A practice ontology approach to labor control regimes in GPNs: Connecting ‘sites of labor control’ in the Bangalore export garment cluster

Abstract

In this article, I develop a practice ontology approach to labor control regimes (LCRs) in Global Production Networks (GPNs). Thereby, I address the shortcomings of existing scalar approaches to LCRs, which have not yet produced a nuanced understanding of how labor control dynamics at different scales are interrelated. Building on Schatzki’s ‘site ontology’, I conceptualize LCRs in GPNs as emerging from the networked relationships between rather localized and rather unbounded constellations of exploiting and disciplining-practices ‘hanging together’ in socio-spatial ‘sites of labor control’. Drawing on empirical insights from the Bangalore export garment industry, I reveal how the highly localized labor process-site is linked to two larger sites, i.e. the sourcing process-site and the legal industrial relations process-site, through two practice-complexes: ‘production-targeting’ and ‘union-busting’. The contribution of this article is two-fold: First, the insights from the empirical analysis contribute to a more nuanced and relational understanding of the institutionalized, yet dynamic labor control architectures underpinning GPNs. Second, the practice ontology approach developed in this article contributes to the reinvigoration and further development of relational and network approaches in GPN analysis.

Training activities in subsidiaries of foreign multinational companies: Local embeddedness in Germany?

“…Generally, the studies illustrate an ongoing work control by Northern headquarters and lead firms, and limited agency of workers and trade unions in the peripheries of the global economy. This is the case, for example, in the clothing industry and food production (Cumbers, 2015; Cumbers et al, 2008; López, 2021) as well as in the programming work of the digital economy (Graham, 2019; Zook & Graham, 2018). Instead of job enrichment, teamwork and higher qualification, which are considered to be the hallmarks of post‐Fordist production and employee‐oriented work organization, there are widespread traditional patterns of labour control.…”

“…For many examples, however, it has been shown that the agency of the employees is extremely limited. The global competition for low production costs exerts pressure on human work, also due to (neo‐)Tayloristic work organization, especially in peripheral regions (Cumbers, 2015; López, 2021).…”

Transfer in international VET cooperation: Development of a typology

“…of the policy transfer framework is, among others, not addressed in this paper, as further research on the continuum of policy transfer according to Dolowitz and Marsh (2000) with regard to voluntary and coercive transfer on the part of the analysed projects would be essential. 5 There is noteworthy, remarkable literature from the field of human geography reflecting on and criticizing the multilevel view which is not being considered here (see, e.g., Herod, 2008;or López, 2021).…”

Labour control regimes in the rural and urban workplaces of global production networks: The coffee case of Colombia

“…In turn, these policies are capable of altering business strategies, whereas LCRs are the product of the combination of work exploitation in companies and the strategies for social and spatial discipline that influence reproductive spheres (Baglioni, 2018, p. 114). Specifically, LCRs emerge from work control practices that coincide across local workplaces (López, 2021, p. 1018), especially during interaction among multi‐level processes. In developing countries, increments in local production and the consumption upsurges of supermarkets determine the trends in agricultural production, which are connected with global capital, public agenda, labour regulation, and the social reproduction of households.…”