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Page 1: Looking behind the Label (excerpt)

892019 Looking behind the Label (excerpt)

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892019 Looking behind the Label (excerpt)

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Acknowledgments vii

List of Commonly Used Acronyms ix

Introduction Rules Responsibilities and Rights in the Global Economy 983089

Part I Making Sense of Conscientious Consumerism

1048625 Te Making of Conscientious Consumers

Individual and National Paerns 983091983095

1048626 Te Dilemmas of Conscientious Consumerism 983094983088

Part II Behind the Label Global Production and the Meaning of Standards

1048627 Wood and Paper Products Searching for Sustainability 983096983093

1048628 Food Global Agriculture and Local Institutions 983089983089983090

1048629 Apparel and Footwear Standards for Sweatshops 983089983092983094

983094 Electronics Te Hidden Costs of Computing 983089983095983097

Conclusion Beyond Conscientious Consumerism 983090983088983097

Appendix 983090983090983095

Notes 983090983091983093

References 983090983092983091

Index 983090983095983095

CONTENTS

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1048625

983124983144983141 983142983157983154983150983145983156983157983154983141 983155983144983151983152983152983145983150983143 983156983154983145983152 983159983137983155 983149983151983154983141 983139983151983149983152983148983145983139983137983156983141983140 983156983144983137983150expected Searching for a new headboard my wife and I (Bartley) hoped we

would 1047297nd something that was well made preferably under decent condi-tions When we asked about items made from wood certi1047297ed by the ForestStewardship Council we mostly got blank stares or information that seemed

intended to divert our aention One saleswoman was telling us proudlyabout the storersquos furniture being made in the USA when we saw ldquoMade in

Vietnamrdquo stamped in large leers on the back of one piece We knew that logs were being harvested illegally991252not to mention unsustainably991252in Laos In-donesia and Russia and shipped to factories in Vietnam and China to makefurniture for consumers in North America and Europe We also knew thatthe young women and men working in these factories endured health hazardsand long hours to meet the low prices and fast delivery times that retailers

demanded Not that ldquoMade in the USArdquo even if we could 1047297nd it would be aperfect guarantee either since labor laws are frequently violated here as welland unsustainable forestry is not unique to developing countries

Rules Responsibilities

and Rights in the Global Economy

INTRODUCTION

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Aer much head scratching we stopped browsing and bought a cheap usedheadboard from a Craigslist ad We might have even felt good about this fora moment since we could claim to be resisting a culture of disposability and

overconsumption But we knew we wouldnrsquot keep the slightly ugly headboardfor long and would soon 1047297nd ourselves back in the same conundrum

Lile dilemmas like this have become increasingly common especially inthe markets of North A merica and Europe Many consumers claim to ldquoshop

with a consciencerdquo and a huge number of eco- and social-labeling programshave sprung up to assure them that factories farms forests and 1047297sheriesaround the world are in some sense ldquosustainablerdquo or ldquofairrdquo One project to

track eco-labels has found more than 104862810486291048624 different labels worldwide852017 Yet it is clear that consumers oen abandon their ideals for low prices and

even conscientious consumers can be confused by the barrage of labels andmisleading claims Some labels are issued by independent initiatives withstringent standards such as Fair Trade certi1047297cation and the Forest Steward-ship Council but what lies ldquobehind the labelrdquo is a far cry from what consum-ers imagine when they see images of a smiling coffee farmer or a green tree ina lush forest What does it mean if consumers ldquovote with their pocketbooksrdquo

by choosing products that are labeled as ldquofairrdquo or ldquosustainablerdquo Can globalproduction processes really be transformed by standards that are voluntarilyadopted by pro1047297t-seeking companies to please 1047297ckle consumers As somepeople strive to be ldquoconscientious consumersrdquo are they just fooling them-selves engaging in small acts of charity while ignoring larger structures ofpower and inequality that shape the lives of workers citizens and commu-nities locally and globally Is a consumerist logic of ldquoone dollar one voterdquo

displacing the democratic principle of ldquoone person one voterdquois book explores these dilemmas by looking at the links between con-

sumption and production processes in global industries Celebrations andcritiques of ldquoethical consumptionrdquo ldquopolitical consumerismrdquo and the relatedissue of ldquocorporate social responsibilityrdquo have abounded in the past decade

Yet rarely do these treatments look closely at the links between consumermarkets voluntary standards and production processes in different indus-tries and locations We believe it is crucial to examine the dynamics of bothconsumption and production in order to understand if and when ldquoshopping

with a consciencerdquo is likely to make a difference in global industries Doingso has taken us not only into analyses of consumer behavior and marketstructures but also into footwear factories in China sourcing offices in Hong

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Kong smallholder farms in Paraguay timber operations in Indonesia elec-tronics factories in Malaysia activist organizations in the United States and

beyond As a group we have conducted more than four hundred interviews

across four continents We have talked with a variety of practitioners in the world of global standards from managers responsible for making changes toauditors charged with judging compliance from workers and smallholderfarmers to the representatives of global brands and international nongov-ernmental organizations (INGOs) We have also analyzed a variety of dataon consumers 1047297rms and industry dynamics In this book we have soughtto integrate a large amount of information into straightforward analyses and

rich case studies

983124983144983141 983108983141983138983137983156983141 983151983158983141983154 983107983151983150983155983139983145983141983150983156983145983151983157983155 983107983151983150983155983157983149983141983154 983145983155983149

Can consumers contribute to a fairer more sustainable model of globaliza-tion Should they or is this a foolish way to bring about social change esequestions are central to the scholarly debate about what we call ldquoconscien-tious consumerismrdquo991252that is consumers viewing their purchases as a way

to express some sense of ethical or perhaps even political responsibilitySome theorists have treated conscientious consumerism as an aractiveand viable way for individuals to express their values likening consumptionto activism political engagement and active citizenship (Michelei 1048626104862410486241048627)

At a minimum paying aention to how consumer products are made mayenhance consumersrsquo sense of global connection and help to ldquode-fetishizerdquocommodities (Seyfang 1048626104862410486241048629) Others have argued that conscientious con-

sumerism is a shallow form of engagement that detracts from other pathwaysto social change expresses parochial self-serving values and legitimatesoverconsumption (Guthman 1048626104862410486241048631a Maniates 1048626104862410486241048625 Maniates and Meyer1048626104862410486251048624 Szasz 1048626104862410486241048631) In between some theorists have argued that individualscan be hybrid ldquocitizen-consumersrdquo whose consumer choices contribute insmall ways to a broader sense of social and political engagement (Williams104862610486241048624983094 Willis and Schor 1048626104862410486251048626)

ese debates are important and we stake out our own position here sinceany treatment of conscientious consumerism must grapple with its personaland political meanings But by focusing almost exclusively on the culturepolitics and meanings of conscientious consumerism existing researchhas had lile to say about two key factors991252(1048625) the structures of conscien-

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tious consumption and (1048626) its consequences at the point of production Firstconsuming products labeled as ldquofairrdquo or ldquosustainablerdquo is not just a maer ofindividual ldquoreflexivityrdquo regardless of whether one views this as noble or self-

absorbed It is structured by the constraints and opportunities that consum-ers face is refers in part to factors such as income education and socialclass that make conscientious consumerism far from universal But it alsorefers to differences across countries Even among fairly affluent countries inNorth America and Europe there are signi1047297cant differences in the size andshape of markets for products whose labels claim they are fair or sustainable

Second and even more striking is the degree to which the discourse on

conscientious consumerism has sidestepped questions about the implemen-tation of the standards that consumers are supporting Many forms of con-scientious consumption rely on assurances that certain production standardshave been followed Consumers cannot see for themselves whether theirfood has been farmed in a fair and sustainable way whether their furnitureoriginated in deforestation or whether their smartphones are the product ofheavily polluting high-tech sweatshops But scholars of conscientious con-sumerism have failed to interrogate these standards and assurances ey

usually either accept them at face value or dismiss them altogether as ldquogreen- washrdquo or ldquofairwashrdquo Other scholars have begun to study the implementationof voluntary production standards typically in order to evaluate ldquoprivategovernancerdquo systems (Locke 1048626104862410486251048627 Ponte 1048626104862410486241048632 Seidman 1048626104862410486241048631) or what somehave called ldquotransnational private regulationrdquo (Bartley 1048626104862410486241048631b) But researchon standards ldquoon the groundrdquo remains rare and comparisons of differentindustries and locations are just beginning to emerge852018

As one does look behind the label this much is clear claims of fairness andsustainability that seem straightforward to consumers become signi1047297cantlymurkier as one looks at the farms factories and forests where the productsoriginate Fair trade coffee may not be so fair for the casual laborers that farm-ers hire to toil in organic farms (Jaffee 1048626104862410486241048631)852018 A decade of ldquocorporate socialresponsibilityrdquo in the apparel industry did not prevent more than elevenhundred workers from dying when the Rana Plaza complex of factories inBangladesh collapsed in 1048626104862410486251048627 Certi1047297ed sustainable forests have sometimesturned out to be sites of illegal logging and violence against local residentsBut it is also clear that not all assurances are the same Some initiatives aremore stringent and credible than others some parts of an industry are more

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open to reform than others and some places are more likely to support de-cent conditions than others We 1047297nd more variation and complexity in globalindustries than would be expected by either simplistic celebrations of cor-

porate social responsibility or by condemnations of greenwashfairwashOur goal is to document grapple with and hopefully sort out some of thatcomplexity

e debate about conscientious consumerism is to some degree colored bythe different terms that scholars have used to describe it Some use the termldquopolitical consumerismrdquo (Michelei 1048626104862410486241048627) which has become the standardterm for researchers in much of Europe We believe it is premature to label

shopping with a conscience as a political act at least until far more is knownabout how consumers understand this act and its consequences Others pre-fer the term ldquoethical consumerismrdquo which appears to be more common inBritish and American discourse (Barne et al 1048626104862410486241048629 Goodman Maye andHolloway 1048626104862410486251048624) But this seems to imply that consumers have a coherentethical rationale We use the term ldquoconscientious consumerismrdquo (and ldquocon-scientious consumptionrdquo) to reflect our view that concerned consumers aremore oen acting on a vague sense of trying to do good in the world than on

a speci1047297c political or ethical commitment is does not mean that conscien-tious consumption cannot be highly principled In some cases it clearly isBut in many cases we suspect that consumers are uncertain and grasping991252areasonable response to the perplexing world of labels and global industries

And sometimes scholars question whether seemingly ethical purchasesmight actually be self-serving and insular (Szasz 1048626104862410486241048631) We see ldquoconscien-tiousrdquo consumer activity as open to both more and less principled ethical

political commitments Grappling with the pitfalls of this activity in this book we argue that an overarching ideology of conscientious consumerismas a vision of social change is vacuous Consumers and scholars should notrely on shopping to change the world Nevertheless we argue speci1047297c prac-tices of conscientious consumption can sometimes be meaningful as part ofmultifaceted strategies for reforming global industries Careful aention isneeded then to both consumer behavior and the effects of voluntary pro-duction standards

In the remainder of this introduction we sketch our approach to the analy-sis of conscientious consumption and standards for global industries We

begin by discussing the processes through which claims of ldquofairnessrdquo and

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ldquosustainabilityrdquo have become common features of shopping aisles is in-cludes some of the most signi1047297cant changes in the global economy and polityover the past four decades including the rise of global supply chains trans-

national advocacy networks and neoliberalism as an ideology of governance We then move on to critique three common frames for understanding con-scientious consumption and related global standards is sets the stage forour own framework for analysis which emphasizes industry structures theconstituencies behind standards global-local linkages and what we call theldquopuzzle of rulesrdquo in the global economy Following this introductory chapter

we turn to an analysis of consumer behavior in the United States and Europe

Tis is followed by an aempt to unpack the dilemmas of conscientiousconsumerism991252and our interpretation of what is harmful and helpful aboutit en in part 1048626 of the book we shi from consumption to production anddevelop case studies of four types of products timber food apparel andelectronics All have been subject to standards for ldquofairrdquo or ldquosustainablerdquoproduction yet the results have rarely been what reformers hoped for

983110983154983151983149 983107983137983149983152983137983145983143983150983155 983156983151 983116983137983138983141983148 983155

e story usually begins with a social movement While twentieth-centurysocial movements oen targeted national states and public policy by the turnof the twenty-1047297rst century environmental labor and human rights activists

were also ldquoshaming the corporationrdquo and contesting markets directly Oenthis meant exposing well-known transnational corporationsrsquo complicity withexploitation of workers (especially young women) natural environments

and indigenous people in locations around the world Anti-sweatshop groupsldquonamed and shamedrdquo Nike Walmart HampM and many other companies todraw aention to unsafe working environments physical and verbal abuseand a high-pressure low-wage model of production in the apparel and foot-

wear industry Eventually this approach spread to the electronics industryas activists showed how Apple Hewle-Packard Samsung and others relyon harsh labor conditions in Asia as well as ldquoconflict mineralsrdquo from war-torn areas of Central Africa Environmentalists had long been targetingcompanies like Te Home Depot BampQ and Mitsubishi because of theircontributions to tropical deforestation not to mention campaigns againstShell Chevron and other oil companies with reputations for pollution andenvironmental injustice Food markets became especially politicized Envi-

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ronmentalists showed how beef consumption threatened the Amazon rainforest how seafood sales contributed to the depletion of species and destruc-tion of ocean habitats and how ldquofactory farmsrdquo polluted local environments

ey also raised concerns about pesticides and genetically modi1047297ed organ-isms (GMOs) in the supply chains of many food brands and retailers Humanrights and development organizations linked Hershey Nestleacute and others to

bonded labor in cacao farms and connected Coca-Cola Pepsi and Cargill (alarge soybean producer) to land grabs that forcibly displaced small farmersin South America Asia and Africa

In response retailers and brands increasingly have adopted voluntary rules

for their supply chains Apparel footwear and electronics companies haveadopted ldquoethical sourcingrdquo policies and ldquocodes of conductrdquo sending auditorsaround the world to assess their suppliersrsquo compliance Some have joinedinitiatives like Social Accountability International (SAI) the Fair Labor

Association (FLA) Business Social Compliance Initiative (BSCI) or theElectronics Industry Citizenship Coalition (EICC) which have their ownsets of rules and auditing procedures Food producers and retailers havesimilarly joined initiatives like the Roundtable on Responsible Soy (RTRS)

or the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) both of which addressthe environmental and social implications of large-scale agricultural planta-tions Sellers of paper and furniture have turned to products certi1047297ed bythe Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) (or its competitor the Programmefor the Endorsement of Forest Certi1047297cation [PEFC]) to demonstrate theirgreen credentials while some food retailers have agreed to sell seafood cer-ti1047297ed by the Marine Stewardship Council ese are just a few examples of

how pressure from social movements has led to the proliferation of ethicalstandards Some of these standards take the form of policies that companiesadopt while others are governed by external associations like those men-tioned above Typically these associations are created either by coalitions ofNGOs and a few leading 1047297rms or by groups of companies hoping to fend offfurther pressure

In some instances social movements have not merely pressured companiesto improve their practices they have sought to endorse alternative models ofproduction Organic agriculture was a movement before it was a market andit helped to legitimate forms of farming that do not rely on pesticides e fairtrade movement originated with the goal of supporting small farmers who

were organized into democratically run cooperatives and it sought to use

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certi1047297cation to direct greater resources toward these farmers not to improveconditions on large plantations (Linton Liou and Shaw 1048626104862410486241048628) Although la-

bor rights advocates have been hesitant to label companies as ldquogoodrdquo groups

like the Worker Rights Consortium (WRC) and the Fair Wear Foundation(FWF) have begun to build market support for factories in which workersare represented by independent unions Similarly some of the impetus forthe Forest Stewardship Council came from foresters environmentalists andindigenous rights groups hoping to support small-scale community forestryoperations not simply to improve industrial timber operations (Bartleyand Smith 1048626104862410486251048624) ese kinds of initiatives are ldquoin the market but not of itrdquo

(Taylor 1048626104862410486241048629) and insert alternative ldquoorders of worthrdquo into market decisions(Boltanski and eacutevenot 104862610486241048624983094) Yet as activists have sought to build marketsupport for these production models they have encountered dilemmas ofldquomainstreamingrdquo alternatives Under pressure larger companies have agreedto sell certi1047297ed products including Starbucks and Fair Trade coffee or eHome Depot and FSC-certi1047297ed lumber But as activists have discoveredthere is a 1047297ne and oen blurry line between building market support and

becoming dependent on big companies in a way that leads to the weakening

of standards As our case studies show the world of voluntary standards whether for

alternatives or ldquobest practicesrdquo involves a constant struggle for the powerto de1047297ne legitimate standards and to determine how strictly they should beapplied in the 1047297eld ere is an ldquoNGO-Industrial Complexrdquo that underliesmost conscientious consumption and production initiatives (Gereffi Garcia-

Johnson and Sasser 1048626104862410486241048625) but it is multifaceted and contentious

e ultimate impacts of conscientious consumption and production proj-ects are oen hard to discern but this much is clear taken together theseactivities amount to a vast new set of standard-seing projects for the globaleconomy Promoted by a mix of NGOs companies and trade associationsthey seek to use global production networks991252or ldquoglobal value chainsrdquo991252rather than the national state to promote rules about fairness justice andsustainability (Cashore Auld and Newsom 1048626104862410486241048628 Guthman 1048626104862410486241048631b Ponte1048626104862410486241048632 Seidman 1048626104862410486241048631) ldquoLead 1047297rmsrdquo in these global value chains991252that is

large retailers and brands from Apple to IKEA to Zara991252have the power toset styles prices and delivery schedules for their suppliers so advocatesargue they should also be able to influence the conditions of workers com-

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munities and the environment Companies frequently adopt standards tofend off activist pressure and the media spotlight but adoption does notmean implementation In some cases alternatives have found a niche in the

market and in other cases voluntary initiatives have proliferated while thelogic of production991252and exploitation991252has remained largely unchanged

Scrutiny of global industries has also spawned tools to help consum-ers make sense of all of these claims and to smartly vote with their wal-lets Consumer Reports magazine can trace its origins to a much earlier waveof muckraking (Rao 1048625104863310486331048632) and with the recent proliferation of competingeco-labels it has sometimes stepped in to referee as have publications from

Co-Op America in the United States and Ethical Consumer magazine in theUnited Kingdom Te Monterey Bay Aquarium in the United States haslong published a list of seafood for environmentally conscious consumersto prefer and avoid Online guides and smartphone apps have made thesetypes of guides more elaborate Goodguidecom developed by some leadingresearchers before being sold to Underwriters Laboratories (UL) compilesa wide array of information to rate products and companies for their healthenvironmental and social impacts Smartphone apps even allow consumers

to trace products to parent companies and investors as with apps that enableconsumers to boyco the conservative Koch Brothers avoid the biotech gi-ant Monsanto or support companies that recognize lesbian gay bisexualand transsexual rights (OrsquoConnor 1048626104862410486251048627)

Of course these consumer guides are only as good as the information thatgoes into them and as our case studies show meaningful accurate informa-tion is oen difficult to come by in complex global industries Furthermore

as our analyses of consumer behavior show only particular subsets of con-sumers have indicated an interest in boycoing or ldquobuycoingrdquo and thereare real questions about how many will pay more for guarantees of fairnessand sustainability Before diving into these issues we must consider thelarger context in which the rise of conscientious consumerism has occurred

983122983141983139983151983150 983142983145983143983157983154983145 983150 983143 983122983141983155983152983151983150 983155983145983138983145983148983145983156983145983141983155 983122 983145983143983144983156983155 983137 983150 983140 983122983157983148983141983155

Debates about consumers producers and ethical standards are vexing inpart because they are tied up with a larger recon1047297guration of responsibilitiesrights and rules in the global economy National and multinational corpo-

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rations have become transnational corporations with activities stretchingacross national boundaries without being deeply rooted in them Nationalstates once the main makers of rules and arbiters of rights are increasingly

just one of many actors issuing rules and claiming to enforce rights Inter-national NGOs and global standards associations have sought to issue rulesand enforce rights as well although their effectiveness in doing so is unclearMore broadly the goal to turn the world into ldquoone big marketrdquo991252associated

with neoliberal ideology991252has challenged earlier conceptions of what na-tional states can and should do to protect or empower citizens workers andthe environment Conscientious consumption and production projects are

to some degree the result of these changes In a world of vertically integratedcompanies and strong responsive states there would be far less demand for

voluntary standards supported by consumers But these changes have notsimply paved the way for conscientious consumerism they have complicatedits meanings and impacts in a variety of ways

Te Supply Chain Revolution

Capitalism in the twentieth century was characterized by the growth of verti-cally integrated corporations which controlled raw materials manufactur-ing and distribution and by the growth of horizontally integrated corpora-tions and conglomerates in which multiple businesses were combined in thesame corporate structure By the 1048625104863310486321048624s these models were giving way to theldquosupply chain revolutionrdquo in which large 1047297rms contract with independentsuppliers rather than owning an entire production process Nike built its

fortunes by being an early adopter of the ldquomanufacturer without factoriesrdquomodel and Walmart became a dominant retailer by making its supply chains

work faster and cheaper than retailers had previously In what Robert Feen-stra (1048625104863310486331048632) called the ldquointegration of trade and disintegration of productionrdquocompanies in industries from apparel to electronics to furniture shed theirfactories contracted with independent manufacturers and focused on build-ing their ldquobrandrdquo images

While some contracting and subcontracting happened within national borders scholars pointed out that many production processes were beingturned into ldquoglobal commodity chainsrdquo and especially ldquobuyer-drivenrdquo globalcommodity chains in which companies nearest the distribution end of the

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10486251048625983113983150983156983154983151983140983157983139983156983145983151983150

chain (retailers and well-known brands) exercised the greatest power overproduction processes and extracted the greatest pro1047297t from them (Gereffi1048625104863310486331048628 1048625104863310486331048633) Other terms such as ldquoglobal production networksrdquo and ldquoglobal

value chainsrdquo described similar phenomena and as many industries shiedto a supply chain model of some sort these different traditions of research

began to merge and more nuanced ways of describing power and coordina-tion in global value chains were articulated (Bair 1048626104862410486241048632 Gereffi Humphreyand Sturgeon 1048626104862410486241048629) is supply chain revolution was facilitated by techno-logical changes that made contracting more efficient and by legal changesthat opened more parts of the world to foreign investment Of course in

some industries such as agriculture large consumer-facing companies hadlong relied on networks of suppliers991252from coffee farmers to growers ofcorn wheat and other commodity crops Yet these industries have beenrecon1047297gured to some degree by the growth of mega-retailers that have cutout middleman distributors

Most important at this point is to recognize how the supply chain revolu-tion both highlighted and blurred the responsibilities of transnational corpo-rations On one hand contracting and subcontracting networks tied retailers

and brands in the United States and Europe to sites of production991252andexploitation991252around the world To be sure multinational corporations likeNestleacute I and PepsiCo had been shamed for the actions of their foreignarms in the 1048625104863310486311048624s but the networked transnational corporations of the 1048625104863310486331048624shad more extensive ties and thus greater vulnerabilities On the other handthe lines of responsibility991252and especially legal liability991252were blurry since

brands and retailers exercised a great deal of power over their suppliers but

did not own those sites of production Initially when sweatshops child la- bor and prison labor were uncovered brands like Nike and Walmart deniedresponsibility on the basis that they did not own the factories where suchabuses occurred As pressure mounted these and other lead 1047297rms in global

value chains began to accept ldquosordquo forms of responsibility by adopting codesof conduct and pledging to monitor and improve conditions in their supplychains ose same companies however 1047297ercely resisted aempts to makethem legally liable (Bartley 1048626104862410486241048629 Shamir 1048626104862410486241048628)

For the most part this remains the situation in the forest products foodapparelfootwear and electronics industries When pressed retailers and

brands have publicly accepted some responsibility to improve conditions in

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10486251048627983113983150983156983154983151983140983157983139983156983145983151983150

kets have remained largely national in scope especially when it comes toissues of fairness and sustainability e World Trade Organization (WTO)has endorsed protections for intellectual property rights but it has le only

narrow spaces for governments to protect workers and environments and ithas refused to address labor rights directly Bilateral and multilateral tradeagreements sometimes include labor and environmental standards but theseare limited in scope and enforceability International organizations suchas the United Nations and the International Labor Organization promoteconventions for governments to adopt but these organizations rarely haveany power to demand enforcement National governments are constrained

in part by a global economy in which 1047297rms and investors can move from one jurisdiction to another but perhaps even more by ideological commitmentsto neoliberal globalization and the rules of the WTO (Evans 1048625104863310486331048631 Rodrik1048626104862410486251048625) As we argue it is a mistake to think that governments are powerless orirrelevant in the face of globalization but there is no doubt that the dearthof binding international regulation of production conditions has led many tolook to the private sector as a way of enforcing standards NGOs for instancehave oen turned to voluntary standards and conscientious consumption as

second-best alternatives to intergovernmental systems of regulationNeoliberalism can be credited not only with helping to hollow out the state

but also with promoting an individualization of responsibility In a processthat theorists have called ldquoresponsibilizationrdquo individuals are treated as hav-ing the duty and capacity to take responsibility for things that should rightly

be seen as the result of social structures is can be seen for instance in at-tempts to reform welfare states to make welfare recipients take responsibility

for their own fates (Rose 1048626104862410486241048624) e moralization of markets has also been aresponsibilization process in which individual consumers are told they havethe duty991252and the ability991252to solve the worldrsquos social problems throughtheir purchases While some scholars use the language of responsibilizationto dismiss conscientious consumption as misguided we do not see this asthe most appropriate response We recognize that individual consumers are

being asked to take responsibility for problems that would oen be beerserved by more collective and robust solutions including revitalized statesand labor unions But it is at least possible that responsibility-taking by con-sumers could help to support more durable solutions in the future especially

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if governments NGOs and consumers themselves have a clearer under-standing of what is and is not being affected by conscientious consumptionand production initiatives

INGOs and ransnational Advocacy Networks

Since the end of World War II NGOs have become key actors in nationalinternational and transnational governance By the turn of the twenty-1047297rstcentury NGOs were carrying out most of the tasks of governing complex so-cieties delivering development assistance mediating social conflicts seing

standards for business developing expert knowledge and reconstructingsocieties aer natural and social disasters By some accounts the proliferationof NGOs and their incorporation into development and governance projectsamounts to an associational revolution that ldquomay constitute as signi1047297cant asocial and political development of the laer twentieth century as the rise ofthe nation state was of the nineteenth centuryrdquo (Edwards and Hulme 104862510486331048633983094 1048626)

International NGOs (INGOs) such as Greenpeace Oxfam or HumanRights Watch have mobilized aention to a variety of global problems from

climate change to new forms of bonded labor ey have garnered mediaaention to these problems and have pushed governments and intergovern-mental organizations to take action In addition the growth of transnationalnetworks of advocates and experts has sometimes allowed domestic activiststo gain leverage over their governments In what Margaret Keck and KathrynSikkink (1048625104863310486331048632) dubbed the ldquoboomerang effectrdquo domestic activists can reachpast indifferent or hostile domestic governments and appeal to transnational

advocacy networks that in turn exert pressure on those governmentsSince the 1048625104863310486331048624s INGOs have increasingly sought to put pressure on trans-

national corporations and restructure markets not just state policies eyhave led efforts to build product certi1047297cation initiatives from the ForestStewardship Council to the Marine Stewardship Council and they havecoordinated ldquomarket campaignsrdquo to convince large retailers to support theseinitiatives In addition the traditional boomerang effect has been supple-mented with what Naomi Klein (1048625104863310486331048633) called the ldquobrand boomerangrdquo in

which grassroots labor or environmental activists call on their internationalallies to put pressure on a well-known company that is operating in (or buy-

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ing from) that location rough these processes INGOs have become im-portant architects advocates and watchdogs of conscientious consumptionand production projects

e rise of INGOs does raise conundrums however especially about therelationship between professional advocates based in Amsterdam or Wash-ington DC and grassroots activists in developing countries To some extentINGOs have become sensitive to these power disparities and local NGOshave become savvy about working with foreign partners But the power ofINGOs to organize transnational campaigns aract media aention andshame global companies does carry the danger that more locally oriented

strategies or those directed to domestic governments are being neglected(Seidman 1048626104862410486241048631)

Standards for Markets and Markets for Standards

Without the supply chain revolution neoliberal globalization and thegrowth of transnational advocacy networks it is hard to imagine the rise ofconscientious consumption and global standards for fairness and sustain-

ability Yet just because initiatives for auditing certifying or reporting onsustainability or fairness have emerged that does not mean they will haveintegrity or impact Typically conscientious consumption and productionprojects are organized as private voluntary initiatives ey aempt to setstandards for markets but they also exist within markets Like all voluntaryprograms they depend on participation from companies and there can oen

be a trade-off between the stringency of standards and the number of partici-

pants (Potoski and Prakash 1048626104862410486241048633) All voluntary initiatives are structurallydependent on their corporate participants so one should take the languageof independent ldquothird-partyrdquo initiatives with a grain of salt Furthermore asprivate initiatives they have no monopoly on standards for a particular topic(as a government would have) is means competing standards initiativescan easily emerge For some observers the private voluntary character ofthese initiatives is reason enough to give up on them (eg Seidman 1048626104862410486241048631)

while for neoliberal advocates of market-based solutions these same featuresmake such initiatives especially aractive As we argue below our approachseeks to unpack variation in the organization of these initiatives and the

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contexts in which they operate At the same time as our case studies showthere are certainly limits on what private voluntary initiatives have beenable to accomplish

983124983144983154 983141983141 983110983154983137 983149983141983155 983137983150 983140 983124983144983141983145983154 983123983144983151983154983156983139983151983149983145983150 983143983155

Given the rise of conscientious consumerism and the growth of standards forglobal industries scholars and advocates are racing to promote simple framesfor making sense of them In this section we discuss three frames that areoen invoked Each captures a slice of something important but each ends

up obscuring as much as it illuminates or more

Te Empowered Sovereign Consumer

Scholars and advocates oen adopt a celebratory tone in discussing consci-entious consumerism ey argue that consumers are being empowered toldquovote with their dollarsrdquo and that these small changes in the habits of affluentconsumers can change or even ldquosaverdquo the world As Ruth Stokes (1048626104862410486251048627) writes

in the Ecologist magazine ldquoI believe that changing the way we shop991252voting with our money991252can help to change the world Companies respond tothe habits of shoppers We all have consumer power we just have to makesure we use it wiselyrdquo If consumers have been manipulated by companiesin the past they are increasingly being empowered by new sources of infor-mation argues Dara OrsquoRourke (1048626104862410486251048625) eorists of ldquopolitical consumerismrdquohave argued that this mode of political expression is especially empowering

for individuals who are alienated from formal politics such as young peopleand women (Michelei 1048626104862410486241048627) Furthermore as companies compete for thesupport of conscientious consumers and the coveted ldquolifestyles of health andsustainabilityrdquo (LOHAS) niche (Emerich 1048626104862410486251048625) many observers argue thatthey will become transparent responsible corporate citizens (Porter andKramer 104862610486241048624983094 Smith 1048625104863310486331048624 Zadek Pruzan and Evans 1048625104863310486331048631)

Such celebrations oen rest on an idealized framing of consumer agency991252that is the ability and willingness of the ldquosovereign citizen-consumerrdquo to bethe prime mover of social change (Jacobsen and Dulsrud 1048626104862410486241048631) e ldquosover-eign consumerrdquo is an old concept that is intended to suggest that consumertastes are the driver of all economic activity As scholars have observed the

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growth of conscientious consumption the sovereign consumer has becomethe sovereign citizen-consumer or what Roberta Sassatelli (1048626104862410486241048631) dubbedthe waking of the ldquosleepy giant of the sovereign citizen-consumerrdquo (104862510486321048632) So-

cial theorist Ulrich Beck perhaps the most prominent theorist of consump-tion as a form of politics argues that ldquocitizens discover the act of shoppingas one in which they can always cast their ballot991252on a world scale no lessrdquo(qtd in Sassatelli 1048626104862410486241048631 104862510486321048632) Michele Michelei (1048626104862410486241048627) takes the provocationeven further

Conflicts over what and where to consume are now central for understanding the func-tioning of affluent Western societies is can even mean that consumers participating

in boycos can for instance be likened to resistance 1047297ghters Yet unlike resistance orrevolutionary conflicts of the past citizen-consumers tend to direct their aention towardthe market rather than state actors (1048625983094ndash10486251048631)

Even if one gets past the hyperbole treating consumer tastes as king orqueen is problematic in several respects First consumersrsquo aitudes turn outto be only one ingredient in the construction of conscientious consumptionmarkets As we show in this book the opportunities for conscientious con-sumption are not distributed evenly across individuals or across countries

Social inequality and differences in market structures mean the social con-text of consumption is just as important as individual aitudes Consumertastes may make a difference but it is difficult to see them as a true primemover

Second it is naive to assume that a change in consumer tastes translatesdirectly into a change in the production processes of global industries AsMargaret Willis and Juliet Schor (1048626104862410486251048626) argue many accounts of consci-

entious consumerism take a ldquonaiumlve aggregationistrdquo approach to marketsassuming that if a large enough number of consumers is interested in al-ternative products the market will simply change to deliver them A quitedifferent story is told by research on industries technologies and organiza-tions over time Production processes are oen ldquolocked inrdquo by a system ofinterrelated technologies and expectations making them difficult to changePaul David (1048625104863310486321048629) famously illustrated this by considering the persistence ofthe inefficient QWERTY keyboard on typewriters and computers Even ifproduction practices are not strongly locked in companies like all organi-zations rarely abandon their core routines and technologies (Hannan andFreeman 1048625104863310486321048633) Perhaps the biggest problem is that those who celebrate the

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transformative power of new consumer tastes assume that industry practicesare changing but they almost never actually investigate this assumption edisconnect between theories of conscientious consumerism and empirical

research on industry practices is stark and it is one thing that we hope toremedy with this book

Finally by celebrating the empowered conscientious politicized con-sumer one obscures the ways that unreflective consumer choices influencelabor and environmental conditions in global industries As much as someconsumers are becoming more conscientious about some of their choicesespecially when it comes to food and drinks (eg organic produce fair trade

coffee) much consumer activity is routine and habitual and some of theethics of consumption are opaque to all but the most commied individu-als Conscientious consumers might be careful to recycle avoid disposableplastic water boles and buy organic vegetables but then eat beef withoutthinking of its massive natural resource demands and the contributions ofcale production to global warming As environmentalists have pointedout encouraging consumers to make their purchases more environmentallyfriendly carries a risk of legitimating overconsumption in affluent markets

which is the foundation of many forms of environmental degradation (Mani-ates and Meyer 1048626104862410486251048624) e issue may not be just the amount of consumption

but its pace as well As will become clear later in this book the rise of ldquofastfashionrdquo and ldquofast electronicsrdquo991252that is the rapid churning through fashion-able styles of clothing and different models of smartphones991252appears to bea root cause of labor exploitation in the apparel and electronics industries

GreenwashFairwash

While some have celebrated conscientious consumerism others have dis-missed voluntary standards eco-labeling and social labeling as ldquogreenwashrdquoor ldquofairwashrdquo As Sharon Beder (1048626104862410486241048625) puts it ldquoTe aempt to provide alsquogreenrsquo and caring image for a corporation is a public relations strategy aimedat promising reform and heading off demands for more substantial and fun-damental changes and government interventionrdquo (104862610486291048627) Claims about fair

and sustainable production in this view simply provide cover to companiesthat are engaged in fundamentally unfair and unsustainable activities ecodes of conduct sustainability reports and information disclosures that are

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highlighted in celebratory accounts of transparency may actually be formsof ldquodisinformationrdquo that obscure companiesrsquo actual practices

e term ldquogreenwashrdquo took off among environmentalists in the late 1048625104863310486321048624s

as a description of advertising campaigns that portrayed companies as pro-tectors of the environment (Beers and Capellaro 1048625104863310486331048625) Greenpeace arguedthat transnational corporations like Shell DuPont and Mitsubishi had ldquoem-

braced the environment as their cause and co-opted its terminologyrdquo even while contributing massively to environmental degradation (Greenpeace1048625104863310486331048626 1048626) e analogue for corporate claims about incomes livelihoods and

justice991252ldquofairwashingrdquo991252entered the lexicon later in the wake of the fair

trade movement As fair trade certi1047297cation was becoming ldquomainstreamedrdquoand imitated scholars and activists began worrying that fairwashing wason the horizon (Conroy 1048626104862410486241048631 Lyon and Moberg 1048626104862410486251048624) Observers have alsocriticized the images produced in the name of ldquocorporate social responsibil-ityrdquo arguing that these are ldquomerely a public relations game lulling us intoa false sense of securityrdquo (Doane 1048626104862410486241048629 10486261048633) Common to all these diagnosesis the sense that most assurances one 1047297nds on a product are nothing morethan public relations efforts

e greenwashfairwash critique captures two key features of conscien-tious consumption and global standards First when faced with criticismcompanies would prefer to be able to improve their images without alteringpro1047297table practices A public relations campaign is typically the 1047297rst line ofdefense Companies may also hire outside organizations991252auditors consul-tants and sometimes NGOs991252to lend some credibility to their campaignsey may also fund seemingly independent standard-seing initiatives that

can endorse their corporate social responsibility programs or label theirproducts As we will see this is how the US timber industryrsquos SustainableForestry Initiative got its start and it helps to account for the role of appareland footwear brands in the Fair Labor Association One must always takeassurances of sustainability and fairness with a grain of salt e dosage ofsalt depends in part on whether claims come from companies themselvesinitiatives that they control or more independent initiatives (If initiativesdepend on the voluntary participation of companies they can never be fully independent but there are gradations) In our analyses of standards (in part1048626 of this book) we are aentive to who has created a particular initiativehow it is funded and how dependent on companies it is Second there is

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nearly always some hypocrisy present when companies take up greening orfairness initiatives Simply because one product or one aspect of a companyrsquosproduction has earned some credentials does not mean that the companyrsquos

operations overall can be considered green or fair As David Vogel (1048626104862410486241048629)has argued we oen yearn for simple pronouncements of ldquogoodrdquo and ldquobadrdquocompanies But companies like people are complex multifaceted and oencontradictory One part of a company may be developing green productionprocesses while another part lobbies against environmental regulation

On the other hand we see simple distinctions between greenwashfair- wash and ldquotruerdquo reform as a poor match for the current state of global indus-

tries and labeling projects Eco-labeling and social labeling may once have been the domain of public relations personnel but they have become theirown specialized world in which credibility depends on ldquomulti-stakeholderrepresentationrdquo and extensive amounts of accreditation auditing and veri1047297-cation Companies might prefer to respond to criticism with public relationscampaigns but they are oen pushed by activists and investors to go furtherand achieve some kind of external assurance For instance if confronted bylabor rights abuses apparel and footwear companies no longer simply hold

up a code of conduct instead they refer to sophisticated factory monitoringprograms external certi1047297cations and ldquocapacity-buildingrdquo projects (Locke1048626104862410486251048627) Rather than simply co-opting the language of environmentalism manyretailers have been pushed to sell products that are independently certi1047297ed(Conroy 1048626104862410486241048631) Furthermore the world of voluntary certi1047297cation has be-come increasingly formalized For instance to judge compliance with thestandards of the FSC an auditing organization (eg Scienti1047297c Certi1047297cation

Systems SmartWood or the Soil Association) must be accredited by a sepa-rate oversight body (Accreditation Services International) Furthermore theFSC belongs to an umbrella organization991252the ISEAL (International Socialand Environmental Accreditation and Labeling) Alliance991252which de1047297nes

best practices for credible certi1047297cation initiatives To be sure all of this cer-ti1047297cation of the certi1047297ers of the certi1047297ers (and beyond) is not guaranteed to

bring about meaningful improvement Indeed we describe cases where thisformalization has been counterproductive and where seemingly credible ini-tiatives have failed spectacularly But it does mean there is more ldquocheckingrdquothan there is simple ldquowashingrdquo As Peter Dauvergne and Jane Lister (1048626104862410486251048626)put it ldquoCorporate sustainability goals include measurable targets are

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audited by independent groups and are integrated into the core business [through] life-cycle assessment supply chain tracing eco-certi1047297cation andsustainability reportingrdquo (10486271048632) We concur with them that all of this measure-

ment and reporting oen skirts the root causes of problems but one cannotseriously assess conscientious consumption without investigating this activ-ity If the world were as simple as it was when the ldquogreenwashrdquo frame was 1047297rstcoined a book like this would not be necessary

Most importantly the greenwashfairwash frame leaves a key questionunanswered if a claim is not just greenwashfairwash991252in other words if itis backed by stringent standards and credible veri1047297cation processes991252then

what is it It would be tempting to assume that the converse of greenwashfairwash is something like ldquoreal sustainabilityfairnessrdquo on the ground But asour case studies show it is possible to have stringent standards and credibleassessment but still not generate much reform of global industries Our goalis to provide some tools for making sense of these complex (and common)intermediate scenarios

Importing Standards into Empty Spaces

Another problematic frame concerns the implementation of global standardsincluding those supported by conscientious consumerism It is tempting tosee global standards as introducing new rules into otherwise empty spacesFor instance one might think of labor codes of conduct as introducing laborrights into factories that would otherwise be completely unregulated andchaotic Or one might think of global sustainability standards as introducing

environmental norms into seings where businesses would otherwise be freeto pollute with impunity As Alison Brysk puts it global rule-making proj-ects oen ldquoconcern areas previously ungoverned or even unknownrdquo (Brysk1048626104862410486241048629 104862510486261048624) Indeed scholars and practitioners oen portray private rules as1047297lling a ldquoregulatory voidrdquo as they are put into practice especially in devel-oping countries (Sabel OrsquoRourke and Fung 1048626104862410486241048624) For some developingcountries are so lacking in the rule of law as to constitute ldquoareas of limitedstatehoodrdquo in which private rules must serve as a substitute for public author-

ity (Boumlrzel and Risse 1048626104862410486251048624) Sociologists in the ldquoworld societyrdquo school startfrom different assumptions but nevertheless argue that global norms aboutenvironmental protection child labor and human rights are imported into

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developing countries as novel concepts that are completely alien to the locals(Meyer et al 1048625104863310486331048631)

e problem with this approach is not only as Gay Seidman (1048626104862410486241048631) argues

that ldquostateless regulationrdquo usually lacks enforcement power A more funda-mental problem is that this frame obscures the institutional arrangementsthat are in place in developing countries Developing countries are not emptyanonymous uniform places ey are populated with different business sys-tems cultures of production and political institutions What may look fromafar like a relatively empty space turns out on closer inspection to have adense set of preexisting relationships organizations and rules ese local

circumstances can recon1047297gure global rules in myriad ways (Halliday andCarruthers 1048626104862410486241048633 Merry 104862610486241048624983094) For instance in chapter 1048628 we look at fair tradecerti1047297cation and its consequences in Paraguay a place where earlier ways oforganizing agricultural operations set the stage for fair trade projects andshaped their results Fair trade standards were not simply imported to thisseing they were layered onto an existing set of institutions In fact a thickerldquolayeringrdquo of rules with varying consequences has been a common result ofglobal standards (Bartley 1048626104862410486251048625) An ldquoempty spacesrdquo assumption also obscures

ongoing political struggles at the point of production As we will see INGOsand conscientious consumers are far from the only actors concerned withlabor rights sustainability or the fair distribution of resources For instancerecent years have seen a rising tide of strikes in China and mobilization ofgarment workers in Cambodia and Bangladesh (Alam 1048626104862410486251048627 Dara and Wil-lemyns 1048626104862410486251048628 Friedman 1048626104862410486251048627) e land rights of indigenous people in Braziland Indonesia are a concern not only of backers of global sustainable forestry

standards but also of burgeoning movements of indigenous people them-selves (Gerber 1048626104862410486251048625) Social movements in developing countries may struggleto influence powerful global industries but they cannot simply be ignored

When it comes to governmental regulation it is true that developingcountries oen lack the resources and administrative capacities to effec-tively regulate production processes as do many governments in affluentcountries Moreover the logic of global production in some ways gives themdisincentives to do so aggressively implementing regulations may cause in-

vestors991252and orders from brands and retailers991252to flee the country and therules of the WTO make some forms of regulation untenable But ldquodevelopingcountriesrdquo are diverse In nearly all parts of the world there are laws relatedto labor the environment and the rights of citizens Scholars are beginning

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to 1047297nd increased enforcement of these laws in some surprising places fromrevitalized state labor inspection in the export processing zones of the Do-minican Republic (Schrank 1048626104862410486251048627) to aggressive environmental regulators in

Brazil and China (Coslovsky 1048626104862410486251048625 McAllister Van Rooij and Kagan 1048626104862410486251048624)In other instances law can be repressive991252restricting the rights of workers orindigenous communities for instance (Lee 1048626104862410486241048631 Li 1048626104862410486251048624) Again the influ-ences of local structures can vary but one should not assume a blank slate

983105 983122983151983157983143983144 983111983157983145983140983141 983156983151 983125983150 983152983137983139983147983145983150983143 983107983151983150983155983139983145983141 983150983156983145983151983157983155983107983151983150983155983157983149983152983156983145983151983150 983137983150983140 983120983154983151983140983157983139983156983145983151983150 983120983154983151983146983141983139983156983155

How then can one make sense of projects to promote conscientious con-sumption and fair or sustainable production e 1047297rst step is simply to acceptthat there is a great deal of variation ere is variation across individualsand locations in conscientious consumer behavior ere is variation acrossproducts and labeling initiatives in the ldquoon the groundrdquo implications of globalstandards ere is variation across industries (and even within them) in sys-tems of production and these intersect with national (and even subnational)

differences in industry organization To understand whether conscientiousconsumption and fairsustainable production projects can contribute tomeaningful alternatives we must look closely at these industrial and politi-cal contexts A second starting point is to accept that the influence of globalstandards for fairsustainable production is typically highly circumscribedor contingent on other factors As will become clear even the most stringentstandards and most credible initiatives do not transform global industries

ey sometimes influence certain parts of an industry but even this cannotautomatically be assumed

To unpack conscientious consumption initiatives and the global standardsthey endorse we bring four factors to the foreground (1048625) structures of pro-duction and consumption (1048626) the constituencies of standards (1048627) global-local linkages and (1048628) the coexistence of rule making and unruliness

Structures of Production and Consumption

Industry structures shape both the opportunities for conscientious con-sumption to occur and the consequences of rule-making projects at thepoint of production To start some industries are more likely than others to

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become targets of activism which is typically the catalyst for rule-makingand conscientious consumption projects

Lead 1047297rms in global value chains especially when they are large and have

salient corporate reputations make aractive targets for social movements(Bartley and Child 1048626104862410486251048628) Industries that lack powerful and well-known brands tend to aract less scrutiny For instance the manufacturing of bricksespecially in developing countries is oen a highly polluting and exploit-ative industry But because there are not well-known global brands in thisindustry it has received lile international aention In other cases activistshave highlighted a problem but without powerful and recognizable brands

to link this to rule-making projects have not emerged e production ofcheap costume jewelry is rife with exploitation as shown in the documentary Mardi Gras Made in China but this has not become a site of extensive rulemaking and conscientious consumerism In some circumstances the exis-tence of large high-pro1047297le retailers can compensate for a more fragmentedor poorly known set of manufacturers Anti-GMO activists for instancehave pressured manufacturers like Monsanto by going through large retailerslike Marks amp Spencer (Schurman and Munro 1048626104862410486241048633) Our analysis of global

food distribution (in chapter 1048628) is consistent with this observation but italso suggests that the locus of consumer and activist pressure depends onthe speci1047297c product

When activists do press lead 1047297rms to make their supply chains fairer ormore sustainable the consequences seem to depend in part on the structureof that supply chain If suppliers can easily 1047297nd alternative buyers who are notdemanding changes991252that is if there are few suppliers and many buyers991252

they will have lile incentive to comply with a particular lead 1047297rmrsquos rulesGoing further by many accounts when lead 1047297rms have a great deal of powerover ldquocaptiverdquo suppliers they should be able to demand that those suppliersmake improvements (Mayer and Gereffi 1048626104862410486251048624) On the other hand someresearch has questioned whether this power is truly effective or whether itmerely spurs a game in which suppliers pretend to be making improvements(and lead 1047297rms nod in approval) (Locke Amengual and Mangla 1048626104862410486241048633) Wesuspect that the power of lead 1047297rms does make a difference but that moresigni1047297cant changes are possible when lead 1047297rms and suppliers are mutuallydependent and work together over long stretches of time (Our analysis ofthe apparel industry in chapter 1048629 though suggests that long-term collabora-tion is rare) In addition when global value chains are fairly simple in their

