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Contested Understandings in the Global Garment Industry after Rana Plaza

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  • Sarah Ashwin
  • Naila Kabeer
  • Elke Schüßler

Abstract

This Introduction synthesizes the key themes of this special cluster of articles and explores the implications of the three contributions on garment supply chains after the Rana Plaza disaster. The three articles examine the perspectives of key stakeholders in garment value chains — global buyers, managers of garment factories in Bangladesh, and workers at these factories — and analyses their responses to the new governance initiatives that emerged in the aftermath of Rana Plaza. Placing the contrasting perspectives of these stakeholders alongside each other starkly reveals how their different positions within hierarchically organized global value chains form the particular lens through which they view post‐Rana Plaza initiatives. This special cluster scrutinizes the particular understandings of these stakeholders and reveals the very different capacity for voice and influence that they bring to bear in shaping outcomes. It reflects on the contradictory imperatives faced by actors in the garment industry caught between a logic of competition on the one hand and global labour standards norms on the other. The Introduction concludes by examining the prospects for a re‐embedding of the market in global value chains via the activation of civil society.

Suggested Citation

  • Sarah Ashwin & Naila Kabeer & Elke Schüßler, 2020. "Contested Understandings in the Global Garment Industry after Rana Plaza," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 51(5), pages 1296-1305, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:devchg:v:51:y:2020:i:5:p:1296-1305
    DOI: 10.1111/dech.12573
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Ashwin, Sarah & Oka, Chikako & Schüßler, Elke & Alexander, Rachel & Lohmeyer, Nora, 2020. "Spillover effects across transnational industrial relations agreements: the potential and limits of collective action in global supply chains," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 100997, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    2. Sarah Ashwin & Chikako Oka & Elke Schuessler & Rachel Alexander & Nora Lohmeyer, 2020. "Spillover Effects across Transnational Industrial Relations Agreements: The Potential and Limits of Collective Action in Global Supply Chains," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 73(4), pages 995-1020, August.
    3. Sarah Ashwin & Chikako Oka & Elke Schüssler & Rachel Alexander & Nora Lohmeyer, 2020. "Spillover Effects Across Transnational Industrial Relations Agreements: The Potential and Limits of Collective Action in Global Supply Chains," Post-Print hal-02952125, HAL.
    4. Jimmy Donaghey & Juliane Reinecke, 2018. "When Industrial Democracy Meets Corporate Social Responsibility — A Comparison of the Bangladesh Accord and Alliance as Responses to the Rana Plaza Disaster," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 56(1), pages 14-42, March.
    5. Mark Anner, 2018. "CSR Participation Committees, Wildcat Strikes and the Sourcing Squeeze in Global Supply Chains," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 56(1), pages 75-98, March.
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    Cited by:

    1. Sheba Tejani & David Kucera, 2021. "Defeminization, Structural Transformation and Technological Upgrading in Manufacturing," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 52(3), pages 533-573, May.
    2. Gary GEREFFI & Anne Caroline POSTHUMA & Arianna ROSSI, 2021. "Introduction: Disruptions in global value chains – Continuity or change for labour governance?," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 160(4), pages 501-517, December.
    3. Murshid, Nadine Shaanta & Irish, Andrew, 2020. "Understanding teen sex in Bangladesh: Results from Global School Health Survey 2014," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    4. Sarosh Kuruvilla & Chunyun Li, 2021. "Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining in Global Supply Chains: A Research Agenda," Journal of Supply Chain Management, Institute for Supply Management, vol. 57(2), pages 43-57, April.

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