Roadblock Politics

There are so many roadblocks in Central Africa that it is hard to find a road that does not have one. Based on research in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the Central African Republic (CAR), Peer Schouten maps more than a thousand of these roadblocks to show how communities, rebels and state security forces forge resistance and power out of control over these narrow points of passage. Schouten reveals the connections between these roadblocks in Central Africa and global supply chains, tracking the flow of multinational corporations and UN agencies alike through them, to show how they encapsulate a form of power, which thrives under conditions of supply chain capitalism. In doing so, he develops a new lens through which to understand what drives state formation and conflict in the region, offering a radical alternative to explanations that foreground control over minerals, territory or population as key drivers of Central Africa's violent history.

Can labor-standards advocacy by transnational civil society organizations interact with the power of labor to improve labor standards in global supply chains? A case study of the Cambodian garment industry

Recent research shows that the focus of labor-standards advocacy by transnational civil society organizations (CSOs) has shifted to building the organizational capacity of workers’ organizations in developing countries, suggesting cooperation between transnational CSOs and local trade unions potentially improving working conditions in global supply chains. However, scant attention has been paid to how the two actors interact in practice. Based on fieldwork in Cambodia, including in-depth interviews with garment sector stakeholders, this article examines the interaction between transnational CSOs and trade unions in improving working conditions in the garment industry. The data analysis shows that transnational CSOs and trade unions have distinct comparative advantages in improving working conditions. Rather than the conflicting relationship between CSOs and trade unions as suggested in the literature, this article demonstrates a complementary relationship between the two, indicating the significance of the cooperation between these actors in improving working conditions within global supply chains.

DEVELOPMENT OF LOGISTIC POTENTIAL OF NATIONAL SUPPLY CHAINS FOR THE PURPOSE OF THEIR INTEGRATION INTO GLOBAL SUPPLY CHAINS

The article presents the list of development factors of the logistics potential of supply chains that have a direct and indirect impact on the components of the logistics potential both in the internal and external environment of the chain. As such development factors, were proposed: the introduction of new logistics technologies for the delivery of goods and storage of goods in warehouses, the active development of information systems and their implementation in the field of logistics and supply chain management, the development of the logistics services market, including integrated logistics support, resourcesaving policies of enterprises, increasing the importance of the environmental aspect of doing business in the framework of states' aspirations for sustainable development. The above factors will make it possible to determine the reserves for building up the logistics potential for national supply chains in order to integrate them into global supply chains.

COVID‐19 Pandemic Impact on the Exports and Imports

This paper’s objectives are the following: describing the impact of the COVID 19 crisis on the mechanism of export-import operations; the evolution of Romania’s export-import activities during 2020-2021 and identifying some recommendations meant to help companies fight the sanitary crisis’ effects. The study is based on a theoretical research investigating the impact of the sanitary crisis on the management of an export-import operation. Due to disruptions in global supply chains, the companies operating in the field of international trade had to redefine their operating strategies for the foreign markets. The magnitude of these changes related to the transactional mechanism specific to export-import activities will lead to profound mutations in the global supply chain, with benefits in term of resilience in all phases of the supply chain.

GLOBAL SUPPLY CHAINS IN PANDEMIC

In the course of the research, the theoretical approaches to determining the content of the process of formation of global supply chains were considered. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on international trade in the EU region is analyzed and the main features of this impact are identified. The main features of the response of international corporations to the challenges of quarantine restrictions are substan­tiated. In particular, the current trends in changing global approaches to the formation of supply chains and the formation of priorities for their development in the near future are analyzed.

The COVID-19 Pandemic: Female Workers’ Social Sustainability in Global Supply Chains

This review article investigates the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on female workers in the global supply chain context. To this end, we reviewed and critically examined emerging scholarly literature as well as policy documents and reports published by international development organizations concerning female workers’ social sustainability, livelihood, and health and wellbeing issues in global supply chain operations. Thus, this article focuses on female workers’ issues in emerging and developing economies where the ongoing pandemic continues to devastate and create multidimensional social and economic challenges for the wellbeing and social sustainability of female workers. Our analysis suggests that female workers are facing serious socioeconomic challenges that continue to affect their wellbeing, mental health, and livelihoods. Accordingly, it is imperative that international development organizations, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), trade associations, governments, and most importantly the corporate sector not only consider individual responsibility for promoting female workforce social sustainability in global supply chains but also actively collaborate to address pressing social sustainability issues vis à vis female workers. Building on these findings, the implications for future research, practice, and policies are discussed.

The COVID- 19 Impact on the Food and Textile Industry: Lessons Learned

The Covid-19 virus pandemic has crippled life as we know it. The virus is still spreading, and life is still not normal. Of course, various industries are crippled. Supply chains will need to become more resilient in the future to possible recurrence of incidents like the pandemic of Covid-19. In this article, we will present how the Covid-19 virus pandemic has affected the food and textile industries. We have reviewed what measures were made at the start of the pandemic and how these industries have adapted to them. We also reviewed how the measures will affect supply chains and how they should operate in the future to withstand possible recurring emergencies such as the Covid-19 pandemic. We also compared the benefits of local in global supply chains, because in food supply chains the issue needs to be addressed and the Covid-19 virus pandemic can encourage consumers to buy locally produced food. It turned out that the Asian textile industry is largely dependent on western countries and has fallen into a major crisis with a massive drop in orders.