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structure without too many intermediaries this should make it easier forstandards to ldquotravelrdquo through them ere is a conundrum here howeversince it is oen in industries with a high degree of subcontracting (such as

apparel) that global standards are in the highest demand If global industries were dominated by vertically integrated 1047297rms rather than dispersed supplychains the world of conscientious consumerism would look quite differentFurthermore sometimes the lack of action by large lead 1047297rms can leave aspace for activists and entrepreneurs to carve out a small market niche basedon fairness or sustainability is is how fair tradendashcerti1047297ed coffee beganand some new projects appear to be emerging in electronics (Fairphone as

discussed in chapter 983094) and apparel (the Alta Gracia factory as discussed inchapter 1048629) Aer looking more closely at our four industries991252timber foodapparelfootwear and electronics991252we return to questions about industrystructure in the bookrsquos conclusion

Industry structures also maer for consumers As we show in the nextchapter opportunities to engage in conscientious consumption are just asimportant as motivations to do so and these opportunities depend in parton the structure of the retail sector in a particular country Generally we sug-

gest that having larger retailers will facilitate consumer purchases of eco- andsocial-labeled products In part this is simply because larger retailers offer a

wider array of choices overall991252that is different versions of the same prod-uct991252while smaller retailers offer fewer choices To be sure small stores canspecialize in ldquoalternativerdquo products and large stores can fail to carry themBut given the trend toward ldquomainstreamingrdquo of alternatives (see Jaffee 1048626104862410486251048626)large retailers have become key points of sale for eco- and social-labeled prod-

ucts Furthermore oligopoly in the retail sector991252the dominance of a smallnumber of large companies991252also seems to magnify the power of activiststo influence the market As Rachel Schurman and William Munro (1048626104862410486241048633)found the existence of a small number of large food retailer chains in the UKallowed the anti-GMO movement to flourish there while it foundered amidthe larger number of supermarket chains in the United States

Constituencies and Standards

Global standards for fairness and sustainability may sound universal butthey spring from the priorities of particular individuals and groups A cru-cial step in understanding these standards is to examine the founders of

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initiatives that make rules audit compliance and certify products as fair orsustainable Some such initiatives such as fair trade certi1047297cation originatedlargely with NGOs or others outside of the industry Others such as the

Electronics Industry Citizenship Coalition and the Sustainable ForestryInitiative were founded almost exclusively by industry associations or othergroups of companies oen in response to the actions of NGOs In betweenare a number of initiatives developed by coalitions of NGOs and companiesfrom the Forest Stewardship Council to Social Accountability InternationalFounders are not everything NGO-initiated programs can become watereddown as they are mainstreamed and industry-initiated programs oen

evolve into formally independent organizations Most programs seek cred-ibility by calling themselves ldquomulti-stakeholderrdquo initiatives We maintainhowever that founding constituencies leave deep imprints on the content ofstandards and on the distribution of power within rule-making initiativesRules can get ratcheted up or down over time but these are usually marginalrevisions to a core approach Furthermore even when initiatives becomeformally independent from the constituencies that created them informalties revolving doors and 1047297nancial contributions oen persist

Generally we expect that industry-initiated programs will have standardsthat depart in relatively small ways from the normal practices of the indus-try Companies may want to improve labor conditions or environmentalperformance of their suppliers but they will be loath to push so far as todisrupt production or force a major change in their sourcing practices As aresult the greater the influence of companies in the founding of an initiativethe more likely it is to use either a ldquobest in classrdquo approach or a ldquocontinuous

improvementrdquo approach In the 1047297rst companies are recognized (throughcerti1047297cation or other endorsement) for demonstrating that they are aboveaverage in their industry is oen skirts the issue of whether they meeta stringent de1047297nition of a 1047297xed standard As Sco Nova (1048626104862410486251048625) has noted aldquobest in classrdquo model is like grading on a curve even if average performanceis quite low e second approach allows companies to start with a relativelylax standard and encourage gradual improvement over time852019

When industry outsiders have power in the initial design standard-seinginitiatives should look somewhat different First their standards are likely todepart more substantially from normal practices in the industry to a greateror lesser degree depending on the power of these outsiders Second these

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initiatives are more likely though certainly not guaranteed to endorse analternative model of production rather than to just reward the best in class orpush for continuous improvement Fair trade certi1047297cation and its emphasis

on democratically managed producer cooperatives (as described in chap-ter 1048628) is the clearest example of this ird and because of this initiativesspawned by outsiders are likely to either remain small or face dilemmas ofmainstreaming as they grow If they seek a large market presence ldquoalterna-tiverdquo programs will inevitably become more dependent on large companiese result may be a watering down of standards although as the case of theFSC shows (in chapter 1048627) this can be counteracted to some degree

For most products there are multiple competing aempts to de1047297ne fair-ness and sustainability For instance there are several ways of certifying thefairness and sustainability of coffee or of assessing the labor conditions ofapparel companies852020 Usually this competition reflects the struggle betweencompanies and NGOs Some scholars believe that such competition dooms

voluntary initiatives since it confuses consumers and lets companies choosetheir own standards (Seidman 1048626104862410486241048631) Others believe that it strengthens gov-ernance by spurring a ldquoratcheting uprdquo of expectations (Sabel OrsquoRourke and

Fung 1048626104862410486241048624) Our analysis of four global industries suggests that different setsof standards can oen coexist not exactly peacefully but with moderateinteraction or in different market niches Competition is inevitable but itseems to neither doom nor guarantee meaningful standards for fairness andsustainability It must be noted that initiatives that began with high bars991252namely Fair Trade and the FSC991252have not been pushed out of the market

by their competitors

Localized Globalisms and Globalized Localisms

Specifying links between ldquothe globalrdquo and ldquothe localrdquo has proven difficultand scholars have oen fallen prey to two types of conceptual dangers Firstin focusing on the global diffusion of a given idea or norm some have por-trayed domestic seings as lile more than passive receivers of a global proj-ect e language of domestic seings as ldquoreceptor sitesrdquo for global models(Frank Hironaka and Schofer 1048626104862410486241048624) is one example of this Pinpointingthis problem researchers are increasingly focusing on how local actors ap-propriate and ldquoindigenizerdquo global models to make them useful or meaningful

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(Halliday and Carruthers 1048626104862410486241048633 Merry 104862610486241048624983094) Second scholars of globaliza-tion oen equate the global with universalism (and oen progress) and thelocal with particularism (and oen backwardness) In so doing scholars

uncritically accept the most dominant model as ldquothe globalrdquo and obscure thepower that was exercised to establish its dominance

To deal with these problems we adopt Bonaventura de Santosrsquos language ofldquoglobalized localismsrdquo and ldquo localized globalismsrdquo (Santos 104862610486241048624983094 Santos andRodriacuteguez Garavito 1048626104862410486241048629) e 1047297rst refers to a process in which a particularis-tic set of ideas and practices becomes a dominant global norm Santos (104862610486241048624983094)provides examples such as ldquothe transformation of the English language into

a lingua franca the globalization of American fast food or popular music orthe worldwide adoption of the same laws of intellectual ownership patentsor telecommunications aggressively promoted by the USArdquo (10486271048633983094) For ourpurpose the key issue is how particular understandings of rights rules andenforcement have become institutionalized as global norms Concretely thenotion of a ldquoglobalized localismrdquo sensitizes us to processes by which particu-lar sets of reformers (NGOs companies or others) have turned their projectsinto ldquoglobalrdquo standards for fairness and sustainability Our point is not to

join the chorus that argues that ldquoWesternrdquo standards are being illegitimatelyforced on people and companies elsewhere ere have long been calls fordecent work and responsible natural resource management in many differ-ent parts of the world But the global standards supported by conscientiousconsumers in North A merica and Europe embody particular approaches tothese issues

e second concept ldquolocalized globalismrdquo refers to the incorporation of

these global models into local routines and expectations e concept sen-sitizes us to the work involved in turning global standards for fairness andsustainability into a concrete practice in a factory forest or farm in someparticular location As we have noted scholars too oen portray these sites asempty spaces We believe it is preferable to start from the opposite premisethat sites of implementation are crowded with different actors and agendasonly some of which are likely to line up with global standard-seing initia-tives Some elements of global standards are easily incorporated into localpractices while others are 1047297ercely resisted But a recognition of localizedglobalisms also has methodological implications It is rare for researchersto actually study these locations in detail It is easier to conduct distant and

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decontextualized studies of CSR or to focus only on the creation of standardsrather than their local implementation Our analyses of the global timberagricultural apparel and electronics industries include aention to speci1047297c

locations from the sugarcane farms of Paraguay to the electronics factoriesof Malaysia

Te Puzzle of Rules Rule Making and the Persistence of Unruliness

One can beer understand conscientious consumption and production proj-ects by recognizing what Tim Bartley (1048626104862410486251048628a) has called the ldquopuzzle of rulesrdquo

in the global economy simply put global capitalism can be ldquounrulyrdquo but italso generates many rule-making projects

e expansion of global markets has facilitated a number of rule-makingprojects from the standardization of accounting procedures to the rules forfairness and sustainability discussed in this book e volume of rule making

by both public and private actors has increased over the past three decadesMany scholars have pointed to these trends as evidence that global capitalismis not manic or ungovernable as it was initially framed Marie-Laure Djelic

and Kerstin Sahlin-Andersson (104862610486241048624983094) argue that ldquothe proliferation of regu-latory activities actors networks or constellations leads to an explosion ofrules and to the profound re-ordering of our worldrdquo (1048625) and they see globalcapitalism as ldquomarked by more991252not less991252rule-making activityrdquo (10486271048631983094)

On the other hand the explosion of rule making has oen been gearedtoward the expansion of markets rather than their restriction and in manyrespects global capitalism has remained unruly In many industries invest-

ment and orders can and do move quickly across locations oen under-mining aempts to impose rules Even more socially controlled European

varieties of capitalism have had their foundations chipped away (Streeck1048626104862410486241048633) Furthermore for all of the efforts of NGOs to build rules for fairnesssustainability and human rights many corners of global industries remainlargely unscrutinized and unaffected by these rule-making projects

As our case studies illustrate even as standards for fairness and sustain-ability have risen to prominence global industries have remained volatileand exploitative Certi1047297cation of sustainable forestry rose to prominencefrom 1048625104863310486331048629 to 1048626104862410486251048624 but so did illegal logging and deforestation worsenedin many places Te global apparel industry has come to be governed by

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numerous codes of conduct and factory monitoring initiatives but it hasalso continued to move quickly from one location to another in search oflow wages and more docile workers e rapid and inconsistent pace of the

global electronics industry has undermined aempts to improve workingconditions while rapidly changing agricultural markets have threatened thelivelihoods of many smallholder farmers

e puzzle of rules can be solved through an analysis of neoliberalism (seeBartley 1048626104862410486251048628a) but it also provokes a simple conclusion about the prospects forglobal fairness and sustainability global industries oen have contradictorytendencies so we should not expect either complete ldquogreenwashrdquoldquofairwashrdquo

or serious transformation Fair trade certi1047297cation has not transformed thelogic of commodity trade but it has improved conditions for some farmersin some circumstances FSC certi1047297cation has not made the timber trade sus-tainable but it has supported improvements in some forests As we developthese 1047297ndings (in part 1048626 of the book) we hope to speak not only to scholars ofconscientious consumerism but also to citizens and consumers themselvesConsumers oen want to feel like their purchases are ldquocleanrdquo of exploitation

but this is unrealistic We believe it would be more promising if consumers

shied from a deterministic to a probabilistic approach conscientious con-sumption may increase onersquos probability of contributing to improvementsand decrease the probability of contributing to the most extreme forms ofexploitation Tis does not answer the question of how large those prob-abilities are (which surely varies by product and label) or the question of howsigni1047297cant those improvements can be But only if consumers shi from anall-or-nothing view of ldquocleanrdquo versus ldquodirtyrdquo production (that is sustainable

versus destructive fair versus exploitative) can they come to an accurateunderstanding of what their purchases can and cannot achieve

983127 983144 983137983156 983116983145 983141 983155 983105 983144 983141 983137 983140

Part 1048625 of this book focuses on dynamics and dilemmas of conscientious con-sumerism In chapter 1048625 we look at why some American and European con-sumers are more likely than others to practice conscientious consumptionUsing survey data on thousands of individual consumers our quantitativeanalyses focus on factors that shape two forms of conscientious consump-tion boycoing and ldquobuycoingrdquo991252that is preferring a product for some po-

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litical or ethical reason Some paerns are related to consumersrsquo beliefs andthe extent to which they can afford to be choosy But individual differencesare only a small part of the story Where consumers are has a great deal to do

with whether they engage in conscientious consumption or not We thereforeconnect the individual survey responses with measures that capture nationaleconomic political and cultural contexts Overall this initial portrait showsthat conscientious consumption is widespread but far from universal withkey differences rooted not only in individual characteristics but in differentstructures of consumption as well

Having sketched some general paerns we delve deeper into the meanings

and implications of conscientious consumerism in chapter 1048626 Our analyses inchapter 1048625 are based on what consumers say they do but there are reasons todoubt that consumers will follow through on what they say or that what theysay truly captures the social meaning of their actions Yet we show that thereis evidence of consumers being wil ling to pay for eco-labels and social labelsConsumers are most likely to do so when their ldquoethicalrdquo choices also servetheir self-interest such as saving on energy costs or eating safer healthierfoods But even for those forms of conscientious consumption that have no

short-term direct bene1047297t for consumers there is mounting evidence thatsome consumers will pay more For labeling enthusiasts this is a good thingBut the ldquoone dollar one voterdquo logic of conscientious consumerism and thestatus-symbol character of some ldquoethicalrdquo products are potentially danger-ous in that they can exacerbate social economic and political inequalitiesamong consumers Moreover there is a danger that conscientious consumer-ism can displace other forms of political engagement promoting individual

consumerism at the expense of democratic citizenship and collective socialmovements Working through these debates we argue that conscientiousconsumerism as an ideology is regressive and counterproductive but speci1047297cpractices of conscientious consumption can sometimes be consistent withother forms of political engagement

Of course the real test of conscientious consumption comes at the pointof production To what extent do voluntary standards forged in response toconsumer concern make a difference ldquoon the groundrdquo in global industries

We tackle this question in part 1048626 of the book by looking at the global produc-tion of four types of products991252(1048625) wood and paper products (1048626) food (espe-cially the agri-food industry) (1048627) apparel and footwear and (1048628) electronics

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Each of these case studies is rooted in the interviews that we have conducted with local actors and other 1047297ne-grained information on the organization ofproduction ese chapters apply the framework sketched above (and a com-

mon organizational template) to allow for comparative insightsChapter 1048627 looks at the rise of forest certi1047297cation and its effects in the global

timber industry Like fair trade the FSC is one of the oldest and most es-tablished certi1047297cation and labeling initiatives It was founded more thantwenty years ago and it spurred a number of imitators and competitors Yetit is not well known among conscientious consumers and its impacts have

been far less than originally intended We trace the rise of forest certi1047297cation

with particular aention to the founders and constituents of the FSC andhow they leveraged the structure of the forest products industry to ldquomake amarketrdquo for certi1047297ed wood and paper Yet applying sustainability standardsto the production of some wood and paper products has barely influencedglobal deforestation A closer look at FSC certi1047297cation in the tropical forestsof Indonesia illustrates both the contradictions of certifying in a shiing andcontentious context and the limited ability of forest certi1047297cation to influencethe main drivers of deforestation

Next in chapter 1048628 we turn to agricultural production and the fairness andsustainability projects that have emerged in this seing Consumers aacha variety of meanings to food and the politics of food consumption has ex-ploded in the past decade In addition to sketching the structure of agri-foodproduction and consumption in general we focus on two types of rule-mak-ing projects fair trade certi1047297cation and an increasingly popular ldquocommod-ity roundtablerdquo approach Looking more closely at two crops991252sugar and

soy991252in one country Paraguay we are able to illustrate the consequences ofdifferent models of certi1047297cation and the crucial role of local context Globalfood politics are being layered onto preexisting institutional arrangementsand it is largely these institutional arrangements that determine whether cer-ti1047297cation is meaningful or not For instance fair trade certi1047297cation seems tomaer most when smallholder farmers are already organized into democrati-cally effective cooperatives or when local organizing al lows them to upgradetheir production capacities over time e contingent effects of conscientiousconsumption come into focus in this chapter

Chapter 1048629 considers how the rise of anti-sweatshop activism in the early1048625104863310486331048624s led to various aempts to monitor and improve working conditions inapparel and footwear factories A rough indication of how these initiatives

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have fared is provided by the occurrence of factory 1047297res in 1048626104862410486251048624ndash1048626104862410486251048627 and thedeath of more than eleven hundred garment workers in the 1048626104862410486251048627 collapse ofthe Rana Plaza building in Bangladesh Our chapter examines the constitu-

encies behind different factory auditing and certi1047297cation initiatives the waysstandards were implemented and the reasons why their effects have beenminimal e structure of apparel and footwear production in many wayscreated the demand for codes of conduct but the structure and the mobilityof the industry have undermined meaningful improvements Looking moreclosely at factories in China we show how aempts to certify particularfactories have fallen short In recent years several new projects to provide

ethical apparel have emerged but there remain few credible alternatives inthis industry

Finally chapter 983094 takes us into the fast-paced world of the electronics in-dustry where companies produce new models of smartphones laptops andother devices at breakneck speed Yet recently this industry has become afocus of aention for the exploitation of production workers especially aera series of worker suicides (and later strikes) at Foxconn factories in Chinaand mounting scrutiny of Foxconnrsquos buyer Apple Electronics brands have

also been accused of using ldquoconflict mineralsrdquo in the production of smart-phones e electronics industry is populated by well-capitalized companiesthat at times have demonstrated good intentions to make the labor processsafer and more humane Yet the industry has struggled to make improve-ments and 1047297nd tenable solutions We argue that the solution to this puzzlelies in the architecture of production and to a large extent ultimately in theorganization of electronics consumption is is a case in which conscien-

tious consumerism has been slow to develop and unreflective consumerismhas been a powerful constraint on signi1047297cant improvement Using detaileddata on factories producing for Hewle-Packard we show how the industrycontinues to demand extraordinarily ldquoflexiblerdquo labor markets and excessive

working hours in its factories in Southeast Asia We have tried to provide a sense of the complexity of these cases and set-

tings while still drawing out clear implications Along the way readers shouldget a clearer sense of the structure and operation of global value chains the

varied geographies of production and the circumscribed consequences ofeco-labels and social labels In a concluding chapter we compare our foursets of products and consider what has been learned

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Acknowledgments vii

List of Commonly Used Acronyms ix

Introduction Rules Responsibilities and Rights in the Global Economy 983089

Part I Making Sense of Conscientious Consumerism

1048625 Te Making of Conscientious Consumers

Individual and National Paerns 983091983095

1048626 Te Dilemmas of Conscientious Consumerism 983094983088

Part II Behind the Label Global Production and the Meaning of Standards

1048627 Wood and Paper Products Searching for Sustainability 983096983093

1048628 Food Global Agriculture and Local Institutions 983089983089983090

1048629 Apparel and Footwear Standards for Sweatshops 983089983092983094

983094 Electronics Te Hidden Costs of Computing 983089983095983097

Conclusion Beyond Conscientious Consumerism 983090983088983097

Appendix 983090983090983095

Notes 983090983091983093

References 983090983092983091

Index 983090983095983095

CONTENTS

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1048625

983124983144983141 983142983157983154983150983145983156983157983154983141 983155983144983151983152983152983145983150983143 983156983154983145983152 983159983137983155 983149983151983154983141 983139983151983149983152983148983145983139983137983156983141983140 983156983144983137983150expected Searching for a new headboard my wife and I (Bartley) hoped we

would 1047297nd something that was well made preferably under decent condi-tions When we asked about items made from wood certi1047297ed by the ForestStewardship Council we mostly got blank stares or information that seemed

intended to divert our aention One saleswoman was telling us proudlyabout the storersquos furniture being made in the USA when we saw ldquoMade in

Vietnamrdquo stamped in large leers on the back of one piece We knew that logs were being harvested illegally991252not to mention unsustainably991252in Laos In-donesia and Russia and shipped to factories in Vietnam and China to makefurniture for consumers in North America and Europe We also knew thatthe young women and men working in these factories endured health hazardsand long hours to meet the low prices and fast delivery times that retailers

demanded Not that ldquoMade in the USArdquo even if we could 1047297nd it would be aperfect guarantee either since labor laws are frequently violated here as welland unsustainable forestry is not unique to developing countries

Rules Responsibilities

and Rights in the Global Economy

INTRODUCTION

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Aer much head scratching we stopped browsing and bought a cheap usedheadboard from a Craigslist ad We might have even felt good about this fora moment since we could claim to be resisting a culture of disposability and

overconsumption But we knew we wouldnrsquot keep the slightly ugly headboardfor long and would soon 1047297nd ourselves back in the same conundrum

Lile dilemmas like this have become increasingly common especially inthe markets of North A merica and Europe Many consumers claim to ldquoshop

with a consciencerdquo and a huge number of eco- and social-labeling programshave sprung up to assure them that factories farms forests and 1047297sheriesaround the world are in some sense ldquosustainablerdquo or ldquofairrdquo One project to

track eco-labels has found more than 104862810486291048624 different labels worldwide852017 Yet it is clear that consumers oen abandon their ideals for low prices and

even conscientious consumers can be confused by the barrage of labels andmisleading claims Some labels are issued by independent initiatives withstringent standards such as Fair Trade certi1047297cation and the Forest Steward-ship Council but what lies ldquobehind the labelrdquo is a far cry from what consum-ers imagine when they see images of a smiling coffee farmer or a green tree ina lush forest What does it mean if consumers ldquovote with their pocketbooksrdquo

by choosing products that are labeled as ldquofairrdquo or ldquosustainablerdquo Can globalproduction processes really be transformed by standards that are voluntarilyadopted by pro1047297t-seeking companies to please 1047297ckle consumers As somepeople strive to be ldquoconscientious consumersrdquo are they just fooling them-selves engaging in small acts of charity while ignoring larger structures ofpower and inequality that shape the lives of workers citizens and commu-nities locally and globally Is a consumerist logic of ldquoone dollar one voterdquo

displacing the democratic principle of ldquoone person one voterdquois book explores these dilemmas by looking at the links between con-

sumption and production processes in global industries Celebrations andcritiques of ldquoethical consumptionrdquo ldquopolitical consumerismrdquo and the relatedissue of ldquocorporate social responsibilityrdquo have abounded in the past decade

Yet rarely do these treatments look closely at the links between consumermarkets voluntary standards and production processes in different indus-tries and locations We believe it is crucial to examine the dynamics of bothconsumption and production in order to understand if and when ldquoshopping

with a consciencerdquo is likely to make a difference in global industries Doingso has taken us not only into analyses of consumer behavior and marketstructures but also into footwear factories in China sourcing offices in Hong

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Kong smallholder farms in Paraguay timber operations in Indonesia elec-tronics factories in Malaysia activist organizations in the United States and

beyond As a group we have conducted more than four hundred interviews

across four continents We have talked with a variety of practitioners in the world of global standards from managers responsible for making changes toauditors charged with judging compliance from workers and smallholderfarmers to the representatives of global brands and international nongov-ernmental organizations (INGOs) We have also analyzed a variety of dataon consumers 1047297rms and industry dynamics In this book we have soughtto integrate a large amount of information into straightforward analyses and

rich case studies

983124983144983141 983108983141983138983137983156983141 983151983158983141983154 983107983151983150983155983139983145983141983150983156983145983151983157983155 983107983151983150983155983157983149983141983154 983145983155983149

Can consumers contribute to a fairer more sustainable model of globaliza-tion Should they or is this a foolish way to bring about social change esequestions are central to the scholarly debate about what we call ldquoconscien-tious consumerismrdquo991252that is consumers viewing their purchases as a way

to express some sense of ethical or perhaps even political responsibilitySome theorists have treated conscientious consumerism as an aractiveand viable way for individuals to express their values likening consumptionto activism political engagement and active citizenship (Michelei 1048626104862410486241048627)

At a minimum paying aention to how consumer products are made mayenhance consumersrsquo sense of global connection and help to ldquode-fetishizerdquocommodities (Seyfang 1048626104862410486241048629) Others have argued that conscientious con-

sumerism is a shallow form of engagement that detracts from other pathwaysto social change expresses parochial self-serving values and legitimatesoverconsumption (Guthman 1048626104862410486241048631a Maniates 1048626104862410486241048625 Maniates and Meyer1048626104862410486251048624 Szasz 1048626104862410486241048631) In between some theorists have argued that individualscan be hybrid ldquocitizen-consumersrdquo whose consumer choices contribute insmall ways to a broader sense of social and political engagement (Williams104862610486241048624983094 Willis and Schor 1048626104862410486251048626)

ese debates are important and we stake out our own position here sinceany treatment of conscientious consumerism must grapple with its personaland political meanings But by focusing almost exclusively on the culturepolitics and meanings of conscientious consumerism existing researchhas had lile to say about two key factors991252(1048625) the structures of conscien-

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tious consumption and (1048626) its consequences at the point of production Firstconsuming products labeled as ldquofairrdquo or ldquosustainablerdquo is not just a maer ofindividual ldquoreflexivityrdquo regardless of whether one views this as noble or self-

absorbed It is structured by the constraints and opportunities that consum-ers face is refers in part to factors such as income education and socialclass that make conscientious consumerism far from universal But it alsorefers to differences across countries Even among fairly affluent countries inNorth America and Europe there are signi1047297cant differences in the size andshape of markets for products whose labels claim they are fair or sustainable

Second and even more striking is the degree to which the discourse on

conscientious consumerism has sidestepped questions about the implemen-tation of the standards that consumers are supporting Many forms of con-scientious consumption rely on assurances that certain production standardshave been followed Consumers cannot see for themselves whether theirfood has been farmed in a fair and sustainable way whether their furnitureoriginated in deforestation or whether their smartphones are the product ofheavily polluting high-tech sweatshops But scholars of conscientious con-sumerism have failed to interrogate these standards and assurances ey

usually either accept them at face value or dismiss them altogether as ldquogreen- washrdquo or ldquofairwashrdquo Other scholars have begun to study the implementationof voluntary production standards typically in order to evaluate ldquoprivategovernancerdquo systems (Locke 1048626104862410486251048627 Ponte 1048626104862410486241048632 Seidman 1048626104862410486241048631) or what somehave called ldquotransnational private regulationrdquo (Bartley 1048626104862410486241048631b) But researchon standards ldquoon the groundrdquo remains rare and comparisons of differentindustries and locations are just beginning to emerge852018

As one does look behind the label this much is clear claims of fairness andsustainability that seem straightforward to consumers become signi1047297cantlymurkier as one looks at the farms factories and forests where the productsoriginate Fair trade coffee may not be so fair for the casual laborers that farm-ers hire to toil in organic farms (Jaffee 1048626104862410486241048631)852018 A decade of ldquocorporate socialresponsibilityrdquo in the apparel industry did not prevent more than elevenhundred workers from dying when the Rana Plaza complex of factories inBangladesh collapsed in 1048626104862410486251048627 Certi1047297ed sustainable forests have sometimesturned out to be sites of illegal logging and violence against local residentsBut it is also clear that not all assurances are the same Some initiatives aremore stringent and credible than others some parts of an industry are more

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open to reform than others and some places are more likely to support de-cent conditions than others We 1047297nd more variation and complexity in globalindustries than would be expected by either simplistic celebrations of cor-

porate social responsibility or by condemnations of greenwashfairwashOur goal is to document grapple with and hopefully sort out some of thatcomplexity

e debate about conscientious consumerism is to some degree colored bythe different terms that scholars have used to describe it Some use the termldquopolitical consumerismrdquo (Michelei 1048626104862410486241048627) which has become the standardterm for researchers in much of Europe We believe it is premature to label

shopping with a conscience as a political act at least until far more is knownabout how consumers understand this act and its consequences Others pre-fer the term ldquoethical consumerismrdquo which appears to be more common inBritish and American discourse (Barne et al 1048626104862410486241048629 Goodman Maye andHolloway 1048626104862410486251048624) But this seems to imply that consumers have a coherentethical rationale We use the term ldquoconscientious consumerismrdquo (and ldquocon-scientious consumptionrdquo) to reflect our view that concerned consumers aremore oen acting on a vague sense of trying to do good in the world than on

a speci1047297c political or ethical commitment is does not mean that conscien-tious consumption cannot be highly principled In some cases it clearly isBut in many cases we suspect that consumers are uncertain and grasping991252areasonable response to the perplexing world of labels and global industries

And sometimes scholars question whether seemingly ethical purchasesmight actually be self-serving and insular (Szasz 1048626104862410486241048631) We see ldquoconscien-tiousrdquo consumer activity as open to both more and less principled ethical

political commitments Grappling with the pitfalls of this activity in this book we argue that an overarching ideology of conscientious consumerismas a vision of social change is vacuous Consumers and scholars should notrely on shopping to change the world Nevertheless we argue speci1047297c prac-tices of conscientious consumption can sometimes be meaningful as part ofmultifaceted strategies for reforming global industries Careful aention isneeded then to both consumer behavior and the effects of voluntary pro-duction standards

In the remainder of this introduction we sketch our approach to the analy-sis of conscientious consumption and standards for global industries We

begin by discussing the processes through which claims of ldquofairnessrdquo and

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ldquosustainabilityrdquo have become common features of shopping aisles is in-cludes some of the most signi1047297cant changes in the global economy and polityover the past four decades including the rise of global supply chains trans-

national advocacy networks and neoliberalism as an ideology of governance We then move on to critique three common frames for understanding con-scientious consumption and related global standards is sets the stage forour own framework for analysis which emphasizes industry structures theconstituencies behind standards global-local linkages and what we call theldquopuzzle of rulesrdquo in the global economy Following this introductory chapter

we turn to an analysis of consumer behavior in the United States and Europe

Tis is followed by an aempt to unpack the dilemmas of conscientiousconsumerism991252and our interpretation of what is harmful and helpful aboutit en in part 1048626 of the book we shi from consumption to production anddevelop case studies of four types of products timber food apparel andelectronics All have been subject to standards for ldquofairrdquo or ldquosustainablerdquoproduction yet the results have rarely been what reformers hoped for

983110983154983151983149 983107983137983149983152983137983145983143983150983155 983156983151 983116983137983138983141983148 983155

e story usually begins with a social movement While twentieth-centurysocial movements oen targeted national states and public policy by the turnof the twenty-1047297rst century environmental labor and human rights activists

were also ldquoshaming the corporationrdquo and contesting markets directly Oenthis meant exposing well-known transnational corporationsrsquo complicity withexploitation of workers (especially young women) natural environments

and indigenous people in locations around the world Anti-sweatshop groupsldquonamed and shamedrdquo Nike Walmart HampM and many other companies todraw aention to unsafe working environments physical and verbal abuseand a high-pressure low-wage model of production in the apparel and foot-

wear industry Eventually this approach spread to the electronics industryas activists showed how Apple Hewle-Packard Samsung and others relyon harsh labor conditions in Asia as well as ldquoconflict mineralsrdquo from war-torn areas of Central Africa Environmentalists had long been targetingcompanies like Te Home Depot BampQ and Mitsubishi because of theircontributions to tropical deforestation not to mention campaigns againstShell Chevron and other oil companies with reputations for pollution andenvironmental injustice Food markets became especially politicized Envi-

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ronmentalists showed how beef consumption threatened the Amazon rainforest how seafood sales contributed to the depletion of species and destruc-tion of ocean habitats and how ldquofactory farmsrdquo polluted local environments

ey also raised concerns about pesticides and genetically modi1047297ed organ-isms (GMOs) in the supply chains of many food brands and retailers Humanrights and development organizations linked Hershey Nestleacute and others to

bonded labor in cacao farms and connected Coca-Cola Pepsi and Cargill (alarge soybean producer) to land grabs that forcibly displaced small farmersin South America Asia and Africa

In response retailers and brands increasingly have adopted voluntary rules

for their supply chains Apparel footwear and electronics companies haveadopted ldquoethical sourcingrdquo policies and ldquocodes of conductrdquo sending auditorsaround the world to assess their suppliersrsquo compliance Some have joinedinitiatives like Social Accountability International (SAI) the Fair Labor

Association (FLA) Business Social Compliance Initiative (BSCI) or theElectronics Industry Citizenship Coalition (EICC) which have their ownsets of rules and auditing procedures Food producers and retailers havesimilarly joined initiatives like the Roundtable on Responsible Soy (RTRS)

or the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) both of which addressthe environmental and social implications of large-scale agricultural planta-tions Sellers of paper and furniture have turned to products certi1047297ed bythe Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) (or its competitor the Programmefor the Endorsement of Forest Certi1047297cation [PEFC]) to demonstrate theirgreen credentials while some food retailers have agreed to sell seafood cer-ti1047297ed by the Marine Stewardship Council ese are just a few examples of

how pressure from social movements has led to the proliferation of ethicalstandards Some of these standards take the form of policies that companiesadopt while others are governed by external associations like those men-tioned above Typically these associations are created either by coalitions ofNGOs and a few leading 1047297rms or by groups of companies hoping to fend offfurther pressure

In some instances social movements have not merely pressured companiesto improve their practices they have sought to endorse alternative models ofproduction Organic agriculture was a movement before it was a market andit helped to legitimate forms of farming that do not rely on pesticides e fairtrade movement originated with the goal of supporting small farmers who

were organized into democratically run cooperatives and it sought to use

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certi1047297cation to direct greater resources toward these farmers not to improveconditions on large plantations (Linton Liou and Shaw 1048626104862410486241048628) Although la-

bor rights advocates have been hesitant to label companies as ldquogoodrdquo groups

like the Worker Rights Consortium (WRC) and the Fair Wear Foundation(FWF) have begun to build market support for factories in which workersare represented by independent unions Similarly some of the impetus forthe Forest Stewardship Council came from foresters environmentalists andindigenous rights groups hoping to support small-scale community forestryoperations not simply to improve industrial timber operations (Bartleyand Smith 1048626104862410486251048624) ese kinds of initiatives are ldquoin the market but not of itrdquo

(Taylor 1048626104862410486241048629) and insert alternative ldquoorders of worthrdquo into market decisions(Boltanski and eacutevenot 104862610486241048624983094) Yet as activists have sought to build marketsupport for these production models they have encountered dilemmas ofldquomainstreamingrdquo alternatives Under pressure larger companies have agreedto sell certi1047297ed products including Starbucks and Fair Trade coffee or eHome Depot and FSC-certi1047297ed lumber But as activists have discoveredthere is a 1047297ne and oen blurry line between building market support and

becoming dependent on big companies in a way that leads to the weakening

of standards As our case studies show the world of voluntary standards whether for

alternatives or ldquobest practicesrdquo involves a constant struggle for the powerto de1047297ne legitimate standards and to determine how strictly they should beapplied in the 1047297eld ere is an ldquoNGO-Industrial Complexrdquo that underliesmost conscientious consumption and production initiatives (Gereffi Garcia-

Johnson and Sasser 1048626104862410486241048625) but it is multifaceted and contentious

e ultimate impacts of conscientious consumption and production proj-ects are oen hard to discern but this much is clear taken together theseactivities amount to a vast new set of standard-seing projects for the globaleconomy Promoted by a mix of NGOs companies and trade associationsthey seek to use global production networks991252or ldquoglobal value chainsrdquo991252rather than the national state to promote rules about fairness justice andsustainability (Cashore Auld and Newsom 1048626104862410486241048628 Guthman 1048626104862410486241048631b Ponte1048626104862410486241048632 Seidman 1048626104862410486241048631) ldquoLead 1047297rmsrdquo in these global value chains991252that is

large retailers and brands from Apple to IKEA to Zara991252have the power toset styles prices and delivery schedules for their suppliers so advocatesargue they should also be able to influence the conditions of workers com-

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munities and the environment Companies frequently adopt standards tofend off activist pressure and the media spotlight but adoption does notmean implementation In some cases alternatives have found a niche in the

market and in other cases voluntary initiatives have proliferated while thelogic of production991252and exploitation991252has remained largely unchanged

Scrutiny of global industries has also spawned tools to help consum-ers make sense of all of these claims and to smartly vote with their wal-lets Consumer Reports magazine can trace its origins to a much earlier waveof muckraking (Rao 1048625104863310486331048632) and with the recent proliferation of competingeco-labels it has sometimes stepped in to referee as have publications from

Co-Op America in the United States and Ethical Consumer magazine in theUnited Kingdom Te Monterey Bay Aquarium in the United States haslong published a list of seafood for environmentally conscious consumersto prefer and avoid Online guides and smartphone apps have made thesetypes of guides more elaborate Goodguidecom developed by some leadingresearchers before being sold to Underwriters Laboratories (UL) compilesa wide array of information to rate products and companies for their healthenvironmental and social impacts Smartphone apps even allow consumers

to trace products to parent companies and investors as with apps that enableconsumers to boyco the conservative Koch Brothers avoid the biotech gi-ant Monsanto or support companies that recognize lesbian gay bisexualand transsexual rights (OrsquoConnor 1048626104862410486251048627)

Of course these consumer guides are only as good as the information thatgoes into them and as our case studies show meaningful accurate informa-tion is oen difficult to come by in complex global industries Furthermore

as our analyses of consumer behavior show only particular subsets of con-sumers have indicated an interest in boycoing or ldquobuycoingrdquo and thereare real questions about how many will pay more for guarantees of fairnessand sustainability Before diving into these issues we must consider thelarger context in which the rise of conscientious consumerism has occurred

983122983141983139983151983150 983142983145983143983157983154983145 983150 983143 983122983141983155983152983151983150 983155983145983138983145983148983145983156983145983141983155 983122 983145983143983144983156983155 983137 983150 983140 983122983157983148983141983155

Debates about consumers producers and ethical standards are vexing inpart because they are tied up with a larger recon1047297guration of responsibilitiesrights and rules in the global economy National and multinational corpo-

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rations have become transnational corporations with activities stretchingacross national boundaries without being deeply rooted in them Nationalstates once the main makers of rules and arbiters of rights are increasingly

just one of many actors issuing rules and claiming to enforce rights Inter-national NGOs and global standards associations have sought to issue rulesand enforce rights as well although their effectiveness in doing so is unclearMore broadly the goal to turn the world into ldquoone big marketrdquo991252associated

with neoliberal ideology991252has challenged earlier conceptions of what na-tional states can and should do to protect or empower citizens workers andthe environment Conscientious consumption and production projects are

to some degree the result of these changes In a world of vertically integratedcompanies and strong responsive states there would be far less demand for

voluntary standards supported by consumers But these changes have notsimply paved the way for conscientious consumerism they have complicatedits meanings and impacts in a variety of ways

Te Supply Chain Revolution

Capitalism in the twentieth century was characterized by the growth of verti-cally integrated corporations which controlled raw materials manufactur-ing and distribution and by the growth of horizontally integrated corpora-tions and conglomerates in which multiple businesses were combined in thesame corporate structure By the 1048625104863310486321048624s these models were giving way to theldquosupply chain revolutionrdquo in which large 1047297rms contract with independentsuppliers rather than owning an entire production process Nike built its

fortunes by being an early adopter of the ldquomanufacturer without factoriesrdquomodel and Walmart became a dominant retailer by making its supply chains

work faster and cheaper than retailers had previously In what Robert Feen-stra (1048625104863310486331048632) called the ldquointegration of trade and disintegration of productionrdquocompanies in industries from apparel to electronics to furniture shed theirfactories contracted with independent manufacturers and focused on build-ing their ldquobrandrdquo images

While some contracting and subcontracting happened within national borders scholars pointed out that many production processes were beingturned into ldquoglobal commodity chainsrdquo and especially ldquobuyer-drivenrdquo globalcommodity chains in which companies nearest the distribution end of the

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chain (retailers and well-known brands) exercised the greatest power overproduction processes and extracted the greatest pro1047297t from them (Gereffi1048625104863310486331048628 1048625104863310486331048633) Other terms such as ldquoglobal production networksrdquo and ldquoglobal

value chainsrdquo described similar phenomena and as many industries shiedto a supply chain model of some sort these different traditions of research

began to merge and more nuanced ways of describing power and coordina-tion in global value chains were articulated (Bair 1048626104862410486241048632 Gereffi Humphreyand Sturgeon 1048626104862410486241048629) is supply chain revolution was facilitated by techno-logical changes that made contracting more efficient and by legal changesthat opened more parts of the world to foreign investment Of course in

some industries such as agriculture large consumer-facing companies hadlong relied on networks of suppliers991252from coffee farmers to growers ofcorn wheat and other commodity crops Yet these industries have beenrecon1047297gured to some degree by the growth of mega-retailers that have cutout middleman distributors

Most important at this point is to recognize how the supply chain revolu-tion both highlighted and blurred the responsibilities of transnational corpo-rations On one hand contracting and subcontracting networks tied retailers

and brands in the United States and Europe to sites of production991252andexploitation991252around the world To be sure multinational corporations likeNestleacute I and PepsiCo had been shamed for the actions of their foreignarms in the 1048625104863310486311048624s but the networked transnational corporations of the 1048625104863310486331048624shad more extensive ties and thus greater vulnerabilities On the other handthe lines of responsibility991252and especially legal liability991252were blurry since

brands and retailers exercised a great deal of power over their suppliers but

did not own those sites of production Initially when sweatshops child la- bor and prison labor were uncovered brands like Nike and Walmart deniedresponsibility on the basis that they did not own the factories where suchabuses occurred As pressure mounted these and other lead 1047297rms in global

value chains began to accept ldquosordquo forms of responsibility by adopting codesof conduct and pledging to monitor and improve conditions in their supplychains ose same companies however 1047297ercely resisted aempts to makethem legally liable (Bartley 1048626104862410486241048629 Shamir 1048626104862410486241048628)

For the most part this remains the situation in the forest products foodapparelfootwear and electronics industries When pressed retailers and

brands have publicly accepted some responsibility to improve conditions in

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kets have remained largely national in scope especially when it comes toissues of fairness and sustainability e World Trade Organization (WTO)has endorsed protections for intellectual property rights but it has le only

narrow spaces for governments to protect workers and environments and ithas refused to address labor rights directly Bilateral and multilateral tradeagreements sometimes include labor and environmental standards but theseare limited in scope and enforceability International organizations suchas the United Nations and the International Labor Organization promoteconventions for governments to adopt but these organizations rarely haveany power to demand enforcement National governments are constrained

in part by a global economy in which 1047297rms and investors can move from one jurisdiction to another but perhaps even more by ideological commitmentsto neoliberal globalization and the rules of the WTO (Evans 1048625104863310486331048631 Rodrik1048626104862410486251048625) As we argue it is a mistake to think that governments are powerless orirrelevant in the face of globalization but there is no doubt that the dearthof binding international regulation of production conditions has led many tolook to the private sector as a way of enforcing standards NGOs for instancehave oen turned to voluntary standards and conscientious consumption as

second-best alternatives to intergovernmental systems of regulationNeoliberalism can be credited not only with helping to hollow out the state

but also with promoting an individualization of responsibility In a processthat theorists have called ldquoresponsibilizationrdquo individuals are treated as hav-ing the duty and capacity to take responsibility for things that should rightly

be seen as the result of social structures is can be seen for instance in at-tempts to reform welfare states to make welfare recipients take responsibility

for their own fates (Rose 1048626104862410486241048624) e moralization of markets has also been aresponsibilization process in which individual consumers are told they havethe duty991252and the ability991252to solve the worldrsquos social problems throughtheir purchases While some scholars use the language of responsibilizationto dismiss conscientious consumption as misguided we do not see this asthe most appropriate response We recognize that individual consumers are

being asked to take responsibility for problems that would oen be beerserved by more collective and robust solutions including revitalized statesand labor unions But it is at least possible that responsibility-taking by con-sumers could help to support more durable solutions in the future especially

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if governments NGOs and consumers themselves have a clearer under-standing of what is and is not being affected by conscientious consumptionand production initiatives

INGOs and ransnational Advocacy Networks

Since the end of World War II NGOs have become key actors in nationalinternational and transnational governance By the turn of the twenty-1047297rstcentury NGOs were carrying out most of the tasks of governing complex so-cieties delivering development assistance mediating social conflicts seing

standards for business developing expert knowledge and reconstructingsocieties aer natural and social disasters By some accounts the proliferationof NGOs and their incorporation into development and governance projectsamounts to an associational revolution that ldquomay constitute as signi1047297cant asocial and political development of the laer twentieth century as the rise ofthe nation state was of the nineteenth centuryrdquo (Edwards and Hulme 104862510486331048633983094 1048626)

International NGOs (INGOs) such as Greenpeace Oxfam or HumanRights Watch have mobilized aention to a variety of global problems from

climate change to new forms of bonded labor ey have garnered mediaaention to these problems and have pushed governments and intergovern-mental organizations to take action In addition the growth of transnationalnetworks of advocates and experts has sometimes allowed domestic activiststo gain leverage over their governments In what Margaret Keck and KathrynSikkink (1048625104863310486331048632) dubbed the ldquoboomerang effectrdquo domestic activists can reachpast indifferent or hostile domestic governments and appeal to transnational

advocacy networks that in turn exert pressure on those governmentsSince the 1048625104863310486331048624s INGOs have increasingly sought to put pressure on trans-

national corporations and restructure markets not just state policies eyhave led efforts to build product certi1047297cation initiatives from the ForestStewardship Council to the Marine Stewardship Council and they havecoordinated ldquomarket campaignsrdquo to convince large retailers to support theseinitiatives In addition the traditional boomerang effect has been supple-mented with what Naomi Klein (1048625104863310486331048633) called the ldquobrand boomerangrdquo in

which grassroots labor or environmental activists call on their internationalallies to put pressure on a well-known company that is operating in (or buy-

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10486251048629983113983150983156983154983151983140983157983139983156983145983151983150

ing from) that location rough these processes INGOs have become im-portant architects advocates and watchdogs of conscientious consumptionand production projects

e rise of INGOs does raise conundrums however especially about therelationship between professional advocates based in Amsterdam or Wash-ington DC and grassroots activists in developing countries To some extentINGOs have become sensitive to these power disparities and local NGOshave become savvy about working with foreign partners But the power ofINGOs to organize transnational campaigns aract media aention andshame global companies does carry the danger that more locally oriented

strategies or those directed to domestic governments are being neglected(Seidman 1048626104862410486241048631)

Standards for Markets and Markets for Standards

Without the supply chain revolution neoliberal globalization and thegrowth of transnational advocacy networks it is hard to imagine the rise ofconscientious consumption and global standards for fairness and sustain-

ability Yet just because initiatives for auditing certifying or reporting onsustainability or fairness have emerged that does not mean they will haveintegrity or impact Typically conscientious consumption and productionprojects are organized as private voluntary initiatives ey aempt to setstandards for markets but they also exist within markets Like all voluntaryprograms they depend on participation from companies and there can oen

be a trade-off between the stringency of standards and the number of partici-

pants (Potoski and Prakash 1048626104862410486241048633) All voluntary initiatives are structurallydependent on their corporate participants so one should take the languageof independent ldquothird-partyrdquo initiatives with a grain of salt Furthermore asprivate initiatives they have no monopoly on standards for a particular topic(as a government would have) is means competing standards initiativescan easily emerge For some observers the private voluntary character ofthese initiatives is reason enough to give up on them (eg Seidman 1048626104862410486241048631)

while for neoliberal advocates of market-based solutions these same featuresmake such initiatives especially aractive As we argue below our approachseeks to unpack variation in the organization of these initiatives and the

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contexts in which they operate At the same time as our case studies showthere are certainly limits on what private voluntary initiatives have beenable to accomplish

983124983144983154 983141983141 983110983154983137 983149983141983155 983137983150 983140 983124983144983141983145983154 983123983144983151983154983156983139983151983149983145983150 983143983155

Given the rise of conscientious consumerism and the growth of standards forglobal industries scholars and advocates are racing to promote simple framesfor making sense of them In this section we discuss three frames that areoen invoked Each captures a slice of something important but each ends

up obscuring as much as it illuminates or more

Te Empowered Sovereign Consumer

Scholars and advocates oen adopt a celebratory tone in discussing consci-entious consumerism ey argue that consumers are being empowered toldquovote with their dollarsrdquo and that these small changes in the habits of affluentconsumers can change or even ldquosaverdquo the world As Ruth Stokes (1048626104862410486251048627) writes

in the Ecologist magazine ldquoI believe that changing the way we shop991252voting with our money991252can help to change the world Companies respond tothe habits of shoppers We all have consumer power we just have to makesure we use it wiselyrdquo If consumers have been manipulated by companiesin the past they are increasingly being empowered by new sources of infor-mation argues Dara OrsquoRourke (1048626104862410486251048625) eorists of ldquopolitical consumerismrdquohave argued that this mode of political expression is especially empowering

for individuals who are alienated from formal politics such as young peopleand women (Michelei 1048626104862410486241048627) Furthermore as companies compete for thesupport of conscientious consumers and the coveted ldquolifestyles of health andsustainabilityrdquo (LOHAS) niche (Emerich 1048626104862410486251048625) many observers argue thatthey will become transparent responsible corporate citizens (Porter andKramer 104862610486241048624983094 Smith 1048625104863310486331048624 Zadek Pruzan and Evans 1048625104863310486331048631)

