IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/ecoind/v43y2022i3p1391-1419.html

Collectivism, individualism and solidarity in global value chain restructuring in the Global North: Workers’ resistance in the Swiss machinery industry

Author

Listed:
  • Aris Martinelli

Abstract

Global value chains (GVCs) have become the dominant form of industrial organization in the global economy. Although the economic outcomes of GVC restructuring have been measured and the determinants theorized, there is a lack of empirical research on the real processes of GVC restructuring and its impact on labour in the Global North. This article helps to address this gap by investigating the effect of the participation in GVCs on the lead firms’ value-capturing strategies and on workers’ ability to defend and improve their working conditions in the Swiss machinery industry. Based on a critical GVC approach and a qualitative study of two work conflicts, the study demonstrates how GVCs shape a variety of new strategies for capital and labour; enhancing forms of management strategies and weakening the possibilities for workers’ counterstrategies by eroding collectivism and solidarity and promoting individualism among workers.

Suggested Citation

  • Aris Martinelli, 2022. "Collectivism, individualism and solidarity in global value chain restructuring in the Global North: Workers’ resistance in the Swiss machinery industry," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 43(3), pages 1391-1419, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:ecoind:v:43:y:2022:i:3:p:1391-1419
    DOI: 10.1177/0143831X211009958
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0143831X211009958
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0143831X211009958?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. Bruno Carballa Smichowski & Cédric Durand & Steven Knauss, 2021. "Participation in global value chains and varieties of development patterns," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 45(2), pages 271-294.
    2. Robert C. Feenstra & Gordon H. Hanson, 1999. "The Impact of Outsourcing and High-Technology Capital on Wages: Estimates For the United States, 1979–1990," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 114(3), pages 907-940.
    3. Layna Mosley, 2017. "Workers’ rights in global value chains: possibilities for protection and for peril," New Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(2), pages 153-168, March.
    4. Feenstra, Robert C & Hanson, Gordon H, 1996. "Globalization, Outsourcing, and Wage Inequality," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 86(2), pages 240-245, May.
    5. David L. Levy, 2005. "Offshoring in the New Global Political Economy," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(3), pages 685-693, May.
    6. Jennifer Bair & Florence Palpacuer, 2015. "CSR beyond the corporation: contested governance in global value chains," Post-Print hal-02009049, HAL.
    7. Benjamin Selwyn, 2016. "Global value chains and human development: a class-relational framework," Third World Quarterly, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(10), pages 1768-1786, October.
    8. Olivier Cattaneo & Gary Gereffi & Cornelia Staritz, 2010. "Global Value Chains in a Postcrisis World : A Development Perspective," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 2509, April.
    9. Gilles Lambert & Noufou Ouédraogo, 2010. "Normes, Routines Organisationnelles et Apprentissage d’entreprise," Post-Print hal-04692459, HAL.
    10. 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.
    11. Gary Gereffi & Joonkoo Lee, 2016. "Economic and Social Upgrading in Global Value Chains and Industrial Clusters: Why Governance Matters," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 133(1), pages 25-38, January.
    12. Ben Selwyn, 2012. "Beyond firm-centrism: re-integrating labour and capitalism into global commodity chain analysis," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 12(1), pages 205-226, January.
    13. 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.
    14. Mayer, Frederick & Gereffi, Gary, 2010. "Regulation and Economic Globalization: Prospects and Limits of Private Governance," Business and Politics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 12(3), pages 1-25, October.
    15. Mayer Frederick & Gereffi Gary, 2010. "Regulation and Economic Globalization: Prospects and Limits of Private Governance," Business and Politics, De Gruyter, vol. 12(3), pages 1-27, October.
    16. Cédric Durand & Sébastien Miroudot, 2015. "Is labour the fall guy of a financial-led globalisation? A cross-country inquiry on globalisation, financialisation and employment at the industry level," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 151(3), pages 409-432, August.
    17. Gilles Lambert & Noufou Ouédraogo, 2010. "Normes, routines organisationnelles et apprentissage d'entreprise," Revue française de gestion, Lavoisier, vol. 0(2), pages 65-85.
