This chapter provides an overview of the book, situating it as a contribution to debates in political science as well as business and human rights literatures. The puzzle central to the book is presented: Does the practice of “stakeholder consultation” contribute to fulfilling the economic rights of people who live in manufacturing communities integral to global supply chains? Why or why not, and under what conditions? This introductory chapter positions the book within broader scholarly debates over the nature of remedy for human rights abuse. It also explores why existing modes of consultation often fall short of addressing the underlying structural factors that perpetuate poverty in manufacturing communities globally (thus bridging literatures on the political economy of grassroots development and industrialization). The chapter previews the empirical contributions of the book—specifically, its engagement with multiple methods and multiple sources of data (e.g., historical, statistical, interview, and participant observation–based data) aimed at uncovering the challenges of stakeholder consultation in theory and practice. The chapter concludes by outlining the succeeding chapters briefly.
Anthropological perspectives on grassroots development in Nepal
