Corporate social responsibility and labour agency: the case of Nike in Pakistan

Abstract

This article examines the circumstances under which corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives facilitate and/or constrain labour agency in global production networks (GPNs). Using a case study of Nike’s CSR approach in the football manufacturing industry of Pakistan, we explore the extent to which the measures advocated in a new, emerging policy paradigm on CSR in GPNs enabled labour agency at Nike’s main football supplier factory in Pakistan. We argue that while such CSR policies can create enhanced space for labour agency, that potential agency is also shaped (i) by wider economic forces within the global economy and (ii) relationships with local/national actors and regulatory frameworks. Understanding the intersection of these dimensions becomes vital to interpreting the potential for, and activation of, labour agency within CSR-influenced GPNs.