TY - JOUR

T1 - Can solidarity be organized "from below" in global supply chains?

T2 - The case of ExChains

AU - Lohmeyer, Nora

AU - Schüßler, Elke

AU - Helfen, Markus

N1 - Funding Information: The ExChains network exists since 2002 and is part of a wider network called TIE (Transnational Information Exchange). ExChains’ financial situation is quite precarious. While the positions of two coordinators in Germany are financed via TIE, which itself is partially financed by the foundation “Menschenwürde und Arbeitswelt” through the Evange-lischer Entwicklungsdienst (EED) as well as a private donor from the US who is sympathetic to TIE’s goals, the political work—mostly campaigns or meetings—has to be co-financed by third party funders, such as the Bewegungsstiftung or the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation. The networks in Asia are partially funded by the respective unions but have also received funds from foundations such as the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation. There are further sub-networks connected to TIE, which likewise try to organize transnational solidarity, such as the network “Eisenbahn ohne Grenzen,” which seeks to organize railway workers from West-Africa and France. Whereas TIE operates in different sectors, ExChains focuses on the global garment industry. The aim of the network is to build transnational solidarity among workers and, ulti- mately, to permanently change the global structure of the industry. The issues addressed by ExChains are diverse. In its current campaign, ExChains raises four demands: better fire and work protection, higher wages, trade union access rights, and supplier transparency. We argue that ExChains differs from other transnational initiatives because it decidedly aims to establish two-way bonds of solidarity among workers in garment production and retail. Publisher Copyright: © 2018 Verlag Barbara Budrich.

PY - 2018/12/17

Y1 - 2018/12/17

N2 - Global supply chains in the garment industry are marked by labour standard violations in factories as well as retail stores. Against this background it is important to strengthen the bargaining power of workers along the supply chain. Establishing direct relationships among workers along the supply chain could be one way to achieve this aim. This paper builds on extant literature on transnational solidarity and highlights the specific challenges of understanding solidarity in a transnational social space by looking at the empirical context of global garment supply chains. It hereby seeks to go beyond treating “solidarity” as a mere metaphor for any form of transnational union or worker cooperation, and instead engages with the cultural-normative dimensions of the concept as referring to mutual bonds among groups of workers. By looking at the case of the ExChains network, this paper examines some of the opportunities and challenges involved in establishing and maintaining transnational worker solidarity. The paper concludes by discussing the transformative potential, but also the limits of transnational labour solidarity regarding substandard working conditions in global supply chains.

AB - Global supply chains in the garment industry are marked by labour standard violations in factories as well as retail stores. Against this background it is important to strengthen the bargaining power of workers along the supply chain. Establishing direct relationships among workers along the supply chain could be one way to achieve this aim. This paper builds on extant literature on transnational solidarity and highlights the specific challenges of understanding solidarity in a transnational social space by looking at the empirical context of global garment supply chains. It hereby seeks to go beyond treating “solidarity” as a mere metaphor for any form of transnational union or worker cooperation, and instead engages with the cultural-normative dimensions of the concept as referring to mutual bonds among groups of workers. By looking at the case of the ExChains network, this paper examines some of the opportunities and challenges involved in establishing and maintaining transnational worker solidarity. The paper concludes by discussing the transformative potential, but also the limits of transnational labour solidarity regarding substandard working conditions in global supply chains.

KW - Management studies

KW - Arbeit

KW - Zwangsarbeit

KW - Arbeitsdiskriminierung

KW - Arbeitsbedingungen

KW - labor

KW - coercive labor markets

KW - labor discimination

KW - labor standatds

KW - EL: J47, J5, J7, J8

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85058614609&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/eab0eb97-414e-384e-bb4f-156966252e6f/

U2 - 10.3224/indbez.v25i4.02

DO - 10.3224/indbez.v25i4.02

M3 - Journal articles

AN - SCOPUS:85058614609

VL - 25

SP - 400

EP - 424

JO - Industrielle Beziehungen

JF - Industrielle Beziehungen

SN - 0943-2779

IS - 4

ER -