It’s a women’s thing? Narratives in ethical trade campaigns

Abstract

ABSTRACT Narratives about women and girls are often used to illustrate abuses in global trade. The article begins by amending the Narrative Policy Framework (NPF) to include the agency of (women) characters and to take into account North–South asymmetries. The framework then serves to study NGO gender narratives in ethical trade campaigns, based on advocacy documents and semi-structured interviews on the recent campaigns for the European Union's new Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD). The results show that the successful campaigns have focused one-sidedly on women workers in the global South, portraying them as mere victims of corporate greed. NGOs diverted attention away from women’s responsibility as consumers and citizens for grievances in transnational supply chains. The solution presented by activists was consequently to demand gender-sensitive policy interventions from outside. Campaigns missed opportunities for narratives of women as agents of change and potential for mutual solidarity.