Liam Campling | Queen Mary, University of London (original) (raw)
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Papers by Liam Campling
Review of Social Economy
This commentary on Chapter 6 on Markets, Finance, and Corporations of the International Panel for... more This commentary on Chapter 6 on Markets, Finance, and Corporations of the International Panel for Social Progress (IPSP 2018) report makes four points. The first suggests that proposals for legal reform of the corporation require consideration of the underlying processes of capital accumulation. Second, thinking about the articulations of global value chains and the law could help better appreciate their combined role in the geographical transfer of value. The third notes the potential for the greater analytical integration of financial and corporate dynamics through the study of the financialisation of production. Finally, it argues that future work by the IPSP should examine the articulations of political economy and global environmental change, and the spaces for ‘social progress’ therein.
Review of International Political Economy
Management theory offers a unique perspective on the political nature of production epitomized in... more Management theory offers a unique perspective on the political nature of production epitomized in global value chains (GVCs). Through our reading of management , we challenge several assumptions underpinning much GVC thinking to provide a counter-narrative to the idea that GVCs equate to development. We focus on three ideas within management theory-the entrepreneurial function, the management of knowledge, and standardization. Together, these show the political nature of 'management' as class struggle. We unpick the underlying Schumpeterian assumption within mainstream GVC analysis that economic development, and value creation, lie with entrepreneurial functions. In contrast, we present entrepreneurship as value capture. We emphasize its inherent link to knowledge to argue that supposedly developmental entrepreneurial attributes (lead firms in GVC analysis) rest on the concentration and control of knowledge, rather than its dispersal and relinquishing. This concentration is twofold: in negotiations between knowledge sharing and nonsharing inherent to outsourcing and GVCs, and knowledge concentration between low and high 'value adding' activities in the international division of labor. We suggest this division of labor relies on standardization-a process that unveils management's class basis. We conclude to suggest GVCs, like management generally , are not technical divisions of labor, but extended political organizations capturing value.
Journal of the Indian Ocean Region, 2019
Madagascar, Mauritius and Seychelles are at the center of industrial tuna extraction in the South... more Madagascar, Mauritius and Seychelles are at the center of industrial tuna extraction in the Southwest Indian Ocean (SWIO). In this paper, we show that, while a discourse of regionalism between the three islands is prominent, the possibilities of regionalism face deep challenges in relation to the tuna industry. This is due to three factors. First, local perceptions, especially amongst those working in and on the tuna industry, are in disconnection with an ‘Indianoceania’ vision. Second, the geopolitics between coastal states and distant water fishing nations creates various entanglements including through fishing access revenue and foreign aid. Finally, the materiality of tuna can at times create competition as countries seek to individually maximize benefits from the industry. We argue that the active reinforcement of regional identity and collaboration around this resource is necessary to sustain local benefits into the future.
Journal of Economic Geography
Despite the recognition that trade policy-in particular, tariff regimes and rules of origin-can a... more Despite the recognition that trade policy-in particular, tariff regimes and rules of origin-can affect the geography of production, much GPN analyses pay scant attention to the tariff context of the sector studied. This paper proposes an analytical framework to more effectively integrate these regimes into applied GPN research. We test the framework, drawing on analysis of exports to the EU market in four sectors: textiles and apparel, floriculture, fisheries and leather goods. The analysis confirms that, in the presence of high tariffs, preferences do seem to impact on sourcing for the EU market.
Labour standards provisions contained within the European Union's (EU) free trade agreements (FTA... more Labour standards provisions contained within the European Union's (EU) free trade agreements (FTAs) are a major iteration of attempts to regulate working conditions in the global economy. This article develops an analysis of how the legal and institutional mechanisms established by these FTAs intersect with global value chain governance dynamics in countries with contrasting political economies. The article formulates an original analytical framework to explore how governance arrangements and power relations between lead firms in core markets and suppliers in FTA signatory countries shape and constrain the effectiveness of labour provisions in FTAs. This analysis demonstrates how the common framework of labour provisions in EU trade agreements, when applied in a uniform manner across differentiated political-economic contexts, face serious difficulties in creating meaningful change for workers in global value chains.
