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The powers of a social auditor in a global production network: the case of Verité and the exposure of forced labour in the electronics industry

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  • Raj-Reichert, Gale

Abstract

Research on labour governance actors in global production networks (GPNs) has been limited to civil society organisations, firms and governments. Understanding the influence of actors in GPNs has been dealt with singular and overt modes of relational power. This paper contributes to both debates by examining an intermediary actor—the social auditing organisation Verité—and its exercise of multiple modes of overt and covert powers to illustrate the complex terrain of change in GPNs. Verité, whose exposure of forced labour in Malaysian electronics subsequently changed labour governance practices in the electronics industry, mobilised power resources of credible information to exercise powers of expert authority and acts of dissimulation across various networked relationships in the GPN. This paper puts forth a multi-power framework of analysis to understand the micro-politics of GPNs.

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  • Raj-Reichert, Gale, 2020. "The powers of a social auditor in a global production network: the case of Verité and the exposure of forced labour in the electronics industry," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 20(3), pages 653-678.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:espost:206686
    DOI: 10.1093/jeg/lbz030
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Stefano Ponte & Timothy J. Sturgeon & Mark P. Dallas, 2019. "Governance and power in global value chains," Chapters, in: Stefano Ponte & Gary Gereffi & Gale Raj-Reichert (ed.), Handbook on Global Value Chains, chapter 6, pages 120-137, Edward Elgar Publishing.
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    8. Mark P. Dallas & Stefano Ponte & Timothy J. Sturgeon, 2019. "Power in global value chains," Review of International Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(4), pages 666-694, July.
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    Cited by:

    1. Marslev, Kristoffer & Staritz, Cornelia & Raj‐Reichert, Gale, 2022. "Rethinking Social Upgrading in Global Value Chains: Worker Power, State‒Labour Relations and Intersectionality," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 53(4), pages 827-859.
    2. Dev Nathan, 2021. "From Monopoly to Monopsony Capitalism," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 64(4), pages 843-866, December.
    3. Francis L Collins & Christina Stringer, 2023. "The trauma of exploitation: Emotional geographies of temporary migration and workplace unfreedom," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 55(2), pages 303-319, March.
    4. Helwing Veronique & Verfürth Philip & Franz Martin, 2023. "Trucking (un)limited – the impact of digital platforms on labour in production networks of logistics," ZFW – Advances in Economic Geography, De Gruyter, vol. 67(4), pages 177-188, December.
    5. Tatiana López, 2021. "A practice ontology approach to labor control regimes in GPNs: Connecting ‘sites of labor control’ in the Bangalore export garment cluster," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 53(5), pages 1012-1030, August.

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