Such celebrations oen rest on an idealized framing of consumer agency991252that is the ability and willingness of the ldquosovereign citizen-consumerrdquo to bethe prime mover of social change (Jacobsen and Dulsrud 1048626104862410486241048631) e ldquosover-eign consumerrdquo is an old concept that is intended to suggest that consumertastes are the driver of all economic activity As scholars have observed the

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growth of conscientious consumption the sovereign consumer has becomethe sovereign citizen-consumer or what Roberta Sassatelli (1048626104862410486241048631) dubbedthe waking of the ldquosleepy giant of the sovereign citizen-consumerrdquo (104862510486321048632) So-

cial theorist Ulrich Beck perhaps the most prominent theorist of consump-tion as a form of politics argues that ldquocitizens discover the act of shoppingas one in which they can always cast their ballot991252on a world scale no lessrdquo(qtd in Sassatelli 1048626104862410486241048631 104862510486321048632) Michele Michelei (1048626104862410486241048627) takes the provocationeven further

Conflicts over what and where to consume are now central for understanding the func-tioning of affluent Western societies is can even mean that consumers participating

in boycos can for instance be likened to resistance 1047297ghters Yet unlike resistance orrevolutionary conflicts of the past citizen-consumers tend to direct their aention towardthe market rather than state actors (1048625983094ndash10486251048631)

Even if one gets past the hyperbole treating consumer tastes as king orqueen is problematic in several respects First consumersrsquo aitudes turn outto be only one ingredient in the construction of conscientious consumptionmarkets As we show in this book the opportunities for conscientious con-sumption are not distributed evenly across individuals or across countries

Social inequality and differences in market structures mean the social con-text of consumption is just as important as individual aitudes Consumertastes may make a difference but it is difficult to see them as a true primemover

Second it is naive to assume that a change in consumer tastes translatesdirectly into a change in the production processes of global industries AsMargaret Willis and Juliet Schor (1048626104862410486251048626) argue many accounts of consci-

entious consumerism take a ldquonaiumlve aggregationistrdquo approach to marketsassuming that if a large enough number of consumers is interested in al-ternative products the market will simply change to deliver them A quitedifferent story is told by research on industries technologies and organiza-tions over time Production processes are oen ldquolocked inrdquo by a system ofinterrelated technologies and expectations making them difficult to changePaul David (1048625104863310486321048629) famously illustrated this by considering the persistence ofthe inefficient QWERTY keyboard on typewriters and computers Even ifproduction practices are not strongly locked in companies like all organi-zations rarely abandon their core routines and technologies (Hannan andFreeman 1048625104863310486321048633) Perhaps the biggest problem is that those who celebrate the

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transformative power of new consumer tastes assume that industry practicesare changing but they almost never actually investigate this assumption edisconnect between theories of conscientious consumerism and empirical

research on industry practices is stark and it is one thing that we hope toremedy with this book

Finally by celebrating the empowered conscientious politicized con-sumer one obscures the ways that unreflective consumer choices influencelabor and environmental conditions in global industries As much as someconsumers are becoming more conscientious about some of their choicesespecially when it comes to food and drinks (eg organic produce fair trade

coffee) much consumer activity is routine and habitual and some of theethics of consumption are opaque to all but the most commied individu-als Conscientious consumers might be careful to recycle avoid disposableplastic water boles and buy organic vegetables but then eat beef withoutthinking of its massive natural resource demands and the contributions ofcale production to global warming As environmentalists have pointedout encouraging consumers to make their purchases more environmentallyfriendly carries a risk of legitimating overconsumption in affluent markets

which is the foundation of many forms of environmental degradation (Mani-ates and Meyer 1048626104862410486251048624) e issue may not be just the amount of consumption

but its pace as well As will become clear later in this book the rise of ldquofastfashionrdquo and ldquofast electronicsrdquo991252that is the rapid churning through fashion-able styles of clothing and different models of smartphones991252appears to bea root cause of labor exploitation in the apparel and electronics industries

GreenwashFairwash

While some have celebrated conscientious consumerism others have dis-missed voluntary standards eco-labeling and social labeling as ldquogreenwashrdquoor ldquofairwashrdquo As Sharon Beder (1048626104862410486241048625) puts it ldquoTe aempt to provide alsquogreenrsquo and caring image for a corporation is a public relations strategy aimedat promising reform and heading off demands for more substantial and fun-damental changes and government interventionrdquo (104862610486291048627) Claims about fair

and sustainable production in this view simply provide cover to companiesthat are engaged in fundamentally unfair and unsustainable activities ecodes of conduct sustainability reports and information disclosures that are

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highlighted in celebratory accounts of transparency may actually be formsof ldquodisinformationrdquo that obscure companiesrsquo actual practices

e term ldquogreenwashrdquo took off among environmentalists in the late 1048625104863310486321048624s

as a description of advertising campaigns that portrayed companies as pro-tectors of the environment (Beers and Capellaro 1048625104863310486331048625) Greenpeace arguedthat transnational corporations like Shell DuPont and Mitsubishi had ldquoem-

braced the environment as their cause and co-opted its terminologyrdquo even while contributing massively to environmental degradation (Greenpeace1048625104863310486331048626 1048626) e analogue for corporate claims about incomes livelihoods and

justice991252ldquofairwashingrdquo991252entered the lexicon later in the wake of the fair

trade movement As fair trade certi1047297cation was becoming ldquomainstreamedrdquoand imitated scholars and activists began worrying that fairwashing wason the horizon (Conroy 1048626104862410486241048631 Lyon and Moberg 1048626104862410486251048624) Observers have alsocriticized the images produced in the name of ldquocorporate social responsibil-ityrdquo arguing that these are ldquomerely a public relations game lulling us intoa false sense of securityrdquo (Doane 1048626104862410486241048629 10486261048633) Common to all these diagnosesis the sense that most assurances one 1047297nds on a product are nothing morethan public relations efforts

e greenwashfairwash critique captures two key features of conscien-tious consumption and global standards First when faced with criticismcompanies would prefer to be able to improve their images without alteringpro1047297table practices A public relations campaign is typically the 1047297rst line ofdefense Companies may also hire outside organizations991252auditors consul-tants and sometimes NGOs991252to lend some credibility to their campaignsey may also fund seemingly independent standard-seing initiatives that

can endorse their corporate social responsibility programs or label theirproducts As we will see this is how the US timber industryrsquos SustainableForestry Initiative got its start and it helps to account for the role of appareland footwear brands in the Fair Labor Association One must always takeassurances of sustainability and fairness with a grain of salt e dosage ofsalt depends in part on whether claims come from companies themselvesinitiatives that they control or more independent initiatives (If initiativesdepend on the voluntary participation of companies they can never be fully independent but there are gradations) In our analyses of standards (in part1048626 of this book) we are aentive to who has created a particular initiativehow it is funded and how dependent on companies it is Second there is

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nearly always some hypocrisy present when companies take up greening orfairness initiatives Simply because one product or one aspect of a companyrsquosproduction has earned some credentials does not mean that the companyrsquos

operations overall can be considered green or fair As David Vogel (1048626104862410486241048629)has argued we oen yearn for simple pronouncements of ldquogoodrdquo and ldquobadrdquocompanies But companies like people are complex multifaceted and oencontradictory One part of a company may be developing green productionprocesses while another part lobbies against environmental regulation

On the other hand we see simple distinctions between greenwashfair- wash and ldquotruerdquo reform as a poor match for the current state of global indus-

tries and labeling projects Eco-labeling and social labeling may once have been the domain of public relations personnel but they have become theirown specialized world in which credibility depends on ldquomulti-stakeholderrepresentationrdquo and extensive amounts of accreditation auditing and veri1047297-cation Companies might prefer to respond to criticism with public relationscampaigns but they are oen pushed by activists and investors to go furtherand achieve some kind of external assurance For instance if confronted bylabor rights abuses apparel and footwear companies no longer simply hold

up a code of conduct instead they refer to sophisticated factory monitoringprograms external certi1047297cations and ldquocapacity-buildingrdquo projects (Locke1048626104862410486251048627) Rather than simply co-opting the language of environmentalism manyretailers have been pushed to sell products that are independently certi1047297ed(Conroy 1048626104862410486241048631) Furthermore the world of voluntary certi1047297cation has be-come increasingly formalized For instance to judge compliance with thestandards of the FSC an auditing organization (eg Scienti1047297c Certi1047297cation

Systems SmartWood or the Soil Association) must be accredited by a sepa-rate oversight body (Accreditation Services International) Furthermore theFSC belongs to an umbrella organization991252the ISEAL (International Socialand Environmental Accreditation and Labeling) Alliance991252which de1047297nes

best practices for credible certi1047297cation initiatives To be sure all of this cer-ti1047297cation of the certi1047297ers of the certi1047297ers (and beyond) is not guaranteed to

bring about meaningful improvement Indeed we describe cases where thisformalization has been counterproductive and where seemingly credible ini-tiatives have failed spectacularly But it does mean there is more ldquocheckingrdquothan there is simple ldquowashingrdquo As Peter Dauvergne and Jane Lister (1048626104862410486251048626)put it ldquoCorporate sustainability goals include measurable targets are

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audited by independent groups and are integrated into the core business [through] life-cycle assessment supply chain tracing eco-certi1047297cation andsustainability reportingrdquo (10486271048632) We concur with them that all of this measure-

ment and reporting oen skirts the root causes of problems but one cannotseriously assess conscientious consumption without investigating this activ-ity If the world were as simple as it was when the ldquogreenwashrdquo frame was 1047297rstcoined a book like this would not be necessary

Most importantly the greenwashfairwash frame leaves a key questionunanswered if a claim is not just greenwashfairwash991252in other words if itis backed by stringent standards and credible veri1047297cation processes991252then

what is it It would be tempting to assume that the converse of greenwashfairwash is something like ldquoreal sustainabilityfairnessrdquo on the ground But asour case studies show it is possible to have stringent standards and credibleassessment but still not generate much reform of global industries Our goalis to provide some tools for making sense of these complex (and common)intermediate scenarios

Importing Standards into Empty Spaces

Another problematic frame concerns the implementation of global standardsincluding those supported by conscientious consumerism It is tempting tosee global standards as introducing new rules into otherwise empty spacesFor instance one might think of labor codes of conduct as introducing laborrights into factories that would otherwise be completely unregulated andchaotic Or one might think of global sustainability standards as introducing

environmental norms into seings where businesses would otherwise be freeto pollute with impunity As Alison Brysk puts it global rule-making proj-ects oen ldquoconcern areas previously ungoverned or even unknownrdquo (Brysk1048626104862410486241048629 104862510486261048624) Indeed scholars and practitioners oen portray private rules as1047297lling a ldquoregulatory voidrdquo as they are put into practice especially in devel-oping countries (Sabel OrsquoRourke and Fung 1048626104862410486241048624) For some developingcountries are so lacking in the rule of law as to constitute ldquoareas of limitedstatehoodrdquo in which private rules must serve as a substitute for public author-

ity (Boumlrzel and Risse 1048626104862410486251048624) Sociologists in the ldquoworld societyrdquo school startfrom different assumptions but nevertheless argue that global norms aboutenvironmental protection child labor and human rights are imported into

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developing countries as novel concepts that are completely alien to the locals(Meyer et al 1048625104863310486331048631)

e problem with this approach is not only as Gay Seidman (1048626104862410486241048631) argues

that ldquostateless regulationrdquo usually lacks enforcement power A more funda-mental problem is that this frame obscures the institutional arrangementsthat are in place in developing countries Developing countries are not emptyanonymous uniform places ey are populated with different business sys-tems cultures of production and political institutions What may look fromafar like a relatively empty space turns out on closer inspection to have adense set of preexisting relationships organizations and rules ese local

circumstances can recon1047297gure global rules in myriad ways (Halliday andCarruthers 1048626104862410486241048633 Merry 104862610486241048624983094) For instance in chapter 1048628 we look at fair tradecerti1047297cation and its consequences in Paraguay a place where earlier ways oforganizing agricultural operations set the stage for fair trade projects andshaped their results Fair trade standards were not simply imported to thisseing they were layered onto an existing set of institutions In fact a thickerldquolayeringrdquo of rules with varying consequences has been a common result ofglobal standards (Bartley 1048626104862410486251048625) An ldquoempty spacesrdquo assumption also obscures

ongoing political struggles at the point of production As we will see INGOsand conscientious consumers are far from the only actors concerned withlabor rights sustainability or the fair distribution of resources For instancerecent years have seen a rising tide of strikes in China and mobilization ofgarment workers in Cambodia and Bangladesh (Alam 1048626104862410486251048627 Dara and Wil-lemyns 1048626104862410486251048628 Friedman 1048626104862410486251048627) e land rights of indigenous people in Braziland Indonesia are a concern not only of backers of global sustainable forestry

standards but also of burgeoning movements of indigenous people them-selves (Gerber 1048626104862410486251048625) Social movements in developing countries may struggleto influence powerful global industries but they cannot simply be ignored

When it comes to governmental regulation it is true that developingcountries oen lack the resources and administrative capacities to effec-tively regulate production processes as do many governments in affluentcountries Moreover the logic of global production in some ways gives themdisincentives to do so aggressively implementing regulations may cause in-

vestors991252and orders from brands and retailers991252to flee the country and therules of the WTO make some forms of regulation untenable But ldquodevelopingcountriesrdquo are diverse In nearly all parts of the world there are laws relatedto labor the environment and the rights of citizens Scholars are beginning

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to 1047297nd increased enforcement of these laws in some surprising places fromrevitalized state labor inspection in the export processing zones of the Do-minican Republic (Schrank 1048626104862410486251048627) to aggressive environmental regulators in

Brazil and China (Coslovsky 1048626104862410486251048625 McAllister Van Rooij and Kagan 1048626104862410486251048624)In other instances law can be repressive991252restricting the rights of workers orindigenous communities for instance (Lee 1048626104862410486241048631 Li 1048626104862410486251048624) Again the influ-ences of local structures can vary but one should not assume a blank slate

983105 983122983151983157983143983144 983111983157983145983140983141 983156983151 983125983150 983152983137983139983147983145983150983143 983107983151983150983155983139983145983141 983150983156983145983151983157983155983107983151983150983155983157983149983152983156983145983151983150 983137983150983140 983120983154983151983140983157983139983156983145983151983150 983120983154983151983146983141983139983156983155

How then can one make sense of projects to promote conscientious con-sumption and fair or sustainable production e 1047297rst step is simply to acceptthat there is a great deal of variation ere is variation across individualsand locations in conscientious consumer behavior ere is variation acrossproducts and labeling initiatives in the ldquoon the groundrdquo implications of globalstandards ere is variation across industries (and even within them) in sys-tems of production and these intersect with national (and even subnational)

differences in industry organization To understand whether conscientiousconsumption and fairsustainable production projects can contribute tomeaningful alternatives we must look closely at these industrial and politi-cal contexts A second starting point is to accept that the influence of globalstandards for fairsustainable production is typically highly circumscribedor contingent on other factors As will become clear even the most stringentstandards and most credible initiatives do not transform global industries

ey sometimes influence certain parts of an industry but even this cannotautomatically be assumed

To unpack conscientious consumption initiatives and the global standardsthey endorse we bring four factors to the foreground (1048625) structures of pro-duction and consumption (1048626) the constituencies of standards (1048627) global-local linkages and (1048628) the coexistence of rule making and unruliness

Structures of Production and Consumption

Industry structures shape both the opportunities for conscientious con-sumption to occur and the consequences of rule-making projects at thepoint of production To start some industries are more likely than others to

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become targets of activism which is typically the catalyst for rule-makingand conscientious consumption projects

Lead 1047297rms in global value chains especially when they are large and have

salient corporate reputations make aractive targets for social movements(Bartley and Child 1048626104862410486251048628) Industries that lack powerful and well-known brands tend to aract less scrutiny For instance the manufacturing of bricksespecially in developing countries is oen a highly polluting and exploit-ative industry But because there are not well-known global brands in thisindustry it has received lile international aention In other cases activistshave highlighted a problem but without powerful and recognizable brands

to link this to rule-making projects have not emerged e production ofcheap costume jewelry is rife with exploitation as shown in the documentary Mardi Gras Made in China but this has not become a site of extensive rulemaking and conscientious consumerism In some circumstances the exis-tence of large high-pro1047297le retailers can compensate for a more fragmentedor poorly known set of manufacturers Anti-GMO activists for instancehave pressured manufacturers like Monsanto by going through large retailerslike Marks amp Spencer (Schurman and Munro 1048626104862410486241048633) Our analysis of global

food distribution (in chapter 1048628) is consistent with this observation but italso suggests that the locus of consumer and activist pressure depends onthe speci1047297c product

When activists do press lead 1047297rms to make their supply chains fairer ormore sustainable the consequences seem to depend in part on the structureof that supply chain If suppliers can easily 1047297nd alternative buyers who are notdemanding changes991252that is if there are few suppliers and many buyers991252

they will have lile incentive to comply with a particular lead 1047297rmrsquos rulesGoing further by many accounts when lead 1047297rms have a great deal of powerover ldquocaptiverdquo suppliers they should be able to demand that those suppliersmake improvements (Mayer and Gereffi 1048626104862410486251048624) On the other hand someresearch has questioned whether this power is truly effective or whether itmerely spurs a game in which suppliers pretend to be making improvements(and lead 1047297rms nod in approval) (Locke Amengual and Mangla 1048626104862410486241048633) Wesuspect that the power of lead 1047297rms does make a difference but that moresigni1047297cant changes are possible when lead 1047297rms and suppliers are mutuallydependent and work together over long stretches of time (Our analysis ofthe apparel industry in chapter 1048629 though suggests that long-term collabora-tion is rare) In addition when global value chains are fairly simple in their

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structure without too many intermediaries this should make it easier forstandards to ldquotravelrdquo through them ere is a conundrum here howeversince it is oen in industries with a high degree of subcontracting (such as

apparel) that global standards are in the highest demand If global industries were dominated by vertically integrated 1047297rms rather than dispersed supplychains the world of conscientious consumerism would look quite differentFurthermore sometimes the lack of action by large lead 1047297rms can leave aspace for activists and entrepreneurs to carve out a small market niche basedon fairness or sustainability is is how fair tradendashcerti1047297ed coffee beganand some new projects appear to be emerging in electronics (Fairphone as

discussed in chapter 983094) and apparel (the Alta Gracia factory as discussed inchapter 1048629) Aer looking more closely at our four industries991252timber foodapparelfootwear and electronics991252we return to questions about industrystructure in the bookrsquos conclusion

Industry structures also maer for consumers As we show in the nextchapter opportunities to engage in conscientious consumption are just asimportant as motivations to do so and these opportunities depend in parton the structure of the retail sector in a particular country Generally we sug-

gest that having larger retailers will facilitate consumer purchases of eco- andsocial-labeled products In part this is simply because larger retailers offer a

wider array of choices overall991252that is different versions of the same prod-uct991252while smaller retailers offer fewer choices To be sure small stores canspecialize in ldquoalternativerdquo products and large stores can fail to carry themBut given the trend toward ldquomainstreamingrdquo of alternatives (see Jaffee 1048626104862410486251048626)large retailers have become key points of sale for eco- and social-labeled prod-

ucts Furthermore oligopoly in the retail sector991252the dominance of a smallnumber of large companies991252also seems to magnify the power of activiststo influence the market As Rachel Schurman and William Munro (1048626104862410486241048633)found the existence of a small number of large food retailer chains in the UKallowed the anti-GMO movement to flourish there while it foundered amidthe larger number of supermarket chains in the United States

Constituencies and Standards

Global standards for fairness and sustainability may sound universal butthey spring from the priorities of particular individuals and groups A cru-cial step in understanding these standards is to examine the founders of

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initiatives that make rules audit compliance and certify products as fair orsustainable Some such initiatives such as fair trade certi1047297cation originatedlargely with NGOs or others outside of the industry Others such as the

Electronics Industry Citizenship Coalition and the Sustainable ForestryInitiative were founded almost exclusively by industry associations or othergroups of companies oen in response to the actions of NGOs In betweenare a number of initiatives developed by coalitions of NGOs and companiesfrom the Forest Stewardship Council to Social Accountability InternationalFounders are not everything NGO-initiated programs can become watereddown as they are mainstreamed and industry-initiated programs oen

evolve into formally independent organizations Most programs seek cred-ibility by calling themselves ldquomulti-stakeholderrdquo initiatives We maintainhowever that founding constituencies leave deep imprints on the content ofstandards and on the distribution of power within rule-making initiativesRules can get ratcheted up or down over time but these are usually marginalrevisions to a core approach Furthermore even when initiatives becomeformally independent from the constituencies that created them informalties revolving doors and 1047297nancial contributions oen persist

Generally we expect that industry-initiated programs will have standardsthat depart in relatively small ways from the normal practices of the indus-try Companies may want to improve labor conditions or environmentalperformance of their suppliers but they will be loath to push so far as todisrupt production or force a major change in their sourcing practices As aresult the greater the influence of companies in the founding of an initiativethe more likely it is to use either a ldquobest in classrdquo approach or a ldquocontinuous

improvementrdquo approach In the 1047297rst companies are recognized (throughcerti1047297cation or other endorsement) for demonstrating that they are aboveaverage in their industry is oen skirts the issue of whether they meeta stringent de1047297nition of a 1047297xed standard As Sco Nova (1048626104862410486251048625) has noted aldquobest in classrdquo model is like grading on a curve even if average performanceis quite low e second approach allows companies to start with a relativelylax standard and encourage gradual improvement over time852019

When industry outsiders have power in the initial design standard-seinginitiatives should look somewhat different First their standards are likely todepart more substantially from normal practices in the industry to a greateror lesser degree depending on the power of these outsiders Second these

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initiatives are more likely though certainly not guaranteed to endorse analternative model of production rather than to just reward the best in class orpush for continuous improvement Fair trade certi1047297cation and its emphasis

on democratically managed producer cooperatives (as described in chap-ter 1048628) is the clearest example of this ird and because of this initiativesspawned by outsiders are likely to either remain small or face dilemmas ofmainstreaming as they grow If they seek a large market presence ldquoalterna-tiverdquo programs will inevitably become more dependent on large companiese result may be a watering down of standards although as the case of theFSC shows (in chapter 1048627) this can be counteracted to some degree

For most products there are multiple competing aempts to de1047297ne fair-ness and sustainability For instance there are several ways of certifying thefairness and sustainability of coffee or of assessing the labor conditions ofapparel companies852020 Usually this competition reflects the struggle betweencompanies and NGOs Some scholars believe that such competition dooms

voluntary initiatives since it confuses consumers and lets companies choosetheir own standards (Seidman 1048626104862410486241048631) Others believe that it strengthens gov-ernance by spurring a ldquoratcheting uprdquo of expectations (Sabel OrsquoRourke and

Fung 1048626104862410486241048624) Our analysis of four global industries suggests that different setsof standards can oen coexist not exactly peacefully but with moderateinteraction or in different market niches Competition is inevitable but itseems to neither doom nor guarantee meaningful standards for fairness andsustainability It must be noted that initiatives that began with high bars991252namely Fair Trade and the FSC991252have not been pushed out of the market

by their competitors

Localized Globalisms and Globalized Localisms

Specifying links between ldquothe globalrdquo and ldquothe localrdquo has proven difficultand scholars have oen fallen prey to two types of conceptual dangers Firstin focusing on the global diffusion of a given idea or norm some have por-trayed domestic seings as lile more than passive receivers of a global proj-ect e language of domestic seings as ldquoreceptor sitesrdquo for global models(Frank Hironaka and Schofer 1048626104862410486241048624) is one example of this Pinpointingthis problem researchers are increasingly focusing on how local actors ap-propriate and ldquoindigenizerdquo global models to make them useful or meaningful

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10486261048632 983116983151983151983147983145983150983143 983138983141983144983145983150983140 983156983144983141 983116983137983138983141983148

(Halliday and Carruthers 1048626104862410486241048633 Merry 104862610486241048624983094) Second scholars of globaliza-tion oen equate the global with universalism (and oen progress) and thelocal with particularism (and oen backwardness) In so doing scholars

uncritically accept the most dominant model as ldquothe globalrdquo and obscure thepower that was exercised to establish its dominance

To deal with these problems we adopt Bonaventura de Santosrsquos language ofldquoglobalized localismsrdquo and ldquo localized globalismsrdquo (Santos 104862610486241048624983094 Santos andRodriacuteguez Garavito 1048626104862410486241048629) e 1047297rst refers to a process in which a particularis-tic set of ideas and practices becomes a dominant global norm Santos (104862610486241048624983094)provides examples such as ldquothe transformation of the English language into

a lingua franca the globalization of American fast food or popular music orthe worldwide adoption of the same laws of intellectual ownership patentsor telecommunications aggressively promoted by the USArdquo (10486271048633983094) For ourpurpose the key issue is how particular understandings of rights rules andenforcement have become institutionalized as global norms Concretely thenotion of a ldquoglobalized localismrdquo sensitizes us to processes by which particu-lar sets of reformers (NGOs companies or others) have turned their projectsinto ldquoglobalrdquo standards for fairness and sustainability Our point is not to

join the chorus that argues that ldquoWesternrdquo standards are being illegitimatelyforced on people and companies elsewhere ere have long been calls fordecent work and responsible natural resource management in many differ-ent parts of the world But the global standards supported by conscientiousconsumers in North A merica and Europe embody particular approaches tothese issues

e second concept ldquolocalized globalismrdquo refers to the incorporation of

these global models into local routines and expectations e concept sen-sitizes us to the work involved in turning global standards for fairness andsustainability into a concrete practice in a factory forest or farm in someparticular location As we have noted scholars too oen portray these sites asempty spaces We believe it is preferable to start from the opposite premisethat sites of implementation are crowded with different actors and agendasonly some of which are likely to line up with global standard-seing initia-tives Some elements of global standards are easily incorporated into localpractices while others are 1047297ercely resisted But a recognition of localizedglobalisms also has methodological implications It is rare for researchersto actually study these locations in detail It is easier to conduct distant and

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decontextualized studies of CSR or to focus only on the creation of standardsrather than their local implementation Our analyses of the global timberagricultural apparel and electronics industries include aention to speci1047297c

locations from the sugarcane farms of Paraguay to the electronics factoriesof Malaysia

Te Puzzle of Rules Rule Making and the Persistence of Unruliness

One can beer understand conscientious consumption and production proj-ects by recognizing what Tim Bartley (1048626104862410486251048628a) has called the ldquopuzzle of rulesrdquo

in the global economy simply put global capitalism can be ldquounrulyrdquo but italso generates many rule-making projects

e expansion of global markets has facilitated a number of rule-makingprojects from the standardization of accounting procedures to the rules forfairness and sustainability discussed in this book e volume of rule making

by both public and private actors has increased over the past three decadesMany scholars have pointed to these trends as evidence that global capitalismis not manic or ungovernable as it was initially framed Marie-Laure Djelic

and Kerstin Sahlin-Andersson (104862610486241048624983094) argue that ldquothe proliferation of regu-latory activities actors networks or constellations leads to an explosion ofrules and to the profound re-ordering of our worldrdquo (1048625) and they see globalcapitalism as ldquomarked by more991252not less991252rule-making activityrdquo (10486271048631983094)

On the other hand the explosion of rule making has oen been gearedtoward the expansion of markets rather than their restriction and in manyrespects global capitalism has remained unruly In many industries invest-

ment and orders can and do move quickly across locations oen under-mining aempts to impose rules Even more socially controlled European

varieties of capitalism have had their foundations chipped away (Streeck1048626104862410486241048633) Furthermore for all of the efforts of NGOs to build rules for fairnesssustainability and human rights many corners of global industries remainlargely unscrutinized and unaffected by these rule-making projects

As our case studies illustrate even as standards for fairness and sustain-ability have risen to prominence global industries have remained volatileand exploitative Certi1047297cation of sustainable forestry rose to prominencefrom 1048625104863310486331048629 to 1048626104862410486251048624 but so did illegal logging and deforestation worsenedin many places Te global apparel industry has come to be governed by

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numerous codes of conduct and factory monitoring initiatives but it hasalso continued to move quickly from one location to another in search oflow wages and more docile workers e rapid and inconsistent pace of the

global electronics industry has undermined aempts to improve workingconditions while rapidly changing agricultural markets have threatened thelivelihoods of many smallholder farmers

e puzzle of rules can be solved through an analysis of neoliberalism (seeBartley 1048626104862410486251048628a) but it also provokes a simple conclusion about the prospects forglobal fairness and sustainability global industries oen have contradictorytendencies so we should not expect either complete ldquogreenwashrdquoldquofairwashrdquo

or serious transformation Fair trade certi1047297cation has not transformed thelogic of commodity trade but it has improved conditions for some farmersin some circumstances FSC certi1047297cation has not made the timber trade sus-tainable but it has supported improvements in some forests As we developthese 1047297ndings (in part 1048626 of the book) we hope to speak not only to scholars ofconscientious consumerism but also to citizens and consumers themselvesConsumers oen want to feel like their purchases are ldquocleanrdquo of exploitation

but this is unrealistic We believe it would be more promising if consumers

shied from a deterministic to a probabilistic approach conscientious con-sumption may increase onersquos probability of contributing to improvementsand decrease the probability of contributing to the most extreme forms ofexploitation Tis does not answer the question of how large those prob-abilities are (which surely varies by product and label) or the question of howsigni1047297cant those improvements can be But only if consumers shi from anall-or-nothing view of ldquocleanrdquo versus ldquodirtyrdquo production (that is sustainable

versus destructive fair versus exploitative) can they come to an accurateunderstanding of what their purchases can and cannot achieve

983127 983144 983137983156 983116983145 983141 983155 983105 983144 983141 983137 983140

Part 1048625 of this book focuses on dynamics and dilemmas of conscientious con-sumerism In chapter 1048625 we look at why some American and European con-sumers are more likely than others to practice conscientious consumptionUsing survey data on thousands of individual consumers our quantitativeanalyses focus on factors that shape two forms of conscientious consump-tion boycoing and ldquobuycoingrdquo991252that is preferring a product for some po-

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litical or ethical reason Some paerns are related to consumersrsquo beliefs andthe extent to which they can afford to be choosy But individual differencesare only a small part of the story Where consumers are has a great deal to do

with whether they engage in conscientious consumption or not We thereforeconnect the individual survey responses with measures that capture nationaleconomic political and cultural contexts Overall this initial portrait showsthat conscientious consumption is widespread but far from universal withkey differences rooted not only in individual characteristics but in differentstructures of consumption as well

Having sketched some general paerns we delve deeper into the meanings

and implications of conscientious consumerism in chapter 1048626 Our analyses inchapter 1048625 are based on what consumers say they do but there are reasons todoubt that consumers will follow through on what they say or that what theysay truly captures the social meaning of their actions Yet we show that thereis evidence of consumers being wil ling to pay for eco-labels and social labelsConsumers are most likely to do so when their ldquoethicalrdquo choices also servetheir self-interest such as saving on energy costs or eating safer healthierfoods But even for those forms of conscientious consumption that have no

short-term direct bene1047297t for consumers there is mounting evidence thatsome consumers will pay more For labeling enthusiasts this is a good thingBut the ldquoone dollar one voterdquo logic of conscientious consumerism and thestatus-symbol character of some ldquoethicalrdquo products are potentially danger-ous in that they can exacerbate social economic and political inequalitiesamong consumers Moreover there is a danger that conscientious consumer-ism can displace other forms of political engagement promoting individual

consumerism at the expense of democratic citizenship and collective socialmovements Working through these debates we argue that conscientiousconsumerism as an ideology is regressive and counterproductive but speci1047297cpractices of conscientious consumption can sometimes be consistent withother forms of political engagement

Of course the real test of conscientious consumption comes at the pointof production To what extent do voluntary standards forged in response toconsumer concern make a difference ldquoon the groundrdquo in global industries

We tackle this question in part 1048626 of the book by looking at the global produc-tion of four types of products991252(1048625) wood and paper products (1048626) food (espe-cially the agri-food industry) (1048627) apparel and footwear and (1048628) electronics

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Each of these case studies is rooted in the interviews that we have conducted with local actors and other 1047297ne-grained information on the organization ofproduction ese chapters apply the framework sketched above (and a com-

mon organizational template) to allow for comparative insightsChapter 1048627 looks at the rise of forest certi1047297cation and its effects in the global

timber industry Like fair trade the FSC is one of the oldest and most es-tablished certi1047297cation and labeling initiatives It was founded more thantwenty years ago and it spurred a number of imitators and competitors Yetit is not well known among conscientious consumers and its impacts have

been far less than originally intended We trace the rise of forest certi1047297cation

with particular aention to the founders and constituents of the FSC andhow they leveraged the structure of the forest products industry to ldquomake amarketrdquo for certi1047297ed wood and paper Yet applying sustainability standardsto the production of some wood and paper products has barely influencedglobal deforestation A closer look at FSC certi1047297cation in the tropical forestsof Indonesia illustrates both the contradictions of certifying in a shiing andcontentious context and the limited ability of forest certi1047297cation to influencethe main drivers of deforestation

Next in chapter 1048628 we turn to agricultural production and the fairness andsustainability projects that have emerged in this seing Consumers aacha variety of meanings to food and the politics of food consumption has ex-ploded in the past decade In addition to sketching the structure of agri-foodproduction and consumption in general we focus on two types of rule-mak-ing projects fair trade certi1047297cation and an increasingly popular ldquocommod-ity roundtablerdquo approach Looking more closely at two crops991252sugar and

soy991252in one country Paraguay we are able to illustrate the consequences ofdifferent models of certi1047297cation and the crucial role of local context Globalfood politics are being layered onto preexisting institutional arrangementsand it is largely these institutional arrangements that determine whether cer-ti1047297cation is meaningful or not For instance fair trade certi1047297cation seems tomaer most when smallholder farmers are already organized into democrati-cally effective cooperatives or when local organizing al lows them to upgradetheir production capacities over time e contingent effects of conscientiousconsumption come into focus in this chapter

Chapter 1048629 considers how the rise of anti-sweatshop activism in the early1048625104863310486331048624s led to various aempts to monitor and improve working conditions inapparel and footwear factories A rough indication of how these initiatives

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have fared is provided by the occurrence of factory 1047297res in 1048626104862410486251048624ndash1048626104862410486251048627 and thedeath of more than eleven hundred garment workers in the 1048626104862410486251048627 collapse ofthe Rana Plaza building in Bangladesh Our chapter examines the constitu-

encies behind different factory auditing and certi1047297cation initiatives the waysstandards were implemented and the reasons why their effects have beenminimal e structure of apparel and footwear production in many wayscreated the demand for codes of conduct but the structure and the mobilityof the industry have undermined meaningful improvements Looking moreclosely at factories in China we show how aempts to certify particularfactories have fallen short In recent years several new projects to provide

ethical apparel have emerged but there remain few credible alternatives inthis industry

Finally chapter 983094 takes us into the fast-paced world of the electronics in-dustry where companies produce new models of smartphones laptops andother devices at breakneck speed Yet recently this industry has become afocus of aention for the exploitation of production workers especially aera series of worker suicides (and later strikes) at Foxconn factories in Chinaand mounting scrutiny of Foxconnrsquos buyer Apple Electronics brands have

also been accused of using ldquoconflict mineralsrdquo in the production of smart-phones e electronics industry is populated by well-capitalized companiesthat at times have demonstrated good intentions to make the labor processsafer and more humane Yet the industry has struggled to make improve-ments and 1047297nd tenable solutions We argue that the solution to this puzzlelies in the architecture of production and to a large extent ultimately in theorganization of electronics consumption is is a case in which conscien-

tious consumerism has been slow to develop and unreflective consumerismhas been a powerful constraint on signi1047297cant improvement Using detaileddata on factories producing for Hewle-Packard we show how the industrycontinues to demand extraordinarily ldquoflexiblerdquo labor markets and excessive

working hours in its factories in Southeast Asia We have tried to provide a sense of the complexity of these cases and set-

tings while still drawing out clear implications Along the way readers shouldget a clearer sense of the structure and operation of global value chains the

varied geographies of production and the circumscribed consequences ofeco-labels and social labels In a concluding chapter we compare our foursets of products and consider what has been learned

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1048625

983124983144983141 983142983157983154983150983145983156983157983154983141 983155983144983151983152983152983145983150983143 983156983154983145983152 983159983137983155 983149983151983154983141 983139983151983149983152983148983145983139983137983156983141983140 983156983144983137983150expected Searching for a new headboard my wife and I (Bartley) hoped we

would 1047297nd something that was well made preferably under decent condi-tions When we asked about items made from wood certi1047297ed by the ForestStewardship Council we mostly got blank stares or information that seemed

intended to divert our aention One saleswoman was telling us proudlyabout the storersquos furniture being made in the USA when we saw ldquoMade in

Vietnamrdquo stamped in large leers on the back of one piece We knew that logs were being harvested illegally991252not to mention unsustainably991252in Laos In-donesia and Russia and shipped to factories in Vietnam and China to makefurniture for consumers in North America and Europe We also knew thatthe young women and men working in these factories endured health hazardsand long hours to meet the low prices and fast delivery times that retailers

demanded Not that ldquoMade in the USArdquo even if we could 1047297nd it would be aperfect guarantee either since labor laws are frequently violated here as welland unsustainable forestry is not unique to developing countries

Rules Responsibilities

and Rights in the Global Economy

INTRODUCTION

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Aer much head scratching we stopped browsing and bought a cheap usedheadboard from a Craigslist ad We might have even felt good about this fora moment since we could claim to be resisting a culture of disposability and

overconsumption But we knew we wouldnrsquot keep the slightly ugly headboardfor long and would soon 1047297nd ourselves back in the same conundrum

Lile dilemmas like this have become increasingly common especially inthe markets of North A merica and Europe Many consumers claim to ldquoshop

with a consciencerdquo and a huge number of eco- and social-labeling programshave sprung up to assure them that factories farms forests and 1047297sheriesaround the world are in some sense ldquosustainablerdquo or ldquofairrdquo One project to

track eco-labels has found more than 104862810486291048624 different labels worldwide852017 Yet it is clear that consumers oen abandon their ideals for low prices and

even conscientious consumers can be confused by the barrage of labels andmisleading claims Some labels are issued by independent initiatives withstringent standards such as Fair Trade certi1047297cation and the Forest Steward-ship Council but what lies ldquobehind the labelrdquo is a far cry from what consum-ers imagine when they see images of a smiling coffee farmer or a green tree ina lush forest What does it mean if consumers ldquovote with their pocketbooksrdquo

by choosing products that are labeled as ldquofairrdquo or ldquosustainablerdquo Can globalproduction processes really be transformed by standards that are voluntarilyadopted by pro1047297t-seeking companies to please 1047297ckle consumers As somepeople strive to be ldquoconscientious consumersrdquo are they just fooling them-selves engaging in small acts of charity while ignoring larger structures ofpower and inequality that shape the lives of workers citizens and commu-nities locally and globally Is a consumerist logic of ldquoone dollar one voterdquo

displacing the democratic principle of ldquoone person one voterdquois book explores these dilemmas by looking at the links between con-

sumption and production processes in global industries Celebrations andcritiques of ldquoethical consumptionrdquo ldquopolitical consumerismrdquo and the relatedissue of ldquocorporate social responsibilityrdquo have abounded in the past decade

Yet rarely do these treatments look closely at the links between consumermarkets voluntary standards and production processes in different indus-tries and locations We believe it is crucial to examine the dynamics of bothconsumption and production in order to understand if and when ldquoshopping

with a consciencerdquo is likely to make a difference in global industries Doingso has taken us not only into analyses of consumer behavior and marketstructures but also into footwear factories in China sourcing offices in Hong

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Kong smallholder farms in Paraguay timber operations in Indonesia elec-tronics factories in Malaysia activist organizations in the United States and

beyond As a group we have conducted more than four hundred interviews

across four continents We have talked with a variety of practitioners in the world of global standards from managers responsible for making changes toauditors charged with judging compliance from workers and smallholderfarmers to the representatives of global brands and international nongov-ernmental organizations (INGOs) We have also analyzed a variety of dataon consumers 1047297rms and industry dynamics In this book we have soughtto integrate a large amount of information into straightforward analyses and

rich case studies

983124983144983141 983108983141983138983137983156983141 983151983158983141983154 983107983151983150983155983139983145983141983150983156983145983151983157983155 983107983151983150983155983157983149983141983154 983145983155983149

Can consumers contribute to a fairer more sustainable model of globaliza-tion Should they or is this a foolish way to bring about social change esequestions are central to the scholarly debate about what we call ldquoconscien-tious consumerismrdquo991252that is consumers viewing their purchases as a way

to express some sense of ethical or perhaps even political responsibilitySome theorists have treated conscientious consumerism as an aractiveand viable way for individuals to express their values likening consumptionto activism political engagement and active citizenship (Michelei 1048626104862410486241048627)

At a minimum paying aention to how consumer products are made mayenhance consumersrsquo sense of global connection and help to ldquode-fetishizerdquocommodities (Seyfang 1048626104862410486241048629) Others have argued that conscientious con-

sumerism is a shallow form of engagement that detracts from other pathwaysto social change expresses parochial self-serving values and legitimatesoverconsumption (Guthman 1048626104862410486241048631a Maniates 1048626104862410486241048625 Maniates and Meyer1048626104862410486251048624 Szasz 1048626104862410486241048631) In between some theorists have argued that individualscan be hybrid ldquocitizen-consumersrdquo whose consumer choices contribute insmall ways to a broader sense of social and political engagement (Williams104862610486241048624983094 Willis and Schor 1048626104862410486251048626)

ese debates are important and we stake out our own position here sinceany treatment of conscientious consumerism must grapple with its personaland political meanings But by focusing almost exclusively on the culturepolitics and meanings of conscientious consumerism existing researchhas had lile to say about two key factors991252(1048625) the structures of conscien-

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tious consumption and (1048626) its consequences at the point of production Firstconsuming products labeled as ldquofairrdquo or ldquosustainablerdquo is not just a maer ofindividual ldquoreflexivityrdquo regardless of whether one views this as noble or self-

absorbed It is structured by the constraints and opportunities that consum-ers face is refers in part to factors such as income education and socialclass that make conscientious consumerism far from universal But it alsorefers to differences across countries Even among fairly affluent countries inNorth America and Europe there are signi1047297cant differences in the size andshape of markets for products whose labels claim they are fair or sustainable

Second and even more striking is the degree to which the discourse on

conscientious consumerism has sidestepped questions about the implemen-tation of the standards that consumers are supporting Many forms of con-scientious consumption rely on assurances that certain production standardshave been followed Consumers cannot see for themselves whether theirfood has been farmed in a fair and sustainable way whether their furnitureoriginated in deforestation or whether their smartphones are the product ofheavily polluting high-tech sweatshops But scholars of conscientious con-sumerism have failed to interrogate these standards and assurances ey

usually either accept them at face value or dismiss them altogether as ldquogreen- washrdquo or ldquofairwashrdquo Other scholars have begun to study the implementationof voluntary production standards typically in order to evaluate ldquoprivategovernancerdquo systems (Locke 1048626104862410486251048627 Ponte 1048626104862410486241048632 Seidman 1048626104862410486241048631) or what somehave called ldquotransnational private regulationrdquo (Bartley 1048626104862410486241048631b) But researchon standards ldquoon the groundrdquo remains rare and comparisons of differentindustries and locations are just beginning to emerge852018

As one does look behind the label this much is clear claims of fairness andsustainability that seem straightforward to consumers become signi1047297cantlymurkier as one looks at the farms factories and forests where the productsoriginate Fair trade coffee may not be so fair for the casual laborers that farm-ers hire to toil in organic farms (Jaffee 1048626104862410486241048631)852018 A decade of ldquocorporate socialresponsibilityrdquo in the apparel industry did not prevent more than elevenhundred workers from dying when the Rana Plaza complex of factories inBangladesh collapsed in 1048626104862410486251048627 Certi1047297ed sustainable forests have sometimesturned out to be sites of illegal logging and violence against local residentsBut it is also clear that not all assurances are the same Some initiatives aremore stringent and credible than others some parts of an industry are more

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open to reform than others and some places are more likely to support de-cent conditions than others We 1047297nd more variation and complexity in globalindustries than would be expected by either simplistic celebrations of cor-

porate social responsibility or by condemnations of greenwashfairwashOur goal is to document grapple with and hopefully sort out some of thatcomplexity

e debate about conscientious consumerism is to some degree colored bythe different terms that scholars have used to describe it Some use the termldquopolitical consumerismrdquo (Michelei 1048626104862410486241048627) which has become the standardterm for researchers in much of Europe We believe it is premature to label

shopping with a conscience as a political act at least until far more is knownabout how consumers understand this act and its consequences Others pre-fer the term ldquoethical consumerismrdquo which appears to be more common inBritish and American discourse (Barne et al 1048626104862410486241048629 Goodman Maye andHolloway 1048626104862410486251048624) But this seems to imply that consumers have a coherentethical rationale We use the term ldquoconscientious consumerismrdquo (and ldquocon-scientious consumptionrdquo) to reflect our view that concerned consumers aremore oen acting on a vague sense of trying to do good in the world than on

a speci1047297c political or ethical commitment is does not mean that conscien-tious consumption cannot be highly principled In some cases it clearly isBut in many cases we suspect that consumers are uncertain and grasping991252areasonable response to the perplexing world of labels and global industries

And sometimes scholars question whether seemingly ethical purchasesmight actually be self-serving and insular (Szasz 1048626104862410486241048631) We see ldquoconscien-tiousrdquo consumer activity as open to both more and less principled ethical

political commitments Grappling with the pitfalls of this activity in this book we argue that an overarching ideology of conscientious consumerismas a vision of social change is vacuous Consumers and scholars should notrely on shopping to change the world Nevertheless we argue speci1047297c prac-tices of conscientious consumption can sometimes be meaningful as part ofmultifaceted strategies for reforming global industries Careful aention isneeded then to both consumer behavior and the effects of voluntary pro-duction standards

In the remainder of this introduction we sketch our approach to the analy-sis of conscientious consumption and standards for global industries We

begin by discussing the processes through which claims of ldquofairnessrdquo and

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ldquosustainabilityrdquo have become common features of shopping aisles is in-cludes some of the most signi1047297cant changes in the global economy and polityover the past four decades including the rise of global supply chains trans-

national advocacy networks and neoliberalism as an ideology of governance We then move on to critique three common frames for understanding con-scientious consumption and related global standards is sets the stage forour own framework for analysis which emphasizes industry structures theconstituencies behind standards global-local linkages and what we call theldquopuzzle of rulesrdquo in the global economy Following this introductory chapter

we turn to an analysis of consumer behavior in the United States and Europe

Tis is followed by an aempt to unpack the dilemmas of conscientiousconsumerism991252and our interpretation of what is harmful and helpful aboutit en in part 1048626 of the book we shi from consumption to production anddevelop case studies of four types of products timber food apparel andelectronics All have been subject to standards for ldquofairrdquo or ldquosustainablerdquoproduction yet the results have rarely been what reformers hoped for

983110983154983151983149 983107983137983149983152983137983145983143983150983155 983156983151 983116983137983138983141983148 983155

e story usually begins with a social movement While twentieth-centurysocial movements oen targeted national states and public policy by the turnof the twenty-1047297rst century environmental labor and human rights activists

were also ldquoshaming the corporationrdquo and contesting markets directly Oenthis meant exposing well-known transnational corporationsrsquo complicity withexploitation of workers (especially young women) natural environments

and indigenous people in locations around the world Anti-sweatshop groupsldquonamed and shamedrdquo Nike Walmart HampM and many other companies todraw aention to unsafe working environments physical and verbal abuseand a high-pressure low-wage model of production in the apparel and foot-

wear industry Eventually this approach spread to the electronics industryas activists showed how Apple Hewle-Packard Samsung and others relyon harsh labor conditions in Asia as well as ldquoconflict mineralsrdquo from war-torn areas of Central Africa Environmentalists had long been targetingcompanies like Te Home Depot BampQ and Mitsubishi because of theircontributions to tropical deforestation not to mention campaigns againstShell Chevron and other oil companies with reputations for pollution andenvironmental injustice Food markets became especially politicized Envi-

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ronmentalists showed how beef consumption threatened the Amazon rainforest how seafood sales contributed to the depletion of species and destruc-tion of ocean habitats and how ldquofactory farmsrdquo polluted local environments

ey also raised concerns about pesticides and genetically modi1047297ed organ-isms (GMOs) in the supply chains of many food brands and retailers Humanrights and development organizations linked Hershey Nestleacute and others to

bonded labor in cacao farms and connected Coca-Cola Pepsi and Cargill (alarge soybean producer) to land grabs that forcibly displaced small farmersin South America Asia and Africa

In response retailers and brands increasingly have adopted voluntary rules

for their supply chains Apparel footwear and electronics companies haveadopted ldquoethical sourcingrdquo policies and ldquocodes of conductrdquo sending auditorsaround the world to assess their suppliersrsquo compliance Some have joinedinitiatives like Social Accountability International (SAI) the Fair Labor