This report provides FFA members with industry and market intelligence on the current status of t... more This report provides FFA members with industry and market intelligence on the current status of the shelf-stable (e.g. canned) tuna processing industry. It offers a global overview of processing capacity (providing data on volume and value of activities), new developments and key issues shaping the sector. It then conducts a focussed analysis of five case-study firms (three ‘major’ and two ‘minor’) to demonstrate the range of industry dynamics currently in play in the sector and to draw out implications for Pacific Island countries. The case study firms are: Thai Union, Dongwon Industries and Dongwon F&B, Bolton Foods, Princes, and Bumble Bee. Primarily through desk-based research, the analysis details operations, ownership and management structures, vertical integration such as brand ownership, mergers and acquisitions (M&A), major markets, financial performance, sustainability and labour initiatives, recent changes and future developments, WCPO business interests and links with Pacific Island countries.
This report provides Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency members with industry and market inte... more This report provides Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency members with industry and market intelligence on the current status of the shelf-stable (e.g. canned) tuna processing industry. It offers a global overview of processing capacity (providing data on volume and value of activities), new developments and key issues shaping the sector. It then conducts a focussed analysis of five case-study firms (three ‘major’ and two ‘minor’) to demonstrate the range of industry dynamics currently in play in the sector and to draw out implications for Pacific Island countries. The case study firms are: Thai Union, Dongwon Industries and Dongwon F&B, Bolton Foods, Princes, and Bumble Bee. Primarily through deskbased research, the analysis details operations, ownership and management structures, vertical integration such as brand ownership, mergers and acquisitions (M&A), major markets, financial performance, sustainability and labour initiatives, recent changes and future developments, WCPO business interests and links with Pacific Island countries.
World Trade Review, 2018
Labour standards provisions within the Trade and Sustainable Development (TSD) chapters of EU Fre... more Labour standards provisions within the Trade and Sustainable Development (TSD) chapters of EU Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) are presented as a key element of the EU’s commitment to a ‘value-based trade agenda’. But criticism of TSD chapters has led the European Commission to commit to improving their implementation and enforcement, creating a critical juncture in the evolution of the EU’s trade–labour linkage. This contribution synthesizes findings from academic studies that have examined the effectiveness of labour standards provisions in EU FTAs. It then considers the reform agenda as presented by the European Commission, and explains how some of the proposals could tackle failures identified. However, it also argues that there are various limitations with the Commission’s current proposals, and outlines how legal obligations and institutional mechanisms created by trade agreements could better be harnessed to improve working conditions and rights at work around the world.
This report provides industry and market intelligence regarding the current status of the tuna lo... more This report provides industry and market intelligence regarding the current status of the tuna longline industry in terms of distant water fleets (DWF) and other companies involved in the global value chains that these fleets supply. The study examines the DWFs of China, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. The primary focus is on industry dynamics, that is, key companies and organisations, industry organisation and corporate strategies; and the secondary focus is on markets and marketing strategies.
The influence of ‘lead firms’ in the organization and structure of global value chains (GVCs) has... more The influence of ‘lead firms’ in the organization and structure of global value chains (GVCs) has been extensively addressed, however, less attention has been paid to firms’ permanent imperative to deal with the challenges and opportunities offered by nature. In this chapter, we draw out how relations of production inside of firms and relations of exchange among firms shape, and are shaped by, nature. Through a critical GVC analysis, we reclaim the essential – and often overlooked – focus on production as a fundamental moment in capitalism. We keep firms at the centre of the analysis by exploring chain governance and firm-nature dynamics. We find that the emphasis on inter-firm governance in GVC literature has generated an analytical focus on the sphere of circulation (i.e. exchange relations and the politics of buying and selling), to the neglect of the political-economic and ecological dynamics at points of production. We show that ecological dynamics are a driver of firm strategy across all nodes of value chains. Using the lens of nature deepens and broadens our understanding of firms and firm power in GVCs and enhances chain researchers’ explanations of the relationships among firms and the socio-economic outcomes of their activities.
