Stewards of Virtue? The Ethical Dilemma of CSR in African Agriculture

In recent years companies have responded to increasingly powerful consumer politics by expanding the scope of corporate social responsibility (CSR) to include ethical trade. This article examines the ethic embedded in and promulgated through ethical trade by use of a case study of African agriculture. Building on recent conceptualizations of globalization, neoliberalism and anthropological analyses of the audit economy, the authors put forward three inter‐related arguments. First, that there is a clear, if largely unacknowledged, ethic that positions ethical trade as an inherently neo‐utilitarian response to the economic and political imperatives of globalization, with important implications for its intended beneficiaries in the South and advocates in the North. Second, that this ethic is at the core of a form of governmentality that advances the project of neoliberalism, not by force but rather through the technologies and embedded norms of voluntary regulation, resulting in a model of governance that is fundamentally constrained by structurally embedded limitations. And third, that attempts to remove these limitations may be less likely to achieve the democratic, empowering outcomes of ethical trade's proponents than to serve the interests of the internationally dispersed ‘stewards of virtue’ that grant ethical trade its legitimacy

COVID‐19’s impacts on global value chains, as seen in the apparel industry

Abstract: Motivation: The COVID‐19 pandemic has massively disrupted international trade and global value chains. Impacts, however, differ across regions and industries. This article contributes to a better understanding of the scale of disruptions to industries and value chains integral to the economies of and livelihoods in developing countries, and what role policy can play to mitigate harm. Purpose: This article aims to: (1) analyse and characterize disruptions to the global apparel value chain caused by the COVID‐19 pandemic, focusing on how developing countries have been impacted, and; (2) identify key policies to support a resilient, inclusive and sustainable recovery. Approach and methods: We review COVID‐19 related reports published by international and non‐governmental organizations, international trade and production statistics, industry surveys and media reports. We frame our analysis predominantly within the Global Value Chains literature. Findings: The global apparel value chain has been severely disrupted by the pandemic, owing to direct effects of sickness on workers in factories, reduced output of materials—cloth, thread, etc.—used to fabricate clothing, and to reduced demand for apparel in high‐income countries. Developing countries are suffering disproportionately in terms of profits, wages, job security and job safety. Women workers in the apparel chain have been hit especially hard, not only because most workers in the chain are women, but also because they have experienced increasing unpaid care work and higher risk of gender‐based violence. Policy implications: Five key areas of policy to support a resilient, inclusive and sustainable recovery stand out: (1) delivering emergency responses to ensure firm survival and the protection of workers’ livelihoods; (2) reformulating FDI attraction strategies and promoting market diversification; (3) supporting technology adoption and skills development; (4) deploying labour standards to improve workers’ conditions and strengthening social protection systems; and (5) adopting gender‐sensitive responses