Introduction

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.

Policy Implications of Changes in Stakeholder Consultation

Chapter 6 assesses the prospects for policy reform in the business and human rights field, pointing to the emergence of a worker-driven social responsibility (WSR) model distinct from conventional multi-stakeholder initiatives (MSI). The chapter compares the two approaches, analyzes their relative strengths, and argues for pragmatic yet bold new approaches to addressing human rights violations and community members’ right to remedy in the context of light manufacturing. The chapter draws on original participant observation data from a 2017 international conference on these themes, along with primary and secondary source data on emerging methods of community engagement underway in key business sectors within the United States, Bangladesh, and several other settings. It helps place the Dominican cases and the large-N data explored in other chapters in a broader policy framework, drawing special insights from systems engineering theory on problem-solving in failure-prone settings.

Epilogue

The epilogue summarizes the main findings of the book and explores their broader implications for political science theory, public policy, and corporate supply chain management. It highlights the need for a broad range of data on stakeholder dialogue, from historical to quantitative to qualitative (such as the trend analysis derived from Business and Human Rights Resource Centre data, and the insights of community members gathered through interviews in manufacturing towns, respectively). The epilogue foregrounds our fragile connections along the global supply chain and reiterates the need for innovative approaches to community engagement in settings where the risks of economic rights failure are high but the rewards of more just and equitable development are potentially deep.

The People Beyond the Tag

Chapter 4 analyzes the receptivity of local community members in the town of Villa Altagracia (Dominican Republic) toward the practice of stakeholder consultation. It draws on original qualitative interviews with residents of this manufacturing community where collegiate apparel is produced (i.e., clothing with college logos) and workers at one company (Alta Gracia Apparel) are paid triple the prevailing minimum wage. The chapter introduces the concept of “subjective socioeconomic status,” which enables us to compare how different respondents rate their own well-being compared to that of other people in their community. Villa Altagracia has a significant unemployment problem, and the surveys convey the challenges experienced by people beyond the factory’s employees. Listening to people at the grassroots level illuminates the limits of business and human rights promotion strategies, the structural roots of poverty, and the inherent complexity of poor communities central to global supply chains.

Global Landscape and Local Contexts for Stakeholder Consultation

Chapter 3 maps the scope of contemporary corporate stakeholder engagement practices across multiple regions and industrial sectors by analyzing data on 7,000 companies in the public database of the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre (BHRRC). The chapter describes the process by which the author and a team of research assistants coded over 11,000 units of BHRRC data using new techniques not previously available to researchers working with this same data source. In addition, this chapter lays out the field methodology central to the qualitative case studies in subsequent chapters. It lays out a rationale for case selection (i.e., of two manufacturing communities in the Dominican Republic where collegiate apparel is produced) and a description of the qualitative interview process that provides the basis for assessing local perceptions of the prospects for stakeholder consultation.

Challenges Down the Road

Chapter 5 analyzes the relative degrees of receptivity of local community members in Bonao (Dominican Republic) toward the practice of stakeholder consultation through a comparative case study explicitly designed in relation to the community analyzed in the preceding chapter. Chapter 5 draws on original qualitative interviews with residents of this manufacturing community where textiles are produced (many destined for the collegiate apparel market) and workers are paid a standard minimum wage. The main textile factory in Bonao (Hanes Brands) engages in corporate philanthropy along with worker training in partnership with state agencies. As in the companion case study, listening to people at the grassroots level illuminates the limits of business and human rights promotion strategies, the structural roots of poverty, and the inherent complexity of poor communities central to global supply chains.

A Genealogy of Community Consultation

This chapter offers an historical overview of poor peoples’ involvement with public and private policymaking that has shaped the business and human rights arena over four decades. The chapter reveals the continuity of constraints on poor peoples’ involvement in policymaking and corresponding limits on their ability to fully claim their economic rights. It outlines three corresponding “eras” in community consultation and draws on primary and secondary sources to trace the evolution of poor peoples’ involvement with state and corporate actors over time through each. The first era, the 1970s–1980s, was characterized by participation as damage control in the wake of large-scale industrial disasters. The second era, the 1990s, was characterized by participation as testimonial with the rise of the 24/7 news cycle and increased attention to sweatshop conditions in global supply chains and corresponding worker testimony. The third era, the 2000s, is characterized by participation as a vehicle for empowerment through the United Nations Principles on Business and Human Rights (colloquially known as the Ruggie Principles).