There is an urgent need for developing policy-relevant future scenarios of biodiversity and ecosy... more There is an urgent need for developing policy-relevant future scenarios of biodiversity and ecosystem services. This paper is a milestone toward this aim focusing on open ocean fisheries. We develop five contrasting Oceanic System Pathways (OSPs), based on the existing five archetypal worlds of Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs) developed for climate change research (e.g., Nakicenovic et al., 2014 and Riahi et al., 2016). First, we specify the boundaries of the oceanic social-ecological system under focus. Second, the two major driving forces of oceanic social-ecological systems are identified in each of three domains, viz., economy, management and governance. For each OSP (OSP1 " sustainability first " , OSP2 " conventional trends " , OSP3 " dislocation " , OSP4 " global elite and inequality " , OSP5 " high tech and market "), a storyline is outlined describing the evolution of the driving forces with the corresponding SSP. Finally, we compare the different pathways of oceanic social-ecological systems by projecting them in the two-dimensional spaces defined by the driving forces, in each of the economy, management and governance domains. We expect that the OSPs will serve as a common basis for future model-based scenario studies in the context of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES).
In value chain scholarship, chain governance is the relationship of power among firms in a produc... more In value chain scholarship, chain governance is the relationship of power among firms in a production network. For economic geographers working on the environment, governance refers primarily to state and
nonstate-based institutional and regulatory arrangements shaping human–environment interactions. Yet the theoretical and empirical links between these two concepts of governance are opaque. Drawing on a longitudinal case study of the canned tuna value chain and a historic materialist method, we demonstrate how interfirm strategies over the appropriation of value and distribution of costs and risks work through the environment. We document moments of change in the value chain that enliven a dynamic understanding of how a lead firm becomes
and reproduces its power, and strategies that subordinate firms deploy to try to counter the power of lead firms. We posit that these moves broaden value chain scholarship’s focus from governance typologies
toward the gravitational tendencies of capitalist competition and that such tendencies are inextricable from the environmental conditions of production through which they are made possible. This approach enables us to look at value chains and the environmental conditions of production as mutually constitutive, helping to explain vexing modern environmental problems as a core element of the general tendencies,
mechanisms, and drivers of power in chains.
This article argues that class relations are constitutive of development processes and central to... more This article argues that class relations are constitutive of development processes and central to understanding inequality within and between countries. Class is conceived as arising out of exploitative social relations of production, but is formulated through and expressed by multiple determinations. The article illustrates and explains the diversity of forms of class relations, and the ways in which they interplay with other social relations of dominance and subordination, such as gender and ethnicity. This is part of a wider project to revitalise class analysis in the study of development problems and experiences.
Henry Bernstein was co-editor (with Terence J. Byres) of the Journal of Agrarian Change between 2... more Henry Bernstein was co-editor (with Terence J. Byres) of the Journal of Agrarian Change between 2001 and 2008 and co-edited The Journal of Peasant Studies (where he joined Byres) between 1985 and 2000. This interview highlights some of Bernstein's major pedagogical and theoretical contributions to the fields of agrarian political economy and development studies. To do so, it traces his intellectual and political trajectory, providing important context for understanding his published work.
The chapter traces the EU’s system of trade preferences to British and French colonial production... more The chapter traces the EU’s system of trade preferences to British and French colonial production regimes. It argues that the system of non-reciprocal trade under Lomé – the high point for the ACP of recognition of their asymmetrical incorporation into the world economy – was not a product of European developmental largesse but a (re)negotiated outcome in the particular world-historical conditions of the 1970s. The chapter then moves to demonstrate that EU trade preferences contributed directly to industrial ‘upgrading’ into canned tuna production in several ACP economies: exporters could access the EU market duty-free compared to an import tariff of 24 per cent. Finally, it explores how EU market power spurred several tuna-dependent ACP states to sign up to reciprocal Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) with the EU in order to avoid losing preferential market access, which is, in effect, a legacy of a French colonial production and trade regime.
Most scholars attribute the development and ubiquity of global value chains to economic forces, t... more Most scholars attribute the development and ubiquity of global value chains to economic forces, treating law as an exogenous factor, if at all. By contrast, we assert the centrality of legal regimes and private ordering mechanisms to the creation, structure, geography, distributive effects and governance of Global Value Chains (GVCs), and thereby seek to establish the study of law and GVCs as rich and important terrain for research in its own right.
