The struggle for social upgrading: A study of electronics global value chains in Thailand

世界银行在其《2020年世界发展报告：全球价值链时代的贸易换发展》（WDR2020）中提出了一种新的分类法，将发展概念化为全球价值链内的四级“升级”顺序。它将一系列发展成果与国家升级联系起来，包括改善工资和工作条件，并建议实现这一目标的政策。然而，该报告无法确定给工人带来好处的机制。相比之下，许多研究表明，经济升级并不一定会导致工人的“社会升级”，但原因尚不清楚。迫切需要解决这一差距。本报告建议对泰国进行一项新颖的研究，重点关注影响升级的社会进程。世界银行认为泰国最近已经升级，其新的发展模式旨在进一步升级电子全球价值链，宣称具有包容性利益。然而，媒体报道表明，以女性农民工为特征的该行业劳动力经历了社会降级。值得注意的例外是，新的劳工-非政府组织联盟赢得了胜利。该研究将通过分析影响不同工人群体的社会斗争来评估社会升级是否发生，以及如何发生。因此，它将提供对决定发展轨迹的过程的情境洞察，同时，塑造全球价值链重组。

In its 2020 World Development Report, Trading forDevelopment in the Age of Global Value Chains(WDR2020), the World Bank specifies a new taxonomy inwhich development is conceptualised as a four-tiersequence of 'upgrading' within Global Value Chains (GVCs).It associates a series of developmental outcomes withnational upgrading, including improved wages and workingconditions, and recommends policies to achieve it.However, the report is unable to identify the mechanismsdelivering benefits to workers. In contrast, many studieshave shown that economic upgrading does not necessarilylead to 'social upgrading' for workers, but the reasons arenot understood. There is an urgent need to address thisgap. This submission proposes a novel study of Thailand,focussing on the social processes influencing upgrading.Thailand is judged by the World Bank to have recentlyupgraded, and its new development model targets furtherupgrading in electronics GVCs, proclaiming inclusivebenefits. However, media reports indicate that the sector'sworkforce, characterised by female migrant workers, hasexperienced social downgrading. Notable exceptions arewhere gains have been won by new labour-NGO coalitions.The study will assess if, and how, social upgrading hasoccurred by analysing the social struggles affectingdifferent groups of workers. Thus, it will provide situatedinsights into the processes which determine developmentaltrajectories and, concurrently, shape GVC restructuring.