Multi-scalar Labour Agency in Global Production Networks: Contestation and Crisis in the South African Fruit Sector

This chapter explores key questions of this book, including not only why Korea was able to achieve such sustained economic success from the 1960s to the 2010s, but also to what extent and why the Korean economy has changed. After critically reviewing prevalent theories including neoliberalism, the Global Production Networks, and the institutionalist developmental state (DS) theory, this chapter proposes a theoretical alternative by emphatically reviving the politics among diverse actors. In order to better account for endogenous changes and sustained economic success over a long period, this chapter suggests institutional adaptability and endogenous changes through elite competition.

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Trans-scalar embeddedness and governance deficits in global production networks: Crisis in South African fruit

Geoforum ◽

10.1016/j.geoforum.2016.07.005 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 75 ◽

pp. 52-63 ◽

Cited By ~ 21

Author(s):

Matthew Alford

Keyword(s):

South African ◽

Production Networks ◽

Global Production Networks

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Southern actors and the governance of labour standards in global production networks: The case of South African fruit and wine

Environment and Planning A Economy and Space ◽

10.1177/0308518x211033303 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 0308518X2110333

Author(s):

Matthew Alford ◽

Margareet Visser ◽

Stephanie Barrientos

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

South African ◽

Global South ◽

Trade Association ◽

Production Networks ◽

Global Production Networks ◽

Ethical Trade ◽

Labour Standards ◽

Multi Stakeholder ◽

Space Of Flows

Recent studies highlight the emergence of standards, including multi-stakeholder initiatives developed and applied within the global South where supplier firms are usually based. This trend has created a complex ethical terrain whereby transnational standards flow through global production networks and intersect with domestic initiatives at places of production. The paper complements global production network analysis with the concepts of ‘space of flows’ and ‘space of places’ and insights from relational economic geography, to examine how some multi-stakeholder initiatives in the global South can shape the broader governance of labour standards in global production networks. The following questions are addressed: How is the governance of labour standards in global production networks shaped by dynamic spatial interactions between actors? What role have diverse Southern multi-stakeholder initiatives played in influencing the governance of South African fruit and wine? We draw on research conducted over seven years into two standards in South Africa, the Wine and Agriculture Ethical Trade Association and Sustainability Initiative of South Africa. Our analysis shows that these two Southern-based multi-stakeholder initiatives contributed to shaping the broader governance of labour standards through dynamic non-linear waves of interaction over time, involving both collaborative and contested exchanges between actors across space of flows and places. We further argue that despite the development of multi-stakeholder initiatives by Southern actors, commercial power asymmetries in global production networks limit their ability to promote significant improvements for producers and workers.

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