Using the case of canned tuna, this article shows that EU and US tariff regimes profoundly influe... more Using the case of canned tuna, this article shows that EU and US tariff regimes profoundly influence the location of processing activities, thereby shaping the international division of labour. It argues that the impact of trade preferences and tariff liberalization cannot be adequately understood without taking into consideration the particular characteristics and circumstances of individual countries. One-size-fits-all policy prescriptions based on generalized assumptions about the functioning of the world economy cannot provide an adequate development policy framework.
Journal of Agrarian Change
This first instalment of a two-part review essay on current work in commodity studies considers, ... more This first instalment of a two-part review essay on current work in commodity studies considers, at some length, an important and distinctive text by Peter Gibbon and Stefano Ponte. It draws on a unique set of case studies of African export commodities, using (and developing) the framework of Global Value Chain (GVC) theory, of American provenance, together with elements of the mostly French literature on quality conventions. Gibbon and Ponte also seek to incorporate key mechanisms of globalization and international trade, and their forms of regulation, and to evaluate the effects of the book's analysis and argument for prospects of improving the performance of African agricultural exports in particular. Here we provide a detailed exposition, discussion, and assessment of the book. We conclude that, for all its intellectual virtues, there are some central tensions in its argument that reflect the lacunae and limitations of the kind of economic sociology the authors employ – whic...
Journal of Agrarian Change, 2006
Pp. xviii+251. £52 (hb); £14.95 (pb). ISBN 1-59213-367-3 (hb) and 1-59213-368-1 (pb)
Journal of Agrarian Change, 2006
Pp. xxiv+295. £55.00 (hb); £16.95 (pb). and 1-84277-457-3 (pb) The two edited collections and the... more Pp. xxiv+295. £55.00 (hb); £16.95 (pb). and 1-84277-457-3 (pb) The two edited collections and the monograph reviewed here provide the means to consider an extended range of commodities, locations, commodity/ value chains, and issues of theory and method in political economy, beyond those presented by that we considered in the first part of this essay. Our discussion here touches on issues concerning how 'global' global commodity/value chains are; the symbolic attributes of commodities and commodity fetishism; the politics of consumption (or simply politics of selling and buying); the strengths and weaknesses of the economic sociology of commodity/value chains; and how the 'slices' extracted from larger organisms in studies of particular commodities may be reinserted, as it were, as part of the understanding of contemporary capitalism and of issues of development in the economies of the 'South'.
Review of Social Economy
This commentary on Chapter 6 on Markets, Finance, and Corporations of the International Panel for... more This commentary on Chapter 6 on Markets, Finance, and Corporations of the International Panel for Social Progress (IPSP 2018) report makes four points. The first suggests that proposals for legal reform of the corporation require consideration of the underlying processes of capital accumulation. Second, thinking about the articulations of global value chains and the law could help better appreciate their combined role in the geographical transfer of value. The third notes the potential for the greater analytical integration of financial and corporate dynamics through the study of the financialisation of production. Finally, it argues that future work by the IPSP should examine the articulations of political economy and global environmental change, and the spaces for ‘social progress’ therein.
Review of International Political Economy
Management theory offers a unique perspective on the political nature of production epitomized in... more Management theory offers a unique perspective on the political nature of production epitomized in global value chains (GVCs). Through our reading of management , we challenge several assumptions underpinning much GVC thinking to provide a counter-narrative to the idea that GVCs equate to development. We focus on three ideas within management theory-the entrepreneurial function, the management of knowledge, and standardization. Together, these show the political nature of 'management' as class struggle. We unpick the underlying Schumpeterian assumption within mainstream GVC analysis that economic development, and value creation, lie with entrepreneurial functions. In contrast, we present entrepreneurship as value capture. We emphasize its inherent link to knowledge to argue that supposedly developmental entrepreneurial attributes (lead firms in GVC analysis) rest on the concentration and control of knowledge, rather than its dispersal and relinquishing. This concentration is twofold: in negotiations between knowledge sharing and nonsharing inherent to outsourcing and GVCs, and knowledge concentration between low and high 'value adding' activities in the international division of labor. We suggest this division of labor relies on standardization-a process that unveils management's class basis. We conclude to suggest GVCs, like management generally , are not technical divisions of labor, but extended political organizations capturing value.