Association (FLA) Business Social Compliance Initiative (BSCI) or theElectronics Industry Citizenship Coalition (EICC) which have their ownsets of rules and auditing procedures Food producers and retailers havesimilarly joined initiatives like the Roundtable on Responsible Soy (RTRS)

or the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) both of which addressthe environmental and social implications of large-scale agricultural planta-tions Sellers of paper and furniture have turned to products certi1047297ed bythe Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) (or its competitor the Programmefor the Endorsement of Forest Certi1047297cation [PEFC]) to demonstrate theirgreen credentials while some food retailers have agreed to sell seafood cer-ti1047297ed by the Marine Stewardship Council ese are just a few examples of

how pressure from social movements has led to the proliferation of ethicalstandards Some of these standards take the form of policies that companiesadopt while others are governed by external associations like those men-tioned above Typically these associations are created either by coalitions ofNGOs and a few leading 1047297rms or by groups of companies hoping to fend offfurther pressure

In some instances social movements have not merely pressured companiesto improve their practices they have sought to endorse alternative models ofproduction Organic agriculture was a movement before it was a market andit helped to legitimate forms of farming that do not rely on pesticides e fairtrade movement originated with the goal of supporting small farmers who

were organized into democratically run cooperatives and it sought to use

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certi1047297cation to direct greater resources toward these farmers not to improveconditions on large plantations (Linton Liou and Shaw 1048626104862410486241048628) Although la-

bor rights advocates have been hesitant to label companies as ldquogoodrdquo groups

like the Worker Rights Consortium (WRC) and the Fair Wear Foundation(FWF) have begun to build market support for factories in which workersare represented by independent unions Similarly some of the impetus forthe Forest Stewardship Council came from foresters environmentalists andindigenous rights groups hoping to support small-scale community forestryoperations not simply to improve industrial timber operations (Bartleyand Smith 1048626104862410486251048624) ese kinds of initiatives are ldquoin the market but not of itrdquo

(Taylor 1048626104862410486241048629) and insert alternative ldquoorders of worthrdquo into market decisions(Boltanski and eacutevenot 104862610486241048624983094) Yet as activists have sought to build marketsupport for these production models they have encountered dilemmas ofldquomainstreamingrdquo alternatives Under pressure larger companies have agreedto sell certi1047297ed products including Starbucks and Fair Trade coffee or eHome Depot and FSC-certi1047297ed lumber But as activists have discoveredthere is a 1047297ne and oen blurry line between building market support and

becoming dependent on big companies in a way that leads to the weakening

of standards As our case studies show the world of voluntary standards whether for

alternatives or ldquobest practicesrdquo involves a constant struggle for the powerto de1047297ne legitimate standards and to determine how strictly they should beapplied in the 1047297eld ere is an ldquoNGO-Industrial Complexrdquo that underliesmost conscientious consumption and production initiatives (Gereffi Garcia-

Johnson and Sasser 1048626104862410486241048625) but it is multifaceted and contentious

e ultimate impacts of conscientious consumption and production proj-ects are oen hard to discern but this much is clear taken together theseactivities amount to a vast new set of standard-seing projects for the globaleconomy Promoted by a mix of NGOs companies and trade associationsthey seek to use global production networks991252or ldquoglobal value chainsrdquo991252rather than the national state to promote rules about fairness justice andsustainability (Cashore Auld and Newsom 1048626104862410486241048628 Guthman 1048626104862410486241048631b Ponte1048626104862410486241048632 Seidman 1048626104862410486241048631) ldquoLead 1047297rmsrdquo in these global value chains991252that is

large retailers and brands from Apple to IKEA to Zara991252have the power toset styles prices and delivery schedules for their suppliers so advocatesargue they should also be able to influence the conditions of workers com-

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munities and the environment Companies frequently adopt standards tofend off activist pressure and the media spotlight but adoption does notmean implementation In some cases alternatives have found a niche in the

market and in other cases voluntary initiatives have proliferated while thelogic of production991252and exploitation991252has remained largely unchanged

Scrutiny of global industries has also spawned tools to help consum-ers make sense of all of these claims and to smartly vote with their wal-lets Consumer Reports magazine can trace its origins to a much earlier waveof muckraking (Rao 1048625104863310486331048632) and with the recent proliferation of competingeco-labels it has sometimes stepped in to referee as have publications from

Co-Op America in the United States and Ethical Consumer magazine in theUnited Kingdom Te Monterey Bay Aquarium in the United States haslong published a list of seafood for environmentally conscious consumersto prefer and avoid Online guides and smartphone apps have made thesetypes of guides more elaborate Goodguidecom developed by some leadingresearchers before being sold to Underwriters Laboratories (UL) compilesa wide array of information to rate products and companies for their healthenvironmental and social impacts Smartphone apps even allow consumers

to trace products to parent companies and investors as with apps that enableconsumers to boyco the conservative Koch Brothers avoid the biotech gi-ant Monsanto or support companies that recognize lesbian gay bisexualand transsexual rights (OrsquoConnor 1048626104862410486251048627)

Of course these consumer guides are only as good as the information thatgoes into them and as our case studies show meaningful accurate informa-tion is oen difficult to come by in complex global industries Furthermore

as our analyses of consumer behavior show only particular subsets of con-sumers have indicated an interest in boycoing or ldquobuycoingrdquo and thereare real questions about how many will pay more for guarantees of fairnessand sustainability Before diving into these issues we must consider thelarger context in which the rise of conscientious consumerism has occurred

983122983141983139983151983150 983142983145983143983157983154983145 983150 983143 983122983141983155983152983151983150 983155983145983138983145983148983145983156983145983141983155 983122 983145983143983144983156983155 983137 983150 983140 983122983157983148983141983155

Debates about consumers producers and ethical standards are vexing inpart because they are tied up with a larger recon1047297guration of responsibilitiesrights and rules in the global economy National and multinational corpo-

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rations have become transnational corporations with activities stretchingacross national boundaries without being deeply rooted in them Nationalstates once the main makers of rules and arbiters of rights are increasingly

just one of many actors issuing rules and claiming to enforce rights Inter-national NGOs and global standards associations have sought to issue rulesand enforce rights as well although their effectiveness in doing so is unclearMore broadly the goal to turn the world into ldquoone big marketrdquo991252associated

with neoliberal ideology991252has challenged earlier conceptions of what na-tional states can and should do to protect or empower citizens workers andthe environment Conscientious consumption and production projects are

to some degree the result of these changes In a world of vertically integratedcompanies and strong responsive states there would be far less demand for

voluntary standards supported by consumers But these changes have notsimply paved the way for conscientious consumerism they have complicatedits meanings and impacts in a variety of ways

Te Supply Chain Revolution

Capitalism in the twentieth century was characterized by the growth of verti-cally integrated corporations which controlled raw materials manufactur-ing and distribution and by the growth of horizontally integrated corpora-tions and conglomerates in which multiple businesses were combined in thesame corporate structure By the 1048625104863310486321048624s these models were giving way to theldquosupply chain revolutionrdquo in which large 1047297rms contract with independentsuppliers rather than owning an entire production process Nike built its

fortunes by being an early adopter of the ldquomanufacturer without factoriesrdquomodel and Walmart became a dominant retailer by making its supply chains

work faster and cheaper than retailers had previously In what Robert Feen-stra (1048625104863310486331048632) called the ldquointegration of trade and disintegration of productionrdquocompanies in industries from apparel to electronics to furniture shed theirfactories contracted with independent manufacturers and focused on build-ing their ldquobrandrdquo images

While some contracting and subcontracting happened within national borders scholars pointed out that many production processes were beingturned into ldquoglobal commodity chainsrdquo and especially ldquobuyer-drivenrdquo globalcommodity chains in which companies nearest the distribution end of the

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chain (retailers and well-known brands) exercised the greatest power overproduction processes and extracted the greatest pro1047297t from them (Gereffi1048625104863310486331048628 1048625104863310486331048633) Other terms such as ldquoglobal production networksrdquo and ldquoglobal

value chainsrdquo described similar phenomena and as many industries shiedto a supply chain model of some sort these different traditions of research

began to merge and more nuanced ways of describing power and coordina-tion in global value chains were articulated (Bair 1048626104862410486241048632 Gereffi Humphreyand Sturgeon 1048626104862410486241048629) is supply chain revolution was facilitated by techno-logical changes that made contracting more efficient and by legal changesthat opened more parts of the world to foreign investment Of course in

some industries such as agriculture large consumer-facing companies hadlong relied on networks of suppliers991252from coffee farmers to growers ofcorn wheat and other commodity crops Yet these industries have beenrecon1047297gured to some degree by the growth of mega-retailers that have cutout middleman distributors

Most important at this point is to recognize how the supply chain revolu-tion both highlighted and blurred the responsibilities of transnational corpo-rations On one hand contracting and subcontracting networks tied retailers

and brands in the United States and Europe to sites of production991252andexploitation991252around the world To be sure multinational corporations likeNestleacute I and PepsiCo had been shamed for the actions of their foreignarms in the 1048625104863310486311048624s but the networked transnational corporations of the 1048625104863310486331048624shad more extensive ties and thus greater vulnerabilities On the other handthe lines of responsibility991252and especially legal liability991252were blurry since

brands and retailers exercised a great deal of power over their suppliers but

did not own those sites of production Initially when sweatshops child la- bor and prison labor were uncovered brands like Nike and Walmart deniedresponsibility on the basis that they did not own the factories where suchabuses occurred As pressure mounted these and other lead 1047297rms in global

value chains began to accept ldquosordquo forms of responsibility by adopting codesof conduct and pledging to monitor and improve conditions in their supplychains ose same companies however 1047297ercely resisted aempts to makethem legally liable (Bartley 1048626104862410486241048629 Shamir 1048626104862410486241048628)

For the most part this remains the situation in the forest products foodapparelfootwear and electronics industries When pressed retailers and

brands have publicly accepted some responsibility to improve conditions in

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10486251048627983113983150983156983154983151983140983157983139983156983145983151983150

kets have remained largely national in scope especially when it comes toissues of fairness and sustainability e World Trade Organization (WTO)has endorsed protections for intellectual property rights but it has le only

narrow spaces for governments to protect workers and environments and ithas refused to address labor rights directly Bilateral and multilateral tradeagreements sometimes include labor and environmental standards but theseare limited in scope and enforceability International organizations suchas the United Nations and the International Labor Organization promoteconventions for governments to adopt but these organizations rarely haveany power to demand enforcement National governments are constrained

in part by a global economy in which 1047297rms and investors can move from one jurisdiction to another but perhaps even more by ideological commitmentsto neoliberal globalization and the rules of the WTO (Evans 1048625104863310486331048631 Rodrik1048626104862410486251048625) As we argue it is a mistake to think that governments are powerless orirrelevant in the face of globalization but there is no doubt that the dearthof binding international regulation of production conditions has led many tolook to the private sector as a way of enforcing standards NGOs for instancehave oen turned to voluntary standards and conscientious consumption as

second-best alternatives to intergovernmental systems of regulationNeoliberalism can be credited not only with helping to hollow out the state

but also with promoting an individualization of responsibility In a processthat theorists have called ldquoresponsibilizationrdquo individuals are treated as hav-ing the duty and capacity to take responsibility for things that should rightly

be seen as the result of social structures is can be seen for instance in at-tempts to reform welfare states to make welfare recipients take responsibility

for their own fates (Rose 1048626104862410486241048624) e moralization of markets has also been aresponsibilization process in which individual consumers are told they havethe duty991252and the ability991252to solve the worldrsquos social problems throughtheir purchases While some scholars use the language of responsibilizationto dismiss conscientious consumption as misguided we do not see this asthe most appropriate response We recognize that individual consumers are

being asked to take responsibility for problems that would oen be beerserved by more collective and robust solutions including revitalized statesand labor unions But it is at least possible that responsibility-taking by con-sumers could help to support more durable solutions in the future especially

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if governments NGOs and consumers themselves have a clearer under-standing of what is and is not being affected by conscientious consumptionand production initiatives

INGOs and ransnational Advocacy Networks

Since the end of World War II NGOs have become key actors in nationalinternational and transnational governance By the turn of the twenty-1047297rstcentury NGOs were carrying out most of the tasks of governing complex so-cieties delivering development assistance mediating social conflicts seing

standards for business developing expert knowledge and reconstructingsocieties aer natural and social disasters By some accounts the proliferationof NGOs and their incorporation into development and governance projectsamounts to an associational revolution that ldquomay constitute as signi1047297cant asocial and political development of the laer twentieth century as the rise ofthe nation state was of the nineteenth centuryrdquo (Edwards and Hulme 104862510486331048633983094 1048626)

International NGOs (INGOs) such as Greenpeace Oxfam or HumanRights Watch have mobilized aention to a variety of global problems from

climate change to new forms of bonded labor ey have garnered mediaaention to these problems and have pushed governments and intergovern-mental organizations to take action In addition the growth of transnationalnetworks of advocates and experts has sometimes allowed domestic activiststo gain leverage over their governments In what Margaret Keck and KathrynSikkink (1048625104863310486331048632) dubbed the ldquoboomerang effectrdquo domestic activists can reachpast indifferent or hostile domestic governments and appeal to transnational

advocacy networks that in turn exert pressure on those governmentsSince the 1048625104863310486331048624s INGOs have increasingly sought to put pressure on trans-

national corporations and restructure markets not just state policies eyhave led efforts to build product certi1047297cation initiatives from the ForestStewardship Council to the Marine Stewardship Council and they havecoordinated ldquomarket campaignsrdquo to convince large retailers to support theseinitiatives In addition the traditional boomerang effect has been supple-mented with what Naomi Klein (1048625104863310486331048633) called the ldquobrand boomerangrdquo in

which grassroots labor or environmental activists call on their internationalallies to put pressure on a well-known company that is operating in (or buy-

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10486251048629983113983150983156983154983151983140983157983139983156983145983151983150

ing from) that location rough these processes INGOs have become im-portant architects advocates and watchdogs of conscientious consumptionand production projects

e rise of INGOs does raise conundrums however especially about therelationship between professional advocates based in Amsterdam or Wash-ington DC and grassroots activists in developing countries To some extentINGOs have become sensitive to these power disparities and local NGOshave become savvy about working with foreign partners But the power ofINGOs to organize transnational campaigns aract media aention andshame global companies does carry the danger that more locally oriented

strategies or those directed to domestic governments are being neglected(Seidman 1048626104862410486241048631)

Standards for Markets and Markets for Standards

Without the supply chain revolution neoliberal globalization and thegrowth of transnational advocacy networks it is hard to imagine the rise ofconscientious consumption and global standards for fairness and sustain-

ability Yet just because initiatives for auditing certifying or reporting onsustainability or fairness have emerged that does not mean they will haveintegrity or impact Typically conscientious consumption and productionprojects are organized as private voluntary initiatives ey aempt to setstandards for markets but they also exist within markets Like all voluntaryprograms they depend on participation from companies and there can oen

be a trade-off between the stringency of standards and the number of partici-

pants (Potoski and Prakash 1048626104862410486241048633) All voluntary initiatives are structurallydependent on their corporate participants so one should take the languageof independent ldquothird-partyrdquo initiatives with a grain of salt Furthermore asprivate initiatives they have no monopoly on standards for a particular topic(as a government would have) is means competing standards initiativescan easily emerge For some observers the private voluntary character ofthese initiatives is reason enough to give up on them (eg Seidman 1048626104862410486241048631)

while for neoliberal advocates of market-based solutions these same featuresmake such initiatives especially aractive As we argue below our approachseeks to unpack variation in the organization of these initiatives and the

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contexts in which they operate At the same time as our case studies showthere are certainly limits on what private voluntary initiatives have beenable to accomplish

983124983144983154 983141983141 983110983154983137 983149983141983155 983137983150 983140 983124983144983141983145983154 983123983144983151983154983156983139983151983149983145983150 983143983155

Given the rise of conscientious consumerism and the growth of standards forglobal industries scholars and advocates are racing to promote simple framesfor making sense of them In this section we discuss three frames that areoen invoked Each captures a slice of something important but each ends

up obscuring as much as it illuminates or more

Te Empowered Sovereign Consumer

Scholars and advocates oen adopt a celebratory tone in discussing consci-entious consumerism ey argue that consumers are being empowered toldquovote with their dollarsrdquo and that these small changes in the habits of affluentconsumers can change or even ldquosaverdquo the world As Ruth Stokes (1048626104862410486251048627) writes

in the Ecologist magazine ldquoI believe that changing the way we shop991252voting with our money991252can help to change the world Companies respond tothe habits of shoppers We all have consumer power we just have to makesure we use it wiselyrdquo If consumers have been manipulated by companiesin the past they are increasingly being empowered by new sources of infor-mation argues Dara OrsquoRourke (1048626104862410486251048625) eorists of ldquopolitical consumerismrdquohave argued that this mode of political expression is especially empowering

for individuals who are alienated from formal politics such as young peopleand women (Michelei 1048626104862410486241048627) Furthermore as companies compete for thesupport of conscientious consumers and the coveted ldquolifestyles of health andsustainabilityrdquo (LOHAS) niche (Emerich 1048626104862410486251048625) many observers argue thatthey will become transparent responsible corporate citizens (Porter andKramer 104862610486241048624983094 Smith 1048625104863310486331048624 Zadek Pruzan and Evans 1048625104863310486331048631)

Such celebrations oen rest on an idealized framing of consumer agency991252that is the ability and willingness of the ldquosovereign citizen-consumerrdquo to bethe prime mover of social change (Jacobsen and Dulsrud 1048626104862410486241048631) e ldquosover-eign consumerrdquo is an old concept that is intended to suggest that consumertastes are the driver of all economic activity As scholars have observed the

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growth of conscientious consumption the sovereign consumer has becomethe sovereign citizen-consumer or what Roberta Sassatelli (1048626104862410486241048631) dubbedthe waking of the ldquosleepy giant of the sovereign citizen-consumerrdquo (104862510486321048632) So-

cial theorist Ulrich Beck perhaps the most prominent theorist of consump-tion as a form of politics argues that ldquocitizens discover the act of shoppingas one in which they can always cast their ballot991252on a world scale no lessrdquo(qtd in Sassatelli 1048626104862410486241048631 104862510486321048632) Michele Michelei (1048626104862410486241048627) takes the provocationeven further

Conflicts over what and where to consume are now central for understanding the func-tioning of affluent Western societies is can even mean that consumers participating

in boycos can for instance be likened to resistance 1047297ghters Yet unlike resistance orrevolutionary conflicts of the past citizen-consumers tend to direct their aention towardthe market rather than state actors (1048625983094ndash10486251048631)

Even if one gets past the hyperbole treating consumer tastes as king orqueen is problematic in several respects First consumersrsquo aitudes turn outto be only one ingredient in the construction of conscientious consumptionmarkets As we show in this book the opportunities for conscientious con-sumption are not distributed evenly across individuals or across countries

Social inequality and differences in market structures mean the social con-text of consumption is just as important as individual aitudes Consumertastes may make a difference but it is difficult to see them as a true primemover

Second it is naive to assume that a change in consumer tastes translatesdirectly into a change in the production processes of global industries AsMargaret Willis and Juliet Schor (1048626104862410486251048626) argue many accounts of consci-

entious consumerism take a ldquonaiumlve aggregationistrdquo approach to marketsassuming that if a large enough number of consumers is interested in al-ternative products the market will simply change to deliver them A quitedifferent story is told by research on industries technologies and organiza-tions over time Production processes are oen ldquolocked inrdquo by a system ofinterrelated technologies and expectations making them difficult to changePaul David (1048625104863310486321048629) famously illustrated this by considering the persistence ofthe inefficient QWERTY keyboard on typewriters and computers Even ifproduction practices are not strongly locked in companies like all organi-zations rarely abandon their core routines and technologies (Hannan andFreeman 1048625104863310486321048633) Perhaps the biggest problem is that those who celebrate the

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transformative power of new consumer tastes assume that industry practicesare changing but they almost never actually investigate this assumption edisconnect between theories of conscientious consumerism and empirical

research on industry practices is stark and it is one thing that we hope toremedy with this book

Finally by celebrating the empowered conscientious politicized con-sumer one obscures the ways that unreflective consumer choices influencelabor and environmental conditions in global industries As much as someconsumers are becoming more conscientious about some of their choicesespecially when it comes to food and drinks (eg organic produce fair trade

coffee) much consumer activity is routine and habitual and some of theethics of consumption are opaque to all but the most commied individu-als Conscientious consumers might be careful to recycle avoid disposableplastic water boles and buy organic vegetables but then eat beef withoutthinking of its massive natural resource demands and the contributions ofcale production to global warming As environmentalists have pointedout encouraging consumers to make their purchases more environmentallyfriendly carries a risk of legitimating overconsumption in affluent markets

which is the foundation of many forms of environmental degradation (Mani-ates and Meyer 1048626104862410486251048624) e issue may not be just the amount of consumption

but its pace as well As will become clear later in this book the rise of ldquofastfashionrdquo and ldquofast electronicsrdquo991252that is the rapid churning through fashion-able styles of clothing and different models of smartphones991252appears to bea root cause of labor exploitation in the apparel and electronics industries

GreenwashFairwash

While some have celebrated conscientious consumerism others have dis-missed voluntary standards eco-labeling and social labeling as ldquogreenwashrdquoor ldquofairwashrdquo As Sharon Beder (1048626104862410486241048625) puts it ldquoTe aempt to provide alsquogreenrsquo and caring image for a corporation is a public relations strategy aimedat promising reform and heading off demands for more substantial and fun-damental changes and government interventionrdquo (104862610486291048627) Claims about fair

and sustainable production in this view simply provide cover to companiesthat are engaged in fundamentally unfair and unsustainable activities ecodes of conduct sustainability reports and information disclosures that are

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highlighted in celebratory accounts of transparency may actually be formsof ldquodisinformationrdquo that obscure companiesrsquo actual practices

e term ldquogreenwashrdquo took off among environmentalists in the late 1048625104863310486321048624s

as a description of advertising campaigns that portrayed companies as pro-tectors of the environment (Beers and Capellaro 1048625104863310486331048625) Greenpeace arguedthat transnational corporations like Shell DuPont and Mitsubishi had ldquoem-

braced the environment as their cause and co-opted its terminologyrdquo even while contributing massively to environmental degradation (Greenpeace1048625104863310486331048626 1048626) e analogue for corporate claims about incomes livelihoods and

justice991252ldquofairwashingrdquo991252entered the lexicon later in the wake of the fair

trade movement As fair trade certi1047297cation was becoming ldquomainstreamedrdquoand imitated scholars and activists began worrying that fairwashing wason the horizon (Conroy 1048626104862410486241048631 Lyon and Moberg 1048626104862410486251048624) Observers have alsocriticized the images produced in the name of ldquocorporate social responsibil-ityrdquo arguing that these are ldquomerely a public relations game lulling us intoa false sense of securityrdquo (Doane 1048626104862410486241048629 10486261048633) Common to all these diagnosesis the sense that most assurances one 1047297nds on a product are nothing morethan public relations efforts

e greenwashfairwash critique captures two key features of conscien-tious consumption and global standards First when faced with criticismcompanies would prefer to be able to improve their images without alteringpro1047297table practices A public relations campaign is typically the 1047297rst line ofdefense Companies may also hire outside organizations991252auditors consul-tants and sometimes NGOs991252to lend some credibility to their campaignsey may also fund seemingly independent standard-seing initiatives that

can endorse their corporate social responsibility programs or label theirproducts As we will see this is how the US timber industryrsquos SustainableForestry Initiative got its start and it helps to account for the role of appareland footwear brands in the Fair Labor Association One must always takeassurances of sustainability and fairness with a grain of salt e dosage ofsalt depends in part on whether claims come from companies themselvesinitiatives that they control or more independent initiatives (If initiativesdepend on the voluntary participation of companies they can never be fully independent but there are gradations) In our analyses of standards (in part1048626 of this book) we are aentive to who has created a particular initiativehow it is funded and how dependent on companies it is Second there is

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10486261048624 983116983151983151983147983145983150983143 983138983141983144983145983150983140 983156983144983141 983116983137983138983141983148

nearly always some hypocrisy present when companies take up greening orfairness initiatives Simply because one product or one aspect of a companyrsquosproduction has earned some credentials does not mean that the companyrsquos

operations overall can be considered green or fair As David Vogel (1048626104862410486241048629)has argued we oen yearn for simple pronouncements of ldquogoodrdquo and ldquobadrdquocompanies But companies like people are complex multifaceted and oencontradictory One part of a company may be developing green productionprocesses while another part lobbies against environmental regulation

On the other hand we see simple distinctions between greenwashfair- wash and ldquotruerdquo reform as a poor match for the current state of global indus-

tries and labeling projects Eco-labeling and social labeling may once have been the domain of public relations personnel but they have become theirown specialized world in which credibility depends on ldquomulti-stakeholderrepresentationrdquo and extensive amounts of accreditation auditing and veri1047297-cation Companies might prefer to respond to criticism with public relationscampaigns but they are oen pushed by activists and investors to go furtherand achieve some kind of external assurance For instance if confronted bylabor rights abuses apparel and footwear companies no longer simply hold

up a code of conduct instead they refer to sophisticated factory monitoringprograms external certi1047297cations and ldquocapacity-buildingrdquo projects (Locke1048626104862410486251048627) Rather than simply co-opting the language of environmentalism manyretailers have been pushed to sell products that are independently certi1047297ed(Conroy 1048626104862410486241048631) Furthermore the world of voluntary certi1047297cation has be-come increasingly formalized For instance to judge compliance with thestandards of the FSC an auditing organization (eg Scienti1047297c Certi1047297cation

Systems SmartWood or the Soil Association) must be accredited by a sepa-rate oversight body (Accreditation Services International) Furthermore theFSC belongs to an umbrella organization991252the ISEAL (International Socialand Environmental Accreditation and Labeling) Alliance991252which de1047297nes

best practices for credible certi1047297cation initiatives To be sure all of this cer-ti1047297cation of the certi1047297ers of the certi1047297ers (and beyond) is not guaranteed to

bring about meaningful improvement Indeed we describe cases where thisformalization has been counterproductive and where seemingly credible ini-tiatives have failed spectacularly But it does mean there is more ldquocheckingrdquothan there is simple ldquowashingrdquo As Peter Dauvergne and Jane Lister (1048626104862410486251048626)put it ldquoCorporate sustainability goals include measurable targets are

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audited by independent groups and are integrated into the core business [through] life-cycle assessment supply chain tracing eco-certi1047297cation andsustainability reportingrdquo (10486271048632) We concur with them that all of this measure-

ment and reporting oen skirts the root causes of problems but one cannotseriously assess conscientious consumption without investigating this activ-ity If the world were as simple as it was when the ldquogreenwashrdquo frame was 1047297rstcoined a book like this would not be necessary

Most importantly the greenwashfairwash frame leaves a key questionunanswered if a claim is not just greenwashfairwash991252in other words if itis backed by stringent standards and credible veri1047297cation processes991252then

what is it It would be tempting to assume that the converse of greenwashfairwash is something like ldquoreal sustainabilityfairnessrdquo on the ground But asour case studies show it is possible to have stringent standards and credibleassessment but still not generate much reform of global industries Our goalis to provide some tools for making sense of these complex (and common)intermediate scenarios

Importing Standards into Empty Spaces

Another problematic frame concerns the implementation of global standardsincluding those supported by conscientious consumerism It is tempting tosee global standards as introducing new rules into otherwise empty spacesFor instance one might think of labor codes of conduct as introducing laborrights into factories that would otherwise be completely unregulated andchaotic Or one might think of global sustainability standards as introducing

environmental norms into seings where businesses would otherwise be freeto pollute with impunity As Alison Brysk puts it global rule-making proj-ects oen ldquoconcern areas previously ungoverned or even unknownrdquo (Brysk1048626104862410486241048629 104862510486261048624) Indeed scholars and practitioners oen portray private rules as1047297lling a ldquoregulatory voidrdquo as they are put into practice especially in devel-oping countries (Sabel OrsquoRourke and Fung 1048626104862410486241048624) For some developingcountries are so lacking in the rule of law as to constitute ldquoareas of limitedstatehoodrdquo in which private rules must serve as a substitute for public author-

ity (Boumlrzel and Risse 1048626104862410486251048624) Sociologists in the ldquoworld societyrdquo school startfrom different assumptions but nevertheless argue that global norms aboutenvironmental protection child labor and human rights are imported into

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developing countries as novel concepts that are completely alien to the locals(Meyer et al 1048625104863310486331048631)

e problem with this approach is not only as Gay Seidman (1048626104862410486241048631) argues

that ldquostateless regulationrdquo usually lacks enforcement power A more funda-mental problem is that this frame obscures the institutional arrangementsthat are in place in developing countries Developing countries are not emptyanonymous uniform places ey are populated with different business sys-tems cultures of production and political institutions What may look fromafar like a relatively empty space turns out on closer inspection to have adense set of preexisting relationships organizations and rules ese local

circumstances can recon1047297gure global rules in myriad ways (Halliday andCarruthers 1048626104862410486241048633 Merry 104862610486241048624983094) For instance in chapter 1048628 we look at fair tradecerti1047297cation and its consequences in Paraguay a place where earlier ways oforganizing agricultural operations set the stage for fair trade projects andshaped their results Fair trade standards were not simply imported to thisseing they were layered onto an existing set of institutions In fact a thickerldquolayeringrdquo of rules with varying consequences has been a common result ofglobal standards (Bartley 1048626104862410486251048625) An ldquoempty spacesrdquo assumption also obscures

ongoing political struggles at the point of production As we will see INGOsand conscientious consumers are far from the only actors concerned withlabor rights sustainability or the fair distribution of resources For instancerecent years have seen a rising tide of strikes in China and mobilization ofgarment workers in Cambodia and Bangladesh (Alam 1048626104862410486251048627 Dara and Wil-lemyns 1048626104862410486251048628 Friedman 1048626104862410486251048627) e land rights of indigenous people in Braziland Indonesia are a concern not only of backers of global sustainable forestry

standards but also of burgeoning movements of indigenous people them-selves (Gerber 1048626104862410486251048625) Social movements in developing countries may struggleto influence powerful global industries but they cannot simply be ignored

When it comes to governmental regulation it is true that developingcountries oen lack the resources and administrative capacities to effec-tively regulate production processes as do many governments in affluentcountries Moreover the logic of global production in some ways gives themdisincentives to do so aggressively implementing regulations may cause in-

vestors991252and orders from brands and retailers991252to flee the country and therules of the WTO make some forms of regulation untenable But ldquodevelopingcountriesrdquo are diverse In nearly all parts of the world there are laws relatedto labor the environment and the rights of citizens Scholars are beginning

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to 1047297nd increased enforcement of these laws in some surprising places fromrevitalized state labor inspection in the export processing zones of the Do-minican Republic (Schrank 1048626104862410486251048627) to aggressive environmental regulators in

Brazil and China (Coslovsky 1048626104862410486251048625 McAllister Van Rooij and Kagan 1048626104862410486251048624)In other instances law can be repressive991252restricting the rights of workers orindigenous communities for instance (Lee 1048626104862410486241048631 Li 1048626104862410486251048624) Again the influ-ences of local structures can vary but one should not assume a blank slate

983105 983122983151983157983143983144 983111983157983145983140983141 983156983151 983125983150 983152983137983139983147983145983150983143 983107983151983150983155983139983145983141 983150983156983145983151983157983155983107983151983150983155983157983149983152983156983145983151983150 983137983150983140 983120983154983151983140983157983139983156983145983151983150 983120983154983151983146983141983139983156983155

How then can one make sense of projects to promote conscientious con-sumption and fair or sustainable production e 1047297rst step is simply to acceptthat there is a great deal of variation ere is variation across individualsand locations in conscientious consumer behavior ere is variation acrossproducts and labeling initiatives in the ldquoon the groundrdquo implications of globalstandards ere is variation across industries (and even within them) in sys-tems of production and these intersect with national (and even subnational)

differences in industry organization To understand whether conscientiousconsumption and fairsustainable production projects can contribute tomeaningful alternatives we must look closely at these industrial and politi-cal contexts A second starting point is to accept that the influence of globalstandards for fairsustainable production is typically highly circumscribedor contingent on other factors As will become clear even the most stringentstandards and most credible initiatives do not transform global industries

ey sometimes influence certain parts of an industry but even this cannotautomatically be assumed

To unpack conscientious consumption initiatives and the global standardsthey endorse we bring four factors to the foreground (1048625) structures of pro-duction and consumption (1048626) the constituencies of standards (1048627) global-local linkages and (1048628) the coexistence of rule making and unruliness

Structures of Production and Consumption

Industry structures shape both the opportunities for conscientious con-sumption to occur and the consequences of rule-making projects at thepoint of production To start some industries are more likely than others to

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become targets of activism which is typically the catalyst for rule-makingand conscientious consumption projects

Lead 1047297rms in global value chains especially when they are large and have

salient corporate reputations make aractive targets for social movements(Bartley and Child 1048626104862410486251048628) Industries that lack powerful and well-known brands tend to aract less scrutiny For instance the manufacturing of bricksespecially in developing countries is oen a highly polluting and exploit-ative industry But because there are not well-known global brands in thisindustry it has received lile international aention In other cases activistshave highlighted a problem but without powerful and recognizable brands

to link this to rule-making projects have not emerged e production ofcheap costume jewelry is rife with exploitation as shown in the documentary Mardi Gras Made in China but this has not become a site of extensive rulemaking and conscientious consumerism In some circumstances the exis-tence of large high-pro1047297le retailers can compensate for a more fragmentedor poorly known set of manufacturers Anti-GMO activists for instancehave pressured manufacturers like Monsanto by going through large retailerslike Marks amp Spencer (Schurman and Munro 1048626104862410486241048633) Our analysis of global

food distribution (in chapter 1048628) is consistent with this observation but italso suggests that the locus of consumer and activist pressure depends onthe speci1047297c product

When activists do press lead 1047297rms to make their supply chains fairer ormore sustainable the consequences seem to depend in part on the structureof that supply chain If suppliers can easily 1047297nd alternative buyers who are notdemanding changes991252that is if there are few suppliers and many buyers991252

they will have lile incentive to comply with a particular lead 1047297rmrsquos rulesGoing further by many accounts when lead 1047297rms have a great deal of powerover ldquocaptiverdquo suppliers they should be able to demand that those suppliersmake improvements (Mayer and Gereffi 1048626104862410486251048624) On the other hand someresearch has questioned whether this power is truly effective or whether itmerely spurs a game in which suppliers pretend to be making improvements(and lead 1047297rms nod in approval) (Locke Amengual and Mangla 1048626104862410486241048633) Wesuspect that the power of lead 1047297rms does make a difference but that moresigni1047297cant changes are possible when lead 1047297rms and suppliers are mutuallydependent and work together over long stretches of time (Our analysis ofthe apparel industry in chapter 1048629 though suggests that long-term collabora-tion is rare) In addition when global value chains are fairly simple in their

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structure without too many intermediaries this should make it easier forstandards to ldquotravelrdquo through them ere is a conundrum here howeversince it is oen in industries with a high degree of subcontracting (such as

apparel) that global standards are in the highest demand If global industries were dominated by vertically integrated 1047297rms rather than dispersed supplychains the world of conscientious consumerism would look quite differentFurthermore sometimes the lack of action by large lead 1047297rms can leave aspace for activists and entrepreneurs to carve out a small market niche basedon fairness or sustainability is is how fair tradendashcerti1047297ed coffee beganand some new projects appear to be emerging in electronics (Fairphone as

discussed in chapter 983094) and apparel (the Alta Gracia factory as discussed inchapter 1048629) Aer looking more closely at our four industries991252timber foodapparelfootwear and electronics991252we return to questions about industrystructure in the bookrsquos conclusion

Industry structures also maer for consumers As we show in the nextchapter opportunities to engage in conscientious consumption are just asimportant as motivations to do so and these opportunities depend in parton the structure of the retail sector in a particular country Generally we sug-

gest that having larger retailers will facilitate consumer purchases of eco- andsocial-labeled products In part this is simply because larger retailers offer a

wider array of choices overall991252that is different versions of the same prod-uct991252while smaller retailers offer fewer choices To be sure small stores canspecialize in ldquoalternativerdquo products and large stores can fail to carry themBut given the trend toward ldquomainstreamingrdquo of alternatives (see Jaffee 1048626104862410486251048626)large retailers have become key points of sale for eco- and social-labeled prod-

ucts Furthermore oligopoly in the retail sector991252the dominance of a smallnumber of large companies991252also seems to magnify the power of activiststo influence the market As Rachel Schurman and William Munro (1048626104862410486241048633)found the existence of a small number of large food retailer chains in the UKallowed the anti-GMO movement to flourish there while it foundered amidthe larger number of supermarket chains in the United States

Constituencies and Standards

Global standards for fairness and sustainability may sound universal butthey spring from the priorities of particular individuals and groups A cru-cial step in understanding these standards is to examine the founders of

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initiatives that make rules audit compliance and certify products as fair orsustainable Some such initiatives such as fair trade certi1047297cation originatedlargely with NGOs or others outside of the industry Others such as the

Electronics Industry Citizenship Coalition and the Sustainable ForestryInitiative were founded almost exclusively by industry associations or othergroups of companies oen in response to the actions of NGOs In betweenare a number of initiatives developed by coalitions of NGOs and companiesfrom the Forest Stewardship Council to Social Accountability InternationalFounders are not everything NGO-initiated programs can become watereddown as they are mainstreamed and industry-initiated programs oen

evolve into formally independent organizations Most programs seek cred-ibility by calling themselves ldquomulti-stakeholderrdquo initiatives We maintainhowever that founding constituencies leave deep imprints on the content ofstandards and on the distribution of power within rule-making initiativesRules can get ratcheted up or down over time but these are usually marginalrevisions to a core approach Furthermore even when initiatives becomeformally independent from the constituencies that created them informalties revolving doors and 1047297nancial contributions oen persist

Generally we expect that industry-initiated programs will have standardsthat depart in relatively small ways from the normal practices of the indus-try Companies may want to improve labor conditions or environmentalperformance of their suppliers but they will be loath to push so far as todisrupt production or force a major change in their sourcing practices As aresult the greater the influence of companies in the founding of an initiativethe more likely it is to use either a ldquobest in classrdquo approach or a ldquocontinuous

improvementrdquo approach In the 1047297rst companies are recognized (throughcerti1047297cation or other endorsement) for demonstrating that they are aboveaverage in their industry is oen skirts the issue of whether they meeta stringent de1047297nition of a 1047297xed standard As Sco Nova (1048626104862410486251048625) has noted aldquobest in classrdquo model is like grading on a curve even if average performanceis quite low e second approach allows companies to start with a relativelylax standard and encourage gradual improvement over time852019

When industry outsiders have power in the initial design standard-seinginitiatives should look somewhat different First their standards are likely todepart more substantially from normal practices in the industry to a greateror lesser degree depending on the power of these outsiders Second these

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initiatives are more likely though certainly not guaranteed to endorse analternative model of production rather than to just reward the best in class orpush for continuous improvement Fair trade certi1047297cation and its emphasis

on democratically managed producer cooperatives (as described in chap-ter 1048628) is the clearest example of this ird and because of this initiativesspawned by outsiders are likely to either remain small or face dilemmas ofmainstreaming as they grow If they seek a large market presence ldquoalterna-tiverdquo programs will inevitably become more dependent on large companiese result may be a watering down of standards although as the case of theFSC shows (in chapter 1048627) this can be counteracted to some degree

For most products there are multiple competing aempts to de1047297ne fair-ness and sustainability For instance there are several ways of certifying thefairness and sustainability of coffee or of assessing the labor conditions ofapparel companies852020 Usually this competition reflects the struggle betweencompanies and NGOs Some scholars believe that such competition dooms

voluntary initiatives since it confuses consumers and lets companies choosetheir own standards (Seidman 1048626104862410486241048631) Others believe that it strengthens gov-ernance by spurring a ldquoratcheting uprdquo of expectations (Sabel OrsquoRourke and

Fung 1048626104862410486241048624) Our analysis of four global industries suggests that different setsof standards can oen coexist not exactly peacefully but with moderateinteraction or in different market niches Competition is inevitable but itseems to neither doom nor guarantee meaningful standards for fairness andsustainability It must be noted that initiatives that began with high bars991252namely Fair Trade and the FSC991252have not been pushed out of the market

by their competitors

Localized Globalisms and Globalized Localisms

Specifying links between ldquothe globalrdquo and ldquothe localrdquo has proven difficultand scholars have oen fallen prey to two types of conceptual dangers Firstin focusing on the global diffusion of a given idea or norm some have por-trayed domestic seings as lile more than passive receivers of a global proj-ect e language of domestic seings as ldquoreceptor sitesrdquo for global models(Frank Hironaka and Schofer 1048626104862410486241048624) is one example of this Pinpointingthis problem researchers are increasingly focusing on how local actors ap-propriate and ldquoindigenizerdquo global models to make them useful or meaningful

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(Halliday and Carruthers 1048626104862410486241048633 Merry 104862610486241048624983094) Second scholars of globaliza-tion oen equate the global with universalism (and oen progress) and thelocal with particularism (and oen backwardness) In so doing scholars

uncritically accept the most dominant model as ldquothe globalrdquo and obscure thepower that was exercised to establish its dominance

To deal with these problems we adopt Bonaventura de Santosrsquos language ofldquoglobalized localismsrdquo and ldquo localized globalismsrdquo (Santos 104862610486241048624983094 Santos andRodriacuteguez Garavito 1048626104862410486241048629) e 1047297rst refers to a process in which a particularis-tic set of ideas and practices becomes a dominant global norm Santos (104862610486241048624983094)provides examples such as ldquothe transformation of the English language into

a lingua franca the globalization of American fast food or popular music orthe worldwide adoption of the same laws of intellectual ownership patentsor telecommunications aggressively promoted by the USArdquo (10486271048633983094) For ourpurpose the key issue is how particular understandings of rights rules andenforcement have become institutionalized as global norms Concretely thenotion of a ldquoglobalized localismrdquo sensitizes us to processes by which particu-lar sets of reformers (NGOs companies or others) have turned their projectsinto ldquoglobalrdquo standards for fairness and sustainability Our point is not to

join the chorus that argues that ldquoWesternrdquo standards are being illegitimatelyforced on people and companies elsewhere ere have long been calls fordecent work and responsible natural resource management in many differ-ent parts of the world But the global standards supported by conscientiousconsumers in North A merica and Europe embody particular approaches tothese issues

e second concept ldquolocalized globalismrdquo refers to the incorporation of

these global models into local routines and expectations e concept sen-sitizes us to the work involved in turning global standards for fairness andsustainability into a concrete practice in a factory forest or farm in someparticular location As we have noted scholars too oen portray these sites asempty spaces We believe it is preferable to start from the opposite premisethat sites of implementation are crowded with different actors and agendasonly some of which are likely to line up with global standard-seing initia-tives Some elements of global standards are easily incorporated into localpractices while others are 1047297ercely resisted But a recognition of localizedglobalisms also has methodological implications It is rare for researchersto actually study these locations in detail It is easier to conduct distant and

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decontextualized studies of CSR or to focus only on the creation of standardsrather than their local implementation Our analyses of the global timberagricultural apparel and electronics industries include aention to speci1047297c

locations from the sugarcane farms of Paraguay to the electronics factoriesof Malaysia

Te Puzzle of Rules Rule Making and the Persistence of Unruliness

One can beer understand conscientious consumption and production proj-ects by recognizing what Tim Bartley (1048626104862410486251048628a) has called the ldquopuzzle of rulesrdquo

in the global economy simply put global capitalism can be ldquounrulyrdquo but italso generates many rule-making projects

e expansion of global markets has facilitated a number of rule-makingprojects from the standardization of accounting procedures to the rules forfairness and sustainability discussed in this book e volume of rule making

by both public and private actors has increased over the past three decadesMany scholars have pointed to these trends as evidence that global capitalismis not manic or ungovernable as it was initially framed Marie-Laure Djelic

and Kerstin Sahlin-Andersson (104862610486241048624983094) argue that ldquothe proliferation of regu-latory activities actors networks or constellations leads to an explosion ofrules and to the profound re-ordering of our worldrdquo (1048625) and they see globalcapitalism as ldquomarked by more991252not less991252rule-making activityrdquo (10486271048631983094)

On the other hand the explosion of rule making has oen been gearedtoward the expansion of markets rather than their restriction and in manyrespects global capitalism has remained unruly In many industries invest-

ment and orders can and do move quickly across locations oen under-mining aempts to impose rules Even more socially controlled European

varieties of capitalism have had their foundations chipped away (Streeck1048626104862410486241048633) Furthermore for all of the efforts of NGOs to build rules for fairnesssustainability and human rights many corners of global industries remainlargely unscrutinized and unaffected by these rule-making projects

As our case studies illustrate even as standards for fairness and sustain-ability have risen to prominence global industries have remained volatileand exploitative Certi1047297cation of sustainable forestry rose to prominencefrom 1048625104863310486331048629 to 1048626104862410486251048624 but so did illegal logging and deforestation worsenedin many places Te global apparel industry has come to be governed by

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numerous codes of conduct and factory monitoring initiatives but it hasalso continued to move quickly from one location to another in search oflow wages and more docile workers e rapid and inconsistent pace of the

global electronics industry has undermined aempts to improve workingconditions while rapidly changing agricultural markets have threatened thelivelihoods of many smallholder farmers

e puzzle of rules can be solved through an analysis of neoliberalism (seeBartley 1048626104862410486251048628a) but it also provokes a simple conclusion about the prospects forglobal fairness and sustainability global industries oen have contradictorytendencies so we should not expect either complete ldquogreenwashrdquoldquofairwashrdquo

or serious transformation Fair trade certi1047297cation has not transformed thelogic of commodity trade but it has improved conditions for some farmersin some circumstances FSC certi1047297cation has not made the timber trade sus-tainable but it has supported improvements in some forests As we developthese 1047297ndings (in part 1048626 of the book) we hope to speak not only to scholars ofconscientious consumerism but also to citizens and consumers themselvesConsumers oen want to feel like their purchases are ldquocleanrdquo of exploitation

but this is unrealistic We believe it would be more promising if consumers

shied from a deterministic to a probabilistic approach conscientious con-sumption may increase onersquos probability of contributing to improvementsand decrease the probability of contributing to the most extreme forms ofexploitation Tis does not answer the question of how large those prob-abilities are (which surely varies by product and label) or the question of howsigni1047297cant those improvements can be But only if consumers shi from anall-or-nothing view of ldquocleanrdquo versus ldquodirtyrdquo production (that is sustainable

versus destructive fair versus exploitative) can they come to an accurateunderstanding of what their purchases can and cannot achieve

983127 983144 983137983156 983116983145 983141 983155 983105 983144 983141 983137 983140

Part 1048625 of this book focuses on dynamics and dilemmas of conscientious con-sumerism In chapter 1048625 we look at why some American and European con-sumers are more likely than others to practice conscientious consumptionUsing survey data on thousands of individual consumers our quantitativeanalyses focus on factors that shape two forms of conscientious consump-tion boycoing and ldquobuycoingrdquo991252that is preferring a product for some po-

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litical or ethical reason Some paerns are related to consumersrsquo beliefs andthe extent to which they can afford to be choosy But individual differencesare only a small part of the story Where consumers are has a great deal to do

with whether they engage in conscientious consumption or not We thereforeconnect the individual survey responses with measures that capture nationaleconomic political and cultural contexts Overall this initial portrait showsthat conscientious consumption is widespread but far from universal withkey differences rooted not only in individual characteristics but in differentstructures of consumption as well

Having sketched some general paerns we delve deeper into the meanings

and implications of conscientious consumerism in chapter 1048626 Our analyses inchapter 1048625 are based on what consumers say they do but there are reasons todoubt that consumers will follow through on what they say or that what theysay truly captures the social meaning of their actions Yet we show that thereis evidence of consumers being wil ling to pay for eco-labels and social labelsConsumers are most likely to do so when their ldquoethicalrdquo choices also servetheir self-interest such as saving on energy costs or eating safer healthierfoods But even for those forms of conscientious consumption that have no

short-term direct bene1047297t for consumers there is mounting evidence thatsome consumers will pay more For labeling enthusiasts this is a good thingBut the ldquoone dollar one voterdquo logic of conscientious consumerism and thestatus-symbol character of some ldquoethicalrdquo products are potentially danger-ous in that they can exacerbate social economic and political inequalitiesamong consumers Moreover there is a danger that conscientious consumer-ism can displace other forms of political engagement promoting individual

consumerism at the expense of democratic citizenship and collective socialmovements Working through these debates we argue that conscientiousconsumerism as an ideology is regressive and counterproductive but speci1047297cpractices of conscientious consumption can sometimes be consistent withother forms of political engagement

Of course the real test of conscientious consumption comes at the pointof production To what extent do voluntary standards forged in response toconsumer concern make a difference ldquoon the groundrdquo in global industries

