawkins, E. & Fick, S. & Garrett, R. & Godar, J. & Grimard, A. & Lake, S. & Larsen, R.K. & Mardas, N. & McDermott, C.L. & Meyfroidt, P. & Osbeck, M. & Persson, 2019. "Transparency and sustainability in global commodity supply chains," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 163-177.
    2. Rob Barlow, 2022. "Deliberation Without Democracy in Multi-stakeholder Initiatives: A Pragmatic Way Forward," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 181(3), pages 543-561, December.
    3. Maki Hatanaka, 2014. "McSustainability and McJustice: Certification, Alternative Food and Agriculture, and Social Change," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 6(11), pages 1-21, November.
    4. Tricallotis, Marcos & Gunningham, Neil & Kanowski, Peter, 2018. "The impacts of forest certification for Chilean forestry businesses," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 82-91.
    5. Michael W. Toffel & Jodi L. Short & Melissa Ouellet, 2015. "Codes in context: How states, markets, and civil society shape adherence to global labor standards," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 9(3), pages 205-223, September.
    6. David Monciardini & Guido Conaldi, 2019. "The European regulation of corporate social responsibility: The role of beneficiaries' intermediaries," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 13(2), pages 240-259, June.
    7. Arno Kourula & Guillaume Delalieux, 2016. "The Micro-level Foundations and Dynamics of Political Corporate Social Responsibility: Hegemony and Passive Revolution through Civil Society," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 135(4), pages 769-785, June.
    8. Meadows, John & Annandale, Mark & Ota, Liz, 2019. "Indigenous Peoples’ participation in sustainability standards for extractives," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    9. Janina Grabs & Graeme Auld & Benjamin Cashore, 2021. "Private regulation, public policy, and the perils of adverse ontological selection," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 15(4), pages 1183-1208, October.
    10. Domenico Dentoni & Verena Bitzer & Greetje Schouten, 2018. "Harnessing Wicked Problems in Multi-stakeholder Partnerships," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 150(2), pages 333-356, June.
    11. Suder, Gabriele & Liesch, Peter W. & Inomata, Satoshi & Mihailova, Irina & Meng, Bo, 2015. "The evolving geography of production hubs and regional value chains across East Asia: Trade in value-added," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 50(3), pages 404-416.
    12. Hutabarat, Sakti & Slingerland, Maja & Rietberg, Petra & Dries, Liesbeth, 2018. "Costs and benefits of certification of independent oil palm smallholders in Indonesia," International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, International Food and Agribusiness Management Association, vol. 21(6), July.
    13. Zhang, Daowei, 2016. "Payments for forest-based environmental services: A close look," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 78-84.
    14. Stefano Ponte, 2008. "Developing a ‘Vertical’ Dimension to Chronic Poverty Research: Some Lessons from Global Value Chain Analysis," Working Papers id:1743, eSocialSciences.
    15. Colin Filer & Sango Mahanty & Lesley Potter, 2020. "The FPIC Principle Meets Land Struggles in Cambodia, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea," Land, MDPI, vol. 9(3), pages 1-21, February.
    16. Anne M. Quarshie & Rudolf Leuschner, 2018. "Cross-Sector Social Interactions and Systemic Change in Disaster Response: A Qualitative Study," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 150(2), pages 357-384, June.
    17. Maria Ehrnström-Fuentes & Steffen Böhm, 2023. "The Political Ontology of Corporate Social Responsibility: Obscuring the Pluriverse in Place," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 185(2), pages 245-261, June.
    18. Eka Intan Kumala Putri & Arya Hadi Dharmawan & Otto Hospes & Bayu Eka Yulian & Rizka Amalia & Dyah Ita Mardiyaningsih & Rilus A. Kinseng & Fredian Tonny & Eusebius Pantja Pramudya & Faris Rahmadian & , 2022. "The Oil Palm Governance: Challenges of Sustainability Policy in Indonesia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(3), pages 1-20, February.
    19. Sun, Yixian & van der Ven, Hamish, 2020. "Swimming in their own direction: Explaining domestic variation in homegrown sustainability governance for aquaculture in Asia," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    20. Norma Schönherr, 2022. "Same Same but Different? A Quantitative Exploration of Voluntary Sustainability Standards in Agriculture," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-18, April.

    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:eee:ecolec:v:167:y:2020:i:c:s0921800919308432. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/ecolecon .

    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.