Journal of the Indian Ocean Region, 2019
Madagascar, Mauritius and Seychelles are at the center of industrial tuna extraction in the South... more Madagascar, Mauritius and Seychelles are at the center of industrial tuna extraction in the Southwest Indian Ocean (SWIO). In this paper, we show that, while a discourse of regionalism between the three islands is prominent, the possibilities of regionalism face deep challenges in relation to the tuna industry. This is due to three factors. First, local perceptions, especially amongst those working in and on the tuna industry, are in disconnection with an ‘Indianoceania’ vision. Second, the geopolitics between coastal states and distant water fishing nations creates various entanglements including through fishing access revenue and foreign aid. Finally, the materiality of tuna can at times create competition as countries seek to individually maximize benefits from the industry. We argue that the active reinforcement of regional identity and collaboration around this resource is necessary to sustain local benefits into the future.
Journal of Economic Geography
Despite the recognition that trade policy-in particular, tariff regimes and rules of origin-can a... more Despite the recognition that trade policy-in particular, tariff regimes and rules of origin-can affect the geography of production, much GPN analyses pay scant attention to the tariff context of the sector studied. This paper proposes an analytical framework to more effectively integrate these regimes into applied GPN research. We test the framework, drawing on analysis of exports to the EU market in four sectors: textiles and apparel, floriculture, fisheries and leather goods. The analysis confirms that, in the presence of high tariffs, preferences do seem to impact on sourcing for the EU market.
Labour standards provisions contained within the European Union's (EU) free trade agreements (FTA... more Labour standards provisions contained within the European Union's (EU) free trade agreements (FTAs) are a major iteration of attempts to regulate working conditions in the global economy. This article develops an analysis of how the legal and institutional mechanisms established by these FTAs intersect with global value chain governance dynamics in countries with contrasting political economies. The article formulates an original analytical framework to explore how governance arrangements and power relations between lead firms in core markets and suppliers in FTA signatory countries shape and constrain the effectiveness of labour provisions in FTAs. This analysis demonstrates how the common framework of labour provisions in EU trade agreements, when applied in a uniform manner across differentiated political-economic contexts, face serious difficulties in creating meaningful change for workers in global value chains.
This report provides FFA members with industry and market intelligence on the current status of t... more This report provides FFA members with industry and market intelligence on the current status of the shelf-stable (e.g. canned) tuna processing industry. It offers a global overview of processing capacity (providing data on volume and value of activities), new developments and key issues shaping the sector. It then conducts a focussed analysis of five case-study firms (three ‘major’ and two ‘minor’) to demonstrate the range of industry dynamics currently in play in the sector and to draw out implications for Pacific Island countries. The case study firms are: Thai Union, Dongwon Industries and Dongwon F&B, Bolton Foods, Princes, and Bumble Bee. Primarily through desk-based research, the analysis details operations, ownership and management structures, vertical integration such as brand ownership, mergers and acquisitions (M&A), major markets, financial performance, sustainability and labour initiatives, recent changes and future developments, WCPO business interests and links with Pacific Island countries.
This report provides Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency members with industry and market inte... more This report provides Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency members with industry and market intelligence on the current status of the shelf-stable (e.g. canned) tuna processing industry. It offers a global overview of processing capacity (providing data on volume and value of activities), new developments and key issues shaping the sector. It then conducts a focussed analysis of five case-study firms (three ‘major’ and two ‘minor’) to demonstrate the range of industry dynamics currently in play in the sector and to draw out implications for Pacific Island countries. The case study firms are: Thai Union, Dongwon Industries and Dongwon F&B, Bolton Foods, Princes, and Bumble Bee. Primarily through deskbased research, the analysis details operations, ownership and management structures, vertical integration such as brand ownership, mergers and acquisitions (M&A), major markets, financial performance, sustainability and labour initiatives, recent changes and future developments, WCPO business interests and links with Pacific Island countries.