We tackle this question in part 1048626 of the book by looking at the global produc-tion of four types of products991252(1048625) wood and paper products (1048626) food (espe-cially the agri-food industry) (1048627) apparel and footwear and (1048628) electronics

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Each of these case studies is rooted in the interviews that we have conducted with local actors and other 1047297ne-grained information on the organization ofproduction ese chapters apply the framework sketched above (and a com-

mon organizational template) to allow for comparative insightsChapter 1048627 looks at the rise of forest certi1047297cation and its effects in the global

timber industry Like fair trade the FSC is one of the oldest and most es-tablished certi1047297cation and labeling initiatives It was founded more thantwenty years ago and it spurred a number of imitators and competitors Yetit is not well known among conscientious consumers and its impacts have

been far less than originally intended We trace the rise of forest certi1047297cation

with particular aention to the founders and constituents of the FSC andhow they leveraged the structure of the forest products industry to ldquomake amarketrdquo for certi1047297ed wood and paper Yet applying sustainability standardsto the production of some wood and paper products has barely influencedglobal deforestation A closer look at FSC certi1047297cation in the tropical forestsof Indonesia illustrates both the contradictions of certifying in a shiing andcontentious context and the limited ability of forest certi1047297cation to influencethe main drivers of deforestation

Next in chapter 1048628 we turn to agricultural production and the fairness andsustainability projects that have emerged in this seing Consumers aacha variety of meanings to food and the politics of food consumption has ex-ploded in the past decade In addition to sketching the structure of agri-foodproduction and consumption in general we focus on two types of rule-mak-ing projects fair trade certi1047297cation and an increasingly popular ldquocommod-ity roundtablerdquo approach Looking more closely at two crops991252sugar and

soy991252in one country Paraguay we are able to illustrate the consequences ofdifferent models of certi1047297cation and the crucial role of local context Globalfood politics are being layered onto preexisting institutional arrangementsand it is largely these institutional arrangements that determine whether cer-ti1047297cation is meaningful or not For instance fair trade certi1047297cation seems tomaer most when smallholder farmers are already organized into democrati-cally effective cooperatives or when local organizing al lows them to upgradetheir production capacities over time e contingent effects of conscientiousconsumption come into focus in this chapter

Chapter 1048629 considers how the rise of anti-sweatshop activism in the early1048625104863310486331048624s led to various aempts to monitor and improve working conditions inapparel and footwear factories A rough indication of how these initiatives

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have fared is provided by the occurrence of factory 1047297res in 1048626104862410486251048624ndash1048626104862410486251048627 and thedeath of more than eleven hundred garment workers in the 1048626104862410486251048627 collapse ofthe Rana Plaza building in Bangladesh Our chapter examines the constitu-

encies behind different factory auditing and certi1047297cation initiatives the waysstandards were implemented and the reasons why their effects have beenminimal e structure of apparel and footwear production in many wayscreated the demand for codes of conduct but the structure and the mobilityof the industry have undermined meaningful improvements Looking moreclosely at factories in China we show how aempts to certify particularfactories have fallen short In recent years several new projects to provide

ethical apparel have emerged but there remain few credible alternatives inthis industry

Finally chapter 983094 takes us into the fast-paced world of the electronics in-dustry where companies produce new models of smartphones laptops andother devices at breakneck speed Yet recently this industry has become afocus of aention for the exploitation of production workers especially aera series of worker suicides (and later strikes) at Foxconn factories in Chinaand mounting scrutiny of Foxconnrsquos buyer Apple Electronics brands have

also been accused of using ldquoconflict mineralsrdquo in the production of smart-phones e electronics industry is populated by well-capitalized companiesthat at times have demonstrated good intentions to make the labor processsafer and more humane Yet the industry has struggled to make improve-ments and 1047297nd tenable solutions We argue that the solution to this puzzlelies in the architecture of production and to a large extent ultimately in theorganization of electronics consumption is is a case in which conscien-

tious consumerism has been slow to develop and unreflective consumerismhas been a powerful constraint on signi1047297cant improvement Using detaileddata on factories producing for Hewle-Packard we show how the industrycontinues to demand extraordinarily ldquoflexiblerdquo labor markets and excessive

working hours in its factories in Southeast Asia We have tried to provide a sense of the complexity of these cases and set-

tings while still drawing out clear implications Along the way readers shouldget a clearer sense of the structure and operation of global value chains the

varied geographies of production and the circumscribed consequences ofeco-labels and social labels In a concluding chapter we compare our foursets of products and consider what has been learned

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Aer much head scratching we stopped browsing and bought a cheap usedheadboard from a Craigslist ad We might have even felt good about this fora moment since we could claim to be resisting a culture of disposability and

overconsumption But we knew we wouldnrsquot keep the slightly ugly headboardfor long and would soon 1047297nd ourselves back in the same conundrum

Lile dilemmas like this have become increasingly common especially inthe markets of North A merica and Europe Many consumers claim to ldquoshop

with a consciencerdquo and a huge number of eco- and social-labeling programshave sprung up to assure them that factories farms forests and 1047297sheriesaround the world are in some sense ldquosustainablerdquo or ldquofairrdquo One project to

track eco-labels has found more than 104862810486291048624 different labels worldwide852017 Yet it is clear that consumers oen abandon their ideals for low prices and

even conscientious consumers can be confused by the barrage of labels andmisleading claims Some labels are issued by independent initiatives withstringent standards such as Fair Trade certi1047297cation and the Forest Steward-ship Council but what lies ldquobehind the labelrdquo is a far cry from what consum-ers imagine when they see images of a smiling coffee farmer or a green tree ina lush forest What does it mean if consumers ldquovote with their pocketbooksrdquo

by choosing products that are labeled as ldquofairrdquo or ldquosustainablerdquo Can globalproduction processes really be transformed by standards that are voluntarilyadopted by pro1047297t-seeking companies to please 1047297ckle consumers As somepeople strive to be ldquoconscientious consumersrdquo are they just fooling them-selves engaging in small acts of charity while ignoring larger structures ofpower and inequality that shape the lives of workers citizens and commu-nities locally and globally Is a consumerist logic of ldquoone dollar one voterdquo

displacing the democratic principle of ldquoone person one voterdquois book explores these dilemmas by looking at the links between con-

sumption and production processes in global industries Celebrations andcritiques of ldquoethical consumptionrdquo ldquopolitical consumerismrdquo and the relatedissue of ldquocorporate social responsibilityrdquo have abounded in the past decade

Yet rarely do these treatments look closely at the links between consumermarkets voluntary standards and production processes in different indus-tries and locations We believe it is crucial to examine the dynamics of bothconsumption and production in order to understand if and when ldquoshopping

with a consciencerdquo is likely to make a difference in global industries Doingso has taken us not only into analyses of consumer behavior and marketstructures but also into footwear factories in China sourcing offices in Hong

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Kong smallholder farms in Paraguay timber operations in Indonesia elec-tronics factories in Malaysia activist organizations in the United States and

beyond As a group we have conducted more than four hundred interviews

across four continents We have talked with a variety of practitioners in the world of global standards from managers responsible for making changes toauditors charged with judging compliance from workers and smallholderfarmers to the representatives of global brands and international nongov-ernmental organizations (INGOs) We have also analyzed a variety of dataon consumers 1047297rms and industry dynamics In this book we have soughtto integrate a large amount of information into straightforward analyses and

rich case studies

983124983144983141 983108983141983138983137983156983141 983151983158983141983154 983107983151983150983155983139983145983141983150983156983145983151983157983155 983107983151983150983155983157983149983141983154 983145983155983149

Can consumers contribute to a fairer more sustainable model of globaliza-tion Should they or is this a foolish way to bring about social change esequestions are central to the scholarly debate about what we call ldquoconscien-tious consumerismrdquo991252that is consumers viewing their purchases as a way

to express some sense of ethical or perhaps even political responsibilitySome theorists have treated conscientious consumerism as an aractiveand viable way for individuals to express their values likening consumptionto activism political engagement and active citizenship (Michelei 1048626104862410486241048627)

At a minimum paying aention to how consumer products are made mayenhance consumersrsquo sense of global connection and help to ldquode-fetishizerdquocommodities (Seyfang 1048626104862410486241048629) Others have argued that conscientious con-

sumerism is a shallow form of engagement that detracts from other pathwaysto social change expresses parochial self-serving values and legitimatesoverconsumption (Guthman 1048626104862410486241048631a Maniates 1048626104862410486241048625 Maniates and Meyer1048626104862410486251048624 Szasz 1048626104862410486241048631) In between some theorists have argued that individualscan be hybrid ldquocitizen-consumersrdquo whose consumer choices contribute insmall ways to a broader sense of social and political engagement (Williams104862610486241048624983094 Willis and Schor 1048626104862410486251048626)

ese debates are important and we stake out our own position here sinceany treatment of conscientious consumerism must grapple with its personaland political meanings But by focusing almost exclusively on the culturepolitics and meanings of conscientious consumerism existing researchhas had lile to say about two key factors991252(1048625) the structures of conscien-

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tious consumption and (1048626) its consequences at the point of production Firstconsuming products labeled as ldquofairrdquo or ldquosustainablerdquo is not just a maer ofindividual ldquoreflexivityrdquo regardless of whether one views this as noble or self-

absorbed It is structured by the constraints and opportunities that consum-ers face is refers in part to factors such as income education and socialclass that make conscientious consumerism far from universal But it alsorefers to differences across countries Even among fairly affluent countries inNorth America and Europe there are signi1047297cant differences in the size andshape of markets for products whose labels claim they are fair or sustainable

Second and even more striking is the degree to which the discourse on

conscientious consumerism has sidestepped questions about the implemen-tation of the standards that consumers are supporting Many forms of con-scientious consumption rely on assurances that certain production standardshave been followed Consumers cannot see for themselves whether theirfood has been farmed in a fair and sustainable way whether their furnitureoriginated in deforestation or whether their smartphones are the product ofheavily polluting high-tech sweatshops But scholars of conscientious con-sumerism have failed to interrogate these standards and assurances ey

usually either accept them at face value or dismiss them altogether as ldquogreen- washrdquo or ldquofairwashrdquo Other scholars have begun to study the implementationof voluntary production standards typically in order to evaluate ldquoprivategovernancerdquo systems (Locke 1048626104862410486251048627 Ponte 1048626104862410486241048632 Seidman 1048626104862410486241048631) or what somehave called ldquotransnational private regulationrdquo (Bartley 1048626104862410486241048631b) But researchon standards ldquoon the groundrdquo remains rare and comparisons of differentindustries and locations are just beginning to emerge852018

As one does look behind the label this much is clear claims of fairness andsustainability that seem straightforward to consumers become signi1047297cantlymurkier as one looks at the farms factories and forests where the productsoriginate Fair trade coffee may not be so fair for the casual laborers that farm-ers hire to toil in organic farms (Jaffee 1048626104862410486241048631)852018 A decade of ldquocorporate socialresponsibilityrdquo in the apparel industry did not prevent more than elevenhundred workers from dying when the Rana Plaza complex of factories inBangladesh collapsed in 1048626104862410486251048627 Certi1047297ed sustainable forests have sometimesturned out to be sites of illegal logging and violence against local residentsBut it is also clear that not all assurances are the same Some initiatives aremore stringent and credible than others some parts of an industry are more

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open to reform than others and some places are more likely to support de-cent conditions than others We 1047297nd more variation and complexity in globalindustries than would be expected by either simplistic celebrations of cor-

porate social responsibility or by condemnations of greenwashfairwashOur goal is to document grapple with and hopefully sort out some of thatcomplexity

e debate about conscientious consumerism is to some degree colored bythe different terms that scholars have used to describe it Some use the termldquopolitical consumerismrdquo (Michelei 1048626104862410486241048627) which has become the standardterm for researchers in much of Europe We believe it is premature to label

shopping with a conscience as a political act at least until far more is knownabout how consumers understand this act and its consequences Others pre-fer the term ldquoethical consumerismrdquo which appears to be more common inBritish and American discourse (Barne et al 1048626104862410486241048629 Goodman Maye andHolloway 1048626104862410486251048624) But this seems to imply that consumers have a coherentethical rationale We use the term ldquoconscientious consumerismrdquo (and ldquocon-scientious consumptionrdquo) to reflect our view that concerned consumers aremore oen acting on a vague sense of trying to do good in the world than on

a speci1047297c political or ethical commitment is does not mean that conscien-tious consumption cannot be highly principled In some cases it clearly isBut in many cases we suspect that consumers are uncertain and grasping991252areasonable response to the perplexing world of labels and global industries

And sometimes scholars question whether seemingly ethical purchasesmight actually be self-serving and insular (Szasz 1048626104862410486241048631) We see ldquoconscien-tiousrdquo consumer activity as open to both more and less principled ethical

political commitments Grappling with the pitfalls of this activity in this book we argue that an overarching ideology of conscientious consumerismas a vision of social change is vacuous Consumers and scholars should notrely on shopping to change the world Nevertheless we argue speci1047297c prac-tices of conscientious consumption can sometimes be meaningful as part ofmultifaceted strategies for reforming global industries Careful aention isneeded then to both consumer behavior and the effects of voluntary pro-duction standards

In the remainder of this introduction we sketch our approach to the analy-sis of conscientious consumption and standards for global industries We

begin by discussing the processes through which claims of ldquofairnessrdquo and

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ldquosustainabilityrdquo have become common features of shopping aisles is in-cludes some of the most signi1047297cant changes in the global economy and polityover the past four decades including the rise of global supply chains trans-

national advocacy networks and neoliberalism as an ideology of governance We then move on to critique three common frames for understanding con-scientious consumption and related global standards is sets the stage forour own framework for analysis which emphasizes industry structures theconstituencies behind standards global-local linkages and what we call theldquopuzzle of rulesrdquo in the global economy Following this introductory chapter

we turn to an analysis of consumer behavior in the United States and Europe

Tis is followed by an aempt to unpack the dilemmas of conscientiousconsumerism991252and our interpretation of what is harmful and helpful aboutit en in part 1048626 of the book we shi from consumption to production anddevelop case studies of four types of products timber food apparel andelectronics All have been subject to standards for ldquofairrdquo or ldquosustainablerdquoproduction yet the results have rarely been what reformers hoped for

983110983154983151983149 983107983137983149983152983137983145983143983150983155 983156983151 983116983137983138983141983148 983155

e story usually begins with a social movement While twentieth-centurysocial movements oen targeted national states and public policy by the turnof the twenty-1047297rst century environmental labor and human rights activists

were also ldquoshaming the corporationrdquo and contesting markets directly Oenthis meant exposing well-known transnational corporationsrsquo complicity withexploitation of workers (especially young women) natural environments

and indigenous people in locations around the world Anti-sweatshop groupsldquonamed and shamedrdquo Nike Walmart HampM and many other companies todraw aention to unsafe working environments physical and verbal abuseand a high-pressure low-wage model of production in the apparel and foot-

wear industry Eventually this approach spread to the electronics industryas activists showed how Apple Hewle-Packard Samsung and others relyon harsh labor conditions in Asia as well as ldquoconflict mineralsrdquo from war-torn areas of Central Africa Environmentalists had long been targetingcompanies like Te Home Depot BampQ and Mitsubishi because of theircontributions to tropical deforestation not to mention campaigns againstShell Chevron and other oil companies with reputations for pollution andenvironmental injustice Food markets became especially politicized Envi-

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ronmentalists showed how beef consumption threatened the Amazon rainforest how seafood sales contributed to the depletion of species and destruc-tion of ocean habitats and how ldquofactory farmsrdquo polluted local environments

ey also raised concerns about pesticides and genetically modi1047297ed organ-isms (GMOs) in the supply chains of many food brands and retailers Humanrights and development organizations linked Hershey Nestleacute and others to

bonded labor in cacao farms and connected Coca-Cola Pepsi and Cargill (alarge soybean producer) to land grabs that forcibly displaced small farmersin South America Asia and Africa

In response retailers and brands increasingly have adopted voluntary rules

for their supply chains Apparel footwear and electronics companies haveadopted ldquoethical sourcingrdquo policies and ldquocodes of conductrdquo sending auditorsaround the world to assess their suppliersrsquo compliance Some have joinedinitiatives like Social Accountability International (SAI) the Fair Labor

Association (FLA) Business Social Compliance Initiative (BSCI) or theElectronics Industry Citizenship Coalition (EICC) which have their ownsets of rules and auditing procedures Food producers and retailers havesimilarly joined initiatives like the Roundtable on Responsible Soy (RTRS)

or the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) both of which addressthe environmental and social implications of large-scale agricultural planta-tions Sellers of paper and furniture have turned to products certi1047297ed bythe Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) (or its competitor the Programmefor the Endorsement of Forest Certi1047297cation [PEFC]) to demonstrate theirgreen credentials while some food retailers have agreed to sell seafood cer-ti1047297ed by the Marine Stewardship Council ese are just a few examples of

how pressure from social movements has led to the proliferation of ethicalstandards Some of these standards take the form of policies that companiesadopt while others are governed by external associations like those men-tioned above Typically these associations are created either by coalitions ofNGOs and a few leading 1047297rms or by groups of companies hoping to fend offfurther pressure

In some instances social movements have not merely pressured companiesto improve their practices they have sought to endorse alternative models ofproduction Organic agriculture was a movement before it was a market andit helped to legitimate forms of farming that do not rely on pesticides e fairtrade movement originated with the goal of supporting small farmers who

were organized into democratically run cooperatives and it sought to use

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certi1047297cation to direct greater resources toward these farmers not to improveconditions on large plantations (Linton Liou and Shaw 1048626104862410486241048628) Although la-

bor rights advocates have been hesitant to label companies as ldquogoodrdquo groups

like the Worker Rights Consortium (WRC) and the Fair Wear Foundation(FWF) have begun to build market support for factories in which workersare represented by independent unions Similarly some of the impetus forthe Forest Stewardship Council came from foresters environmentalists andindigenous rights groups hoping to support small-scale community forestryoperations not simply to improve industrial timber operations (Bartleyand Smith 1048626104862410486251048624) ese kinds of initiatives are ldquoin the market but not of itrdquo

(Taylor 1048626104862410486241048629) and insert alternative ldquoorders of worthrdquo into market decisions(Boltanski and eacutevenot 104862610486241048624983094) Yet as activists have sought to build marketsupport for these production models they have encountered dilemmas ofldquomainstreamingrdquo alternatives Under pressure larger companies have agreedto sell certi1047297ed products including Starbucks and Fair Trade coffee or eHome Depot and FSC-certi1047297ed lumber But as activists have discoveredthere is a 1047297ne and oen blurry line between building market support and

becoming dependent on big companies in a way that leads to the weakening

of standards As our case studies show the world of voluntary standards whether for

alternatives or ldquobest practicesrdquo involves a constant struggle for the powerto de1047297ne legitimate standards and to determine how strictly they should beapplied in the 1047297eld ere is an ldquoNGO-Industrial Complexrdquo that underliesmost conscientious consumption and production initiatives (Gereffi Garcia-

Johnson and Sasser 1048626104862410486241048625) but it is multifaceted and contentious

e ultimate impacts of conscientious consumption and production proj-ects are oen hard to discern but this much is clear taken together theseactivities amount to a vast new set of standard-seing projects for the globaleconomy Promoted by a mix of NGOs companies and trade associationsthey seek to use global production networks991252or ldquoglobal value chainsrdquo991252rather than the national state to promote rules about fairness justice andsustainability (Cashore Auld and Newsom 1048626104862410486241048628 Guthman 1048626104862410486241048631b Ponte1048626104862410486241048632 Seidman 1048626104862410486241048631) ldquoLead 1047297rmsrdquo in these global value chains991252that is

large retailers and brands from Apple to IKEA to Zara991252have the power toset styles prices and delivery schedules for their suppliers so advocatesargue they should also be able to influence the conditions of workers com-

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munities and the environment Companies frequently adopt standards tofend off activist pressure and the media spotlight but adoption does notmean implementation In some cases alternatives have found a niche in the

market and in other cases voluntary initiatives have proliferated while thelogic of production991252and exploitation991252has remained largely unchanged

Scrutiny of global industries has also spawned tools to help consum-ers make sense of all of these claims and to smartly vote with their wal-lets Consumer Reports magazine can trace its origins to a much earlier waveof muckraking (Rao 1048625104863310486331048632) and with the recent proliferation of competingeco-labels it has sometimes stepped in to referee as have publications from

Co-Op America in the United States and Ethical Consumer magazine in theUnited Kingdom Te Monterey Bay Aquarium in the United States haslong published a list of seafood for environmentally conscious consumersto prefer and avoid Online guides and smartphone apps have made thesetypes of guides more elaborate Goodguidecom developed by some leadingresearchers before being sold to Underwriters Laboratories (UL) compilesa wide array of information to rate products and companies for their healthenvironmental and social impacts Smartphone apps even allow consumers

to trace products to parent companies and investors as with apps that enableconsumers to boyco the conservative Koch Brothers avoid the biotech gi-ant Monsanto or support companies that recognize lesbian gay bisexualand transsexual rights (OrsquoConnor 1048626104862410486251048627)

Of course these consumer guides are only as good as the information thatgoes into them and as our case studies show meaningful accurate informa-tion is oen difficult to come by in complex global industries Furthermore

as our analyses of consumer behavior show only particular subsets of con-sumers have indicated an interest in boycoing or ldquobuycoingrdquo and thereare real questions about how many will pay more for guarantees of fairnessand sustainability Before diving into these issues we must consider thelarger context in which the rise of conscientious consumerism has occurred

983122983141983139983151983150 983142983145983143983157983154983145 983150 983143 983122983141983155983152983151983150 983155983145983138983145983148983145983156983145983141983155 983122 983145983143983144983156983155 983137 983150 983140 983122983157983148983141983155

Debates about consumers producers and ethical standards are vexing inpart because they are tied up with a larger recon1047297guration of responsibilitiesrights and rules in the global economy National and multinational corpo-

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rations have become transnational corporations with activities stretchingacross national boundaries without being deeply rooted in them Nationalstates once the main makers of rules and arbiters of rights are increasingly

just one of many actors issuing rules and claiming to enforce rights Inter-national NGOs and global standards associations have sought to issue rulesand enforce rights as well although their effectiveness in doing so is unclearMore broadly the goal to turn the world into ldquoone big marketrdquo991252associated

with neoliberal ideology991252has challenged earlier conceptions of what na-tional states can and should do to protect or empower citizens workers andthe environment Conscientious consumption and production projects are

to some degree the result of these changes In a world of vertically integratedcompanies and strong responsive states there would be far less demand for

voluntary standards supported by consumers But these changes have notsimply paved the way for conscientious consumerism they have complicatedits meanings and impacts in a variety of ways

Te Supply Chain Revolution

Capitalism in the twentieth century was characterized by the growth of verti-cally integrated corporations which controlled raw materials manufactur-ing and distribution and by the growth of horizontally integrated corpora-tions and conglomerates in which multiple businesses were combined in thesame corporate structure By the 1048625104863310486321048624s these models were giving way to theldquosupply chain revolutionrdquo in which large 1047297rms contract with independentsuppliers rather than owning an entire production process Nike built its

fortunes by being an early adopter of the ldquomanufacturer without factoriesrdquomodel and Walmart became a dominant retailer by making its supply chains

work faster and cheaper than retailers had previously In what Robert Feen-stra (1048625104863310486331048632) called the ldquointegration of trade and disintegration of productionrdquocompanies in industries from apparel to electronics to furniture shed theirfactories contracted with independent manufacturers and focused on build-ing their ldquobrandrdquo images

While some contracting and subcontracting happened within national borders scholars pointed out that many production processes were beingturned into ldquoglobal commodity chainsrdquo and especially ldquobuyer-drivenrdquo globalcommodity chains in which companies nearest the distribution end of the

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chain (retailers and well-known brands) exercised the greatest power overproduction processes and extracted the greatest pro1047297t from them (Gereffi1048625104863310486331048628 1048625104863310486331048633) Other terms such as ldquoglobal production networksrdquo and ldquoglobal

value chainsrdquo described similar phenomena and as many industries shiedto a supply chain model of some sort these different traditions of research

began to merge and more nuanced ways of describing power and coordina-tion in global value chains were articulated (Bair 1048626104862410486241048632 Gereffi Humphreyand Sturgeon 1048626104862410486241048629) is supply chain revolution was facilitated by techno-logical changes that made contracting more efficient and by legal changesthat opened more parts of the world to foreign investment Of course in

some industries such as agriculture large consumer-facing companies hadlong relied on networks of suppliers991252from coffee farmers to growers ofcorn wheat and other commodity crops Yet these industries have beenrecon1047297gured to some degree by the growth of mega-retailers that have cutout middleman distributors

Most important at this point is to recognize how the supply chain revolu-tion both highlighted and blurred the responsibilities of transnational corpo-rations On one hand contracting and subcontracting networks tied retailers

and brands in the United States and Europe to sites of production991252andexploitation991252around the world To be sure multinational corporations likeNestleacute I and PepsiCo had been shamed for the actions of their foreignarms in the 1048625104863310486311048624s but the networked transnational corporations of the 1048625104863310486331048624shad more extensive ties and thus greater vulnerabilities On the other handthe lines of responsibility991252and especially legal liability991252were blurry since

brands and retailers exercised a great deal of power over their suppliers but

did not own those sites of production Initially when sweatshops child la- bor and prison labor were uncovered brands like Nike and Walmart deniedresponsibility on the basis that they did not own the factories where suchabuses occurred As pressure mounted these and other lead 1047297rms in global

value chains began to accept ldquosordquo forms of responsibility by adopting codesof conduct and pledging to monitor and improve conditions in their supplychains ose same companies however 1047297ercely resisted aempts to makethem legally liable (Bartley 1048626104862410486241048629 Shamir 1048626104862410486241048628)

For the most part this remains the situation in the forest products foodapparelfootwear and electronics industries When pressed retailers and

brands have publicly accepted some responsibility to improve conditions in

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10486251048627983113983150983156983154983151983140983157983139983156983145983151983150

kets have remained largely national in scope especially when it comes toissues of fairness and sustainability e World Trade Organization (WTO)has endorsed protections for intellectual property rights but it has le only

narrow spaces for governments to protect workers and environments and ithas refused to address labor rights directly Bilateral and multilateral tradeagreements sometimes include labor and environmental standards but theseare limited in scope and enforceability International organizations suchas the United Nations and the International Labor Organization promoteconventions for governments to adopt but these organizations rarely haveany power to demand enforcement National governments are constrained

in part by a global economy in which 1047297rms and investors can move from one jurisdiction to another but perhaps even more by ideological commitmentsto neoliberal globalization and the rules of the WTO (Evans 1048625104863310486331048631 Rodrik1048626104862410486251048625) As we argue it is a mistake to think that governments are powerless orirrelevant in the face of globalization but there is no doubt that the dearthof binding international regulation of production conditions has led many tolook to the private sector as a way of enforcing standards NGOs for instancehave oen turned to voluntary standards and conscientious consumption as

second-best alternatives to intergovernmental systems of regulationNeoliberalism can be credited not only with helping to hollow out the state

but also with promoting an individualization of responsibility In a processthat theorists have called ldquoresponsibilizationrdquo individuals are treated as hav-ing the duty and capacity to take responsibility for things that should rightly

be seen as the result of social structures is can be seen for instance in at-tempts to reform welfare states to make welfare recipients take responsibility

for their own fates (Rose 1048626104862410486241048624) e moralization of markets has also been aresponsibilization process in which individual consumers are told they havethe duty991252and the ability991252to solve the worldrsquos social problems throughtheir purchases While some scholars use the language of responsibilizationto dismiss conscientious consumption as misguided we do not see this asthe most appropriate response We recognize that individual consumers are

being asked to take responsibility for problems that would oen be beerserved by more collective and robust solutions including revitalized statesand labor unions But it is at least possible that responsibility-taking by con-sumers could help to support more durable solutions in the future especially

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if governments NGOs and consumers themselves have a clearer under-standing of what is and is not being affected by conscientious consumptionand production initiatives

INGOs and ransnational Advocacy Networks

Since the end of World War II NGOs have become key actors in nationalinternational and transnational governance By the turn of the twenty-1047297rstcentury NGOs were carrying out most of the tasks of governing complex so-cieties delivering development assistance mediating social conflicts seing

standards for business developing expert knowledge and reconstructingsocieties aer natural and social disasters By some accounts the proliferationof NGOs and their incorporation into development and governance projectsamounts to an associational revolution that ldquomay constitute as signi1047297cant asocial and political development of the laer twentieth century as the rise ofthe nation state was of the nineteenth centuryrdquo (Edwards and Hulme 104862510486331048633983094 1048626)

International NGOs (INGOs) such as Greenpeace Oxfam or HumanRights Watch have mobilized aention to a variety of global problems from

climate change to new forms of bonded labor ey have garnered mediaaention to these problems and have pushed governments and intergovern-mental organizations to take action In addition the growth of transnationalnetworks of advocates and experts has sometimes allowed domestic activiststo gain leverage over their governments In what Margaret Keck and KathrynSikkink (1048625104863310486331048632) dubbed the ldquoboomerang effectrdquo domestic activists can reachpast indifferent or hostile domestic governments and appeal to transnational

advocacy networks that in turn exert pressure on those governmentsSince the 1048625104863310486331048624s INGOs have increasingly sought to put pressure on trans-

national corporations and restructure markets not just state policies eyhave led efforts to build product certi1047297cation initiatives from the ForestStewardship Council to the Marine Stewardship Council and they havecoordinated ldquomarket campaignsrdquo to convince large retailers to support theseinitiatives In addition the traditional boomerang effect has been supple-mented with what Naomi Klein (1048625104863310486331048633) called the ldquobrand boomerangrdquo in

which grassroots labor or environmental activists call on their internationalallies to put pressure on a well-known company that is operating in (or buy-

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ing from) that location rough these processes INGOs have become im-portant architects advocates and watchdogs of conscientious consumptionand production projects

e rise of INGOs does raise conundrums however especially about therelationship between professional advocates based in Amsterdam or Wash-ington DC and grassroots activists in developing countries To some extentINGOs have become sensitive to these power disparities and local NGOshave become savvy about working with foreign partners But the power ofINGOs to organize transnational campaigns aract media aention andshame global companies does carry the danger that more locally oriented

strategies or those directed to domestic governments are being neglected(Seidman 1048626104862410486241048631)

Standards for Markets and Markets for Standards

Without the supply chain revolution neoliberal globalization and thegrowth of transnational advocacy networks it is hard to imagine the rise ofconscientious consumption and global standards for fairness and sustain-

ability Yet just because initiatives for auditing certifying or reporting onsustainability or fairness have emerged that does not mean they will haveintegrity or impact Typically conscientious consumption and productionprojects are organized as private voluntary initiatives ey aempt to setstandards for markets but they also exist within markets Like all voluntaryprograms they depend on participation from companies and there can oen

be a trade-off between the stringency of standards and the number of partici-

pants (Potoski and Prakash 1048626104862410486241048633) All voluntary initiatives are structurallydependent on their corporate participants so one should take the languageof independent ldquothird-partyrdquo initiatives with a grain of salt Furthermore asprivate initiatives they have no monopoly on standards for a particular topic(as a government would have) is means competing standards initiativescan easily emerge For some observers the private voluntary character ofthese initiatives is reason enough to give up on them (eg Seidman 1048626104862410486241048631)

while for neoliberal advocates of market-based solutions these same featuresmake such initiatives especially aractive As we argue below our approachseeks to unpack variation in the organization of these initiatives and the

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contexts in which they operate At the same time as our case studies showthere are certainly limits on what private voluntary initiatives have beenable to accomplish

983124983144983154 983141983141 983110983154983137 983149983141983155 983137983150 983140 983124983144983141983145983154 983123983144983151983154983156983139983151983149983145983150 983143983155

Given the rise of conscientious consumerism and the growth of standards forglobal industries scholars and advocates are racing to promote simple framesfor making sense of them In this section we discuss three frames that areoen invoked Each captures a slice of something important but each ends

up obscuring as much as it illuminates or more

Te Empowered Sovereign Consumer

Scholars and advocates oen adopt a celebratory tone in discussing consci-entious consumerism ey argue that consumers are being empowered toldquovote with their dollarsrdquo and that these small changes in the habits of affluentconsumers can change or even ldquosaverdquo the world As Ruth Stokes (1048626104862410486251048627) writes

in the Ecologist magazine ldquoI believe that changing the way we shop991252voting with our money991252can help to change the world Companies respond tothe habits of shoppers We all have consumer power we just have to makesure we use it wiselyrdquo If consumers have been manipulated by companiesin the past they are increasingly being empowered by new sources of infor-mation argues Dara OrsquoRourke (1048626104862410486251048625) eorists of ldquopolitical consumerismrdquohave argued that this mode of political expression is especially empowering

for individuals who are alienated from formal politics such as young peopleand women (Michelei 1048626104862410486241048627) Furthermore as companies compete for thesupport of conscientious consumers and the coveted ldquolifestyles of health andsustainabilityrdquo (LOHAS) niche (Emerich 1048626104862410486251048625) many observers argue thatthey will become transparent responsible corporate citizens (Porter andKramer 104862610486241048624983094 Smith 1048625104863310486331048624 Zadek Pruzan and Evans 1048625104863310486331048631)

Such celebrations oen rest on an idealized framing of consumer agency991252that is the ability and willingness of the ldquosovereign citizen-consumerrdquo to bethe prime mover of social change (Jacobsen and Dulsrud 1048626104862410486241048631) e ldquosover-eign consumerrdquo is an old concept that is intended to suggest that consumertastes are the driver of all economic activity As scholars have observed the

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growth of conscientious consumption the sovereign consumer has becomethe sovereign citizen-consumer or what Roberta Sassatelli (1048626104862410486241048631) dubbedthe waking of the ldquosleepy giant of the sovereign citizen-consumerrdquo (104862510486321048632) So-

cial theorist Ulrich Beck perhaps the most prominent theorist of consump-tion as a form of politics argues that ldquocitizens discover the act of shoppingas one in which they can always cast their ballot991252on a world scale no lessrdquo(qtd in Sassatelli 1048626104862410486241048631 104862510486321048632) Michele Michelei (1048626104862410486241048627) takes the provocationeven further

Conflicts over what and where to consume are now central for understanding the func-tioning of affluent Western societies is can even mean that consumers participating

in boycos can for instance be likened to resistance 1047297ghters Yet unlike resistance orrevolutionary conflicts of the past citizen-consumers tend to direct their aention towardthe market rather than state actors (1048625983094ndash10486251048631)

Even if one gets past the hyperbole treating consumer tastes as king orqueen is problematic in several respects First consumersrsquo aitudes turn outto be only one ingredient in the construction of conscientious consumptionmarkets As we show in this book the opportunities for conscientious con-sumption are not distributed evenly across individuals or across countries

Social inequality and differences in market structures mean the social con-text of consumption is just as important as individual aitudes Consumertastes may make a difference but it is difficult to see them as a true primemover

Second it is naive to assume that a change in consumer tastes translatesdirectly into a change in the production processes of global industries AsMargaret Willis and Juliet Schor (1048626104862410486251048626) argue many accounts of consci-

entious consumerism take a ldquonaiumlve aggregationistrdquo approach to marketsassuming that if a large enough number of consumers is interested in al-ternative products the market will simply change to deliver them A quitedifferent story is told by research on industries technologies and organiza-tions over time Production processes are oen ldquolocked inrdquo by a system ofinterrelated technologies and expectations making them difficult to changePaul David (1048625104863310486321048629) famously illustrated this by considering the persistence ofthe inefficient QWERTY keyboard on typewriters and computers Even ifproduction practices are not strongly locked in companies like all organi-zations rarely abandon their core routines and technologies (Hannan andFreeman 1048625104863310486321048633) Perhaps the biggest problem is that those who celebrate the

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transformative power of new consumer tastes assume that industry practicesare changing but they almost never actually investigate this assumption edisconnect between theories of conscientious consumerism and empirical

research on industry practices is stark and it is one thing that we hope toremedy with this book

Finally by celebrating the empowered conscientious politicized con-sumer one obscures the ways that unreflective consumer choices influencelabor and environmental conditions in global industries As much as someconsumers are becoming more conscientious about some of their choicesespecially when it comes to food and drinks (eg organic produce fair trade

coffee) much consumer activity is routine and habitual and some of theethics of consumption are opaque to all but the most commied individu-als Conscientious consumers might be careful to recycle avoid disposableplastic water boles and buy organic vegetables but then eat beef withoutthinking of its massive natural resource demands and the contributions ofcale production to global warming As environmentalists have pointedout encouraging consumers to make their purchases more environmentallyfriendly carries a risk of legitimating overconsumption in affluent markets

which is the foundation of many forms of environmental degradation (Mani-ates and Meyer 1048626104862410486251048624) e issue may not be just the amount of consumption

but its pace as well As will become clear later in this book the rise of ldquofastfashionrdquo and ldquofast electronicsrdquo991252that is the rapid churning through fashion-able styles of clothing and different models of smartphones991252appears to bea root cause of labor exploitation in the apparel and electronics industries

GreenwashFairwash

While some have celebrated conscientious consumerism others have dis-missed voluntary standards eco-labeling and social labeling as ldquogreenwashrdquoor ldquofairwashrdquo As Sharon Beder (1048626104862410486241048625) puts it ldquoTe aempt to provide alsquogreenrsquo and caring image for a corporation is a public relations strategy aimedat promising reform and heading off demands for more substantial and fun-damental changes and government interventionrdquo (104862610486291048627) Claims about fair

and sustainable production in this view simply provide cover to companiesthat are engaged in fundamentally unfair and unsustainable activities ecodes of conduct sustainability reports and information disclosures that are

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highlighted in celebratory accounts of transparency may actually be formsof ldquodisinformationrdquo that obscure companiesrsquo actual practices

e term ldquogreenwashrdquo took off among environmentalists in the late 1048625104863310486321048624s

as a description of advertising campaigns that portrayed companies as pro-tectors of the environment (Beers and Capellaro 1048625104863310486331048625) Greenpeace arguedthat transnational corporations like Shell DuPont and Mitsubishi had ldquoem-

braced the environment as their cause and co-opted its terminologyrdquo even while contributing massively to environmental degradation (Greenpeace1048625104863310486331048626 1048626) e analogue for corporate claims about incomes livelihoods and

justice991252ldquofairwashingrdquo991252entered the lexicon later in the wake of the fair

trade movement As fair trade certi1047297cation was becoming ldquomainstreamedrdquoand imitated scholars and activists began worrying that fairwashing wason the horizon (Conroy 1048626104862410486241048631 Lyon and Moberg 1048626104862410486251048624) Observers have alsocriticized the images produced in the name of ldquocorporate social responsibil-ityrdquo arguing that these are ldquomerely a public relations game lulling us intoa false sense of securityrdquo (Doane 1048626104862410486241048629 10486261048633) Common to all these diagnosesis the sense that most assurances one 1047297nds on a product are nothing morethan public relations efforts

e greenwashfairwash critique captures two key features of conscien-tious consumption and global standards First when faced with criticismcompanies would prefer to be able to improve their images without alteringpro1047297table practices A public relations campaign is typically the 1047297rst line ofdefense Companies may also hire outside organizations991252auditors consul-tants and sometimes NGOs991252to lend some credibility to their campaignsey may also fund seemingly independent standard-seing initiatives that

can endorse their corporate social responsibility programs or label theirproducts As we will see this is how the US timber industryrsquos SustainableForestry Initiative got its start and it helps to account for the role of appareland footwear brands in the Fair Labor Association One must always takeassurances of sustainability and fairness with a grain of salt e dosage ofsalt depends in part on whether claims come from companies themselvesinitiatives that they control or more independent initiatives (If initiativesdepend on the voluntary participation of companies they can never be fully independent but there are gradations) In our analyses of standards (in part1048626 of this book) we are aentive to who has created a particular initiativehow it is funded and how dependent on companies it is Second there is

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nearly always some hypocrisy present when companies take up greening orfairness initiatives Simply because one product or one aspect of a companyrsquosproduction has earned some credentials does not mean that the companyrsquos

operations overall can be considered green or fair As David Vogel (1048626104862410486241048629)has argued we oen yearn for simple pronouncements of ldquogoodrdquo and ldquobadrdquocompanies But companies like people are complex multifaceted and oencontradictory One part of a company may be developing green productionprocesses while another part lobbies against environmental regulation

On the other hand we see simple distinctions between greenwashfair- wash and ldquotruerdquo reform as a poor match for the current state of global indus-

tries and labeling projects Eco-labeling and social labeling may once have been the domain of public relations personnel but they have become theirown specialized world in which credibility depends on ldquomulti-stakeholderrepresentationrdquo and extensive amounts of accreditation auditing and veri1047297-cation Companies might prefer to respond to criticism with public relationscampaigns but they are oen pushed by activists and investors to go furtherand achieve some kind of external assurance For instance if confronted bylabor rights abuses apparel and footwear companies no longer simply hold

up a code of conduct instead they refer to sophisticated factory monitoringprograms external certi1047297cations and ldquocapacity-buildingrdquo projects (Locke1048626104862410486251048627) Rather than simply co-opting the language of environmentalism manyretailers have been pushed to sell products that are independently certi1047297ed(Conroy 1048626104862410486241048631) Furthermore the world of voluntary certi1047297cation has be-come increasingly formalized For instance to judge compliance with thestandards of the FSC an auditing organization (eg Scienti1047297c Certi1047297cation

Systems SmartWood or the Soil Association) must be accredited by a sepa-rate oversight body (Accreditation Services International) Furthermore theFSC belongs to an umbrella organization991252the ISEAL (International Socialand Environmental Accreditation and Labeling) Alliance991252which de1047297nes

best practices for credible certi1047297cation initiatives To be sure all of this cer-ti1047297cation of the certi1047297ers of the certi1047297ers (and beyond) is not guaranteed to

bring about meaningful improvement Indeed we describe cases where thisformalization has been counterproductive and where seemingly credible ini-tiatives have failed spectacularly But it does mean there is more ldquocheckingrdquothan there is simple ldquowashingrdquo As Peter Dauvergne and Jane Lister (1048626104862410486251048626)put it ldquoCorporate sustainability goals include measurable targets are

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audited by independent groups and are integrated into the core business [through] life-cycle assessment supply chain tracing eco-certi1047297cation andsustainability reportingrdquo (10486271048632) We concur with them that all of this measure-

ment and reporting oen skirts the root causes of problems but one cannotseriously assess conscientious consumption without investigating this activ-ity If the world were as simple as it was when the ldquogreenwashrdquo frame was 1047297rstcoined a book like this would not be necessary

Most importantly the greenwashfairwash frame leaves a key questionunanswered if a claim is not just greenwashfairwash991252in other words if itis backed by stringent standards and credible veri1047297cation processes991252then

what is it It would be tempting to assume that the converse of greenwashfairwash is something like ldquoreal sustainabilityfairnessrdquo on the ground But asour case studies show it is possible to have stringent standards and credibleassessment but still not generate much reform of global industries Our goalis to provide some tools for making sense of these complex (and common)intermediate scenarios

Importing Standards into Empty Spaces

Another problematic frame concerns the implementation of global standardsincluding those supported by conscientious consumerism It is tempting tosee global standards as introducing new rules into otherwise empty spacesFor instance one might think of labor codes of conduct as introducing laborrights into factories that would otherwise be completely unregulated andchaotic Or one might think of global sustainability standards as introducing

environmental norms into seings where businesses would otherwise be freeto pollute with impunity As Alison Brysk puts it global rule-making proj-ects oen ldquoconcern areas previously ungoverned or even unknownrdquo (Brysk1048626104862410486241048629 104862510486261048624) Indeed scholars and practitioners oen portray private rules as1047297lling a ldquoregulatory voidrdquo as they are put into practice especially in devel-oping countries (Sabel OrsquoRourke and Fung 1048626104862410486241048624) For some developingcountries are so lacking in the rule of law as to constitute ldquoareas of limitedstatehoodrdquo in which private rules must serve as a substitute for public author-

ity (Boumlrzel and Risse 1048626104862410486251048624) Sociologists in the ldquoworld societyrdquo school startfrom different assumptions but nevertheless argue that global norms aboutenvironmental protection child labor and human rights are imported into

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developing countries as novel concepts that are completely alien to the locals(Meyer et al 1048625104863310486331048631)

e problem with this approach is not only as Gay Seidman (1048626104862410486241048631) argues

that ldquostateless regulationrdquo usually lacks enforcement power A more funda-mental problem is that this frame obscures the institutional arrangementsthat are in place in developing countries Developing countries are not emptyanonymous uniform places ey are populated with different business sys-tems cultures of production and political institutions What may look fromafar like a relatively empty space turns out on closer inspection to have adense set of preexisting relationships organizations and rules ese local

circumstances can recon1047297gure global rules in myriad ways (Halliday andCarruthers 1048626104862410486241048633 Merry 104862610486241048624983094) For instance in chapter 1048628 we look at fair tradecerti1047297cation and its consequences in Paraguay a place where earlier ways oforganizing agricultural operations set the stage for fair trade projects andshaped their results Fair trade standards were not simply imported to thisseing they were layered onto an existing set of institutions In fact a thickerldquolayeringrdquo of rules with varying consequences has been a common result ofglobal standards (Bartley 1048626104862410486251048625) An ldquoempty spacesrdquo assumption also obscures

ongoing political struggles at the point of production As we will see INGOsand conscientious consumers are far from the only actors concerned withlabor rights sustainability or the fair distribution of resources For instancerecent years have seen a rising tide of strikes in China and mobilization ofgarment workers in Cambodia and Bangladesh (Alam 1048626104862410486251048627 Dara and Wil-lemyns 1048626104862410486251048628 Friedman 1048626104862410486251048627) e land rights of indigenous people in Braziland Indonesia are a concern not only of backers of global sustainable forestry

standards but also of burgeoning movements of indigenous people them-selves (Gerber 1048626104862410486251048625) Social movements in developing countries may struggleto influence powerful global industries but they cannot simply be ignored

When it comes to governmental regulation it is true that developingcountries oen lack the resources and administrative capacities to effec-tively regulate production processes as do many governments in affluentcountries Moreover the logic of global production in some ways gives themdisincentives to do so aggressively implementing regulations may cause in-

vestors991252and orders from brands and retailers991252to flee the country and therules of the WTO make some forms of regulation untenable But ldquodevelopingcountriesrdquo are diverse In nearly all parts of the world there are laws relatedto labor the environment and the rights of citizens Scholars are beginning

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to 1047297nd increased enforcement of these laws in some surprising places fromrevitalized state labor inspection in the export processing zones of the Do-minican Republic (Schrank 1048626104862410486251048627) to aggressive environmental regulators in

Brazil and China (Coslovsky 1048626104862410486251048625 McAllister Van Rooij and Kagan 1048626104862410486251048624)In other instances law can be repressive991252restricting the rights of workers orindigenous communities for instance (Lee 1048626104862410486241048631 Li 1048626104862410486251048624) Again the influ-ences of local structures can vary but one should not assume a blank slate

983105 983122983151983157983143983144 983111983157983145983140983141 983156983151 983125983150 983152983137983139983147983145983150983143 983107983151983150983155983139983145983141 983150983156983145983151983157983155983107983151983150983155983157983149983152983156983145983151983150 983137983150983140 983120983154983151983140983157983139983156983145983151983150 983120983154983151983146983141983139983156983155

How then can one make sense of projects to promote conscientious con-sumption and fair or sustainable production e 1047297rst step is simply to acceptthat there is a great deal of variation ere is variation across individualsand locations in conscientious consumer behavior ere is variation acrossproducts and labeling initiatives in the ldquoon the groundrdquo implications of globalstandards ere is variation across industries (and even within them) in sys-tems of production and these intersect with national (and even subnational)

differences in industry organization To understand whether conscientiousconsumption and fairsustainable production projects can contribute tomeaningful alternatives we must look closely at these industrial and politi-cal contexts A second starting point is to accept that the influence of globalstandards for fairsustainable production is typically highly circumscribedor contingent on other factors As will become clear even the most stringentstandards and most credible initiatives do not transform global industries

ey sometimes influence certain parts of an industry but even this cannotautomatically be assumed

To unpack conscientious consumption initiatives and the global standardsthey endorse we bring four factors to the foreground (1048625) structures of pro-duction and consumption (1048626) the constituencies of standards (1048627) global-local linkages and (1048628) the coexistence of rule making and unruliness

Structures of Production and Consumption

Industry structures shape both the opportunities for conscientious con-sumption to occur and the consequences of rule-making projects at thepoint of production To start some industries are more likely than others to

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become targets of activism which is typically the catalyst for rule-makingand conscientious consumption projects

