Governing Corporate Social Responsibility in the Apparel Industry after Rana Plaza

Governing Corporate Social Responsibility in the Apparel Industry after Rana Plaza

Anil Hira Maureen Benson-Rea Editors Governing Corporate Social Responsibility in the Apparel Industry after Rana Plaza

Editors Anil Hira Department of Political Science Simon Fraser University Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada Maureen Benson-Rea Management & International Business University of Auckland Auckland, New Zealand ISBN 978-1-137-60178-0 ISBN 978-1-137-60179-7 (ebook) DOI 10.1057/978-1-137-60179-7 Library of Congress Control Number: 2017936946 The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2017 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Cover illustration: Mamunur Rashid / Alamy Stock Photo Printed on acid-free paper This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by Springer Nature The registered company is Nature America Inc. The registered company address is: 1 New York Plaza, New York, NY 10004, U.S.A.

Dedicated by Andy Hira to all our brothers and sisters who, in silent desperation, make the clothes we wear. Know your silence is temporary. Dedicated by Maureen Benson-Rea to all who fight for improved conditions for all workers: workers rights are human rights.

Acknowledgements The editors would like to thank Stacy Noto of Palgrave Macmillan for her initial encouragement to bring out a volume around this subject. vii

Contents Introduction 1 Anil Hira and Maureen Benson-Rea Threads of Despair: An Argument for the Public Option in Garment Governance 29 Anil Hira The Legacy of Rana Plaza: Improving Labour and Social Standards in Bangladesh s Apparel Industry 81 Mustafizur Rahman and Khondaker Golam Moazzem A Governance Deficit in the Apparel Industry in Bangladesh: Solutions to the Impasse? 111 Mohammad Tarikul Islam, Amira Khattak, and Christina Stringer Anti-consumption and Governance in the Global Fashion Industry: Transparency is Key 147 Michael S.W. Lee, Miriam Seifert, and Helene Cherrier Index 175 ix

About the Contributors Maureen Benson-Rea is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Management and International Business at the University of Auckland Business School, New Zealand. She has held academic positions in the UK as well as several international policy roles with a major UK business organisation. Maureen has published extensively in the areas of international business, strategy and marketing. Her work has appeared in International Business Review, Marketing Theory, European Management Journal, Industrial Marketing Management, Public Administration, Journal of Business Research, Multinational Business Review among others. Hélène Cherrier completed her PhD at the University of Arkansas on dispossession and identity work in the context of downshifting. Hélène s research focuses on bringing about a more sustainable and just society. Her current research interests consider waste value, social and environmental activism, and object-subject relations. The approach follows in the tradition of work in consumer culture theory and material culture studies and involves qualitative enquiries. Andy Hira is Professor of Political Science at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, Canada. He is a political economist specialising in industrial, technology and energy policies for development. His books include An East Asian Model for Latin America (2007), and What Makes Clusters Competitive? (2013). He has also written articles on the promotion of biofuels and renewable electricity, as well as the promotion of high tech xi

