Abstract
Economic geographers tout social upgrading via economic upgrading as a path that engenders labour conditions, while labour geographers underscore the inherent contradictions of corporate governance initiatives. They point to the conceptual flaws of firm-level analysis, given the limited attentiveness to worker actions and labour voice. Others point to the inherent tensions in global governance initiatives as they traverse along global supply chains, and the absence of labour voice within corporate codes. This neglect underpins my article, which uses Sri Lanka as a litmus case to critically engage with labour voice around ethical codes and analyse its efficacy as a form of social upgrading.
Highlights
Restructuring the global economy sparked investigation into its uneven consequences for labour (Wills, 2001; Brooks, 2010; Mezzadri, 2014); and within it, the asymmetrical power dynamics embedded in remapping capitalism within the global apparel industry has been examined since the 1980s (Elson and Pearson, 1981; Hale and Wills, 2005; Miller, 2012; Carswell and De Neve, 2013)
Sri Lankan apparels had already steered in this direction as state regulation had required, implementing minimum standards from as early as the 1980s—a decade before multi-stakeholder and corporate voluntary initiatives came into effect (Ruwanpura and Wrigley, 2011)
The political implication of incorporating labour voice within ethical code practices is to concede the salience of class, which firm-level analysis of social upgrading tends to displace
Summary
Restructuring the global economy sparked investigation into its uneven consequences for labour (Wills, 2001; Brooks, 2010; Mezzadri, 2014); and within it, the asymmetrical power dynamics embedded in remapping capitalism within the global apparel industry has been examined since the 1980s (Elson and Pearson, 1981; Hale and Wills, 2005; Miller, 2012; Carswell and De Neve, 2013). Along with other critical labour studies scholars (Herod, 2001; Rainnie et al, 2011; Goger, 2013; Selwyn, 2013, 2012), my purpose is to point to how workers’ lives and actions shape the economic landscape and how historical gains made by the labour movement has facilitated the legislative registers from which industrial capital continues to benefit—and has created the socio-economic landscape that makes Sri Lanka ‘ethical’, as partial as it may be This historical factoring facilitates looking at more recent transformations in capital–labour relations and how, global governance initiatives and economic upgrading has not improved the position of workers in key spheres of living wages, freedom of association and collective bargaining (Miller et al, 2009). This bias of Sri Lankan apparel sector’s ‘ethical’ sourcing credentials suggests, as Selwyn (2013) notes, limitations to top-down global governance regimes as a means of ‘social upgrading’.4 questions can be raised whether ethical codes alone can make the difference for labour— since Barrientos et al (2011) note how ‘quality of employment of employment is mediated . . . by the codes of conduct’ (2011, 323)
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