Lead 1047297rms in global value chains especially when they are large and have

salient corporate reputations make aractive targets for social movements(Bartley and Child 1048626104862410486251048628) Industries that lack powerful and well-known brands tend to aract less scrutiny For instance the manufacturing of bricksespecially in developing countries is oen a highly polluting and exploit-ative industry But because there are not well-known global brands in thisindustry it has received lile international aention In other cases activistshave highlighted a problem but without powerful and recognizable brands

to link this to rule-making projects have not emerged e production ofcheap costume jewelry is rife with exploitation as shown in the documentary Mardi Gras Made in China but this has not become a site of extensive rulemaking and conscientious consumerism In some circumstances the exis-tence of large high-pro1047297le retailers can compensate for a more fragmentedor poorly known set of manufacturers Anti-GMO activists for instancehave pressured manufacturers like Monsanto by going through large retailerslike Marks amp Spencer (Schurman and Munro 1048626104862410486241048633) Our analysis of global

food distribution (in chapter 1048628) is consistent with this observation but italso suggests that the locus of consumer and activist pressure depends onthe speci1047297c product

When activists do press lead 1047297rms to make their supply chains fairer ormore sustainable the consequences seem to depend in part on the structureof that supply chain If suppliers can easily 1047297nd alternative buyers who are notdemanding changes991252that is if there are few suppliers and many buyers991252

they will have lile incentive to comply with a particular lead 1047297rmrsquos rulesGoing further by many accounts when lead 1047297rms have a great deal of powerover ldquocaptiverdquo suppliers they should be able to demand that those suppliersmake improvements (Mayer and Gereffi 1048626104862410486251048624) On the other hand someresearch has questioned whether this power is truly effective or whether itmerely spurs a game in which suppliers pretend to be making improvements(and lead 1047297rms nod in approval) (Locke Amengual and Mangla 1048626104862410486241048633) Wesuspect that the power of lead 1047297rms does make a difference but that moresigni1047297cant changes are possible when lead 1047297rms and suppliers are mutuallydependent and work together over long stretches of time (Our analysis ofthe apparel industry in chapter 1048629 though suggests that long-term collabora-tion is rare) In addition when global value chains are fairly simple in their

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10486261048629983113983150983156983154983151983140983157983139983156983145983151983150

structure without too many intermediaries this should make it easier forstandards to ldquotravelrdquo through them ere is a conundrum here howeversince it is oen in industries with a high degree of subcontracting (such as

apparel) that global standards are in the highest demand If global industries were dominated by vertically integrated 1047297rms rather than dispersed supplychains the world of conscientious consumerism would look quite differentFurthermore sometimes the lack of action by large lead 1047297rms can leave aspace for activists and entrepreneurs to carve out a small market niche basedon fairness or sustainability is is how fair tradendashcerti1047297ed coffee beganand some new projects appear to be emerging in electronics (Fairphone as

discussed in chapter 983094) and apparel (the Alta Gracia factory as discussed inchapter 1048629) Aer looking more closely at our four industries991252timber foodapparelfootwear and electronics991252we return to questions about industrystructure in the bookrsquos conclusion

Industry structures also maer for consumers As we show in the nextchapter opportunities to engage in conscientious consumption are just asimportant as motivations to do so and these opportunities depend in parton the structure of the retail sector in a particular country Generally we sug-

gest that having larger retailers will facilitate consumer purchases of eco- andsocial-labeled products In part this is simply because larger retailers offer a

wider array of choices overall991252that is different versions of the same prod-uct991252while smaller retailers offer fewer choices To be sure small stores canspecialize in ldquoalternativerdquo products and large stores can fail to carry themBut given the trend toward ldquomainstreamingrdquo of alternatives (see Jaffee 1048626104862410486251048626)large retailers have become key points of sale for eco- and social-labeled prod-

ucts Furthermore oligopoly in the retail sector991252the dominance of a smallnumber of large companies991252also seems to magnify the power of activiststo influence the market As Rachel Schurman and William Munro (1048626104862410486241048633)found the existence of a small number of large food retailer chains in the UKallowed the anti-GMO movement to flourish there while it foundered amidthe larger number of supermarket chains in the United States

Constituencies and Standards

Global standards for fairness and sustainability may sound universal butthey spring from the priorities of particular individuals and groups A cru-cial step in understanding these standards is to examine the founders of

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initiatives that make rules audit compliance and certify products as fair orsustainable Some such initiatives such as fair trade certi1047297cation originatedlargely with NGOs or others outside of the industry Others such as the

Electronics Industry Citizenship Coalition and the Sustainable ForestryInitiative were founded almost exclusively by industry associations or othergroups of companies oen in response to the actions of NGOs In betweenare a number of initiatives developed by coalitions of NGOs and companiesfrom the Forest Stewardship Council to Social Accountability InternationalFounders are not everything NGO-initiated programs can become watereddown as they are mainstreamed and industry-initiated programs oen

evolve into formally independent organizations Most programs seek cred-ibility by calling themselves ldquomulti-stakeholderrdquo initiatives We maintainhowever that founding constituencies leave deep imprints on the content ofstandards and on the distribution of power within rule-making initiativesRules can get ratcheted up or down over time but these are usually marginalrevisions to a core approach Furthermore even when initiatives becomeformally independent from the constituencies that created them informalties revolving doors and 1047297nancial contributions oen persist

Generally we expect that industry-initiated programs will have standardsthat depart in relatively small ways from the normal practices of the indus-try Companies may want to improve labor conditions or environmentalperformance of their suppliers but they will be loath to push so far as todisrupt production or force a major change in their sourcing practices As aresult the greater the influence of companies in the founding of an initiativethe more likely it is to use either a ldquobest in classrdquo approach or a ldquocontinuous

improvementrdquo approach In the 1047297rst companies are recognized (throughcerti1047297cation or other endorsement) for demonstrating that they are aboveaverage in their industry is oen skirts the issue of whether they meeta stringent de1047297nition of a 1047297xed standard As Sco Nova (1048626104862410486251048625) has noted aldquobest in classrdquo model is like grading on a curve even if average performanceis quite low e second approach allows companies to start with a relativelylax standard and encourage gradual improvement over time852019

When industry outsiders have power in the initial design standard-seinginitiatives should look somewhat different First their standards are likely todepart more substantially from normal practices in the industry to a greateror lesser degree depending on the power of these outsiders Second these

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initiatives are more likely though certainly not guaranteed to endorse analternative model of production rather than to just reward the best in class orpush for continuous improvement Fair trade certi1047297cation and its emphasis

on democratically managed producer cooperatives (as described in chap-ter 1048628) is the clearest example of this ird and because of this initiativesspawned by outsiders are likely to either remain small or face dilemmas ofmainstreaming as they grow If they seek a large market presence ldquoalterna-tiverdquo programs will inevitably become more dependent on large companiese result may be a watering down of standards although as the case of theFSC shows (in chapter 1048627) this can be counteracted to some degree

For most products there are multiple competing aempts to de1047297ne fair-ness and sustainability For instance there are several ways of certifying thefairness and sustainability of coffee or of assessing the labor conditions ofapparel companies852020 Usually this competition reflects the struggle betweencompanies and NGOs Some scholars believe that such competition dooms

voluntary initiatives since it confuses consumers and lets companies choosetheir own standards (Seidman 1048626104862410486241048631) Others believe that it strengthens gov-ernance by spurring a ldquoratcheting uprdquo of expectations (Sabel OrsquoRourke and

Fung 1048626104862410486241048624) Our analysis of four global industries suggests that different setsof standards can oen coexist not exactly peacefully but with moderateinteraction or in different market niches Competition is inevitable but itseems to neither doom nor guarantee meaningful standards for fairness andsustainability It must be noted that initiatives that began with high bars991252namely Fair Trade and the FSC991252have not been pushed out of the market

by their competitors

Localized Globalisms and Globalized Localisms

Specifying links between ldquothe globalrdquo and ldquothe localrdquo has proven difficultand scholars have oen fallen prey to two types of conceptual dangers Firstin focusing on the global diffusion of a given idea or norm some have por-trayed domestic seings as lile more than passive receivers of a global proj-ect e language of domestic seings as ldquoreceptor sitesrdquo for global models(Frank Hironaka and Schofer 1048626104862410486241048624) is one example of this Pinpointingthis problem researchers are increasingly focusing on how local actors ap-propriate and ldquoindigenizerdquo global models to make them useful or meaningful

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(Halliday and Carruthers 1048626104862410486241048633 Merry 104862610486241048624983094) Second scholars of globaliza-tion oen equate the global with universalism (and oen progress) and thelocal with particularism (and oen backwardness) In so doing scholars

uncritically accept the most dominant model as ldquothe globalrdquo and obscure thepower that was exercised to establish its dominance

To deal with these problems we adopt Bonaventura de Santosrsquos language ofldquoglobalized localismsrdquo and ldquo localized globalismsrdquo (Santos 104862610486241048624983094 Santos andRodriacuteguez Garavito 1048626104862410486241048629) e 1047297rst refers to a process in which a particularis-tic set of ideas and practices becomes a dominant global norm Santos (104862610486241048624983094)provides examples such as ldquothe transformation of the English language into

a lingua franca the globalization of American fast food or popular music orthe worldwide adoption of the same laws of intellectual ownership patentsor telecommunications aggressively promoted by the USArdquo (10486271048633983094) For ourpurpose the key issue is how particular understandings of rights rules andenforcement have become institutionalized as global norms Concretely thenotion of a ldquoglobalized localismrdquo sensitizes us to processes by which particu-lar sets of reformers (NGOs companies or others) have turned their projectsinto ldquoglobalrdquo standards for fairness and sustainability Our point is not to

join the chorus that argues that ldquoWesternrdquo standards are being illegitimatelyforced on people and companies elsewhere ere have long been calls fordecent work and responsible natural resource management in many differ-ent parts of the world But the global standards supported by conscientiousconsumers in North A merica and Europe embody particular approaches tothese issues

e second concept ldquolocalized globalismrdquo refers to the incorporation of

these global models into local routines and expectations e concept sen-sitizes us to the work involved in turning global standards for fairness andsustainability into a concrete practice in a factory forest or farm in someparticular location As we have noted scholars too oen portray these sites asempty spaces We believe it is preferable to start from the opposite premisethat sites of implementation are crowded with different actors and agendasonly some of which are likely to line up with global standard-seing initia-tives Some elements of global standards are easily incorporated into localpractices while others are 1047297ercely resisted But a recognition of localizedglobalisms also has methodological implications It is rare for researchersto actually study these locations in detail It is easier to conduct distant and

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decontextualized studies of CSR or to focus only on the creation of standardsrather than their local implementation Our analyses of the global timberagricultural apparel and electronics industries include aention to speci1047297c

locations from the sugarcane farms of Paraguay to the electronics factoriesof Malaysia

Te Puzzle of Rules Rule Making and the Persistence of Unruliness

One can beer understand conscientious consumption and production proj-ects by recognizing what Tim Bartley (1048626104862410486251048628a) has called the ldquopuzzle of rulesrdquo

in the global economy simply put global capitalism can be ldquounrulyrdquo but italso generates many rule-making projects

e expansion of global markets has facilitated a number of rule-makingprojects from the standardization of accounting procedures to the rules forfairness and sustainability discussed in this book e volume of rule making

by both public and private actors has increased over the past three decadesMany scholars have pointed to these trends as evidence that global capitalismis not manic or ungovernable as it was initially framed Marie-Laure Djelic

and Kerstin Sahlin-Andersson (104862610486241048624983094) argue that ldquothe proliferation of regu-latory activities actors networks or constellations leads to an explosion ofrules and to the profound re-ordering of our worldrdquo (1048625) and they see globalcapitalism as ldquomarked by more991252not less991252rule-making activityrdquo (10486271048631983094)

On the other hand the explosion of rule making has oen been gearedtoward the expansion of markets rather than their restriction and in manyrespects global capitalism has remained unruly In many industries invest-

ment and orders can and do move quickly across locations oen under-mining aempts to impose rules Even more socially controlled European

varieties of capitalism have had their foundations chipped away (Streeck1048626104862410486241048633) Furthermore for all of the efforts of NGOs to build rules for fairnesssustainability and human rights many corners of global industries remainlargely unscrutinized and unaffected by these rule-making projects

As our case studies illustrate even as standards for fairness and sustain-ability have risen to prominence global industries have remained volatileand exploitative Certi1047297cation of sustainable forestry rose to prominencefrom 1048625104863310486331048629 to 1048626104862410486251048624 but so did illegal logging and deforestation worsenedin many places Te global apparel industry has come to be governed by

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numerous codes of conduct and factory monitoring initiatives but it hasalso continued to move quickly from one location to another in search oflow wages and more docile workers e rapid and inconsistent pace of the

global electronics industry has undermined aempts to improve workingconditions while rapidly changing agricultural markets have threatened thelivelihoods of many smallholder farmers

e puzzle of rules can be solved through an analysis of neoliberalism (seeBartley 1048626104862410486251048628a) but it also provokes a simple conclusion about the prospects forglobal fairness and sustainability global industries oen have contradictorytendencies so we should not expect either complete ldquogreenwashrdquoldquofairwashrdquo

or serious transformation Fair trade certi1047297cation has not transformed thelogic of commodity trade but it has improved conditions for some farmersin some circumstances FSC certi1047297cation has not made the timber trade sus-tainable but it has supported improvements in some forests As we developthese 1047297ndings (in part 1048626 of the book) we hope to speak not only to scholars ofconscientious consumerism but also to citizens and consumers themselvesConsumers oen want to feel like their purchases are ldquocleanrdquo of exploitation

but this is unrealistic We believe it would be more promising if consumers

shied from a deterministic to a probabilistic approach conscientious con-sumption may increase onersquos probability of contributing to improvementsand decrease the probability of contributing to the most extreme forms ofexploitation Tis does not answer the question of how large those prob-abilities are (which surely varies by product and label) or the question of howsigni1047297cant those improvements can be But only if consumers shi from anall-or-nothing view of ldquocleanrdquo versus ldquodirtyrdquo production (that is sustainable

versus destructive fair versus exploitative) can they come to an accurateunderstanding of what their purchases can and cannot achieve

983127 983144 983137983156 983116983145 983141 983155 983105 983144 983141 983137 983140

Part 1048625 of this book focuses on dynamics and dilemmas of conscientious con-sumerism In chapter 1048625 we look at why some American and European con-sumers are more likely than others to practice conscientious consumptionUsing survey data on thousands of individual consumers our quantitativeanalyses focus on factors that shape two forms of conscientious consump-tion boycoing and ldquobuycoingrdquo991252that is preferring a product for some po-

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litical or ethical reason Some paerns are related to consumersrsquo beliefs andthe extent to which they can afford to be choosy But individual differencesare only a small part of the story Where consumers are has a great deal to do

with whether they engage in conscientious consumption or not We thereforeconnect the individual survey responses with measures that capture nationaleconomic political and cultural contexts Overall this initial portrait showsthat conscientious consumption is widespread but far from universal withkey differences rooted not only in individual characteristics but in differentstructures of consumption as well

Having sketched some general paerns we delve deeper into the meanings

and implications of conscientious consumerism in chapter 1048626 Our analyses inchapter 1048625 are based on what consumers say they do but there are reasons todoubt that consumers will follow through on what they say or that what theysay truly captures the social meaning of their actions Yet we show that thereis evidence of consumers being wil ling to pay for eco-labels and social labelsConsumers are most likely to do so when their ldquoethicalrdquo choices also servetheir self-interest such as saving on energy costs or eating safer healthierfoods But even for those forms of conscientious consumption that have no

short-term direct bene1047297t for consumers there is mounting evidence thatsome consumers will pay more For labeling enthusiasts this is a good thingBut the ldquoone dollar one voterdquo logic of conscientious consumerism and thestatus-symbol character of some ldquoethicalrdquo products are potentially danger-ous in that they can exacerbate social economic and political inequalitiesamong consumers Moreover there is a danger that conscientious consumer-ism can displace other forms of political engagement promoting individual

consumerism at the expense of democratic citizenship and collective socialmovements Working through these debates we argue that conscientiousconsumerism as an ideology is regressive and counterproductive but speci1047297cpractices of conscientious consumption can sometimes be consistent withother forms of political engagement

Of course the real test of conscientious consumption comes at the pointof production To what extent do voluntary standards forged in response toconsumer concern make a difference ldquoon the groundrdquo in global industries

We tackle this question in part 1048626 of the book by looking at the global produc-tion of four types of products991252(1048625) wood and paper products (1048626) food (espe-cially the agri-food industry) (1048627) apparel and footwear and (1048628) electronics

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Each of these case studies is rooted in the interviews that we have conducted with local actors and other 1047297ne-grained information on the organization ofproduction ese chapters apply the framework sketched above (and a com-

mon organizational template) to allow for comparative insightsChapter 1048627 looks at the rise of forest certi1047297cation and its effects in the global

timber industry Like fair trade the FSC is one of the oldest and most es-tablished certi1047297cation and labeling initiatives It was founded more thantwenty years ago and it spurred a number of imitators and competitors Yetit is not well known among conscientious consumers and its impacts have

been far less than originally intended We trace the rise of forest certi1047297cation

with particular aention to the founders and constituents of the FSC andhow they leveraged the structure of the forest products industry to ldquomake amarketrdquo for certi1047297ed wood and paper Yet applying sustainability standardsto the production of some wood and paper products has barely influencedglobal deforestation A closer look at FSC certi1047297cation in the tropical forestsof Indonesia illustrates both the contradictions of certifying in a shiing andcontentious context and the limited ability of forest certi1047297cation to influencethe main drivers of deforestation

Next in chapter 1048628 we turn to agricultural production and the fairness andsustainability projects that have emerged in this seing Consumers aacha variety of meanings to food and the politics of food consumption has ex-ploded in the past decade In addition to sketching the structure of agri-foodproduction and consumption in general we focus on two types of rule-mak-ing projects fair trade certi1047297cation and an increasingly popular ldquocommod-ity roundtablerdquo approach Looking more closely at two crops991252sugar and

soy991252in one country Paraguay we are able to illustrate the consequences ofdifferent models of certi1047297cation and the crucial role of local context Globalfood politics are being layered onto preexisting institutional arrangementsand it is largely these institutional arrangements that determine whether cer-ti1047297cation is meaningful or not For instance fair trade certi1047297cation seems tomaer most when smallholder farmers are already organized into democrati-cally effective cooperatives or when local organizing al lows them to upgradetheir production capacities over time e contingent effects of conscientiousconsumption come into focus in this chapter

Chapter 1048629 considers how the rise of anti-sweatshop activism in the early1048625104863310486331048624s led to various aempts to monitor and improve working conditions inapparel and footwear factories A rough indication of how these initiatives

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have fared is provided by the occurrence of factory 1047297res in 1048626104862410486251048624ndash1048626104862410486251048627 and thedeath of more than eleven hundred garment workers in the 1048626104862410486251048627 collapse ofthe Rana Plaza building in Bangladesh Our chapter examines the constitu-

encies behind different factory auditing and certi1047297cation initiatives the waysstandards were implemented and the reasons why their effects have beenminimal e structure of apparel and footwear production in many wayscreated the demand for codes of conduct but the structure and the mobilityof the industry have undermined meaningful improvements Looking moreclosely at factories in China we show how aempts to certify particularfactories have fallen short In recent years several new projects to provide

ethical apparel have emerged but there remain few credible alternatives inthis industry

Finally chapter 983094 takes us into the fast-paced world of the electronics in-dustry where companies produce new models of smartphones laptops andother devices at breakneck speed Yet recently this industry has become afocus of aention for the exploitation of production workers especially aera series of worker suicides (and later strikes) at Foxconn factories in Chinaand mounting scrutiny of Foxconnrsquos buyer Apple Electronics brands have

also been accused of using ldquoconflict mineralsrdquo in the production of smart-phones e electronics industry is populated by well-capitalized companiesthat at times have demonstrated good intentions to make the labor processsafer and more humane Yet the industry has struggled to make improve-ments and 1047297nd tenable solutions We argue that the solution to this puzzlelies in the architecture of production and to a large extent ultimately in theorganization of electronics consumption is is a case in which conscien-

tious consumerism has been slow to develop and unreflective consumerismhas been a powerful constraint on signi1047297cant improvement Using detaileddata on factories producing for Hewle-Packard we show how the industrycontinues to demand extraordinarily ldquoflexiblerdquo labor markets and excessive

working hours in its factories in Southeast Asia We have tried to provide a sense of the complexity of these cases and set-

tings while still drawing out clear implications Along the way readers shouldget a clearer sense of the structure and operation of global value chains the

varied geographies of production and the circumscribed consequences ofeco-labels and social labels In a concluding chapter we compare our foursets of products and consider what has been learned

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Kong smallholder farms in Paraguay timber operations in Indonesia elec-tronics factories in Malaysia activist organizations in the United States and

beyond As a group we have conducted more than four hundred interviews

across four continents We have talked with a variety of practitioners in the world of global standards from managers responsible for making changes toauditors charged with judging compliance from workers and smallholderfarmers to the representatives of global brands and international nongov-ernmental organizations (INGOs) We have also analyzed a variety of dataon consumers 1047297rms and industry dynamics In this book we have soughtto integrate a large amount of information into straightforward analyses and

rich case studies

983124983144983141 983108983141983138983137983156983141 983151983158983141983154 983107983151983150983155983139983145983141983150983156983145983151983157983155 983107983151983150983155983157983149983141983154 983145983155983149

Can consumers contribute to a fairer more sustainable model of globaliza-tion Should they or is this a foolish way to bring about social change esequestions are central to the scholarly debate about what we call ldquoconscien-tious consumerismrdquo991252that is consumers viewing their purchases as a way

to express some sense of ethical or perhaps even political responsibilitySome theorists have treated conscientious consumerism as an aractiveand viable way for individuals to express their values likening consumptionto activism political engagement and active citizenship (Michelei 1048626104862410486241048627)

At a minimum paying aention to how consumer products are made mayenhance consumersrsquo sense of global connection and help to ldquode-fetishizerdquocommodities (Seyfang 1048626104862410486241048629) Others have argued that conscientious con-

sumerism is a shallow form of engagement that detracts from other pathwaysto social change expresses parochial self-serving values and legitimatesoverconsumption (Guthman 1048626104862410486241048631a Maniates 1048626104862410486241048625 Maniates and Meyer1048626104862410486251048624 Szasz 1048626104862410486241048631) In between some theorists have argued that individualscan be hybrid ldquocitizen-consumersrdquo whose consumer choices contribute insmall ways to a broader sense of social and political engagement (Williams104862610486241048624983094 Willis and Schor 1048626104862410486251048626)

ese debates are important and we stake out our own position here sinceany treatment of conscientious consumerism must grapple with its personaland political meanings But by focusing almost exclusively on the culturepolitics and meanings of conscientious consumerism existing researchhas had lile to say about two key factors991252(1048625) the structures of conscien-

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tious consumption and (1048626) its consequences at the point of production Firstconsuming products labeled as ldquofairrdquo or ldquosustainablerdquo is not just a maer ofindividual ldquoreflexivityrdquo regardless of whether one views this as noble or self-

absorbed It is structured by the constraints and opportunities that consum-ers face is refers in part to factors such as income education and socialclass that make conscientious consumerism far from universal But it alsorefers to differences across countries Even among fairly affluent countries inNorth America and Europe there are signi1047297cant differences in the size andshape of markets for products whose labels claim they are fair or sustainable

Second and even more striking is the degree to which the discourse on

conscientious consumerism has sidestepped questions about the implemen-tation of the standards that consumers are supporting Many forms of con-scientious consumption rely on assurances that certain production standardshave been followed Consumers cannot see for themselves whether theirfood has been farmed in a fair and sustainable way whether their furnitureoriginated in deforestation or whether their smartphones are the product ofheavily polluting high-tech sweatshops But scholars of conscientious con-sumerism have failed to interrogate these standards and assurances ey

usually either accept them at face value or dismiss them altogether as ldquogreen- washrdquo or ldquofairwashrdquo Other scholars have begun to study the implementationof voluntary production standards typically in order to evaluate ldquoprivategovernancerdquo systems (Locke 1048626104862410486251048627 Ponte 1048626104862410486241048632 Seidman 1048626104862410486241048631) or what somehave called ldquotransnational private regulationrdquo (Bartley 1048626104862410486241048631b) But researchon standards ldquoon the groundrdquo remains rare and comparisons of differentindustries and locations are just beginning to emerge852018

As one does look behind the label this much is clear claims of fairness andsustainability that seem straightforward to consumers become signi1047297cantlymurkier as one looks at the farms factories and forests where the productsoriginate Fair trade coffee may not be so fair for the casual laborers that farm-ers hire to toil in organic farms (Jaffee 1048626104862410486241048631)852018 A decade of ldquocorporate socialresponsibilityrdquo in the apparel industry did not prevent more than elevenhundred workers from dying when the Rana Plaza complex of factories inBangladesh collapsed in 1048626104862410486251048627 Certi1047297ed sustainable forests have sometimesturned out to be sites of illegal logging and violence against local residentsBut it is also clear that not all assurances are the same Some initiatives aremore stringent and credible than others some parts of an industry are more

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open to reform than others and some places are more likely to support de-cent conditions than others We 1047297nd more variation and complexity in globalindustries than would be expected by either simplistic celebrations of cor-

porate social responsibility or by condemnations of greenwashfairwashOur goal is to document grapple with and hopefully sort out some of thatcomplexity

e debate about conscientious consumerism is to some degree colored bythe different terms that scholars have used to describe it Some use the termldquopolitical consumerismrdquo (Michelei 1048626104862410486241048627) which has become the standardterm for researchers in much of Europe We believe it is premature to label

shopping with a conscience as a political act at least until far more is knownabout how consumers understand this act and its consequences Others pre-fer the term ldquoethical consumerismrdquo which appears to be more common inBritish and American discourse (Barne et al 1048626104862410486241048629 Goodman Maye andHolloway 1048626104862410486251048624) But this seems to imply that consumers have a coherentethical rationale We use the term ldquoconscientious consumerismrdquo (and ldquocon-scientious consumptionrdquo) to reflect our view that concerned consumers aremore oen acting on a vague sense of trying to do good in the world than on

a speci1047297c political or ethical commitment is does not mean that conscien-tious consumption cannot be highly principled In some cases it clearly isBut in many cases we suspect that consumers are uncertain and grasping991252areasonable response to the perplexing world of labels and global industries

And sometimes scholars question whether seemingly ethical purchasesmight actually be self-serving and insular (Szasz 1048626104862410486241048631) We see ldquoconscien-tiousrdquo consumer activity as open to both more and less principled ethical

political commitments Grappling with the pitfalls of this activity in this book we argue that an overarching ideology of conscientious consumerismas a vision of social change is vacuous Consumers and scholars should notrely on shopping to change the world Nevertheless we argue speci1047297c prac-tices of conscientious consumption can sometimes be meaningful as part ofmultifaceted strategies for reforming global industries Careful aention isneeded then to both consumer behavior and the effects of voluntary pro-duction standards

In the remainder of this introduction we sketch our approach to the analy-sis of conscientious consumption and standards for global industries We

begin by discussing the processes through which claims of ldquofairnessrdquo and

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ldquosustainabilityrdquo have become common features of shopping aisles is in-cludes some of the most signi1047297cant changes in the global economy and polityover the past four decades including the rise of global supply chains trans-

national advocacy networks and neoliberalism as an ideology of governance We then move on to critique three common frames for understanding con-scientious consumption and related global standards is sets the stage forour own framework for analysis which emphasizes industry structures theconstituencies behind standards global-local linkages and what we call theldquopuzzle of rulesrdquo in the global economy Following this introductory chapter

we turn to an analysis of consumer behavior in the United States and Europe

Tis is followed by an aempt to unpack the dilemmas of conscientiousconsumerism991252and our interpretation of what is harmful and helpful aboutit en in part 1048626 of the book we shi from consumption to production anddevelop case studies of four types of products timber food apparel andelectronics All have been subject to standards for ldquofairrdquo or ldquosustainablerdquoproduction yet the results have rarely been what reformers hoped for

983110983154983151983149 983107983137983149983152983137983145983143983150983155 983156983151 983116983137983138983141983148 983155

e story usually begins with a social movement While twentieth-centurysocial movements oen targeted national states and public policy by the turnof the twenty-1047297rst century environmental labor and human rights activists

were also ldquoshaming the corporationrdquo and contesting markets directly Oenthis meant exposing well-known transnational corporationsrsquo complicity withexploitation of workers (especially young women) natural environments

and indigenous people in locations around the world Anti-sweatshop groupsldquonamed and shamedrdquo Nike Walmart HampM and many other companies todraw aention to unsafe working environments physical and verbal abuseand a high-pressure low-wage model of production in the apparel and foot-

wear industry Eventually this approach spread to the electronics industryas activists showed how Apple Hewle-Packard Samsung and others relyon harsh labor conditions in Asia as well as ldquoconflict mineralsrdquo from war-torn areas of Central Africa Environmentalists had long been targetingcompanies like Te Home Depot BampQ and Mitsubishi because of theircontributions to tropical deforestation not to mention campaigns againstShell Chevron and other oil companies with reputations for pollution andenvironmental injustice Food markets became especially politicized Envi-

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ronmentalists showed how beef consumption threatened the Amazon rainforest how seafood sales contributed to the depletion of species and destruc-tion of ocean habitats and how ldquofactory farmsrdquo polluted local environments

ey also raised concerns about pesticides and genetically modi1047297ed organ-isms (GMOs) in the supply chains of many food brands and retailers Humanrights and development organizations linked Hershey Nestleacute and others to

bonded labor in cacao farms and connected Coca-Cola Pepsi and Cargill (alarge soybean producer) to land grabs that forcibly displaced small farmersin South America Asia and Africa

In response retailers and brands increasingly have adopted voluntary rules

for their supply chains Apparel footwear and electronics companies haveadopted ldquoethical sourcingrdquo policies and ldquocodes of conductrdquo sending auditorsaround the world to assess their suppliersrsquo compliance Some have joinedinitiatives like Social Accountability International (SAI) the Fair Labor

Association (FLA) Business Social Compliance Initiative (BSCI) or theElectronics Industry Citizenship Coalition (EICC) which have their ownsets of rules and auditing procedures Food producers and retailers havesimilarly joined initiatives like the Roundtable on Responsible Soy (RTRS)

or the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) both of which addressthe environmental and social implications of large-scale agricultural planta-tions Sellers of paper and furniture have turned to products certi1047297ed bythe Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) (or its competitor the Programmefor the Endorsement of Forest Certi1047297cation [PEFC]) to demonstrate theirgreen credentials while some food retailers have agreed to sell seafood cer-ti1047297ed by the Marine Stewardship Council ese are just a few examples of

how pressure from social movements has led to the proliferation of ethicalstandards Some of these standards take the form of policies that companiesadopt while others are governed by external associations like those men-tioned above Typically these associations are created either by coalitions ofNGOs and a few leading 1047297rms or by groups of companies hoping to fend offfurther pressure

In some instances social movements have not merely pressured companiesto improve their practices they have sought to endorse alternative models ofproduction Organic agriculture was a movement before it was a market andit helped to legitimate forms of farming that do not rely on pesticides e fairtrade movement originated with the goal of supporting small farmers who

were organized into democratically run cooperatives and it sought to use

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certi1047297cation to direct greater resources toward these farmers not to improveconditions on large plantations (Linton Liou and Shaw 1048626104862410486241048628) Although la-

bor rights advocates have been hesitant to label companies as ldquogoodrdquo groups

like the Worker Rights Consortium (WRC) and the Fair Wear Foundation(FWF) have begun to build market support for factories in which workersare represented by independent unions Similarly some of the impetus forthe Forest Stewardship Council came from foresters environmentalists andindigenous rights groups hoping to support small-scale community forestryoperations not simply to improve industrial timber operations (Bartleyand Smith 1048626104862410486251048624) ese kinds of initiatives are ldquoin the market but not of itrdquo

(Taylor 1048626104862410486241048629) and insert alternative ldquoorders of worthrdquo into market decisions(Boltanski and eacutevenot 104862610486241048624983094) Yet as activists have sought to build marketsupport for these production models they have encountered dilemmas ofldquomainstreamingrdquo alternatives Under pressure larger companies have agreedto sell certi1047297ed products including Starbucks and Fair Trade coffee or eHome Depot and FSC-certi1047297ed lumber But as activists have discoveredthere is a 1047297ne and oen blurry line between building market support and

becoming dependent on big companies in a way that leads to the weakening

of standards As our case studies show the world of voluntary standards whether for

alternatives or ldquobest practicesrdquo involves a constant struggle for the powerto de1047297ne legitimate standards and to determine how strictly they should beapplied in the 1047297eld ere is an ldquoNGO-Industrial Complexrdquo that underliesmost conscientious consumption and production initiatives (Gereffi Garcia-

Johnson and Sasser 1048626104862410486241048625) but it is multifaceted and contentious

e ultimate impacts of conscientious consumption and production proj-ects are oen hard to discern but this much is clear taken together theseactivities amount to a vast new set of standard-seing projects for the globaleconomy Promoted by a mix of NGOs companies and trade associationsthey seek to use global production networks991252or ldquoglobal value chainsrdquo991252rather than the national state to promote rules about fairness justice andsustainability (Cashore Auld and Newsom 1048626104862410486241048628 Guthman 1048626104862410486241048631b Ponte1048626104862410486241048632 Seidman 1048626104862410486241048631) ldquoLead 1047297rmsrdquo in these global value chains991252that is

large retailers and brands from Apple to IKEA to Zara991252have the power toset styles prices and delivery schedules for their suppliers so advocatesargue they should also be able to influence the conditions of workers com-

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munities and the environment Companies frequently adopt standards tofend off activist pressure and the media spotlight but adoption does notmean implementation In some cases alternatives have found a niche in the

market and in other cases voluntary initiatives have proliferated while thelogic of production991252and exploitation991252has remained largely unchanged

Scrutiny of global industries has also spawned tools to help consum-ers make sense of all of these claims and to smartly vote with their wal-lets Consumer Reports magazine can trace its origins to a much earlier waveof muckraking (Rao 1048625104863310486331048632) and with the recent proliferation of competingeco-labels it has sometimes stepped in to referee as have publications from

Co-Op America in the United States and Ethical Consumer magazine in theUnited Kingdom Te Monterey Bay Aquarium in the United States haslong published a list of seafood for environmentally conscious consumersto prefer and avoid Online guides and smartphone apps have made thesetypes of guides more elaborate Goodguidecom developed by some leadingresearchers before being sold to Underwriters Laboratories (UL) compilesa wide array of information to rate products and companies for their healthenvironmental and social impacts Smartphone apps even allow consumers

to trace products to parent companies and investors as with apps that enableconsumers to boyco the conservative Koch Brothers avoid the biotech gi-ant Monsanto or support companies that recognize lesbian gay bisexualand transsexual rights (OrsquoConnor 1048626104862410486251048627)

Of course these consumer guides are only as good as the information thatgoes into them and as our case studies show meaningful accurate informa-tion is oen difficult to come by in complex global industries Furthermore

as our analyses of consumer behavior show only particular subsets of con-sumers have indicated an interest in boycoing or ldquobuycoingrdquo and thereare real questions about how many will pay more for guarantees of fairnessand sustainability Before diving into these issues we must consider thelarger context in which the rise of conscientious consumerism has occurred

983122983141983139983151983150 983142983145983143983157983154983145 983150 983143 983122983141983155983152983151983150 983155983145983138983145983148983145983156983145983141983155 983122 983145983143983144983156983155 983137 983150 983140 983122983157983148983141983155

Debates about consumers producers and ethical standards are vexing inpart because they are tied up with a larger recon1047297guration of responsibilitiesrights and rules in the global economy National and multinational corpo-

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rations have become transnational corporations with activities stretchingacross national boundaries without being deeply rooted in them Nationalstates once the main makers of rules and arbiters of rights are increasingly

just one of many actors issuing rules and claiming to enforce rights Inter-national NGOs and global standards associations have sought to issue rulesand enforce rights as well although their effectiveness in doing so is unclearMore broadly the goal to turn the world into ldquoone big marketrdquo991252associated

with neoliberal ideology991252has challenged earlier conceptions of what na-tional states can and should do to protect or empower citizens workers andthe environment Conscientious consumption and production projects are

to some degree the result of these changes In a world of vertically integratedcompanies and strong responsive states there would be far less demand for

voluntary standards supported by consumers But these changes have notsimply paved the way for conscientious consumerism they have complicatedits meanings and impacts in a variety of ways

Te Supply Chain Revolution

Capitalism in the twentieth century was characterized by the growth of verti-cally integrated corporations which controlled raw materials manufactur-ing and distribution and by the growth of horizontally integrated corpora-tions and conglomerates in which multiple businesses were combined in thesame corporate structure By the 1048625104863310486321048624s these models were giving way to theldquosupply chain revolutionrdquo in which large 1047297rms contract with independentsuppliers rather than owning an entire production process Nike built its

fortunes by being an early adopter of the ldquomanufacturer without factoriesrdquomodel and Walmart became a dominant retailer by making its supply chains

work faster and cheaper than retailers had previously In what Robert Feen-stra (1048625104863310486331048632) called the ldquointegration of trade and disintegration of productionrdquocompanies in industries from apparel to electronics to furniture shed theirfactories contracted with independent manufacturers and focused on build-ing their ldquobrandrdquo images

While some contracting and subcontracting happened within national borders scholars pointed out that many production processes were beingturned into ldquoglobal commodity chainsrdquo and especially ldquobuyer-drivenrdquo globalcommodity chains in which companies nearest the distribution end of the

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chain (retailers and well-known brands) exercised the greatest power overproduction processes and extracted the greatest pro1047297t from them (Gereffi1048625104863310486331048628 1048625104863310486331048633) Other terms such as ldquoglobal production networksrdquo and ldquoglobal

value chainsrdquo described similar phenomena and as many industries shiedto a supply chain model of some sort these different traditions of research

began to merge and more nuanced ways of describing power and coordina-tion in global value chains were articulated (Bair 1048626104862410486241048632 Gereffi Humphreyand Sturgeon 1048626104862410486241048629) is supply chain revolution was facilitated by techno-logical changes that made contracting more efficient and by legal changesthat opened more parts of the world to foreign investment Of course in

some industries such as agriculture large consumer-facing companies hadlong relied on networks of suppliers991252from coffee farmers to growers ofcorn wheat and other commodity crops Yet these industries have beenrecon1047297gured to some degree by the growth of mega-retailers that have cutout middleman distributors

Most important at this point is to recognize how the supply chain revolu-tion both highlighted and blurred the responsibilities of transnational corpo-rations On one hand contracting and subcontracting networks tied retailers

and brands in the United States and Europe to sites of production991252andexploitation991252around the world To be sure multinational corporations likeNestleacute I and PepsiCo had been shamed for the actions of their foreignarms in the 1048625104863310486311048624s but the networked transnational corporations of the 1048625104863310486331048624shad more extensive ties and thus greater vulnerabilities On the other handthe lines of responsibility991252and especially legal liability991252were blurry since

brands and retailers exercised a great deal of power over their suppliers but

did not own those sites of production Initially when sweatshops child la- bor and prison labor were uncovered brands like Nike and Walmart deniedresponsibility on the basis that they did not own the factories where suchabuses occurred As pressure mounted these and other lead 1047297rms in global

value chains began to accept ldquosordquo forms of responsibility by adopting codesof conduct and pledging to monitor and improve conditions in their supplychains ose same companies however 1047297ercely resisted aempts to makethem legally liable (Bartley 1048626104862410486241048629 Shamir 1048626104862410486241048628)

For the most part this remains the situation in the forest products foodapparelfootwear and electronics industries When pressed retailers and

brands have publicly accepted some responsibility to improve conditions in

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kets have remained largely national in scope especially when it comes toissues of fairness and sustainability e World Trade Organization (WTO)has endorsed protections for intellectual property rights but it has le only

narrow spaces for governments to protect workers and environments and ithas refused to address labor rights directly Bilateral and multilateral tradeagreements sometimes include labor and environmental standards but theseare limited in scope and enforceability International organizations suchas the United Nations and the International Labor Organization promoteconventions for governments to adopt but these organizations rarely haveany power to demand enforcement National governments are constrained

in part by a global economy in which 1047297rms and investors can move from one jurisdiction to another but perhaps even more by ideological commitmentsto neoliberal globalization and the rules of the WTO (Evans 1048625104863310486331048631 Rodrik1048626104862410486251048625) As we argue it is a mistake to think that governments are powerless orirrelevant in the face of globalization but there is no doubt that the dearthof binding international regulation of production conditions has led many tolook to the private sector as a way of enforcing standards NGOs for instancehave oen turned to voluntary standards and conscientious consumption as

second-best alternatives to intergovernmental systems of regulationNeoliberalism can be credited not only with helping to hollow out the state

but also with promoting an individualization of responsibility In a processthat theorists have called ldquoresponsibilizationrdquo individuals are treated as hav-ing the duty and capacity to take responsibility for things that should rightly

be seen as the result of social structures is can be seen for instance in at-tempts to reform welfare states to make welfare recipients take responsibility

for their own fates (Rose 1048626104862410486241048624) e moralization of markets has also been aresponsibilization process in which individual consumers are told they havethe duty991252and the ability991252to solve the worldrsquos social problems throughtheir purchases While some scholars use the language of responsibilizationto dismiss conscientious consumption as misguided we do not see this asthe most appropriate response We recognize that individual consumers are

being asked to take responsibility for problems that would oen be beerserved by more collective and robust solutions including revitalized statesand labor unions But it is at least possible that responsibility-taking by con-sumers could help to support more durable solutions in the future especially

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if governments NGOs and consumers themselves have a clearer under-standing of what is and is not being affected by conscientious consumptionand production initiatives

INGOs and ransnational Advocacy Networks

Since the end of World War II NGOs have become key actors in nationalinternational and transnational governance By the turn of the twenty-1047297rstcentury NGOs were carrying out most of the tasks of governing complex so-cieties delivering development assistance mediating social conflicts seing

standards for business developing expert knowledge and reconstructingsocieties aer natural and social disasters By some accounts the proliferationof NGOs and their incorporation into development and governance projectsamounts to an associational revolution that ldquomay constitute as signi1047297cant asocial and political development of the laer twentieth century as the rise ofthe nation state was of the nineteenth centuryrdquo (Edwards and Hulme 104862510486331048633983094 1048626)

International NGOs (INGOs) such as Greenpeace Oxfam or HumanRights Watch have mobilized aention to a variety of global problems from

climate change to new forms of bonded labor ey have garnered mediaaention to these problems and have pushed governments and intergovern-mental organizations to take action In addition the growth of transnationalnetworks of advocates and experts has sometimes allowed domestic activiststo gain leverage over their governments In what Margaret Keck and KathrynSikkink (1048625104863310486331048632) dubbed the ldquoboomerang effectrdquo domestic activists can reachpast indifferent or hostile domestic governments and appeal to transnational

advocacy networks that in turn exert pressure on those governmentsSince the 1048625104863310486331048624s INGOs have increasingly sought to put pressure on trans-

national corporations and restructure markets not just state policies eyhave led efforts to build product certi1047297cation initiatives from the ForestStewardship Council to the Marine Stewardship Council and they havecoordinated ldquomarket campaignsrdquo to convince large retailers to support theseinitiatives In addition the traditional boomerang effect has been supple-mented with what Naomi Klein (1048625104863310486331048633) called the ldquobrand boomerangrdquo in

which grassroots labor or environmental activists call on their internationalallies to put pressure on a well-known company that is operating in (or buy-

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10486251048629983113983150983156983154983151983140983157983139983156983145983151983150

ing from) that location rough these processes INGOs have become im-portant architects advocates and watchdogs of conscientious consumptionand production projects

e rise of INGOs does raise conundrums however especially about therelationship between professional advocates based in Amsterdam or Wash-ington DC and grassroots activists in developing countries To some extentINGOs have become sensitive to these power disparities and local NGOshave become savvy about working with foreign partners But the power ofINGOs to organize transnational campaigns aract media aention andshame global companies does carry the danger that more locally oriented

strategies or those directed to domestic governments are being neglected(Seidman 1048626104862410486241048631)

Standards for Markets and Markets for Standards

Without the supply chain revolution neoliberal globalization and thegrowth of transnational advocacy networks it is hard to imagine the rise ofconscientious consumption and global standards for fairness and sustain-

ability Yet just because initiatives for auditing certifying or reporting onsustainability or fairness have emerged that does not mean they will haveintegrity or impact Typically conscientious consumption and productionprojects are organized as private voluntary initiatives ey aempt to setstandards for markets but they also exist within markets Like all voluntaryprograms they depend on participation from companies and there can oen

be a trade-off between the stringency of standards and the number of partici-

pants (Potoski and Prakash 1048626104862410486241048633) All voluntary initiatives are structurallydependent on their corporate participants so one should take the languageof independent ldquothird-partyrdquo initiatives with a grain of salt Furthermore asprivate initiatives they have no monopoly on standards for a particular topic(as a government would have) is means competing standards initiativescan easily emerge For some observers the private voluntary character ofthese initiatives is reason enough to give up on them (eg Seidman 1048626104862410486241048631)

while for neoliberal advocates of market-based solutions these same featuresmake such initiatives especially aractive As we argue below our approachseeks to unpack variation in the organization of these initiatives and the

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contexts in which they operate At the same time as our case studies showthere are certainly limits on what private voluntary initiatives have beenable to accomplish

983124983144983154 983141983141 983110983154983137 983149983141983155 983137983150 983140 983124983144983141983145983154 983123983144983151983154983156983139983151983149983145983150 983143983155

Given the rise of conscientious consumerism and the growth of standards forglobal industries scholars and advocates are racing to promote simple framesfor making sense of them In this section we discuss three frames that areoen invoked Each captures a slice of something important but each ends

up obscuring as much as it illuminates or more

Te Empowered Sovereign Consumer

Scholars and advocates oen adopt a celebratory tone in discussing consci-entious consumerism ey argue that consumers are being empowered toldquovote with their dollarsrdquo and that these small changes in the habits of affluentconsumers can change or even ldquosaverdquo the world As Ruth Stokes (1048626104862410486251048627) writes

in the Ecologist magazine ldquoI believe that changing the way we shop991252voting with our money991252can help to change the world Companies respond tothe habits of shoppers We all have consumer power we just have to makesure we use it wiselyrdquo If consumers have been manipulated by companiesin the past they are increasingly being empowered by new sources of infor-mation argues Dara OrsquoRourke (1048626104862410486251048625) eorists of ldquopolitical consumerismrdquohave argued that this mode of political expression is especially empowering

for individuals who are alienated from formal politics such as young peopleand women (Michelei 1048626104862410486241048627) Furthermore as companies compete for thesupport of conscientious consumers and the coveted ldquolifestyles of health andsustainabilityrdquo (LOHAS) niche (Emerich 1048626104862410486251048625) many observers argue thatthey will become transparent responsible corporate citizens (Porter andKramer 104862610486241048624983094 Smith 1048625104863310486331048624 Zadek Pruzan and Evans 1048625104863310486331048631)

Such celebrations oen rest on an idealized framing of consumer agency991252that is the ability and willingness of the ldquosovereign citizen-consumerrdquo to bethe prime mover of social change (Jacobsen and Dulsrud 1048626104862410486241048631) e ldquosover-eign consumerrdquo is an old concept that is intended to suggest that consumertastes are the driver of all economic activity As scholars have observed the

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growth of conscientious consumption the sovereign consumer has becomethe sovereign citizen-consumer or what Roberta Sassatelli (1048626104862410486241048631) dubbedthe waking of the ldquosleepy giant of the sovereign citizen-consumerrdquo (104862510486321048632) So-

cial theorist Ulrich Beck perhaps the most prominent theorist of consump-tion as a form of politics argues that ldquocitizens discover the act of shoppingas one in which they can always cast their ballot991252on a world scale no lessrdquo(qtd in Sassatelli 1048626104862410486241048631 104862510486321048632) Michele Michelei (1048626104862410486241048627) takes the provocationeven further

Conflicts over what and where to consume are now central for understanding the func-tioning of affluent Western societies is can even mean that consumers participating

in boycos can for instance be likened to resistance 1047297ghters Yet unlike resistance orrevolutionary conflicts of the past citizen-consumers tend to direct their aention towardthe market rather than state actors (1048625983094ndash10486251048631)

Even if one gets past the hyperbole treating consumer tastes as king orqueen is problematic in several respects First consumersrsquo aitudes turn outto be only one ingredient in the construction of conscientious consumptionmarkets As we show in this book the opportunities for conscientious con-sumption are not distributed evenly across individuals or across countries

Social inequality and differences in market structures mean the social con-text of consumption is just as important as individual aitudes Consumertastes may make a difference but it is difficult to see them as a true primemover

Second it is naive to assume that a change in consumer tastes translatesdirectly into a change in the production processes of global industries AsMargaret Willis and Juliet Schor (1048626104862410486251048626) argue many accounts of consci-

entious consumerism take a ldquonaiumlve aggregationistrdquo approach to marketsassuming that if a large enough number of consumers is interested in al-ternative products the market will simply change to deliver them A quitedifferent story is told by research on industries technologies and organiza-tions over time Production processes are oen ldquolocked inrdquo by a system ofinterrelated technologies and expectations making them difficult to changePaul David (1048625104863310486321048629) famously illustrated this by considering the persistence ofthe inefficient QWERTY keyboard on typewriters and computers Even ifproduction practices are not strongly locked in companies like all organi-zations rarely abandon their core routines and technologies (Hannan andFreeman 1048625104863310486321048633) Perhaps the biggest problem is that those who celebrate the

