Paradoxes of Transnational Labour Rights Campaigns: The Case of Play Fair in Indonesia

Abstract

ABSTRACTNeoliberal globalization has moved industrial production to low‐wage countries such as China or Indonesia, fuelling rapid economic growth and rising national income. New employment opportunities, however, have been under‐pinned by poverty wages and inhumane working conditions as states ‘race to the bottom’ in terms of labour rights and regulations in order to be competitive and attract capital investment. Labour agency at the bottom of transnational supply chains is often said to be structurally powerless because of the international mobility of capital. The ‘boomerang effect’ has often been presented as a remedy that increases local bargaining power in the global South by mobilizing consumer pressure in the global North through multi‐stakeholder initiatives or transnational advocacy networks. The problem with this perspective is that it overstates the Northern dimension of this transnational politics and underestimates the local power base of Southern trade unions and labour movements. The incipient debate about Networks of Labour Activism (NOLA) aims to overcome this Northern bias. This article contributes to this debate by highlighting some of the limitations and unintended effects of multi‐stakeholder initiatives and taking a closer look at the Play Fair alliance and the ‘Freedom of Association Protocol’ in Indonesia's athletic footwear industry.