xii ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTORS sectors in the developing world. His current interests are in climate change strategies for the developing world. Mohammad Tarikul Islam s Research focuses on the debate of whether and how international business literature can be integrated with the global value chain (GVC) literature. His research towards furthering this debate is developed based on theories such as inter-firm relationships, resource/ capability-based-view, entrepreneurship and value chain governance and their economic and social outcomes. His research has appeared in reputed journals and peer-reviewed conference proceedings. Amira Khattak is an Assistant Professor in the College of Business Administration, Prince Sultan University, Saudi Arabia. Her areas of interest and research are environmental and social upgrading in global value chains (GVCs). Amira has published work related to social and environmental upgrading in reputed journals in the field of GVC. Michael S.W. Lee is a Senior Lecturer of Marketing at the University of Auckland Business School where he is the Director of The International Centre of Anti-Consumption Research (ICAR). He is an award winning teacher of marketing strategy, marketing research, consumer behaviour, advertising and promotions, and contemporary issues in marketing. Mike has published and/or guest edited special issues in Journal of Business Research, Consumption, Markets and Culture, European Journal of Marketing, Advances in Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Marketing, Journal of Consumer Behaviour, Journal of Macromarketing, Journal of Public Policy and Marketing and Journal of Consumer Affairs. His research interests are in brand avoidance, consumer resistance and activism, and, most notably, anti-consumption. Khondaker Golam Moazzem is Additional Research Director at the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), Bangladesh. He is the programme coordinator of Civil Society Initiative on Post Rana Plaza Developments which was launched by CPD and 13 civil society think tanks and renowned personalities in Bangladesh. Moazzem is a member of the Advisory Committee of Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Building Safety, a private sector-led initiative for monitoring compliance in the garment sector of Bangladesh. His major area of research interests include global value chain development, industrial relations and social dialogue, trade related issues, entrepreneurship development and private investment including foreign direct investment. He is the project director of the CPD-RMG

ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTORS xiii New Dynamics in Bangladesh s Apparels Sector: Perspectives on Restructuring, Upgradation and Compliance Assurance (2016). His latest publication is (with Abeer Khandker), Post Rana Plaza Developments in Bangladesh: Towards building a Responsible Supply Chain in the Apparel Sector (2016). Mustafizur Rahman is Executive Director of the Centre for Policy Dialogue, a leading civil society think tank in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Previously he was Professor at the University of Dhaka and a member of the University Senate. He has also carried out research as a Visiting Fellow at University of Oxford and Yale University and has served as a member of Panel of Economists for successive Five Year Plans and Perspective Plans of Bangladesh. His current research interests are in export competitiveness of Bangladesh s apparels sector, macroeconomic management and fiscalmonetary policies, regional integration and multilateral trade issues. He has published widely in reputed journals and books. Miriam Seifert is a PhD candidate at the University of Auckland. Her research interests are in sustainable and anti-consumption, slow and fast fashion, alternative economies and business models and dynamic capabilities research. Christina Stringer is an Associate Professor in the Department of Management and International Business, University of Auckland Business School. She specialises in global value chains (GVCs) with an emphasis on economic, social and environmental upgrading initiatives as well as labour rights within GVCs. She has published in a range of journals including Competition & Change, Critical Perspectives on International Business, Environment and Planning A, Global Networks, Journal of Economic Geography, Journal of Management Inquiry, Marine Policy and Thunderbird International Review.

List of Figures Fig. 1 (a c) Export composition of Bangladesh, 1981 2007 4 Fig. 2 Growth of clothing exports from Bangladesh 5 Fig. 3 (a d) Top sources of US textile and apparel imports, 1989 and 2013 7 Fig. 4 German imports from Bangladesh, 1988 2013, euros 8 Fig. 1 Economics perspective 36 Fig. 2 ILO/labour rights perspective 39 Fig. 3 Global value chains/corporate codes perspective 41 Fig. 4 Hira governance model 70 Fig. 1 Fragmented value chain with limited focus on compliance costs through different means 89 Fig. 2 Participation of different market players in monitoring labour and social standards during pre-rana Plaza period 93 Fig. 3 Participation of different market players in monitoring labour and social standards during the post-rana Plaza period 103 Fig. 1 Interrelated governance model 137 Fig. 1 Triad of transparency 165 xv

List of Tables Table 1 Private monitoring initiatives 98 Table 2 Progress of remediation in Accord-inspected factories 99 Table 3 Progress of remediation in Alliance-inspected factories 100 Table 1 Growth of the Bangladesh apparel industry from 1983 to 2014 119 Table 2 Top apparel exporting countries 120 Table 3 A snapshot of recent disasters in Bangladeshi factories 122 Table 4 Governance institutions in the apparel industry in Bangladesh 132 xvii