World Trade Review, 2018
Labour standards provisions within the Trade and Sustainable Development (TSD) chapters of EU Fre... more Labour standards provisions within the Trade and Sustainable Development (TSD) chapters of EU Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) are presented as a key element of the EU’s commitment to a ‘value-based trade agenda’. But criticism of TSD chapters has led the European Commission to commit to improving their implementation and enforcement, creating a critical juncture in the evolution of the EU’s trade–labour linkage. This contribution synthesizes findings from academic studies that have examined the effectiveness of labour standards provisions in EU FTAs. It then considers the reform agenda as presented by the European Commission, and explains how some of the proposals could tackle failures identified. However, it also argues that there are various limitations with the Commission’s current proposals, and outlines how legal obligations and institutional mechanisms created by trade agreements could better be harnessed to improve working conditions and rights at work around the world.
This report provides industry and market intelligence regarding the current status of the tuna lo... more This report provides industry and market intelligence regarding the current status of the tuna longline industry in terms of distant water fleets (DWF) and other companies involved in the global value chains that these fleets supply. The study examines the DWFs of China, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. The primary focus is on industry dynamics, that is, key companies and organisations, industry organisation and corporate strategies; and the secondary focus is on markets and marketing strategies.
The influence of ‘lead firms’ in the organization and structure of global value chains (GVCs) has... more The influence of ‘lead firms’ in the organization and structure of global value chains (GVCs) has been extensively addressed, however, less attention has been paid to firms’ permanent imperative to deal with the challenges and opportunities offered by nature. In this chapter, we draw out how relations of production inside of firms and relations of exchange among firms shape, and are shaped by, nature. Through a critical GVC analysis, we reclaim the essential – and often overlooked – focus on production as a fundamental moment in capitalism. We keep firms at the centre of the analysis by exploring chain governance and firm-nature dynamics. We find that the emphasis on inter-firm governance in GVC literature has generated an analytical focus on the sphere of circulation (i.e. exchange relations and the politics of buying and selling), to the neglect of the political-economic and ecological dynamics at points of production. We show that ecological dynamics are a driver of firm strategy across all nodes of value chains. Using the lens of nature deepens and broadens our understanding of firms and firm power in GVCs and enhances chain researchers’ explanations of the relationships among firms and the socio-economic outcomes of their activities.
There is an urgent need for developing policy-relevant future scenarios of biodiversity and ecosy... more There is an urgent need for developing policy-relevant future scenarios of biodiversity and ecosystem services. This paper is a milestone toward this aim focusing on open ocean fisheries. We develop five contrasting Oceanic System Pathways (OSPs), based on the existing five archetypal worlds of Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs) developed for climate change research (e.g., Nakicenovic et al., 2014 and Riahi et al., 2016). First, we specify the boundaries of the oceanic social-ecological system under focus. Second, the two major driving forces of oceanic social-ecological systems are identified in each of three domains, viz., economy, management and governance. For each OSP (OSP1 " sustainability first " , OSP2 " conventional trends " , OSP3 " dislocation " , OSP4 " global elite and inequality " , OSP5 " high tech and market "), a storyline is outlined describing the evolution of the driving forces with the corresponding SSP. Finally, we compare the different pathways of oceanic social-ecological systems by projecting them in the two-dimensional spaces defined by the driving forces, in each of the economy, management and governance domains. We expect that the OSPs will serve as a common basis for future model-based scenario studies in the context of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES).
In value chain scholarship, chain governance is the relationship of power among firms in a produc... more In value chain scholarship, chain governance is the relationship of power among firms in a production network. For economic geographers working on the environment, governance refers primarily to state and
nonstate-based institutional and regulatory arrangements shaping human–environment interactions. Yet the theoretical and empirical links between these two concepts of governance are opaque. Drawing on a longitudinal case study of the canned tuna value chain and a historic materialist method, we demonstrate how interfirm strategies over the appropriation of value and distribution of costs and risks work through the environment. We document moments of change in the value chain that enliven a dynamic understanding of how a lead firm becomes
and reproduces its power, and strategies that subordinate firms deploy to try to counter the power of lead firms. We posit that these moves broaden value chain scholarship’s focus from governance typologies
toward the gravitational tendencies of capitalist competition and that such tendencies are inextricable from the environmental conditions of production through which they are made possible. This approach enables us to look at value chains and the environmental conditions of production as mutually constitutive, helping to explain vexing modern environmental problems as a core element of the general tendencies,
mechanisms, and drivers of power in chains.
