The Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh: A New Paradigm for Limiting Buyers’ Liability in Global Supply Chains?

Salminen, Jaakko

doi:10.1093/ajcl/avy030

Cited by 31 publications

(43 citation statements)

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“…Here, the Accord is not seen as a paradigm shift because it reproduces transnational corporate buying power (Scheper, ) and it lacks shared responsibility on the part of buyers (Barrett et al., ). Moreover, some legal scholars argue that buyers can control liabilities arising from the legally binding nature of the Accord while taking advantage of whitewashing effects vis‐à‐vis consumers and regulators (Salminen, ).…”

Section: Buyer Responsibility Power and The Accordmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Accord on Building and Fire Safety in Bangladesh (hereafter, the Accord) that emerged in the aftermath of the Rana Plaza disaster in 2013 has been hailed by some as a breakthrough and a game‐changer, given its embedded legal liability (Anner et al., ) and labour‐inclusive nature (Donaghey and Reinecke, ). Others question whether it really is a paradigm shift, given that it reproduces corporate power (Scheper, ) and serves as a white‐washing tool for corporations (Salminen, ). The Accord thus reflects the ongoing broader debate on corporate responsibility and power in global supply chains.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Buyer Engagement and Labour Conditions in Global Supply Chains: The Bangladesh Accord and Beyond

Oka¹,

Egels‐Zandén²,

Alexander³

2020

Development and Change

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The Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh (‘the Accord’) has received both praise and criticism concerning its implications for corporate responsibility and power. This article contributes to the debate by situating the Accord within a broader set of activities that buyers are engaged in to promote better labour conditions in their supply chains. The authors identify three approaches of buyer engagement: auditing, capacity building and advocacy. Drawing on interviews conducted with European brands and retailers, the article shows how buyers perceive the merits and challenges of these approaches, and whether and how they discharge responsibility and power through these activities. The study shows that the Accord is seen primarily as part of the auditing approach with a key feature being its use of collective leverage as a means of enforcement. While greater buyer power has not necessarily been accompanied by greater responsibility, the article highlights heterogeneity among buyers in how they take up different approaches, painting a more nuanced picture of buyer responsibility and power.

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Section: Buyer Responsibility Power and The Accordmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Buyer Engagement and Labour Conditions in Global Supply Chains: The Bangladesh Accord and Beyond

Oka¹,

Egels‐Zandén²,

Alexander³

2020

Development and Change

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“…Thus, technocratic solutions, ostensibly made on the basis of ethical demands, not only displace the need for politics but also produce a neat boundary between the technical and the political. The complex circuits of global production networks that produce such dire conditions in the first instance are rendered invisible (see Ashraf & Prentice, 2019; Salminen, 2018; Scheper, 2017). Notably, ‘entrepreneurial excitement’ and the many promises of supply chain capitalism remain intact in this framing (Tsing, 2009).…”

Section: Transnational Governance and The Rana Plaza Momentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Logics of Sedition: Re-signifying Insurgent Labour in Bangladesh’s Garment Factories

Siddiqi

2020

Journal of South Asian Development

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I draw on the Tuba hunger strike of 2014, which took place in the shadow of the collapse of the Rana Plaza building in Dhaka, Bangladesh, the preceding year, to think through questions of collective action in relation to shifting figurations of labour in moments of crisis. I ask how state, capital and (I)NGO priorities shape or re-signify dominant narratives of labour insurgency under supply chain capitalism (Tsing, 2009). I trace conditions that enable the invocation of (highly contextualized) non-work tropes as a strategy for controlling or reframing labour struggles; I am particularly interested in the emergence of the figure of the anti-nationalist or outside agitator and the work of sedition narratives in constructing borders between legitimate and illegal forms of labour mobilization. I show how the highly contingent global assemblages that emerge bear directly on the prospects for organizing (what remains of) the ‘formally’ employed industrial workforce in the global garment sector, holding lessons for other spaces and places.

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“…Cette description, qui figure dans le texte de l'Arrangement lui-même, est réaliste et le montant total des sommes versées est élevé. La critique selon laquelle le dispositif pourrait n'être qu'un simulacre destiné à faire illusion auprès des consommateurs, des autorités de régulation et des tribunaux et instances d'arbitrage (Salminen, 2018) semble excessive. Elle méconnaît la réalité, à savoir que, si les travailleurs ou leurs proches avaient dû saisir individuellement un tribunal local pour obtenir réparation, ils seraient encore en attente d'une décision et auraient peut-être été ruinés par les frais de justice.…”

Section: éValuation De L' Arrangement Et Du Fonds D'indemnisationunclassified

Sept ans après le Rana Plaza: des initiatives transnationales novatrices et l'ébauche d'un nouveau traité

Trebilcock¹

2020

Revue Int du Travail

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ancienne Conseillère juridique du BIT; annetrebilcock[@]gmail.com. L'auteure remercie vivement Janelle Diller et trois relecteurs anonymes pour leurs commentaires sur les précédentes versions de l'article. L'analyse tient compte des événements survenus jusqu'en août 2020. Les articles paraissant dans la Revue internationale du Travail n'engagent que leurs auteurs, et leur publication ne signifie pas que le BIT souscrit aux opinions qui y sont exprimées.

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The Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh: A New Paradigm for Limiting Buyers’ Liability in Global Supply Chains?

Cited by 31 publications

References 0 publications

Buyer Engagement and Labour Conditions in Global Supply Chains: The Bangladesh Accord and Beyond

Buyer Engagement and Labour Conditions in Global Supply Chains: The Bangladesh Accord and Beyond

Logics of Sedition: Re-signifying Insurgent Labour in Bangladesh’s Garment Factories

Sept ans après le Rana Plaza: des initiatives transnationales novatrices et l'ébauche d'un nouveau traité

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