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Labor regimes, global production networks, and European Union trade policy : labor standards and export production in the Moldovan clothing industry

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Smith, Adrian, Barbu, Mirela, Campling, Liam, Harrison, James and Richardson, Ben (2018) Labor regimes, global production networks, and European Union trade policy : labor standards and export production in the Moldovan clothing industry. Economic Geography, 94 (5). 550-574 . doi:10.1080/00130095.2018.1434410

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Official URL: http://doi.org/10.1080/00130095.2018.1434410

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Abstract

This article examines the relations between workplace and local labor regimes, global production networks (GPNs), and the state-led creation of expanded markets as spaces of capitalist regulation through trade policy. Through an examination of the ways in which labor regimes are constituted as a result of the articulation of local social relations and lead-firm pressure in GPNs, the article examines the limits of labor provisions in European Union trade policy seeking to ameliorate the worst consequences of trade liberalization and economic integration on working conditions. The article takes as its empirical focus the Moldovan clothing industry, the leading export-oriented manufacturing sector in the country. Trade liberalization has opened up a market space for EU lead firms to contract with Moldovan-based suppliers, but in seeking to regulate labor conditions in the process of trade liberalization, the mechanisms in place are not sufficient to deal with the consequences for workers’ rights and working conditions. Indeed, when articulated with national state policy formulations seeking to liberalize labor markets and deregulate labor standards, the limits of what can be achieved via labor provisions are reached. The EU’s trade policy formulation does not sufficiently take account of the structural causes of poor working conditions. Consequently, there is a mismatch between what the EU is trying to achieve and the core labor issues that structure social relations in, and labor regimes of, low-wage labor-intensive clothing export production for EU markets.

Item Type: Journal Article
Subjects: H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor
K Law [LC] > KJ-KKZ European law
Divisions: Faculty of Social Sciences > School of Law
Faculty of Social Sciences > Politics and International Studies
SWORD Depositor: Library Publications Router
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): Clothing trade -- Employment -- Moldóva -- Case studies, Commerce -- Law and legislation -- European Union countries, Business -- Law and legislation European Union countries
Journal or Publication Title: Economic Geography
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Inc.
ISSN: 1944-8287
Official Date: 23 May 2018
Dates:
DateEvent
23 May 2018Published
1 November 2017Accepted
Volume: 94
Number: 5
Page Range: 550-574
DOI: 10.1080/00130095.2018.1434410
Status: Peer Reviewed
Publication Status: Published
Access rights to Published version: Restricted or Subscription Access
RIOXX Funder/Project Grant:
Project/Grant IDRIOXX Funder NameFunder ID
ES/M009343/1[ESRC] Economic and Social Research Councilhttp://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000269

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