Re-centering the State
Transnational private regulation has brought reforms to forests and factories but rarely of an empowering or transformative kind. This chapter draws out normative implications of the research in this book and highlights paths toward improvement. While not dispensing with supply-chain scrutiny altogether, the chapter calls for revising the rating of corporate responsibility, re-centering the state, and shifting toward “place-conscious” transnational governance. Some elements of this approach can already be seen in a new transnational timber legality regime, which has the potential to overcome the limits of private sustainability standards. The chapter explains the rise of this regime and considers the possibilities for extending the legality framework to labor.