Rival private governance networks: Competing to define the rules of sustainability performance

Smith, Timothy L.; Fischlein, Miriam

doi:10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2010.03.006

Cited by 112 publications

(85 citation statements)

References 88 publications

(73 reference statements)

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“…One way is for peace intervention strategies to be more explicit in actively supporting a "democratic globalization network" that advances a more democratic global order. 79 This democratic globalization network--which is largely centered on civil society actors, but also includes pro-democratic governments and international officials--must be empowered to more effectively counter the network of transnational corporations and political elites that have systematically advanced their preferred model of neoliberal globalization. Peace operations should serve to alter the relative balance of power between neoliberal and democratic agents.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Economic Globalization and Strategic Peacebuilding

Smith

2010

Strategies of Peace

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In numerous countries where peace agreements have held without a relapse into conflict beyond the critical period, the structural factors lying at the source of the original conflict remain unaddressed and continue to fester. From Cambodia and Guatemala to East Timor, serious issues related to land tenure, property rights, rule of law, political participation and transitional justice continue to pose serious challenges to peace consolidation and peacebuilding. What becomes apparent in this analysis is that much research in the area of peacebuilding fails to address adequately questions of power and its distribution. 7 Sidelining power questions can often serve on a practical level to expedite cease-fire agreements and on an analytical level to generate more parsimonious models of conflict dynamics. But asymmetries of power can mask structural sources of conflicts that can resurface over time. Therefore, by failing to address

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Economic Globalization and Strategic Peacebuilding

Smith

2010

Strategies of Peace

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“…As a consequence of this imbalance and inconformity, groups of stakeholders who are excluded from the development of standards or perceive themselves in a disadvantaged situation regarding the outcomes of the standards are attempting to create (rival) VSS to affirm their own visions [91,92]. Some of these initiatives include the Trustea standard developed by the Indian tea industry, Flor Verde in the cut flower industry in Colombia [93], IScoffee from Indonesia, the Brazil's Certifica Minas Café Standard [94] and Colombia's recently launched initiative to develop its own sustainability standards [95].…”

Section: The North and South Perspectivementioning

confidence: 99%

Towards a Balanced Sustainability Vision for the Coffee Industry

Samper¹,

Quiñones-Ruiz

2017

Resources

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As one of the world's most traded agricultural commodities, coffee constitutes a significant part of the overall economy and a major source of foreign revenue for many developing countries. Coffee also touches a large portion of the world's population in the South, where it is mainly produced, and in the North, where it is primarily consumed. As a product frequently purchased by a significant share of worldwide consumers on a daily basis in social occasions, the coffee industry has earned a high profile that also attracts the interest of non-governmental organizations, governments, multilateral organizations and development specialists and has been an early adopter of Voluntary Sustainability Standards (VSS). Responding to the trend of increased interest on sustainability, it is therefore not surprising that coffee continues to be at the forefront of sustainability initiatives that transcend into other agricultural industries. Based on literature and authors' experiences, this article reflects on the VSS evolution and considers a sustainability model that specifically incorporates producers' local realities and deals with the complex scenario of sustainability challenges in producing regions. Agreeing on a joint sustainability approach with farmers' effective involvement is necessary so that the industry as a whole (up and downstream value chain actors) can legitimately communicate its own sustainability priorities. This top-down/bottom-up approach could also lead to origin-based, actionable and focused sustainability key performance indicators, relevant for producers and consistent with the UN's Sustainable Development Goals. The initiative also aims to provide a sustainability platform for single origin coffees and Geographical Indications (GIs) in accordance with growers' own realities and regions, providing the credibility that consumers now expect from sustainability initiatives, additional differentiation options for origin coffees and economic upgrade opportunities for farmers.

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“…Several studies describe and explain the proliferation of TPGOs in the agriculture sector and beyond (Auld 2014b;Smith and Fischlein 2010;Turcotte et al 2014). This literature recognizes the importance of interactions among TPGOs for the longer-term authority, effectiveness and legitimacy of transnational private governance (Eberlein et al 2014).…”

Section: Transnational Private Governance Organizations: From Interacmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Different degrees and shapes of ties facilitate information sharing, coordination, and broader processes of socialization and norm constitution. These interactions are gaining greater research attention (Eberlein et al 2014); ties among policymakers are central to key propositions on the consequences of TPGO interactions (Bernstein and Cashore 2007;Henriksen and Seabrooke 2013;Smith and Fischlein 2010). However, systematic analysis of the structure of these ties remains absent.…”

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confidence: 99%

Work ties beget community? Assessing interactions among transnational private governance organizations in sustainable agriculture

Fransen

Schalk²,

Auld

2015

Global Networks

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Transnational private governance organizations (TPGOs) set standards for various sustainability issues and industries. TPGOs individually address only facets of larger problems such as land conversion, and competition among TPGOs also affects TPGO governance, meaning coordination across their activities can be required. Studies have shown that ties between TPGOs and other organizations facilitate information sharing, coordination and socialization. A systematic analysis of the structure of such ties, however, is lacking. Using the employment ties of staff and governors, we analyse the inter-organizational communities of TPGOs that focus on agriculture. Our findings cast doubt on the existence of a coherent community of sustainable agricultural TPGOs: very few communities involve multiple TPGOs. While TPGOs with a similar product focus may form links with similar organizations, there are few direct and indirect ties among TPGOs. Researchers should therefore be cautious about assuming that a TPGO policy community crossing organizational and policy divides currently exists.

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Rival private governance networks: Competing to define the rules of sustainability performance

Cited by 112 publications

References 88 publications

Economic Globalization and Strategic Peacebuilding

Economic Globalization and Strategic Peacebuilding

Towards a Balanced Sustainability Vision for the Coffee Industry

Work ties beget community? Assessing interactions among transnational private governance organizations in sustainable agriculture

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