This article argues that class relations are constitutive of development processes and central to... more This article argues that class relations are constitutive of development processes and central to understanding inequality within and between countries. Class is conceived as arising out of exploitative social relations of production, but is formulated through and expressed by multiple determinations. The article illustrates and explains the diversity of forms of class relations, and the ways in which they interplay with other social relations of dominance and subordination, such as gender and ethnicity. This is part of a wider project to revitalise class analysis in the study of development problems and experiences.
Henry Bernstein was co-editor (with Terence J. Byres) of the Journal of Agrarian Change between 2... more Henry Bernstein was co-editor (with Terence J. Byres) of the Journal of Agrarian Change between 2001 and 2008 and co-edited The Journal of Peasant Studies (where he joined Byres) between 1985 and 2000. This interview highlights some of Bernstein's major pedagogical and theoretical contributions to the fields of agrarian political economy and development studies. To do so, it traces his intellectual and political trajectory, providing important context for understanding his published work.
The chapter traces the EU’s system of trade preferences to British and French colonial production... more The chapter traces the EU’s system of trade preferences to British and French colonial production regimes. It argues that the system of non-reciprocal trade under Lomé – the high point for the ACP of recognition of their asymmetrical incorporation into the world economy – was not a product of European developmental largesse but a (re)negotiated outcome in the particular world-historical conditions of the 1970s. The chapter then moves to demonstrate that EU trade preferences contributed directly to industrial ‘upgrading’ into canned tuna production in several ACP economies: exporters could access the EU market duty-free compared to an import tariff of 24 per cent. Finally, it explores how EU market power spurred several tuna-dependent ACP states to sign up to reciprocal Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) with the EU in order to avoid losing preferential market access, which is, in effect, a legacy of a French colonial production and trade regime.
Most scholars attribute the development and ubiquity of global value chains to economic forces, t... more Most scholars attribute the development and ubiquity of global value chains to economic forces, treating law as an exogenous factor, if at all. By contrast, we assert the centrality of legal regimes and private ordering mechanisms to the creation, structure, geography, distributive effects and governance of Global Value Chains (GVCs), and thereby seek to establish the study of law and GVCs as rich and important terrain for research in its own right.
Using the case of canned tuna, this article shows that EU and US tariff regimes profoundly influe... more Using the case of canned tuna, this article shows that EU and US tariff regimes profoundly influence the location of processing activities, thereby shaping the international division of labour. It argues that the impact of trade preferences and tariff liberalization cannot be adequately understood without taking into consideration the particular characteristics and circumstances of individual countries. One-size-fits-all policy prescriptions based on generalized assumptions about the functioning of the world economy cannot provide an adequate development policy framework.
Journal of Agrarian Change
This first instalment of a two-part review essay on current work in commodity studies considers, ... more This first instalment of a two-part review essay on current work in commodity studies considers, at some length, an important and distinctive text by Peter Gibbon and Stefano Ponte. It draws on a unique set of case studies of African export commodities, using (and developing) the framework of Global Value Chain (GVC) theory, of American provenance, together with elements of the mostly French literature on quality conventions. Gibbon and Ponte also seek to incorporate key mechanisms of globalization and international trade, and their forms of regulation, and to evaluate the effects of the book's analysis and argument for prospects of improving the performance of African agricultural exports in particular. Here we provide a detailed exposition, discussion, and assessment of the book. We conclude that, for all its intellectual virtues, there are some central tensions in its argument that reflect the lacunae and limitations of the kind of economic sociology the authors employ – whic...
Journal of Agrarian Change, 2006
Pp. xviii+251. £52 (hb); £14.95 (pb). ISBN 1-59213-367-3 (hb) and 1-59213-368-1 (pb)
Journal of Agrarian Change, 2006
Pp. xxiv+295. £55.00 (hb); £16.95 (pb). and 1-84277-457-3 (pb) The two edited collections and the... more Pp. xxiv+295. £55.00 (hb); £16.95 (pb). and 1-84277-457-3 (pb) The two edited collections and the monograph reviewed here provide the means to consider an extended range of commodities, locations, commodity/ value chains, and issues of theory and method in political economy, beyond those presented by that we considered in the first part of this essay. Our discussion here touches on issues concerning how 'global' global commodity/value chains are; the symbolic attributes of commodities and commodity fetishism; the politics of consumption (or simply politics of selling and buying); the strengths and weaknesses of the economic sociology of commodity/value chains; and how the 'slices' extracted from larger organisms in studies of particular commodities may be reinserted, as it were, as part of the understanding of contemporary capitalism and of issues of development in the economies of the 'South'.