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transformative power of new consumer tastes assume that industry practicesare changing but they almost never actually investigate this assumption edisconnect between theories of conscientious consumerism and empirical

research on industry practices is stark and it is one thing that we hope toremedy with this book

Finally by celebrating the empowered conscientious politicized con-sumer one obscures the ways that unreflective consumer choices influencelabor and environmental conditions in global industries As much as someconsumers are becoming more conscientious about some of their choicesespecially when it comes to food and drinks (eg organic produce fair trade

coffee) much consumer activity is routine and habitual and some of theethics of consumption are opaque to all but the most commied individu-als Conscientious consumers might be careful to recycle avoid disposableplastic water boles and buy organic vegetables but then eat beef withoutthinking of its massive natural resource demands and the contributions ofcale production to global warming As environmentalists have pointedout encouraging consumers to make their purchases more environmentallyfriendly carries a risk of legitimating overconsumption in affluent markets

which is the foundation of many forms of environmental degradation (Mani-ates and Meyer 1048626104862410486251048624) e issue may not be just the amount of consumption

but its pace as well As will become clear later in this book the rise of ldquofastfashionrdquo and ldquofast electronicsrdquo991252that is the rapid churning through fashion-able styles of clothing and different models of smartphones991252appears to bea root cause of labor exploitation in the apparel and electronics industries

GreenwashFairwash

While some have celebrated conscientious consumerism others have dis-missed voluntary standards eco-labeling and social labeling as ldquogreenwashrdquoor ldquofairwashrdquo As Sharon Beder (1048626104862410486241048625) puts it ldquoTe aempt to provide alsquogreenrsquo and caring image for a corporation is a public relations strategy aimedat promising reform and heading off demands for more substantial and fun-damental changes and government interventionrdquo (104862610486291048627) Claims about fair

and sustainable production in this view simply provide cover to companiesthat are engaged in fundamentally unfair and unsustainable activities ecodes of conduct sustainability reports and information disclosures that are

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10486251048633983113983150983156983154983151983140983157983139983156983145983151983150

highlighted in celebratory accounts of transparency may actually be formsof ldquodisinformationrdquo that obscure companiesrsquo actual practices

e term ldquogreenwashrdquo took off among environmentalists in the late 1048625104863310486321048624s

as a description of advertising campaigns that portrayed companies as pro-tectors of the environment (Beers and Capellaro 1048625104863310486331048625) Greenpeace arguedthat transnational corporations like Shell DuPont and Mitsubishi had ldquoem-

braced the environment as their cause and co-opted its terminologyrdquo even while contributing massively to environmental degradation (Greenpeace1048625104863310486331048626 1048626) e analogue for corporate claims about incomes livelihoods and

justice991252ldquofairwashingrdquo991252entered the lexicon later in the wake of the fair

trade movement As fair trade certi1047297cation was becoming ldquomainstreamedrdquoand imitated scholars and activists began worrying that fairwashing wason the horizon (Conroy 1048626104862410486241048631 Lyon and Moberg 1048626104862410486251048624) Observers have alsocriticized the images produced in the name of ldquocorporate social responsibil-ityrdquo arguing that these are ldquomerely a public relations game lulling us intoa false sense of securityrdquo (Doane 1048626104862410486241048629 10486261048633) Common to all these diagnosesis the sense that most assurances one 1047297nds on a product are nothing morethan public relations efforts

e greenwashfairwash critique captures two key features of conscien-tious consumption and global standards First when faced with criticismcompanies would prefer to be able to improve their images without alteringpro1047297table practices A public relations campaign is typically the 1047297rst line ofdefense Companies may also hire outside organizations991252auditors consul-tants and sometimes NGOs991252to lend some credibility to their campaignsey may also fund seemingly independent standard-seing initiatives that

can endorse their corporate social responsibility programs or label theirproducts As we will see this is how the US timber industryrsquos SustainableForestry Initiative got its start and it helps to account for the role of appareland footwear brands in the Fair Labor Association One must always takeassurances of sustainability and fairness with a grain of salt e dosage ofsalt depends in part on whether claims come from companies themselvesinitiatives that they control or more independent initiatives (If initiativesdepend on the voluntary participation of companies they can never be fully independent but there are gradations) In our analyses of standards (in part1048626 of this book) we are aentive to who has created a particular initiativehow it is funded and how dependent on companies it is Second there is

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nearly always some hypocrisy present when companies take up greening orfairness initiatives Simply because one product or one aspect of a companyrsquosproduction has earned some credentials does not mean that the companyrsquos

operations overall can be considered green or fair As David Vogel (1048626104862410486241048629)has argued we oen yearn for simple pronouncements of ldquogoodrdquo and ldquobadrdquocompanies But companies like people are complex multifaceted and oencontradictory One part of a company may be developing green productionprocesses while another part lobbies against environmental regulation

On the other hand we see simple distinctions between greenwashfair- wash and ldquotruerdquo reform as a poor match for the current state of global indus-

tries and labeling projects Eco-labeling and social labeling may once have been the domain of public relations personnel but they have become theirown specialized world in which credibility depends on ldquomulti-stakeholderrepresentationrdquo and extensive amounts of accreditation auditing and veri1047297-cation Companies might prefer to respond to criticism with public relationscampaigns but they are oen pushed by activists and investors to go furtherand achieve some kind of external assurance For instance if confronted bylabor rights abuses apparel and footwear companies no longer simply hold

up a code of conduct instead they refer to sophisticated factory monitoringprograms external certi1047297cations and ldquocapacity-buildingrdquo projects (Locke1048626104862410486251048627) Rather than simply co-opting the language of environmentalism manyretailers have been pushed to sell products that are independently certi1047297ed(Conroy 1048626104862410486241048631) Furthermore the world of voluntary certi1047297cation has be-come increasingly formalized For instance to judge compliance with thestandards of the FSC an auditing organization (eg Scienti1047297c Certi1047297cation

Systems SmartWood or the Soil Association) must be accredited by a sepa-rate oversight body (Accreditation Services International) Furthermore theFSC belongs to an umbrella organization991252the ISEAL (International Socialand Environmental Accreditation and Labeling) Alliance991252which de1047297nes

best practices for credible certi1047297cation initiatives To be sure all of this cer-ti1047297cation of the certi1047297ers of the certi1047297ers (and beyond) is not guaranteed to

bring about meaningful improvement Indeed we describe cases where thisformalization has been counterproductive and where seemingly credible ini-tiatives have failed spectacularly But it does mean there is more ldquocheckingrdquothan there is simple ldquowashingrdquo As Peter Dauvergne and Jane Lister (1048626104862410486251048626)put it ldquoCorporate sustainability goals include measurable targets are

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audited by independent groups and are integrated into the core business [through] life-cycle assessment supply chain tracing eco-certi1047297cation andsustainability reportingrdquo (10486271048632) We concur with them that all of this measure-

ment and reporting oen skirts the root causes of problems but one cannotseriously assess conscientious consumption without investigating this activ-ity If the world were as simple as it was when the ldquogreenwashrdquo frame was 1047297rstcoined a book like this would not be necessary

Most importantly the greenwashfairwash frame leaves a key questionunanswered if a claim is not just greenwashfairwash991252in other words if itis backed by stringent standards and credible veri1047297cation processes991252then

what is it It would be tempting to assume that the converse of greenwashfairwash is something like ldquoreal sustainabilityfairnessrdquo on the ground But asour case studies show it is possible to have stringent standards and credibleassessment but still not generate much reform of global industries Our goalis to provide some tools for making sense of these complex (and common)intermediate scenarios

Importing Standards into Empty Spaces

Another problematic frame concerns the implementation of global standardsincluding those supported by conscientious consumerism It is tempting tosee global standards as introducing new rules into otherwise empty spacesFor instance one might think of labor codes of conduct as introducing laborrights into factories that would otherwise be completely unregulated andchaotic Or one might think of global sustainability standards as introducing

environmental norms into seings where businesses would otherwise be freeto pollute with impunity As Alison Brysk puts it global rule-making proj-ects oen ldquoconcern areas previously ungoverned or even unknownrdquo (Brysk1048626104862410486241048629 104862510486261048624) Indeed scholars and practitioners oen portray private rules as1047297lling a ldquoregulatory voidrdquo as they are put into practice especially in devel-oping countries (Sabel OrsquoRourke and Fung 1048626104862410486241048624) For some developingcountries are so lacking in the rule of law as to constitute ldquoareas of limitedstatehoodrdquo in which private rules must serve as a substitute for public author-

ity (Boumlrzel and Risse 1048626104862410486251048624) Sociologists in the ldquoworld societyrdquo school startfrom different assumptions but nevertheless argue that global norms aboutenvironmental protection child labor and human rights are imported into

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developing countries as novel concepts that are completely alien to the locals(Meyer et al 1048625104863310486331048631)

e problem with this approach is not only as Gay Seidman (1048626104862410486241048631) argues

that ldquostateless regulationrdquo usually lacks enforcement power A more funda-mental problem is that this frame obscures the institutional arrangementsthat are in place in developing countries Developing countries are not emptyanonymous uniform places ey are populated with different business sys-tems cultures of production and political institutions What may look fromafar like a relatively empty space turns out on closer inspection to have adense set of preexisting relationships organizations and rules ese local

circumstances can recon1047297gure global rules in myriad ways (Halliday andCarruthers 1048626104862410486241048633 Merry 104862610486241048624983094) For instance in chapter 1048628 we look at fair tradecerti1047297cation and its consequences in Paraguay a place where earlier ways oforganizing agricultural operations set the stage for fair trade projects andshaped their results Fair trade standards were not simply imported to thisseing they were layered onto an existing set of institutions In fact a thickerldquolayeringrdquo of rules with varying consequences has been a common result ofglobal standards (Bartley 1048626104862410486251048625) An ldquoempty spacesrdquo assumption also obscures

ongoing political struggles at the point of production As we will see INGOsand conscientious consumers are far from the only actors concerned withlabor rights sustainability or the fair distribution of resources For instancerecent years have seen a rising tide of strikes in China and mobilization ofgarment workers in Cambodia and Bangladesh (Alam 1048626104862410486251048627 Dara and Wil-lemyns 1048626104862410486251048628 Friedman 1048626104862410486251048627) e land rights of indigenous people in Braziland Indonesia are a concern not only of backers of global sustainable forestry

standards but also of burgeoning movements of indigenous people them-selves (Gerber 1048626104862410486251048625) Social movements in developing countries may struggleto influence powerful global industries but they cannot simply be ignored

When it comes to governmental regulation it is true that developingcountries oen lack the resources and administrative capacities to effec-tively regulate production processes as do many governments in affluentcountries Moreover the logic of global production in some ways gives themdisincentives to do so aggressively implementing regulations may cause in-

vestors991252and orders from brands and retailers991252to flee the country and therules of the WTO make some forms of regulation untenable But ldquodevelopingcountriesrdquo are diverse In nearly all parts of the world there are laws relatedto labor the environment and the rights of citizens Scholars are beginning

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to 1047297nd increased enforcement of these laws in some surprising places fromrevitalized state labor inspection in the export processing zones of the Do-minican Republic (Schrank 1048626104862410486251048627) to aggressive environmental regulators in

Brazil and China (Coslovsky 1048626104862410486251048625 McAllister Van Rooij and Kagan 1048626104862410486251048624)In other instances law can be repressive991252restricting the rights of workers orindigenous communities for instance (Lee 1048626104862410486241048631 Li 1048626104862410486251048624) Again the influ-ences of local structures can vary but one should not assume a blank slate

983105 983122983151983157983143983144 983111983157983145983140983141 983156983151 983125983150 983152983137983139983147983145983150983143 983107983151983150983155983139983145983141 983150983156983145983151983157983155983107983151983150983155983157983149983152983156983145983151983150 983137983150983140 983120983154983151983140983157983139983156983145983151983150 983120983154983151983146983141983139983156983155

How then can one make sense of projects to promote conscientious con-sumption and fair or sustainable production e 1047297rst step is simply to acceptthat there is a great deal of variation ere is variation across individualsand locations in conscientious consumer behavior ere is variation acrossproducts and labeling initiatives in the ldquoon the groundrdquo implications of globalstandards ere is variation across industries (and even within them) in sys-tems of production and these intersect with national (and even subnational)

differences in industry organization To understand whether conscientiousconsumption and fairsustainable production projects can contribute tomeaningful alternatives we must look closely at these industrial and politi-cal contexts A second starting point is to accept that the influence of globalstandards for fairsustainable production is typically highly circumscribedor contingent on other factors As will become clear even the most stringentstandards and most credible initiatives do not transform global industries

ey sometimes influence certain parts of an industry but even this cannotautomatically be assumed

To unpack conscientious consumption initiatives and the global standardsthey endorse we bring four factors to the foreground (1048625) structures of pro-duction and consumption (1048626) the constituencies of standards (1048627) global-local linkages and (1048628) the coexistence of rule making and unruliness

Structures of Production and Consumption

Industry structures shape both the opportunities for conscientious con-sumption to occur and the consequences of rule-making projects at thepoint of production To start some industries are more likely than others to

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become targets of activism which is typically the catalyst for rule-makingand conscientious consumption projects

Lead 1047297rms in global value chains especially when they are large and have

salient corporate reputations make aractive targets for social movements(Bartley and Child 1048626104862410486251048628) Industries that lack powerful and well-known brands tend to aract less scrutiny For instance the manufacturing of bricksespecially in developing countries is oen a highly polluting and exploit-ative industry But because there are not well-known global brands in thisindustry it has received lile international aention In other cases activistshave highlighted a problem but without powerful and recognizable brands

to link this to rule-making projects have not emerged e production ofcheap costume jewelry is rife with exploitation as shown in the documentary Mardi Gras Made in China but this has not become a site of extensive rulemaking and conscientious consumerism In some circumstances the exis-tence of large high-pro1047297le retailers can compensate for a more fragmentedor poorly known set of manufacturers Anti-GMO activists for instancehave pressured manufacturers like Monsanto by going through large retailerslike Marks amp Spencer (Schurman and Munro 1048626104862410486241048633) Our analysis of global

food distribution (in chapter 1048628) is consistent with this observation but italso suggests that the locus of consumer and activist pressure depends onthe speci1047297c product

When activists do press lead 1047297rms to make their supply chains fairer ormore sustainable the consequences seem to depend in part on the structureof that supply chain If suppliers can easily 1047297nd alternative buyers who are notdemanding changes991252that is if there are few suppliers and many buyers991252

they will have lile incentive to comply with a particular lead 1047297rmrsquos rulesGoing further by many accounts when lead 1047297rms have a great deal of powerover ldquocaptiverdquo suppliers they should be able to demand that those suppliersmake improvements (Mayer and Gereffi 1048626104862410486251048624) On the other hand someresearch has questioned whether this power is truly effective or whether itmerely spurs a game in which suppliers pretend to be making improvements(and lead 1047297rms nod in approval) (Locke Amengual and Mangla 1048626104862410486241048633) Wesuspect that the power of lead 1047297rms does make a difference but that moresigni1047297cant changes are possible when lead 1047297rms and suppliers are mutuallydependent and work together over long stretches of time (Our analysis ofthe apparel industry in chapter 1048629 though suggests that long-term collabora-tion is rare) In addition when global value chains are fairly simple in their

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structure without too many intermediaries this should make it easier forstandards to ldquotravelrdquo through them ere is a conundrum here howeversince it is oen in industries with a high degree of subcontracting (such as

apparel) that global standards are in the highest demand If global industries were dominated by vertically integrated 1047297rms rather than dispersed supplychains the world of conscientious consumerism would look quite differentFurthermore sometimes the lack of action by large lead 1047297rms can leave aspace for activists and entrepreneurs to carve out a small market niche basedon fairness or sustainability is is how fair tradendashcerti1047297ed coffee beganand some new projects appear to be emerging in electronics (Fairphone as

discussed in chapter 983094) and apparel (the Alta Gracia factory as discussed inchapter 1048629) Aer looking more closely at our four industries991252timber foodapparelfootwear and electronics991252we return to questions about industrystructure in the bookrsquos conclusion

Industry structures also maer for consumers As we show in the nextchapter opportunities to engage in conscientious consumption are just asimportant as motivations to do so and these opportunities depend in parton the structure of the retail sector in a particular country Generally we sug-

gest that having larger retailers will facilitate consumer purchases of eco- andsocial-labeled products In part this is simply because larger retailers offer a

wider array of choices overall991252that is different versions of the same prod-uct991252while smaller retailers offer fewer choices To be sure small stores canspecialize in ldquoalternativerdquo products and large stores can fail to carry themBut given the trend toward ldquomainstreamingrdquo of alternatives (see Jaffee 1048626104862410486251048626)large retailers have become key points of sale for eco- and social-labeled prod-

ucts Furthermore oligopoly in the retail sector991252the dominance of a smallnumber of large companies991252also seems to magnify the power of activiststo influence the market As Rachel Schurman and William Munro (1048626104862410486241048633)found the existence of a small number of large food retailer chains in the UKallowed the anti-GMO movement to flourish there while it foundered amidthe larger number of supermarket chains in the United States

Constituencies and Standards

Global standards for fairness and sustainability may sound universal butthey spring from the priorities of particular individuals and groups A cru-cial step in understanding these standards is to examine the founders of

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initiatives that make rules audit compliance and certify products as fair orsustainable Some such initiatives such as fair trade certi1047297cation originatedlargely with NGOs or others outside of the industry Others such as the

Electronics Industry Citizenship Coalition and the Sustainable ForestryInitiative were founded almost exclusively by industry associations or othergroups of companies oen in response to the actions of NGOs In betweenare a number of initiatives developed by coalitions of NGOs and companiesfrom the Forest Stewardship Council to Social Accountability InternationalFounders are not everything NGO-initiated programs can become watereddown as they are mainstreamed and industry-initiated programs oen

evolve into formally independent organizations Most programs seek cred-ibility by calling themselves ldquomulti-stakeholderrdquo initiatives We maintainhowever that founding constituencies leave deep imprints on the content ofstandards and on the distribution of power within rule-making initiativesRules can get ratcheted up or down over time but these are usually marginalrevisions to a core approach Furthermore even when initiatives becomeformally independent from the constituencies that created them informalties revolving doors and 1047297nancial contributions oen persist

Generally we expect that industry-initiated programs will have standardsthat depart in relatively small ways from the normal practices of the indus-try Companies may want to improve labor conditions or environmentalperformance of their suppliers but they will be loath to push so far as todisrupt production or force a major change in their sourcing practices As aresult the greater the influence of companies in the founding of an initiativethe more likely it is to use either a ldquobest in classrdquo approach or a ldquocontinuous

improvementrdquo approach In the 1047297rst companies are recognized (throughcerti1047297cation or other endorsement) for demonstrating that they are aboveaverage in their industry is oen skirts the issue of whether they meeta stringent de1047297nition of a 1047297xed standard As Sco Nova (1048626104862410486251048625) has noted aldquobest in classrdquo model is like grading on a curve even if average performanceis quite low e second approach allows companies to start with a relativelylax standard and encourage gradual improvement over time852019

When industry outsiders have power in the initial design standard-seinginitiatives should look somewhat different First their standards are likely todepart more substantially from normal practices in the industry to a greateror lesser degree depending on the power of these outsiders Second these

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initiatives are more likely though certainly not guaranteed to endorse analternative model of production rather than to just reward the best in class orpush for continuous improvement Fair trade certi1047297cation and its emphasis

on democratically managed producer cooperatives (as described in chap-ter 1048628) is the clearest example of this ird and because of this initiativesspawned by outsiders are likely to either remain small or face dilemmas ofmainstreaming as they grow If they seek a large market presence ldquoalterna-tiverdquo programs will inevitably become more dependent on large companiese result may be a watering down of standards although as the case of theFSC shows (in chapter 1048627) this can be counteracted to some degree

For most products there are multiple competing aempts to de1047297ne fair-ness and sustainability For instance there are several ways of certifying thefairness and sustainability of coffee or of assessing the labor conditions ofapparel companies852020 Usually this competition reflects the struggle betweencompanies and NGOs Some scholars believe that such competition dooms

voluntary initiatives since it confuses consumers and lets companies choosetheir own standards (Seidman 1048626104862410486241048631) Others believe that it strengthens gov-ernance by spurring a ldquoratcheting uprdquo of expectations (Sabel OrsquoRourke and

Fung 1048626104862410486241048624) Our analysis of four global industries suggests that different setsof standards can oen coexist not exactly peacefully but with moderateinteraction or in different market niches Competition is inevitable but itseems to neither doom nor guarantee meaningful standards for fairness andsustainability It must be noted that initiatives that began with high bars991252namely Fair Trade and the FSC991252have not been pushed out of the market

by their competitors

Localized Globalisms and Globalized Localisms

Specifying links between ldquothe globalrdquo and ldquothe localrdquo has proven difficultand scholars have oen fallen prey to two types of conceptual dangers Firstin focusing on the global diffusion of a given idea or norm some have por-trayed domestic seings as lile more than passive receivers of a global proj-ect e language of domestic seings as ldquoreceptor sitesrdquo for global models(Frank Hironaka and Schofer 1048626104862410486241048624) is one example of this Pinpointingthis problem researchers are increasingly focusing on how local actors ap-propriate and ldquoindigenizerdquo global models to make them useful or meaningful

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(Halliday and Carruthers 1048626104862410486241048633 Merry 104862610486241048624983094) Second scholars of globaliza-tion oen equate the global with universalism (and oen progress) and thelocal with particularism (and oen backwardness) In so doing scholars

uncritically accept the most dominant model as ldquothe globalrdquo and obscure thepower that was exercised to establish its dominance

To deal with these problems we adopt Bonaventura de Santosrsquos language ofldquoglobalized localismsrdquo and ldquo localized globalismsrdquo (Santos 104862610486241048624983094 Santos andRodriacuteguez Garavito 1048626104862410486241048629) e 1047297rst refers to a process in which a particularis-tic set of ideas and practices becomes a dominant global norm Santos (104862610486241048624983094)provides examples such as ldquothe transformation of the English language into

a lingua franca the globalization of American fast food or popular music orthe worldwide adoption of the same laws of intellectual ownership patentsor telecommunications aggressively promoted by the USArdquo (10486271048633983094) For ourpurpose the key issue is how particular understandings of rights rules andenforcement have become institutionalized as global norms Concretely thenotion of a ldquoglobalized localismrdquo sensitizes us to processes by which particu-lar sets of reformers (NGOs companies or others) have turned their projectsinto ldquoglobalrdquo standards for fairness and sustainability Our point is not to

join the chorus that argues that ldquoWesternrdquo standards are being illegitimatelyforced on people and companies elsewhere ere have long been calls fordecent work and responsible natural resource management in many differ-ent parts of the world But the global standards supported by conscientiousconsumers in North A merica and Europe embody particular approaches tothese issues

e second concept ldquolocalized globalismrdquo refers to the incorporation of

these global models into local routines and expectations e concept sen-sitizes us to the work involved in turning global standards for fairness andsustainability into a concrete practice in a factory forest or farm in someparticular location As we have noted scholars too oen portray these sites asempty spaces We believe it is preferable to start from the opposite premisethat sites of implementation are crowded with different actors and agendasonly some of which are likely to line up with global standard-seing initia-tives Some elements of global standards are easily incorporated into localpractices while others are 1047297ercely resisted But a recognition of localizedglobalisms also has methodological implications It is rare for researchersto actually study these locations in detail It is easier to conduct distant and

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decontextualized studies of CSR or to focus only on the creation of standardsrather than their local implementation Our analyses of the global timberagricultural apparel and electronics industries include aention to speci1047297c

locations from the sugarcane farms of Paraguay to the electronics factoriesof Malaysia

Te Puzzle of Rules Rule Making and the Persistence of Unruliness

One can beer understand conscientious consumption and production proj-ects by recognizing what Tim Bartley (1048626104862410486251048628a) has called the ldquopuzzle of rulesrdquo

in the global economy simply put global capitalism can be ldquounrulyrdquo but italso generates many rule-making projects

e expansion of global markets has facilitated a number of rule-makingprojects from the standardization of accounting procedures to the rules forfairness and sustainability discussed in this book e volume of rule making

by both public and private actors has increased over the past three decadesMany scholars have pointed to these trends as evidence that global capitalismis not manic or ungovernable as it was initially framed Marie-Laure Djelic

and Kerstin Sahlin-Andersson (104862610486241048624983094) argue that ldquothe proliferation of regu-latory activities actors networks or constellations leads to an explosion ofrules and to the profound re-ordering of our worldrdquo (1048625) and they see globalcapitalism as ldquomarked by more991252not less991252rule-making activityrdquo (10486271048631983094)

On the other hand the explosion of rule making has oen been gearedtoward the expansion of markets rather than their restriction and in manyrespects global capitalism has remained unruly In many industries invest-

ment and orders can and do move quickly across locations oen under-mining aempts to impose rules Even more socially controlled European

varieties of capitalism have had their foundations chipped away (Streeck1048626104862410486241048633) Furthermore for all of the efforts of NGOs to build rules for fairnesssustainability and human rights many corners of global industries remainlargely unscrutinized and unaffected by these rule-making projects

As our case studies illustrate even as standards for fairness and sustain-ability have risen to prominence global industries have remained volatileand exploitative Certi1047297cation of sustainable forestry rose to prominencefrom 1048625104863310486331048629 to 1048626104862410486251048624 but so did illegal logging and deforestation worsenedin many places Te global apparel industry has come to be governed by

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numerous codes of conduct and factory monitoring initiatives but it hasalso continued to move quickly from one location to another in search oflow wages and more docile workers e rapid and inconsistent pace of the

global electronics industry has undermined aempts to improve workingconditions while rapidly changing agricultural markets have threatened thelivelihoods of many smallholder farmers

e puzzle of rules can be solved through an analysis of neoliberalism (seeBartley 1048626104862410486251048628a) but it also provokes a simple conclusion about the prospects forglobal fairness and sustainability global industries oen have contradictorytendencies so we should not expect either complete ldquogreenwashrdquoldquofairwashrdquo

or serious transformation Fair trade certi1047297cation has not transformed thelogic of commodity trade but it has improved conditions for some farmersin some circumstances FSC certi1047297cation has not made the timber trade sus-tainable but it has supported improvements in some forests As we developthese 1047297ndings (in part 1048626 of the book) we hope to speak not only to scholars ofconscientious consumerism but also to citizens and consumers themselvesConsumers oen want to feel like their purchases are ldquocleanrdquo of exploitation

but this is unrealistic We believe it would be more promising if consumers

shied from a deterministic to a probabilistic approach conscientious con-sumption may increase onersquos probability of contributing to improvementsand decrease the probability of contributing to the most extreme forms ofexploitation Tis does not answer the question of how large those prob-abilities are (which surely varies by product and label) or the question of howsigni1047297cant those improvements can be But only if consumers shi from anall-or-nothing view of ldquocleanrdquo versus ldquodirtyrdquo production (that is sustainable

versus destructive fair versus exploitative) can they come to an accurateunderstanding of what their purchases can and cannot achieve

983127 983144 983137983156 983116983145 983141 983155 983105 983144 983141 983137 983140

Part 1048625 of this book focuses on dynamics and dilemmas of conscientious con-sumerism In chapter 1048625 we look at why some American and European con-sumers are more likely than others to practice conscientious consumptionUsing survey data on thousands of individual consumers our quantitativeanalyses focus on factors that shape two forms of conscientious consump-tion boycoing and ldquobuycoingrdquo991252that is preferring a product for some po-

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litical or ethical reason Some paerns are related to consumersrsquo beliefs andthe extent to which they can afford to be choosy But individual differencesare only a small part of the story Where consumers are has a great deal to do

with whether they engage in conscientious consumption or not We thereforeconnect the individual survey responses with measures that capture nationaleconomic political and cultural contexts Overall this initial portrait showsthat conscientious consumption is widespread but far from universal withkey differences rooted not only in individual characteristics but in differentstructures of consumption as well

Having sketched some general paerns we delve deeper into the meanings

and implications of conscientious consumerism in chapter 1048626 Our analyses inchapter 1048625 are based on what consumers say they do but there are reasons todoubt that consumers will follow through on what they say or that what theysay truly captures the social meaning of their actions Yet we show that thereis evidence of consumers being wil ling to pay for eco-labels and social labelsConsumers are most likely to do so when their ldquoethicalrdquo choices also servetheir self-interest such as saving on energy costs or eating safer healthierfoods But even for those forms of conscientious consumption that have no

short-term direct bene1047297t for consumers there is mounting evidence thatsome consumers will pay more For labeling enthusiasts this is a good thingBut the ldquoone dollar one voterdquo logic of conscientious consumerism and thestatus-symbol character of some ldquoethicalrdquo products are potentially danger-ous in that they can exacerbate social economic and political inequalitiesamong consumers Moreover there is a danger that conscientious consumer-ism can displace other forms of political engagement promoting individual

consumerism at the expense of democratic citizenship and collective socialmovements Working through these debates we argue that conscientiousconsumerism as an ideology is regressive and counterproductive but speci1047297cpractices of conscientious consumption can sometimes be consistent withother forms of political engagement

Of course the real test of conscientious consumption comes at the pointof production To what extent do voluntary standards forged in response toconsumer concern make a difference ldquoon the groundrdquo in global industries

We tackle this question in part 1048626 of the book by looking at the global produc-tion of four types of products991252(1048625) wood and paper products (1048626) food (espe-cially the agri-food industry) (1048627) apparel and footwear and (1048628) electronics

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Each of these case studies is rooted in the interviews that we have conducted with local actors and other 1047297ne-grained information on the organization ofproduction ese chapters apply the framework sketched above (and a com-

mon organizational template) to allow for comparative insightsChapter 1048627 looks at the rise of forest certi1047297cation and its effects in the global

timber industry Like fair trade the FSC is one of the oldest and most es-tablished certi1047297cation and labeling initiatives It was founded more thantwenty years ago and it spurred a number of imitators and competitors Yetit is not well known among conscientious consumers and its impacts have

been far less than originally intended We trace the rise of forest certi1047297cation

with particular aention to the founders and constituents of the FSC andhow they leveraged the structure of the forest products industry to ldquomake amarketrdquo for certi1047297ed wood and paper Yet applying sustainability standardsto the production of some wood and paper products has barely influencedglobal deforestation A closer look at FSC certi1047297cation in the tropical forestsof Indonesia illustrates both the contradictions of certifying in a shiing andcontentious context and the limited ability of forest certi1047297cation to influencethe main drivers of deforestation

Next in chapter 1048628 we turn to agricultural production and the fairness andsustainability projects that have emerged in this seing Consumers aacha variety of meanings to food and the politics of food consumption has ex-ploded in the past decade In addition to sketching the structure of agri-foodproduction and consumption in general we focus on two types of rule-mak-ing projects fair trade certi1047297cation and an increasingly popular ldquocommod-ity roundtablerdquo approach Looking more closely at two crops991252sugar and

soy991252in one country Paraguay we are able to illustrate the consequences ofdifferent models of certi1047297cation and the crucial role of local context Globalfood politics are being layered onto preexisting institutional arrangementsand it is largely these institutional arrangements that determine whether cer-ti1047297cation is meaningful or not For instance fair trade certi1047297cation seems tomaer most when smallholder farmers are already organized into democrati-cally effective cooperatives or when local organizing al lows them to upgradetheir production capacities over time e contingent effects of conscientiousconsumption come into focus in this chapter

Chapter 1048629 considers how the rise of anti-sweatshop activism in the early1048625104863310486331048624s led to various aempts to monitor and improve working conditions inapparel and footwear factories A rough indication of how these initiatives

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have fared is provided by the occurrence of factory 1047297res in 1048626104862410486251048624ndash1048626104862410486251048627 and thedeath of more than eleven hundred garment workers in the 1048626104862410486251048627 collapse ofthe Rana Plaza building in Bangladesh Our chapter examines the constitu-

encies behind different factory auditing and certi1047297cation initiatives the waysstandards were implemented and the reasons why their effects have beenminimal e structure of apparel and footwear production in many wayscreated the demand for codes of conduct but the structure and the mobilityof the industry have undermined meaningful improvements Looking moreclosely at factories in China we show how aempts to certify particularfactories have fallen short In recent years several new projects to provide

ethical apparel have emerged but there remain few credible alternatives inthis industry

Finally chapter 983094 takes us into the fast-paced world of the electronics in-dustry where companies produce new models of smartphones laptops andother devices at breakneck speed Yet recently this industry has become afocus of aention for the exploitation of production workers especially aera series of worker suicides (and later strikes) at Foxconn factories in Chinaand mounting scrutiny of Foxconnrsquos buyer Apple Electronics brands have

also been accused of using ldquoconflict mineralsrdquo in the production of smart-phones e electronics industry is populated by well-capitalized companiesthat at times have demonstrated good intentions to make the labor processsafer and more humane Yet the industry has struggled to make improve-ments and 1047297nd tenable solutions We argue that the solution to this puzzlelies in the architecture of production and to a large extent ultimately in theorganization of electronics consumption is is a case in which conscien-

tious consumerism has been slow to develop and unreflective consumerismhas been a powerful constraint on signi1047297cant improvement Using detaileddata on factories producing for Hewle-Packard we show how the industrycontinues to demand extraordinarily ldquoflexiblerdquo labor markets and excessive

working hours in its factories in Southeast Asia We have tried to provide a sense of the complexity of these cases and set-

tings while still drawing out clear implications Along the way readers shouldget a clearer sense of the structure and operation of global value chains the

varied geographies of production and the circumscribed consequences ofeco-labels and social labels In a concluding chapter we compare our foursets of products and consider what has been learned

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tious consumption and (1048626) its consequences at the point of production Firstconsuming products labeled as ldquofairrdquo or ldquosustainablerdquo is not just a maer ofindividual ldquoreflexivityrdquo regardless of whether one views this as noble or self-

absorbed It is structured by the constraints and opportunities that consum-ers face is refers in part to factors such as income education and socialclass that make conscientious consumerism far from universal But it alsorefers to differences across countries Even among fairly affluent countries inNorth America and Europe there are signi1047297cant differences in the size andshape of markets for products whose labels claim they are fair or sustainable

Second and even more striking is the degree to which the discourse on

conscientious consumerism has sidestepped questions about the implemen-tation of the standards that consumers are supporting Many forms of con-scientious consumption rely on assurances that certain production standardshave been followed Consumers cannot see for themselves whether theirfood has been farmed in a fair and sustainable way whether their furnitureoriginated in deforestation or whether their smartphones are the product ofheavily polluting high-tech sweatshops But scholars of conscientious con-sumerism have failed to interrogate these standards and assurances ey

usually either accept them at face value or dismiss them altogether as ldquogreen- washrdquo or ldquofairwashrdquo Other scholars have begun to study the implementationof voluntary production standards typically in order to evaluate ldquoprivategovernancerdquo systems (Locke 1048626104862410486251048627 Ponte 1048626104862410486241048632 Seidman 1048626104862410486241048631) or what somehave called ldquotransnational private regulationrdquo (Bartley 1048626104862410486241048631b) But researchon standards ldquoon the groundrdquo remains rare and comparisons of differentindustries and locations are just beginning to emerge852018

As one does look behind the label this much is clear claims of fairness andsustainability that seem straightforward to consumers become signi1047297cantlymurkier as one looks at the farms factories and forests where the productsoriginate Fair trade coffee may not be so fair for the casual laborers that farm-ers hire to toil in organic farms (Jaffee 1048626104862410486241048631)852018 A decade of ldquocorporate socialresponsibilityrdquo in the apparel industry did not prevent more than elevenhundred workers from dying when the Rana Plaza complex of factories inBangladesh collapsed in 1048626104862410486251048627 Certi1047297ed sustainable forests have sometimesturned out to be sites of illegal logging and violence against local residentsBut it is also clear that not all assurances are the same Some initiatives aremore stringent and credible than others some parts of an industry are more

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open to reform than others and some places are more likely to support de-cent conditions than others We 1047297nd more variation and complexity in globalindustries than would be expected by either simplistic celebrations of cor-

porate social responsibility or by condemnations of greenwashfairwashOur goal is to document grapple with and hopefully sort out some of thatcomplexity

e debate about conscientious consumerism is to some degree colored bythe different terms that scholars have used to describe it Some use the termldquopolitical consumerismrdquo (Michelei 1048626104862410486241048627) which has become the standardterm for researchers in much of Europe We believe it is premature to label

shopping with a conscience as a political act at least until far more is knownabout how consumers understand this act and its consequences Others pre-fer the term ldquoethical consumerismrdquo which appears to be more common inBritish and American discourse (Barne et al 1048626104862410486241048629 Goodman Maye andHolloway 1048626104862410486251048624) But this seems to imply that consumers have a coherentethical rationale We use the term ldquoconscientious consumerismrdquo (and ldquocon-scientious consumptionrdquo) to reflect our view that concerned consumers aremore oen acting on a vague sense of trying to do good in the world than on

a speci1047297c political or ethical commitment is does not mean that conscien-tious consumption cannot be highly principled In some cases it clearly isBut in many cases we suspect that consumers are uncertain and grasping991252areasonable response to the perplexing world of labels and global industries

And sometimes scholars question whether seemingly ethical purchasesmight actually be self-serving and insular (Szasz 1048626104862410486241048631) We see ldquoconscien-tiousrdquo consumer activity as open to both more and less principled ethical

political commitments Grappling with the pitfalls of this activity in this book we argue that an overarching ideology of conscientious consumerismas a vision of social change is vacuous Consumers and scholars should notrely on shopping to change the world Nevertheless we argue speci1047297c prac-tices of conscientious consumption can sometimes be meaningful as part ofmultifaceted strategies for reforming global industries Careful aention isneeded then to both consumer behavior and the effects of voluntary pro-duction standards

In the remainder of this introduction we sketch our approach to the analy-sis of conscientious consumption and standards for global industries We

begin by discussing the processes through which claims of ldquofairnessrdquo and

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ldquosustainabilityrdquo have become common features of shopping aisles is in-cludes some of the most signi1047297cant changes in the global economy and polityover the past four decades including the rise of global supply chains trans-

national advocacy networks and neoliberalism as an ideology of governance We then move on to critique three common frames for understanding con-scientious consumption and related global standards is sets the stage forour own framework for analysis which emphasizes industry structures theconstituencies behind standards global-local linkages and what we call theldquopuzzle of rulesrdquo in the global economy Following this introductory chapter

we turn to an analysis of consumer behavior in the United States and Europe

Tis is followed by an aempt to unpack the dilemmas of conscientiousconsumerism991252and our interpretation of what is harmful and helpful aboutit en in part 1048626 of the book we shi from consumption to production anddevelop case studies of four types of products timber food apparel andelectronics All have been subject to standards for ldquofairrdquo or ldquosustainablerdquoproduction yet the results have rarely been what reformers hoped for

983110983154983151983149 983107983137983149983152983137983145983143983150983155 983156983151 983116983137983138983141983148 983155

e story usually begins with a social movement While twentieth-centurysocial movements oen targeted national states and public policy by the turnof the twenty-1047297rst century environmental labor and human rights activists

were also ldquoshaming the corporationrdquo and contesting markets directly Oenthis meant exposing well-known transnational corporationsrsquo complicity withexploitation of workers (especially young women) natural environments

and indigenous people in locations around the world Anti-sweatshop groupsldquonamed and shamedrdquo Nike Walmart HampM and many other companies todraw aention to unsafe working environments physical and verbal abuseand a high-pressure low-wage model of production in the apparel and foot-

wear industry Eventually this approach spread to the electronics industryas activists showed how Apple Hewle-Packard Samsung and others relyon harsh labor conditions in Asia as well as ldquoconflict mineralsrdquo from war-torn areas of Central Africa Environmentalists had long been targetingcompanies like Te Home Depot BampQ and Mitsubishi because of theircontributions to tropical deforestation not to mention campaigns againstShell Chevron and other oil companies with reputations for pollution andenvironmental injustice Food markets became especially politicized Envi-

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ronmentalists showed how beef consumption threatened the Amazon rainforest how seafood sales contributed to the depletion of species and destruc-tion of ocean habitats and how ldquofactory farmsrdquo polluted local environments

ey also raised concerns about pesticides and genetically modi1047297ed organ-isms (GMOs) in the supply chains of many food brands and retailers Humanrights and development organizations linked Hershey Nestleacute and others to

bonded labor in cacao farms and connected Coca-Cola Pepsi and Cargill (alarge soybean producer) to land grabs that forcibly displaced small farmersin South America Asia and Africa

In response retailers and brands increasingly have adopted voluntary rules

for their supply chains Apparel footwear and electronics companies haveadopted ldquoethical sourcingrdquo policies and ldquocodes of conductrdquo sending auditorsaround the world to assess their suppliersrsquo compliance Some have joinedinitiatives like Social Accountability International (SAI) the Fair Labor

Association (FLA) Business Social Compliance Initiative (BSCI) or theElectronics Industry Citizenship Coalition (EICC) which have their ownsets of rules and auditing procedures Food producers and retailers havesimilarly joined initiatives like the Roundtable on Responsible Soy (RTRS)

or the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) both of which addressthe environmental and social implications of large-scale agricultural planta-tions Sellers of paper and furniture have turned to products certi1047297ed bythe Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) (or its competitor the Programmefor the Endorsement of Forest Certi1047297cation [PEFC]) to demonstrate theirgreen credentials while some food retailers have agreed to sell seafood cer-ti1047297ed by the Marine Stewardship Council ese are just a few examples of

how pressure from social movements has led to the proliferation of ethicalstandards Some of these standards take the form of policies that companiesadopt while others are governed by external associations like those men-tioned above Typically these associations are created either by coalitions ofNGOs and a few leading 1047297rms or by groups of companies hoping to fend offfurther pressure

In some instances social movements have not merely pressured companiesto improve their practices they have sought to endorse alternative models ofproduction Organic agriculture was a movement before it was a market andit helped to legitimate forms of farming that do not rely on pesticides e fairtrade movement originated with the goal of supporting small farmers who

were organized into democratically run cooperatives and it sought to use

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certi1047297cation to direct greater resources toward these farmers not to improveconditions on large plantations (Linton Liou and Shaw 1048626104862410486241048628) Although la-

bor rights advocates have been hesitant to label companies as ldquogoodrdquo groups

like the Worker Rights Consortium (WRC) and the Fair Wear Foundation(FWF) have begun to build market support for factories in which workersare represented by independent unions Similarly some of the impetus forthe Forest Stewardship Council came from foresters environmentalists andindigenous rights groups hoping to support small-scale community forestryoperations not simply to improve industrial timber operations (Bartleyand Smith 1048626104862410486251048624) ese kinds of initiatives are ldquoin the market but not of itrdquo

(Taylor 1048626104862410486241048629) and insert alternative ldquoorders of worthrdquo into market decisions(Boltanski and eacutevenot 104862610486241048624983094) Yet as activists have sought to build marketsupport for these production models they have encountered dilemmas ofldquomainstreamingrdquo alternatives Under pressure larger companies have agreedto sell certi1047297ed products including Starbucks and Fair Trade coffee or eHome Depot and FSC-certi1047297ed lumber But as activists have discoveredthere is a 1047297ne and oen blurry line between building market support and

becoming dependent on big companies in a way that leads to the weakening

of standards As our case studies show the world of voluntary standards whether for

alternatives or ldquobest practicesrdquo involves a constant struggle for the powerto de1047297ne legitimate standards and to determine how strictly they should beapplied in the 1047297eld ere is an ldquoNGO-Industrial Complexrdquo that underliesmost conscientious consumption and production initiatives (Gereffi Garcia-

Johnson and Sasser 1048626104862410486241048625) but it is multifaceted and contentious

e ultimate impacts of conscientious consumption and production proj-ects are oen hard to discern but this much is clear taken together theseactivities amount to a vast new set of standard-seing projects for the globaleconomy Promoted by a mix of NGOs companies and trade associationsthey seek to use global production networks991252or ldquoglobal value chainsrdquo991252rather than the national state to promote rules about fairness justice andsustainability (Cashore Auld and Newsom 1048626104862410486241048628 Guthman 1048626104862410486241048631b Ponte1048626104862410486241048632 Seidman 1048626104862410486241048631) ldquoLead 1047297rmsrdquo in these global value chains991252that is

large retailers and brands from Apple to IKEA to Zara991252have the power toset styles prices and delivery schedules for their suppliers so advocatesargue they should also be able to influence the conditions of workers com-

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munities and the environment Companies frequently adopt standards tofend off activist pressure and the media spotlight but adoption does notmean implementation In some cases alternatives have found a niche in the

market and in other cases voluntary initiatives have proliferated while thelogic of production991252and exploitation991252has remained largely unchanged

Scrutiny of global industries has also spawned tools to help consum-ers make sense of all of these claims and to smartly vote with their wal-lets Consumer Reports magazine can trace its origins to a much earlier waveof muckraking (Rao 1048625104863310486331048632) and with the recent proliferation of competingeco-labels it has sometimes stepped in to referee as have publications from

Co-Op America in the United States and Ethical Consumer magazine in theUnited Kingdom Te Monterey Bay Aquarium in the United States haslong published a list of seafood for environmentally conscious consumersto prefer and avoid Online guides and smartphone apps have made thesetypes of guides more elaborate Goodguidecom developed by some leadingresearchers before being sold to Underwriters Laboratories (UL) compilesa wide array of information to rate products and companies for their healthenvironmental and social impacts Smartphone apps even allow consumers

to trace products to parent companies and investors as with apps that enableconsumers to boyco the conservative Koch Brothers avoid the biotech gi-ant Monsanto or support companies that recognize lesbian gay bisexualand transsexual rights (OrsquoConnor 1048626104862410486251048627)

Of course these consumer guides are only as good as the information thatgoes into them and as our case studies show meaningful accurate informa-tion is oen difficult to come by in complex global industries Furthermore

as our analyses of consumer behavior show only particular subsets of con-sumers have indicated an interest in boycoing or ldquobuycoingrdquo and thereare real questions about how many will pay more for guarantees of fairnessand sustainability Before diving into these issues we must consider thelarger context in which the rise of conscientious consumerism has occurred

983122983141983139983151983150 983142983145983143983157983154983145 983150 983143 983122983141983155983152983151983150 983155983145983138983145983148983145983156983145983141983155 983122 983145983143983144983156983155 983137 983150 983140 983122983157983148983141983155

Debates about consumers producers and ethical standards are vexing inpart because they are tied up with a larger recon1047297guration of responsibilitiesrights and rules in the global economy National and multinational corpo-

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rations have become transnational corporations with activities stretchingacross national boundaries without being deeply rooted in them Nationalstates once the main makers of rules and arbiters of rights are increasingly

just one of many actors issuing rules and claiming to enforce rights Inter-national NGOs and global standards associations have sought to issue rulesand enforce rights as well although their effectiveness in doing so is unclearMore broadly the goal to turn the world into ldquoone big marketrdquo991252associated

with neoliberal ideology991252has challenged earlier conceptions of what na-tional states can and should do to protect or empower citizens workers andthe environment Conscientious consumption and production projects are

to some degree the result of these changes In a world of vertically integratedcompanies and strong responsive states there would be far less demand for

voluntary standards supported by consumers But these changes have notsimply paved the way for conscientious consumerism they have complicatedits meanings and impacts in a variety of ways

Te Supply Chain Revolution

Capitalism in the twentieth century was characterized by the growth of verti-cally integrated corporations which controlled raw materials manufactur-ing and distribution and by the growth of horizontally integrated corpora-tions and conglomerates in which multiple businesses were combined in thesame corporate structure By the 1048625104863310486321048624s these models were giving way to theldquosupply chain revolutionrdquo in which large 1047297rms contract with independentsuppliers rather than owning an entire production process Nike built its

fortunes by being an early adopter of the ldquomanufacturer without factoriesrdquomodel and Walmart became a dominant retailer by making its supply chains

work faster and cheaper than retailers had previously In what Robert Feen-stra (1048625104863310486331048632) called the ldquointegration of trade and disintegration of productionrdquocompanies in industries from apparel to electronics to furniture shed theirfactories contracted with independent manufacturers and focused on build-ing their ldquobrandrdquo images

While some contracting and subcontracting happened within national borders scholars pointed out that many production processes were beingturned into ldquoglobal commodity chainsrdquo and especially ldquobuyer-drivenrdquo globalcommodity chains in which companies nearest the distribution end of the

