Rising Powers, Labour Standards and the Governance of Global Production Networks

崛起的大国、劳工标准和全球生产网络的治理

基本信息

批准号：
ES/J013234/1
负责人：
Khalid Nadvi
金额：
$ 82.33万
依托单位：
University of Manchester
依托单位国家：
英国
项目类别：
Research Grant
财政年份：
2013
资助国家：
英国
起止时间：
2013 至无数据
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=ES%2FJ013234%2F1
关键词：
Rising Powers Labour Standards Governance

项目摘要

China, India and Brazil are amongst the leading economies on the world stage today. China is known as the 'factory of the world'. Brazil has grown rapidly in recent years with its exports of primary commodities while Indian firms have acquired some of our best known British brands (from Tetley tea to Jaguar and Land Rover cars). The continuing dynamism and resilience of these emerging economies, or Rising Powers, is underlined by their sustained growth rates during the current, and on-going, global recession. These countries are now seen by many as the new engines of global growth. As they continue to flex their economic muscle, China, India and Brazil are challenging existing forms of global economic governance and power. This has important consequences for us in the UK, in our ability to compete in the global economy, and in terms of the welfare and wellbeing of our workers and consumers. This project is interested in understanding whether, and how, these Rising Powers are changing the 'rules of the game' and with what consequences. We focus on one particular set of 'rules' that have become increasingly important to global trade relations over the past two decades - global labour and social standards. Western, and especially British, consumers are increasingly made aware of how the foods they eat, the clothes they wear and the goods they consume are produced, and under what conditions workers produce such goods. For many leading Western brands ensuring that their widely dispersed global suppliers conform to accepted norms on good working conditions, such as the exclusion of child workers, not using forced labour, and providing a safe working environment, is important for protecting the integrity and image of their brands and avoiding consumer boycotts. Meeting such globally recognised labour standards has become an important agenda in the world of global production relations. However, with the growth of leading manufacturing firms from the Rising Powers and the rapid expansion of middle class consumption within these economies there is a persistent fear that there will be a 'race to the bottom', marked in particular by declining global labour standards and diminishing concerns with working conditions in global production. We intend to examine this. Our hunch is that rather than a race to the bottom, we are likely to observe a new era of more differentiated labour and social standards as the Rising Powers take an increasingly more active role in the global economy. This will have consequences not only for Rising Power states, workers and consumers, but also for us in the UK and OECD economies.We aim to study this through research undertaken in Brazil, China, India, the UK and the EU. We focus our attention on a range of actors. First, we will study the ways in which large firms (including the new multinationals) as well as small and medium enterprises from the Rising Powers engage with, and shape, labour and social standards in their systems of globalised production arrangements. Second, we will investigate how civil society bodies in these countries affect this process and if and how they shape local attitudes and norms on working conditions. Third, we will examine the ways in which governments in the Rising Powers define and implement labour standards within the domestic economy as well as how they interact in leading global institutions where many such international standards are formulated. Fourth, we will identify what these developments imply for the ways in which globalised production arrangements will most likely be organised in the future and how subsequent generations of global labour and social standards are likely to be shaped. Finally, we will consider what the implications are of the dynamism of the Rising Powers, and the ways in which they interact with global labour and social standards, for other developing countries, and in particular for us in the UK and for the competitiveness of UK and EU firms.

中国，印度和巴西是当今世界舞台的主要经济体之一。中国被称为“世界工厂”。近年来，巴西随着主要商品出口的出口迅速发展，而印度公司已经获得了一些我们最著名的英国品牌（从泰特利茶到捷豹和陆虎汽车）。这些新兴经济体或增强力量的持续活力和韧性是由它们在当前和正在进行的全球衰退期间的持续增长率所强调的。这些国家现在被许多人视为全球增长的新引擎。随着他们继续锻炼经济肌肉，中国，印度和巴西正在挑战全球经济治理和权力的现有形式。这对我们在英国，在全球经济中竞争的能力以及工人和消费者的福利和福祉方面都有重要的后果。该项目有兴趣了解这些不断增长的力量是否以及如何改变“游戏规则”以及带来什么后果。我们专注于过去二十年来对全球贸易关系变得越来越重要的一组“规则” - 全球劳动和社会标准。西方人，尤其是英国人，消费者越来越多地意识到他们吃的食物，他们穿的衣服和消耗的商品是如何生产的，在什么条件下，工人生产这种商品。对于许多领先的西方品牌，以确保其广泛分散的全球供应商符合在良好的工作条件下公认的规范，例如排除儿童工人，不使用强迫劳动和提供安全的工作环境，对于保护其品牌的完整性和形象和避免消费者抵制至关重要。满足全球认可的劳动标准已成为全球生产关系界的重要议程。但是，随着领先的制造公司的增长，这些经济体中的中断大国以及中产阶级消费量的迅速扩大，人们一直担心会有“竞争到最底层”，尤其是通过减少全球劳动力标准并减少对全球生产工作条件的担忧来标志着。我们打算检查一下。我们的直觉是，随着崛起的力量在全球经济中发挥越来越活跃的作用，我们可能会观察到一个更加差异化的劳动和社会标准的新时代。这不仅会对电力状况，工人和消费者的崛起产生后果，而且对我们在英国和经合组织经济体中也会产生后果。我们的目标是通过在巴西，中国，印度，印度，英国和欧盟进行的研究来研究这一点。我们将注意力集中在一系列演员上。首先，我们将研究大型公司（包括新的跨国公司）以及来自上升大国的中小型企业的方式，并在其全球化生产安排系统中与之互动，塑造，劳动和社会标准。其次，我们将调查这些国家的民间社会机构如何影响这一过程，以及他们如何以及如何塑造当地的态度和规范。第三，我们将研究崛起大国政府在国内经济中定义和实施劳工标准的方式，以及它们如何在制定许多此类国际标准的全球领先机构中进行互动。第四，我们将确定这些事态发展对将来最有可能组织的全球化生产安排以及随后几代全球劳动和社会标准的方式的含义。最后，我们将考虑对崛起大国的活力的影响，以及它们与其他发展中国家，尤其对我们在英国以及英国和欧盟公司的竞争力的方式与全球劳动和社会标准互动的方式。