This special issue presents five essays and an interview in appreciation of Henry Bernstein. The ... more This special issue presents five essays and an interview in appreciation of Henry Bernstein. The essays – by major scholars in the field of agrarian political economy – engage with different aspects of Bernstein’s oeuvre: from direct critical reflections on his approach to the peasantry and the agrarian question through to arguments developed in connection to his work on commercial capitalism, landed property and the relationship between petty production and accumulation. This introduction briefly sets out some of the major aspects of Bernstein’s distinctive editorial, pedagogical and theoretical contributions. It suggests that this most crucial and lasting contribution is in his absorption and ability to apply Marx’s theory and method as a living theoretical and analytical approach to the study of agrarian political economy.
EPA: Economy and Space, 2021
We examine corporate rentiership in the contemporary economy and suggest that the idea we are in ... more We examine corporate rentiership in the contemporary economy and suggest that the idea we are in a moment of step-change within capitalism may be premature. Implicit in arguments for a step-change is the claim that the present-day economy emphasises unproductive or rentier forms rather than the more productive and entrepreneurial forms of the past. In contrast, we argue that to understand our current situation we need to focus on the division of labour and most especially on processes of standardisation and the rise of intangible assets. Moving from Marx's understanding of rent as a class relation, we re-embed rent within the circuit of capital and the realm of value distribution to investigate the class dynamics (among labour, capital and the state) through which giant firms seem to generate value out of rentierism. We argue that these class dynamics include the crucial and unexplored relation between standardisation and intan-gibles. We suggest standardisation within the division of labour renders people, places, and things interchangeable and that, in contrast, intangible assets differentiate them. When intangible assets emerge as new forms of property, they enable owners to generate scarcity and exert direct and/ or indirect control over the wider division of labour. Through examining the combined rise of standardisation and intangible assets within the technical division of labour, we demonstrate how hierarchy within the social division of labour empowers some corporations to capture value produced elsewhere within the circuit of capital.
British Journal of Industrial Relations, 2019
This article explores the interrelationship between global production networks (GPNs) and free tr... more This article explores the interrelationship between global production networks (GPNs) and free trade agreements (FTAs) in the South Korean auto industry and its employment relations. It focuses on the production network of the Hyundai Motor Group (HMG)-the third biggest automobile manufacturer in the world-and the FTA between the EU and South Korea. This was the first of the EU's 'new generation' FTAs, which among other things contained provisions designed to protect and promote labour standards. The article's argument is twofold. First, that HMG's production network and Korea's political economy (of which HMG is a crucial part) limited the possibilities for the FTA's labour provisions to take effect. Second, that the commercial provisions in this same FTA simultaneously eroded HMG's domestic market and corporate profitability, leading to adverse consequences for auto workers in the more insecure and low-paid jobs. In making this argument, the article advances a multi-scalar conceptualization of the labour regime as an analytical intermediary between GPNs and FTAs. It also provides one of the first empirical studies of the EU-South Korea FTA in terms of employment relations, drawing on 105 interviews with trade unions, employer associations, automobile companies and state officials across both parties.
World Trade Review , 2018
Labour standards provisions within the Trade and Sustainable Development (TSD) chapters of EU Fre... more Labour standards provisions within the Trade and Sustainable Development (TSD) chapters of EU Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) are presented as a key element of the EU's commitment to a 'value-based trade agenda'. But criticism of TSD chapters has led the European Commission to commit to improving their implementation and enforcement, creating a critical juncture in the evolution of the EU's trade-labour linkage. This contribution synthesizes findings from academic studies that have examined the effectiveness of labour standards provisions in EU FTAs. It then considers the reform agenda as presented by the European Commission, and explains how some of the proposals could tackle failures identified. However, it also argues that there are various limitations with the Commission's current proposals, and outlines how legal obligations and institutional mechanisms created by trade agreements could better be harnessed to improve working conditions and rights at work around the world.