    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. McWilliam, Sarah E. & Kim, Jung Kwan & Mudambi, Ram & Nielsen, Bo Bernhard, 2020. "Global value chain governance: Intersections with international business," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 55(4).
    2. Helen Packer & Wilf Swartz & Yoshitaka Ota & Megan Bailey, 2019. "Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Practices of the Largest Seafood Suppliers in the Wild Capture Fisheries Sector: From Vision to Action," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-24, April.
    3. Helmerich, Nicole & Raj-Reichert, Gale & Zajak, Sabrina, 2021. "Exercising associational and networked power through the use of digital technology by workers in global value chains," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 25(2), pages 142-166.
    4. Eleonora Di Maria & Marco Bettiol & Mauro Capestro, 2023. "How Italian Fashion Brands Beat COVID-19: Manufacturing, Sustainability, and Digitalization," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-20, January.
    5. repec:hal:cepnwp:hal-01492373 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Cédric Durand & David Flacher & Vincent Frigant, 2018. "Étudier les chaînes globales de valeur comme une forme d’organisation industrielle," Revue d'économie industrielle, De Boeck Université, vol. 0(3), pages 13-34.
    7. Dafe, Florence & Upadhyaya, Radha & Sommer, Christoph, 2021. "Employing capital: Patient capital and labour relations in Kenya's manufacturing sector," IDOS Discussion Papers 18/2021, German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS).
    8. Viet Hoang & An Nguyen & Carmen Hubbard & Khanh-Duy Nguyen, 2021. "Exploring the Governance and Fairness in the Milk Value Chain: A Case Study in Vietnam," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 11(9), pages 1-22, September.
    9. Stefano Ponte, 2014. "The Evolutionary Dynamics of Biofuel Value Chains: From Unipolar and Government-Driven to Multipolar Governance," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 46(2), pages 353-372, February.
    10. Tristan Auvray & Joel Rabinovich, 2019. "The financialisation–offshoring nexus and the capital accumulation of US non-financial firms," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 43(5), pages 1183-1218.
    11. Anthony Goerzen & Simon Peter Iskander & Joerg Hofstetter, 2021. "The effect of institutional pressures on business-led interventions to improve social compliance among emerging market suppliers in global value chains," Journal of International Business Policy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 4(3), pages 347-367, September.
    12. Dimitropoulos, Panagiotis & Koronios, Konstantinos & Sakka, Georgia, 2023. "International business sustainability and global value chains: Synthesis, framework and research agenda," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 29(5).
    13. Maja Tampe, 2018. "Leveraging the Vertical: The Contested Dynamics of Sustainability Standards and Labour in Global Production Networks," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 56(1), pages 43-74, March.
    14. Britta Holzberg, 2024. "Local Understandings of Decent Work and the Legitimacy of Global Labour Standards: Insights from Garment Suppliers in Egypt and Jordan," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 192(4), pages 689-712, July.
    15. Vik, Jostein & Kvam, Gunn-Turid, . "Governance and Growth – a Case Study of Norwegian Whey Protein Concentrate Exports," International Journal on Food System Dynamics, International Center for Management, Communication, and Research, vol. 8(4).
    16. Judith Christina Stroehle, 2017. "The enforcement of diverse labour standards through private governance," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 23(4), pages 475-493, November.
    17. Ranjit Gupta & Cristian Mejia & Shuan Sadreghazi & Yuki Sano & Leticia Sarmento Dos Muchangos & Tomonori Sekiguchi & Hiromi Nakamura & Yuya Kajikawa, 2024. "Traders as ecosystem orchestrators for sustainable foods supply chain transformation," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(5), pages 4024-4038, July.
    18. Rachel Alexander, 2020. "Emerging Roles of Lead Buyer Governance for Sustainability Across Global Production Networks," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 162(2), pages 269-290, March.
    19. Fabiola MIERES & Siobhán MCGRATH, 2021. "Ripe to be heard: Worker voice in the Fair Food Program," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 160(4), pages 631-647, December.
    20. Gary Gereffi & Xubei Luo, 2015. "Risks and Opportunities of Participation in Global Value Chains," Journal of Banking and Financial Economics, University of Warsaw, Faculty of Management, vol. 2(4), pages 51-63, June.
    21. John Pickles & Leonhard Plank & Cornelia Staritz & Amy Glasmeier, 2015. "Trade policy and regionalisms in global clothing production networks," Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 8(3), pages 381-402.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:ecoind:v:43:y:2022:i:3:p:1391-1419. 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: http://www.ekhist.uu.se/english.htm .

    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.