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chain (retailers and well-known brands) exercised the greatest power overproduction processes and extracted the greatest pro1047297t from them (Gereffi1048625104863310486331048628 1048625104863310486331048633) Other terms such as ldquoglobal production networksrdquo and ldquoglobal

value chainsrdquo described similar phenomena and as many industries shiedto a supply chain model of some sort these different traditions of research

began to merge and more nuanced ways of describing power and coordina-tion in global value chains were articulated (Bair 1048626104862410486241048632 Gereffi Humphreyand Sturgeon 1048626104862410486241048629) is supply chain revolution was facilitated by techno-logical changes that made contracting more efficient and by legal changesthat opened more parts of the world to foreign investment Of course in

some industries such as agriculture large consumer-facing companies hadlong relied on networks of suppliers991252from coffee farmers to growers ofcorn wheat and other commodity crops Yet these industries have beenrecon1047297gured to some degree by the growth of mega-retailers that have cutout middleman distributors

Most important at this point is to recognize how the supply chain revolu-tion both highlighted and blurred the responsibilities of transnational corpo-rations On one hand contracting and subcontracting networks tied retailers

and brands in the United States and Europe to sites of production991252andexploitation991252around the world To be sure multinational corporations likeNestleacute I and PepsiCo had been shamed for the actions of their foreignarms in the 1048625104863310486311048624s but the networked transnational corporations of the 1048625104863310486331048624shad more extensive ties and thus greater vulnerabilities On the other handthe lines of responsibility991252and especially legal liability991252were blurry since

brands and retailers exercised a great deal of power over their suppliers but

did not own those sites of production Initially when sweatshops child la- bor and prison labor were uncovered brands like Nike and Walmart deniedresponsibility on the basis that they did not own the factories where suchabuses occurred As pressure mounted these and other lead 1047297rms in global

value chains began to accept ldquosordquo forms of responsibility by adopting codesof conduct and pledging to monitor and improve conditions in their supplychains ose same companies however 1047297ercely resisted aempts to makethem legally liable (Bartley 1048626104862410486241048629 Shamir 1048626104862410486241048628)

For the most part this remains the situation in the forest products foodapparelfootwear and electronics industries When pressed retailers and

brands have publicly accepted some responsibility to improve conditions in

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kets have remained largely national in scope especially when it comes toissues of fairness and sustainability e World Trade Organization (WTO)has endorsed protections for intellectual property rights but it has le only

narrow spaces for governments to protect workers and environments and ithas refused to address labor rights directly Bilateral and multilateral tradeagreements sometimes include labor and environmental standards but theseare limited in scope and enforceability International organizations suchas the United Nations and the International Labor Organization promoteconventions for governments to adopt but these organizations rarely haveany power to demand enforcement National governments are constrained

in part by a global economy in which 1047297rms and investors can move from one jurisdiction to another but perhaps even more by ideological commitmentsto neoliberal globalization and the rules of the WTO (Evans 1048625104863310486331048631 Rodrik1048626104862410486251048625) As we argue it is a mistake to think that governments are powerless orirrelevant in the face of globalization but there is no doubt that the dearthof binding international regulation of production conditions has led many tolook to the private sector as a way of enforcing standards NGOs for instancehave oen turned to voluntary standards and conscientious consumption as

second-best alternatives to intergovernmental systems of regulationNeoliberalism can be credited not only with helping to hollow out the state

but also with promoting an individualization of responsibility In a processthat theorists have called ldquoresponsibilizationrdquo individuals are treated as hav-ing the duty and capacity to take responsibility for things that should rightly

be seen as the result of social structures is can be seen for instance in at-tempts to reform welfare states to make welfare recipients take responsibility

for their own fates (Rose 1048626104862410486241048624) e moralization of markets has also been aresponsibilization process in which individual consumers are told they havethe duty991252and the ability991252to solve the worldrsquos social problems throughtheir purchases While some scholars use the language of responsibilizationto dismiss conscientious consumption as misguided we do not see this asthe most appropriate response We recognize that individual consumers are

being asked to take responsibility for problems that would oen be beerserved by more collective and robust solutions including revitalized statesand labor unions But it is at least possible that responsibility-taking by con-sumers could help to support more durable solutions in the future especially

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if governments NGOs and consumers themselves have a clearer under-standing of what is and is not being affected by conscientious consumptionand production initiatives

INGOs and ransnational Advocacy Networks

Since the end of World War II NGOs have become key actors in nationalinternational and transnational governance By the turn of the twenty-1047297rstcentury NGOs were carrying out most of the tasks of governing complex so-cieties delivering development assistance mediating social conflicts seing

standards for business developing expert knowledge and reconstructingsocieties aer natural and social disasters By some accounts the proliferationof NGOs and their incorporation into development and governance projectsamounts to an associational revolution that ldquomay constitute as signi1047297cant asocial and political development of the laer twentieth century as the rise ofthe nation state was of the nineteenth centuryrdquo (Edwards and Hulme 104862510486331048633983094 1048626)

International NGOs (INGOs) such as Greenpeace Oxfam or HumanRights Watch have mobilized aention to a variety of global problems from

climate change to new forms of bonded labor ey have garnered mediaaention to these problems and have pushed governments and intergovern-mental organizations to take action In addition the growth of transnationalnetworks of advocates and experts has sometimes allowed domestic activiststo gain leverage over their governments In what Margaret Keck and KathrynSikkink (1048625104863310486331048632) dubbed the ldquoboomerang effectrdquo domestic activists can reachpast indifferent or hostile domestic governments and appeal to transnational

advocacy networks that in turn exert pressure on those governmentsSince the 1048625104863310486331048624s INGOs have increasingly sought to put pressure on trans-

national corporations and restructure markets not just state policies eyhave led efforts to build product certi1047297cation initiatives from the ForestStewardship Council to the Marine Stewardship Council and they havecoordinated ldquomarket campaignsrdquo to convince large retailers to support theseinitiatives In addition the traditional boomerang effect has been supple-mented with what Naomi Klein (1048625104863310486331048633) called the ldquobrand boomerangrdquo in

which grassroots labor or environmental activists call on their internationalallies to put pressure on a well-known company that is operating in (or buy-

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ing from) that location rough these processes INGOs have become im-portant architects advocates and watchdogs of conscientious consumptionand production projects

e rise of INGOs does raise conundrums however especially about therelationship between professional advocates based in Amsterdam or Wash-ington DC and grassroots activists in developing countries To some extentINGOs have become sensitive to these power disparities and local NGOshave become savvy about working with foreign partners But the power ofINGOs to organize transnational campaigns aract media aention andshame global companies does carry the danger that more locally oriented

strategies or those directed to domestic governments are being neglected(Seidman 1048626104862410486241048631)

Standards for Markets and Markets for Standards

Without the supply chain revolution neoliberal globalization and thegrowth of transnational advocacy networks it is hard to imagine the rise ofconscientious consumption and global standards for fairness and sustain-

ability Yet just because initiatives for auditing certifying or reporting onsustainability or fairness have emerged that does not mean they will haveintegrity or impact Typically conscientious consumption and productionprojects are organized as private voluntary initiatives ey aempt to setstandards for markets but they also exist within markets Like all voluntaryprograms they depend on participation from companies and there can oen

be a trade-off between the stringency of standards and the number of partici-

pants (Potoski and Prakash 1048626104862410486241048633) All voluntary initiatives are structurallydependent on their corporate participants so one should take the languageof independent ldquothird-partyrdquo initiatives with a grain of salt Furthermore asprivate initiatives they have no monopoly on standards for a particular topic(as a government would have) is means competing standards initiativescan easily emerge For some observers the private voluntary character ofthese initiatives is reason enough to give up on them (eg Seidman 1048626104862410486241048631)

while for neoliberal advocates of market-based solutions these same featuresmake such initiatives especially aractive As we argue below our approachseeks to unpack variation in the organization of these initiatives and the

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contexts in which they operate At the same time as our case studies showthere are certainly limits on what private voluntary initiatives have beenable to accomplish

983124983144983154 983141983141 983110983154983137 983149983141983155 983137983150 983140 983124983144983141983145983154 983123983144983151983154983156983139983151983149983145983150 983143983155

Given the rise of conscientious consumerism and the growth of standards forglobal industries scholars and advocates are racing to promote simple framesfor making sense of them In this section we discuss three frames that areoen invoked Each captures a slice of something important but each ends

up obscuring as much as it illuminates or more

Te Empowered Sovereign Consumer

Scholars and advocates oen adopt a celebratory tone in discussing consci-entious consumerism ey argue that consumers are being empowered toldquovote with their dollarsrdquo and that these small changes in the habits of affluentconsumers can change or even ldquosaverdquo the world As Ruth Stokes (1048626104862410486251048627) writes

in the Ecologist magazine ldquoI believe that changing the way we shop991252voting with our money991252can help to change the world Companies respond tothe habits of shoppers We all have consumer power we just have to makesure we use it wiselyrdquo If consumers have been manipulated by companiesin the past they are increasingly being empowered by new sources of infor-mation argues Dara OrsquoRourke (1048626104862410486251048625) eorists of ldquopolitical consumerismrdquohave argued that this mode of political expression is especially empowering

for individuals who are alienated from formal politics such as young peopleand women (Michelei 1048626104862410486241048627) Furthermore as companies compete for thesupport of conscientious consumers and the coveted ldquolifestyles of health andsustainabilityrdquo (LOHAS) niche (Emerich 1048626104862410486251048625) many observers argue thatthey will become transparent responsible corporate citizens (Porter andKramer 104862610486241048624983094 Smith 1048625104863310486331048624 Zadek Pruzan and Evans 1048625104863310486331048631)

Such celebrations oen rest on an idealized framing of consumer agency991252that is the ability and willingness of the ldquosovereign citizen-consumerrdquo to bethe prime mover of social change (Jacobsen and Dulsrud 1048626104862410486241048631) e ldquosover-eign consumerrdquo is an old concept that is intended to suggest that consumertastes are the driver of all economic activity As scholars have observed the

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growth of conscientious consumption the sovereign consumer has becomethe sovereign citizen-consumer or what Roberta Sassatelli (1048626104862410486241048631) dubbedthe waking of the ldquosleepy giant of the sovereign citizen-consumerrdquo (104862510486321048632) So-

cial theorist Ulrich Beck perhaps the most prominent theorist of consump-tion as a form of politics argues that ldquocitizens discover the act of shoppingas one in which they can always cast their ballot991252on a world scale no lessrdquo(qtd in Sassatelli 1048626104862410486241048631 104862510486321048632) Michele Michelei (1048626104862410486241048627) takes the provocationeven further

Conflicts over what and where to consume are now central for understanding the func-tioning of affluent Western societies is can even mean that consumers participating

in boycos can for instance be likened to resistance 1047297ghters Yet unlike resistance orrevolutionary conflicts of the past citizen-consumers tend to direct their aention towardthe market rather than state actors (1048625983094ndash10486251048631)

Even if one gets past the hyperbole treating consumer tastes as king orqueen is problematic in several respects First consumersrsquo aitudes turn outto be only one ingredient in the construction of conscientious consumptionmarkets As we show in this book the opportunities for conscientious con-sumption are not distributed evenly across individuals or across countries

Social inequality and differences in market structures mean the social con-text of consumption is just as important as individual aitudes Consumertastes may make a difference but it is difficult to see them as a true primemover

Second it is naive to assume that a change in consumer tastes translatesdirectly into a change in the production processes of global industries AsMargaret Willis and Juliet Schor (1048626104862410486251048626) argue many accounts of consci-

entious consumerism take a ldquonaiumlve aggregationistrdquo approach to marketsassuming that if a large enough number of consumers is interested in al-ternative products the market will simply change to deliver them A quitedifferent story is told by research on industries technologies and organiza-tions over time Production processes are oen ldquolocked inrdquo by a system ofinterrelated technologies and expectations making them difficult to changePaul David (1048625104863310486321048629) famously illustrated this by considering the persistence ofthe inefficient QWERTY keyboard on typewriters and computers Even ifproduction practices are not strongly locked in companies like all organi-zations rarely abandon their core routines and technologies (Hannan andFreeman 1048625104863310486321048633) Perhaps the biggest problem is that those who celebrate the

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transformative power of new consumer tastes assume that industry practicesare changing but they almost never actually investigate this assumption edisconnect between theories of conscientious consumerism and empirical

research on industry practices is stark and it is one thing that we hope toremedy with this book

Finally by celebrating the empowered conscientious politicized con-sumer one obscures the ways that unreflective consumer choices influencelabor and environmental conditions in global industries As much as someconsumers are becoming more conscientious about some of their choicesespecially when it comes to food and drinks (eg organic produce fair trade

coffee) much consumer activity is routine and habitual and some of theethics of consumption are opaque to all but the most commied individu-als Conscientious consumers might be careful to recycle avoid disposableplastic water boles and buy organic vegetables but then eat beef withoutthinking of its massive natural resource demands and the contributions ofcale production to global warming As environmentalists have pointedout encouraging consumers to make their purchases more environmentallyfriendly carries a risk of legitimating overconsumption in affluent markets

which is the foundation of many forms of environmental degradation (Mani-ates and Meyer 1048626104862410486251048624) e issue may not be just the amount of consumption

but its pace as well As will become clear later in this book the rise of ldquofastfashionrdquo and ldquofast electronicsrdquo991252that is the rapid churning through fashion-able styles of clothing and different models of smartphones991252appears to bea root cause of labor exploitation in the apparel and electronics industries

GreenwashFairwash

While some have celebrated conscientious consumerism others have dis-missed voluntary standards eco-labeling and social labeling as ldquogreenwashrdquoor ldquofairwashrdquo As Sharon Beder (1048626104862410486241048625) puts it ldquoTe aempt to provide alsquogreenrsquo and caring image for a corporation is a public relations strategy aimedat promising reform and heading off demands for more substantial and fun-damental changes and government interventionrdquo (104862610486291048627) Claims about fair

and sustainable production in this view simply provide cover to companiesthat are engaged in fundamentally unfair and unsustainable activities ecodes of conduct sustainability reports and information disclosures that are

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highlighted in celebratory accounts of transparency may actually be formsof ldquodisinformationrdquo that obscure companiesrsquo actual practices

e term ldquogreenwashrdquo took off among environmentalists in the late 1048625104863310486321048624s

as a description of advertising campaigns that portrayed companies as pro-tectors of the environment (Beers and Capellaro 1048625104863310486331048625) Greenpeace arguedthat transnational corporations like Shell DuPont and Mitsubishi had ldquoem-

braced the environment as their cause and co-opted its terminologyrdquo even while contributing massively to environmental degradation (Greenpeace1048625104863310486331048626 1048626) e analogue for corporate claims about incomes livelihoods and

justice991252ldquofairwashingrdquo991252entered the lexicon later in the wake of the fair

trade movement As fair trade certi1047297cation was becoming ldquomainstreamedrdquoand imitated scholars and activists began worrying that fairwashing wason the horizon (Conroy 1048626104862410486241048631 Lyon and Moberg 1048626104862410486251048624) Observers have alsocriticized the images produced in the name of ldquocorporate social responsibil-ityrdquo arguing that these are ldquomerely a public relations game lulling us intoa false sense of securityrdquo (Doane 1048626104862410486241048629 10486261048633) Common to all these diagnosesis the sense that most assurances one 1047297nds on a product are nothing morethan public relations efforts

e greenwashfairwash critique captures two key features of conscien-tious consumption and global standards First when faced with criticismcompanies would prefer to be able to improve their images without alteringpro1047297table practices A public relations campaign is typically the 1047297rst line ofdefense Companies may also hire outside organizations991252auditors consul-tants and sometimes NGOs991252to lend some credibility to their campaignsey may also fund seemingly independent standard-seing initiatives that

can endorse their corporate social responsibility programs or label theirproducts As we will see this is how the US timber industryrsquos SustainableForestry Initiative got its start and it helps to account for the role of appareland footwear brands in the Fair Labor Association One must always takeassurances of sustainability and fairness with a grain of salt e dosage ofsalt depends in part on whether claims come from companies themselvesinitiatives that they control or more independent initiatives (If initiativesdepend on the voluntary participation of companies they can never be fully independent but there are gradations) In our analyses of standards (in part1048626 of this book) we are aentive to who has created a particular initiativehow it is funded and how dependent on companies it is Second there is

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nearly always some hypocrisy present when companies take up greening orfairness initiatives Simply because one product or one aspect of a companyrsquosproduction has earned some credentials does not mean that the companyrsquos

operations overall can be considered green or fair As David Vogel (1048626104862410486241048629)has argued we oen yearn for simple pronouncements of ldquogoodrdquo and ldquobadrdquocompanies But companies like people are complex multifaceted and oencontradictory One part of a company may be developing green productionprocesses while another part lobbies against environmental regulation

On the other hand we see simple distinctions between greenwashfair- wash and ldquotruerdquo reform as a poor match for the current state of global indus-

tries and labeling projects Eco-labeling and social labeling may once have been the domain of public relations personnel but they have become theirown specialized world in which credibility depends on ldquomulti-stakeholderrepresentationrdquo and extensive amounts of accreditation auditing and veri1047297-cation Companies might prefer to respond to criticism with public relationscampaigns but they are oen pushed by activists and investors to go furtherand achieve some kind of external assurance For instance if confronted bylabor rights abuses apparel and footwear companies no longer simply hold

up a code of conduct instead they refer to sophisticated factory monitoringprograms external certi1047297cations and ldquocapacity-buildingrdquo projects (Locke1048626104862410486251048627) Rather than simply co-opting the language of environmentalism manyretailers have been pushed to sell products that are independently certi1047297ed(Conroy 1048626104862410486241048631) Furthermore the world of voluntary certi1047297cation has be-come increasingly formalized For instance to judge compliance with thestandards of the FSC an auditing organization (eg Scienti1047297c Certi1047297cation

Systems SmartWood or the Soil Association) must be accredited by a sepa-rate oversight body (Accreditation Services International) Furthermore theFSC belongs to an umbrella organization991252the ISEAL (International Socialand Environmental Accreditation and Labeling) Alliance991252which de1047297nes

best practices for credible certi1047297cation initiatives To be sure all of this cer-ti1047297cation of the certi1047297ers of the certi1047297ers (and beyond) is not guaranteed to

bring about meaningful improvement Indeed we describe cases where thisformalization has been counterproductive and where seemingly credible ini-tiatives have failed spectacularly But it does mean there is more ldquocheckingrdquothan there is simple ldquowashingrdquo As Peter Dauvergne and Jane Lister (1048626104862410486251048626)put it ldquoCorporate sustainability goals include measurable targets are

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audited by independent groups and are integrated into the core business [through] life-cycle assessment supply chain tracing eco-certi1047297cation andsustainability reportingrdquo (10486271048632) We concur with them that all of this measure-

ment and reporting oen skirts the root causes of problems but one cannotseriously assess conscientious consumption without investigating this activ-ity If the world were as simple as it was when the ldquogreenwashrdquo frame was 1047297rstcoined a book like this would not be necessary

Most importantly the greenwashfairwash frame leaves a key questionunanswered if a claim is not just greenwashfairwash991252in other words if itis backed by stringent standards and credible veri1047297cation processes991252then

what is it It would be tempting to assume that the converse of greenwashfairwash is something like ldquoreal sustainabilityfairnessrdquo on the ground But asour case studies show it is possible to have stringent standards and credibleassessment but still not generate much reform of global industries Our goalis to provide some tools for making sense of these complex (and common)intermediate scenarios

Importing Standards into Empty Spaces

Another problematic frame concerns the implementation of global standardsincluding those supported by conscientious consumerism It is tempting tosee global standards as introducing new rules into otherwise empty spacesFor instance one might think of labor codes of conduct as introducing laborrights into factories that would otherwise be completely unregulated andchaotic Or one might think of global sustainability standards as introducing

environmental norms into seings where businesses would otherwise be freeto pollute with impunity As Alison Brysk puts it global rule-making proj-ects oen ldquoconcern areas previously ungoverned or even unknownrdquo (Brysk1048626104862410486241048629 104862510486261048624) Indeed scholars and practitioners oen portray private rules as1047297lling a ldquoregulatory voidrdquo as they are put into practice especially in devel-oping countries (Sabel OrsquoRourke and Fung 1048626104862410486241048624) For some developingcountries are so lacking in the rule of law as to constitute ldquoareas of limitedstatehoodrdquo in which private rules must serve as a substitute for public author-

ity (Boumlrzel and Risse 1048626104862410486251048624) Sociologists in the ldquoworld societyrdquo school startfrom different assumptions but nevertheless argue that global norms aboutenvironmental protection child labor and human rights are imported into

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developing countries as novel concepts that are completely alien to the locals(Meyer et al 1048625104863310486331048631)

e problem with this approach is not only as Gay Seidman (1048626104862410486241048631) argues

that ldquostateless regulationrdquo usually lacks enforcement power A more funda-mental problem is that this frame obscures the institutional arrangementsthat are in place in developing countries Developing countries are not emptyanonymous uniform places ey are populated with different business sys-tems cultures of production and political institutions What may look fromafar like a relatively empty space turns out on closer inspection to have adense set of preexisting relationships organizations and rules ese local

circumstances can recon1047297gure global rules in myriad ways (Halliday andCarruthers 1048626104862410486241048633 Merry 104862610486241048624983094) For instance in chapter 1048628 we look at fair tradecerti1047297cation and its consequences in Paraguay a place where earlier ways oforganizing agricultural operations set the stage for fair trade projects andshaped their results Fair trade standards were not simply imported to thisseing they were layered onto an existing set of institutions In fact a thickerldquolayeringrdquo of rules with varying consequences has been a common result ofglobal standards (Bartley 1048626104862410486251048625) An ldquoempty spacesrdquo assumption also obscures

ongoing political struggles at the point of production As we will see INGOsand conscientious consumers are far from the only actors concerned withlabor rights sustainability or the fair distribution of resources For instancerecent years have seen a rising tide of strikes in China and mobilization ofgarment workers in Cambodia and Bangladesh (Alam 1048626104862410486251048627 Dara and Wil-lemyns 1048626104862410486251048628 Friedman 1048626104862410486251048627) e land rights of indigenous people in Braziland Indonesia are a concern not only of backers of global sustainable forestry

standards but also of burgeoning movements of indigenous people them-selves (Gerber 1048626104862410486251048625) Social movements in developing countries may struggleto influence powerful global industries but they cannot simply be ignored

When it comes to governmental regulation it is true that developingcountries oen lack the resources and administrative capacities to effec-tively regulate production processes as do many governments in affluentcountries Moreover the logic of global production in some ways gives themdisincentives to do so aggressively implementing regulations may cause in-

vestors991252and orders from brands and retailers991252to flee the country and therules of the WTO make some forms of regulation untenable But ldquodevelopingcountriesrdquo are diverse In nearly all parts of the world there are laws relatedto labor the environment and the rights of citizens Scholars are beginning

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to 1047297nd increased enforcement of these laws in some surprising places fromrevitalized state labor inspection in the export processing zones of the Do-minican Republic (Schrank 1048626104862410486251048627) to aggressive environmental regulators in

Brazil and China (Coslovsky 1048626104862410486251048625 McAllister Van Rooij and Kagan 1048626104862410486251048624)In other instances law can be repressive991252restricting the rights of workers orindigenous communities for instance (Lee 1048626104862410486241048631 Li 1048626104862410486251048624) Again the influ-ences of local structures can vary but one should not assume a blank slate

983105 983122983151983157983143983144 983111983157983145983140983141 983156983151 983125983150 983152983137983139983147983145983150983143 983107983151983150983155983139983145983141 983150983156983145983151983157983155983107983151983150983155983157983149983152983156983145983151983150 983137983150983140 983120983154983151983140983157983139983156983145983151983150 983120983154983151983146983141983139983156983155

How then can one make sense of projects to promote conscientious con-sumption and fair or sustainable production e 1047297rst step is simply to acceptthat there is a great deal of variation ere is variation across individualsand locations in conscientious consumer behavior ere is variation acrossproducts and labeling initiatives in the ldquoon the groundrdquo implications of globalstandards ere is variation across industries (and even within them) in sys-tems of production and these intersect with national (and even subnational)

differences in industry organization To understand whether conscientiousconsumption and fairsustainable production projects can contribute tomeaningful alternatives we must look closely at these industrial and politi-cal contexts A second starting point is to accept that the influence of globalstandards for fairsustainable production is typically highly circumscribedor contingent on other factors As will become clear even the most stringentstandards and most credible initiatives do not transform global industries

ey sometimes influence certain parts of an industry but even this cannotautomatically be assumed

To unpack conscientious consumption initiatives and the global standardsthey endorse we bring four factors to the foreground (1048625) structures of pro-duction and consumption (1048626) the constituencies of standards (1048627) global-local linkages and (1048628) the coexistence of rule making and unruliness

Structures of Production and Consumption

Industry structures shape both the opportunities for conscientious con-sumption to occur and the consequences of rule-making projects at thepoint of production To start some industries are more likely than others to

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become targets of activism which is typically the catalyst for rule-makingand conscientious consumption projects

Lead 1047297rms in global value chains especially when they are large and have

salient corporate reputations make aractive targets for social movements(Bartley and Child 1048626104862410486251048628) Industries that lack powerful and well-known brands tend to aract less scrutiny For instance the manufacturing of bricksespecially in developing countries is oen a highly polluting and exploit-ative industry But because there are not well-known global brands in thisindustry it has received lile international aention In other cases activistshave highlighted a problem but without powerful and recognizable brands

to link this to rule-making projects have not emerged e production ofcheap costume jewelry is rife with exploitation as shown in the documentary Mardi Gras Made in China but this has not become a site of extensive rulemaking and conscientious consumerism In some circumstances the exis-tence of large high-pro1047297le retailers can compensate for a more fragmentedor poorly known set of manufacturers Anti-GMO activists for instancehave pressured manufacturers like Monsanto by going through large retailerslike Marks amp Spencer (Schurman and Munro 1048626104862410486241048633) Our analysis of global

food distribution (in chapter 1048628) is consistent with this observation but italso suggests that the locus of consumer and activist pressure depends onthe speci1047297c product

When activists do press lead 1047297rms to make their supply chains fairer ormore sustainable the consequences seem to depend in part on the structureof that supply chain If suppliers can easily 1047297nd alternative buyers who are notdemanding changes991252that is if there are few suppliers and many buyers991252

they will have lile incentive to comply with a particular lead 1047297rmrsquos rulesGoing further by many accounts when lead 1047297rms have a great deal of powerover ldquocaptiverdquo suppliers they should be able to demand that those suppliersmake improvements (Mayer and Gereffi 1048626104862410486251048624) On the other hand someresearch has questioned whether this power is truly effective or whether itmerely spurs a game in which suppliers pretend to be making improvements(and lead 1047297rms nod in approval) (Locke Amengual and Mangla 1048626104862410486241048633) Wesuspect that the power of lead 1047297rms does make a difference but that moresigni1047297cant changes are possible when lead 1047297rms and suppliers are mutuallydependent and work together over long stretches of time (Our analysis ofthe apparel industry in chapter 1048629 though suggests that long-term collabora-tion is rare) In addition when global value chains are fairly simple in their

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structure without too many intermediaries this should make it easier forstandards to ldquotravelrdquo through them ere is a conundrum here howeversince it is oen in industries with a high degree of subcontracting (such as

apparel) that global standards are in the highest demand If global industries were dominated by vertically integrated 1047297rms rather than dispersed supplychains the world of conscientious consumerism would look quite differentFurthermore sometimes the lack of action by large lead 1047297rms can leave aspace for activists and entrepreneurs to carve out a small market niche basedon fairness or sustainability is is how fair tradendashcerti1047297ed coffee beganand some new projects appear to be emerging in electronics (Fairphone as

discussed in chapter 983094) and apparel (the Alta Gracia factory as discussed inchapter 1048629) Aer looking more closely at our four industries991252timber foodapparelfootwear and electronics991252we return to questions about industrystructure in the bookrsquos conclusion

Industry structures also maer for consumers As we show in the nextchapter opportunities to engage in conscientious consumption are just asimportant as motivations to do so and these opportunities depend in parton the structure of the retail sector in a particular country Generally we sug-

gest that having larger retailers will facilitate consumer purchases of eco- andsocial-labeled products In part this is simply because larger retailers offer a

wider array of choices overall991252that is different versions of the same prod-uct991252while smaller retailers offer fewer choices To be sure small stores canspecialize in ldquoalternativerdquo products and large stores can fail to carry themBut given the trend toward ldquomainstreamingrdquo of alternatives (see Jaffee 1048626104862410486251048626)large retailers have become key points of sale for eco- and social-labeled prod-

ucts Furthermore oligopoly in the retail sector991252the dominance of a smallnumber of large companies991252also seems to magnify the power of activiststo influence the market As Rachel Schurman and William Munro (1048626104862410486241048633)found the existence of a small number of large food retailer chains in the UKallowed the anti-GMO movement to flourish there while it foundered amidthe larger number of supermarket chains in the United States

Constituencies and Standards

Global standards for fairness and sustainability may sound universal butthey spring from the priorities of particular individuals and groups A cru-cial step in understanding these standards is to examine the founders of

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initiatives that make rules audit compliance and certify products as fair orsustainable Some such initiatives such as fair trade certi1047297cation originatedlargely with NGOs or others outside of the industry Others such as the

Electronics Industry Citizenship Coalition and the Sustainable ForestryInitiative were founded almost exclusively by industry associations or othergroups of companies oen in response to the actions of NGOs In betweenare a number of initiatives developed by coalitions of NGOs and companiesfrom the Forest Stewardship Council to Social Accountability InternationalFounders are not everything NGO-initiated programs can become watereddown as they are mainstreamed and industry-initiated programs oen

evolve into formally independent organizations Most programs seek cred-ibility by calling themselves ldquomulti-stakeholderrdquo initiatives We maintainhowever that founding constituencies leave deep imprints on the content ofstandards and on the distribution of power within rule-making initiativesRules can get ratcheted up or down over time but these are usually marginalrevisions to a core approach Furthermore even when initiatives becomeformally independent from the constituencies that created them informalties revolving doors and 1047297nancial contributions oen persist

Generally we expect that industry-initiated programs will have standardsthat depart in relatively small ways from the normal practices of the indus-try Companies may want to improve labor conditions or environmentalperformance of their suppliers but they will be loath to push so far as todisrupt production or force a major change in their sourcing practices As aresult the greater the influence of companies in the founding of an initiativethe more likely it is to use either a ldquobest in classrdquo approach or a ldquocontinuous

improvementrdquo approach In the 1047297rst companies are recognized (throughcerti1047297cation or other endorsement) for demonstrating that they are aboveaverage in their industry is oen skirts the issue of whether they meeta stringent de1047297nition of a 1047297xed standard As Sco Nova (1048626104862410486251048625) has noted aldquobest in classrdquo model is like grading on a curve even if average performanceis quite low e second approach allows companies to start with a relativelylax standard and encourage gradual improvement over time852019

When industry outsiders have power in the initial design standard-seinginitiatives should look somewhat different First their standards are likely todepart more substantially from normal practices in the industry to a greateror lesser degree depending on the power of these outsiders Second these

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initiatives are more likely though certainly not guaranteed to endorse analternative model of production rather than to just reward the best in class orpush for continuous improvement Fair trade certi1047297cation and its emphasis

on democratically managed producer cooperatives (as described in chap-ter 1048628) is the clearest example of this ird and because of this initiativesspawned by outsiders are likely to either remain small or face dilemmas ofmainstreaming as they grow If they seek a large market presence ldquoalterna-tiverdquo programs will inevitably become more dependent on large companiese result may be a watering down of standards although as the case of theFSC shows (in chapter 1048627) this can be counteracted to some degree

For most products there are multiple competing aempts to de1047297ne fair-ness and sustainability For instance there are several ways of certifying thefairness and sustainability of coffee or of assessing the labor conditions ofapparel companies852020 Usually this competition reflects the struggle betweencompanies and NGOs Some scholars believe that such competition dooms

voluntary initiatives since it confuses consumers and lets companies choosetheir own standards (Seidman 1048626104862410486241048631) Others believe that it strengthens gov-ernance by spurring a ldquoratcheting uprdquo of expectations (Sabel OrsquoRourke and

Fung 1048626104862410486241048624) Our analysis of four global industries suggests that different setsof standards can oen coexist not exactly peacefully but with moderateinteraction or in different market niches Competition is inevitable but itseems to neither doom nor guarantee meaningful standards for fairness andsustainability It must be noted that initiatives that began with high bars991252namely Fair Trade and the FSC991252have not been pushed out of the market

by their competitors

Localized Globalisms and Globalized Localisms

Specifying links between ldquothe globalrdquo and ldquothe localrdquo has proven difficultand scholars have oen fallen prey to two types of conceptual dangers Firstin focusing on the global diffusion of a given idea or norm some have por-trayed domestic seings as lile more than passive receivers of a global proj-ect e language of domestic seings as ldquoreceptor sitesrdquo for global models(Frank Hironaka and Schofer 1048626104862410486241048624) is one example of this Pinpointingthis problem researchers are increasingly focusing on how local actors ap-propriate and ldquoindigenizerdquo global models to make them useful or meaningful

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(Halliday and Carruthers 1048626104862410486241048633 Merry 104862610486241048624983094) Second scholars of globaliza-tion oen equate the global with universalism (and oen progress) and thelocal with particularism (and oen backwardness) In so doing scholars

uncritically accept the most dominant model as ldquothe globalrdquo and obscure thepower that was exercised to establish its dominance

To deal with these problems we adopt Bonaventura de Santosrsquos language ofldquoglobalized localismsrdquo and ldquo localized globalismsrdquo (Santos 104862610486241048624983094 Santos andRodriacuteguez Garavito 1048626104862410486241048629) e 1047297rst refers to a process in which a particularis-tic set of ideas and practices becomes a dominant global norm Santos (104862610486241048624983094)provides examples such as ldquothe transformation of the English language into

a lingua franca the globalization of American fast food or popular music orthe worldwide adoption of the same laws of intellectual ownership patentsor telecommunications aggressively promoted by the USArdquo (10486271048633983094) For ourpurpose the key issue is how particular understandings of rights rules andenforcement have become institutionalized as global norms Concretely thenotion of a ldquoglobalized localismrdquo sensitizes us to processes by which particu-lar sets of reformers (NGOs companies or others) have turned their projectsinto ldquoglobalrdquo standards for fairness and sustainability Our point is not to

join the chorus that argues that ldquoWesternrdquo standards are being illegitimatelyforced on people and companies elsewhere ere have long been calls fordecent work and responsible natural resource management in many differ-ent parts of the world But the global standards supported by conscientiousconsumers in North A merica and Europe embody particular approaches tothese issues

e second concept ldquolocalized globalismrdquo refers to the incorporation of

these global models into local routines and expectations e concept sen-sitizes us to the work involved in turning global standards for fairness andsustainability into a concrete practice in a factory forest or farm in someparticular location As we have noted scholars too oen portray these sites asempty spaces We believe it is preferable to start from the opposite premisethat sites of implementation are crowded with different actors and agendasonly some of which are likely to line up with global standard-seing initia-tives Some elements of global standards are easily incorporated into localpractices while others are 1047297ercely resisted But a recognition of localizedglobalisms also has methodological implications It is rare for researchersto actually study these locations in detail It is easier to conduct distant and

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decontextualized studies of CSR or to focus only on the creation of standardsrather than their local implementation Our analyses of the global timberagricultural apparel and electronics industries include aention to speci1047297c

locations from the sugarcane farms of Paraguay to the electronics factoriesof Malaysia

Te Puzzle of Rules Rule Making and the Persistence of Unruliness

One can beer understand conscientious consumption and production proj-ects by recognizing what Tim Bartley (1048626104862410486251048628a) has called the ldquopuzzle of rulesrdquo

in the global economy simply put global capitalism can be ldquounrulyrdquo but italso generates many rule-making projects

e expansion of global markets has facilitated a number of rule-makingprojects from the standardization of accounting procedures to the rules forfairness and sustainability discussed in this book e volume of rule making

by both public and private actors has increased over the past three decadesMany scholars have pointed to these trends as evidence that global capitalismis not manic or ungovernable as it was initially framed Marie-Laure Djelic

and Kerstin Sahlin-Andersson (104862610486241048624983094) argue that ldquothe proliferation of regu-latory activities actors networks or constellations leads to an explosion ofrules and to the profound re-ordering of our worldrdquo (1048625) and they see globalcapitalism as ldquomarked by more991252not less991252rule-making activityrdquo (10486271048631983094)

On the other hand the explosion of rule making has oen been gearedtoward the expansion of markets rather than their restriction and in manyrespects global capitalism has remained unruly In many industries invest-

ment and orders can and do move quickly across locations oen under-mining aempts to impose rules Even more socially controlled European

varieties of capitalism have had their foundations chipped away (Streeck1048626104862410486241048633) Furthermore for all of the efforts of NGOs to build rules for fairnesssustainability and human rights many corners of global industries remainlargely unscrutinized and unaffected by these rule-making projects

As our case studies illustrate even as standards for fairness and sustain-ability have risen to prominence global industries have remained volatileand exploitative Certi1047297cation of sustainable forestry rose to prominencefrom 1048625104863310486331048629 to 1048626104862410486251048624 but so did illegal logging and deforestation worsenedin many places Te global apparel industry has come to be governed by

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numerous codes of conduct and factory monitoring initiatives but it hasalso continued to move quickly from one location to another in search oflow wages and more docile workers e rapid and inconsistent pace of the

global electronics industry has undermined aempts to improve workingconditions while rapidly changing agricultural markets have threatened thelivelihoods of many smallholder farmers

e puzzle of rules can be solved through an analysis of neoliberalism (seeBartley 1048626104862410486251048628a) but it also provokes a simple conclusion about the prospects forglobal fairness and sustainability global industries oen have contradictorytendencies so we should not expect either complete ldquogreenwashrdquoldquofairwashrdquo

or serious transformation Fair trade certi1047297cation has not transformed thelogic of commodity trade but it has improved conditions for some farmersin some circumstances FSC certi1047297cation has not made the timber trade sus-tainable but it has supported improvements in some forests As we developthese 1047297ndings (in part 1048626 of the book) we hope to speak not only to scholars ofconscientious consumerism but also to citizens and consumers themselvesConsumers oen want to feel like their purchases are ldquocleanrdquo of exploitation

but this is unrealistic We believe it would be more promising if consumers

shied from a deterministic to a probabilistic approach conscientious con-sumption may increase onersquos probability of contributing to improvementsand decrease the probability of contributing to the most extreme forms ofexploitation Tis does not answer the question of how large those prob-abilities are (which surely varies by product and label) or the question of howsigni1047297cant those improvements can be But only if consumers shi from anall-or-nothing view of ldquocleanrdquo versus ldquodirtyrdquo production (that is sustainable

versus destructive fair versus exploitative) can they come to an accurateunderstanding of what their purchases can and cannot achieve

983127 983144 983137983156 983116983145 983141 983155 983105 983144 983141 983137 983140

Part 1048625 of this book focuses on dynamics and dilemmas of conscientious con-sumerism In chapter 1048625 we look at why some American and European con-sumers are more likely than others to practice conscientious consumptionUsing survey data on thousands of individual consumers our quantitativeanalyses focus on factors that shape two forms of conscientious consump-tion boycoing and ldquobuycoingrdquo991252that is preferring a product for some po-

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litical or ethical reason Some paerns are related to consumersrsquo beliefs andthe extent to which they can afford to be choosy But individual differencesare only a small part of the story Where consumers are has a great deal to do

with whether they engage in conscientious consumption or not We thereforeconnect the individual survey responses with measures that capture nationaleconomic political and cultural contexts Overall this initial portrait showsthat conscientious consumption is widespread but far from universal withkey differences rooted not only in individual characteristics but in differentstructures of consumption as well

Having sketched some general paerns we delve deeper into the meanings

and implications of conscientious consumerism in chapter 1048626 Our analyses inchapter 1048625 are based on what consumers say they do but there are reasons todoubt that consumers will follow through on what they say or that what theysay truly captures the social meaning of their actions Yet we show that thereis evidence of consumers being wil ling to pay for eco-labels and social labelsConsumers are most likely to do so when their ldquoethicalrdquo choices also servetheir self-interest such as saving on energy costs or eating safer healthierfoods But even for those forms of conscientious consumption that have no

short-term direct bene1047297t for consumers there is mounting evidence thatsome consumers will pay more For labeling enthusiasts this is a good thingBut the ldquoone dollar one voterdquo logic of conscientious consumerism and thestatus-symbol character of some ldquoethicalrdquo products are potentially danger-ous in that they can exacerbate social economic and political inequalitiesamong consumers Moreover there is a danger that conscientious consumer-ism can displace other forms of political engagement promoting individual

consumerism at the expense of democratic citizenship and collective socialmovements Working through these debates we argue that conscientiousconsumerism as an ideology is regressive and counterproductive but speci1047297cpractices of conscientious consumption can sometimes be consistent withother forms of political engagement

Of course the real test of conscientious consumption comes at the pointof production To what extent do voluntary standards forged in response toconsumer concern make a difference ldquoon the groundrdquo in global industries

We tackle this question in part 1048626 of the book by looking at the global produc-tion of four types of products991252(1048625) wood and paper products (1048626) food (espe-cially the agri-food industry) (1048627) apparel and footwear and (1048628) electronics

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Each of these case studies is rooted in the interviews that we have conducted with local actors and other 1047297ne-grained information on the organization ofproduction ese chapters apply the framework sketched above (and a com-

mon organizational template) to allow for comparative insightsChapter 1048627 looks at the rise of forest certi1047297cation and its effects in the global

timber industry Like fair trade the FSC is one of the oldest and most es-tablished certi1047297cation and labeling initiatives It was founded more thantwenty years ago and it spurred a number of imitators and competitors Yetit is not well known among conscientious consumers and its impacts have

been far less than originally intended We trace the rise of forest certi1047297cation

with particular aention to the founders and constituents of the FSC andhow they leveraged the structure of the forest products industry to ldquomake amarketrdquo for certi1047297ed wood and paper Yet applying sustainability standardsto the production of some wood and paper products has barely influencedglobal deforestation A closer look at FSC certi1047297cation in the tropical forestsof Indonesia illustrates both the contradictions of certifying in a shiing andcontentious context and the limited ability of forest certi1047297cation to influencethe main drivers of deforestation

Next in chapter 1048628 we turn to agricultural production and the fairness andsustainability projects that have emerged in this seing Consumers aacha variety of meanings to food and the politics of food consumption has ex-ploded in the past decade In addition to sketching the structure of agri-foodproduction and consumption in general we focus on two types of rule-mak-ing projects fair trade certi1047297cation and an increasingly popular ldquocommod-ity roundtablerdquo approach Looking more closely at two crops991252sugar and

soy991252in one country Paraguay we are able to illustrate the consequences ofdifferent models of certi1047297cation and the crucial role of local context Globalfood politics are being layered onto preexisting institutional arrangementsand it is largely these institutional arrangements that determine whether cer-ti1047297cation is meaningful or not For instance fair trade certi1047297cation seems tomaer most when smallholder farmers are already organized into democrati-cally effective cooperatives or when local organizing al lows them to upgradetheir production capacities over time e contingent effects of conscientiousconsumption come into focus in this chapter

Chapter 1048629 considers how the rise of anti-sweatshop activism in the early1048625104863310486331048624s led to various aempts to monitor and improve working conditions inapparel and footwear factories A rough indication of how these initiatives

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have fared is provided by the occurrence of factory 1047297res in 1048626104862410486251048624ndash1048626104862410486251048627 and thedeath of more than eleven hundred garment workers in the 1048626104862410486251048627 collapse ofthe Rana Plaza building in Bangladesh Our chapter examines the constitu-

encies behind different factory auditing and certi1047297cation initiatives the waysstandards were implemented and the reasons why their effects have beenminimal e structure of apparel and footwear production in many wayscreated the demand for codes of conduct but the structure and the mobilityof the industry have undermined meaningful improvements Looking moreclosely at factories in China we show how aempts to certify particularfactories have fallen short In recent years several new projects to provide

ethical apparel have emerged but there remain few credible alternatives inthis industry

Finally chapter 983094 takes us into the fast-paced world of the electronics in-dustry where companies produce new models of smartphones laptops andother devices at breakneck speed Yet recently this industry has become afocus of aention for the exploitation of production workers especially aera series of worker suicides (and later strikes) at Foxconn factories in Chinaand mounting scrutiny of Foxconnrsquos buyer Apple Electronics brands have

also been accused of using ldquoconflict mineralsrdquo in the production of smart-phones e electronics industry is populated by well-capitalized companiesthat at times have demonstrated good intentions to make the labor processsafer and more humane Yet the industry has struggled to make improve-ments and 1047297nd tenable solutions We argue that the solution to this puzzlelies in the architecture of production and to a large extent ultimately in theorganization of electronics consumption is is a case in which conscien-

tious consumerism has been slow to develop and unreflective consumerismhas been a powerful constraint on signi1047297cant improvement Using detaileddata on factories producing for Hewle-Packard we show how the industrycontinues to demand extraordinarily ldquoflexiblerdquo labor markets and excessive

working hours in its factories in Southeast Asia We have tried to provide a sense of the complexity of these cases and set-

tings while still drawing out clear implications Along the way readers shouldget a clearer sense of the structure and operation of global value chains the

varied geographies of production and the circumscribed consequences ofeco-labels and social labels In a concluding chapter we compare our foursets of products and consider what has been learned

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open to reform than others and some places are more likely to support de-cent conditions than others We 1047297nd more variation and complexity in globalindustries than would be expected by either simplistic celebrations of cor-

porate social responsibility or by condemnations of greenwashfairwashOur goal is to document grapple with and hopefully sort out some of thatcomplexity

e debate about conscientious consumerism is to some degree colored bythe different terms that scholars have used to describe it Some use the termldquopolitical consumerismrdquo (Michelei 1048626104862410486241048627) which has become the standardterm for researchers in much of Europe We believe it is premature to label

shopping with a conscience as a political act at least until far more is knownabout how consumers understand this act and its consequences Others pre-fer the term ldquoethical consumerismrdquo which appears to be more common inBritish and American discourse (Barne et al 1048626104862410486241048629 Goodman Maye andHolloway 1048626104862410486251048624) But this seems to imply that consumers have a coherentethical rationale We use the term ldquoconscientious consumerismrdquo (and ldquocon-scientious consumptionrdquo) to reflect our view that concerned consumers aremore oen acting on a vague sense of trying to do good in the world than on

a speci1047297c political or ethical commitment is does not mean that conscien-tious consumption cannot be highly principled In some cases it clearly isBut in many cases we suspect that consumers are uncertain and grasping991252areasonable response to the perplexing world of labels and global industries

And sometimes scholars question whether seemingly ethical purchasesmight actually be self-serving and insular (Szasz 1048626104862410486241048631) We see ldquoconscien-tiousrdquo consumer activity as open to both more and less principled ethical

political commitments Grappling with the pitfalls of this activity in this book we argue that an overarching ideology of conscientious consumerismas a vision of social change is vacuous Consumers and scholars should notrely on shopping to change the world Nevertheless we argue speci1047297c prac-tices of conscientious consumption can sometimes be meaningful as part ofmultifaceted strategies for reforming global industries Careful aention isneeded then to both consumer behavior and the effects of voluntary pro-duction standards

In the remainder of this introduction we sketch our approach to the analy-sis of conscientious consumption and standards for global industries We

begin by discussing the processes through which claims of ldquofairnessrdquo and

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ldquosustainabilityrdquo have become common features of shopping aisles is in-cludes some of the most signi1047297cant changes in the global economy and polityover the past four decades including the rise of global supply chains trans-

national advocacy networks and neoliberalism as an ideology of governance We then move on to critique three common frames for understanding con-scientious consumption and related global standards is sets the stage forour own framework for analysis which emphasizes industry structures theconstituencies behind standards global-local linkages and what we call theldquopuzzle of rulesrdquo in the global economy Following this introductory chapter

we turn to an analysis of consumer behavior in the United States and Europe

Tis is followed by an aempt to unpack the dilemmas of conscientiousconsumerism991252and our interpretation of what is harmful and helpful aboutit en in part 1048626 of the book we shi from consumption to production anddevelop case studies of four types of products timber food apparel andelectronics All have been subject to standards for ldquofairrdquo or ldquosustainablerdquoproduction yet the results have rarely been what reformers hoped for

983110983154983151983149 983107983137983149983152983137983145983143983150983155 983156983151 983116983137983138983141983148 983155

e story usually begins with a social movement While twentieth-centurysocial movements oen targeted national states and public policy by the turnof the twenty-1047297rst century environmental labor and human rights activists

were also ldquoshaming the corporationrdquo and contesting markets directly Oenthis meant exposing well-known transnational corporationsrsquo complicity withexploitation of workers (especially young women) natural environments

and indigenous people in locations around the world Anti-sweatshop groupsldquonamed and shamedrdquo Nike Walmart HampM and many other companies todraw aention to unsafe working environments physical and verbal abuseand a high-pressure low-wage model of production in the apparel and foot-

wear industry Eventually this approach spread to the electronics industryas activists showed how Apple Hewle-Packard Samsung and others relyon harsh labor conditions in Asia as well as ldquoconflict mineralsrdquo from war-torn areas of Central Africa Environmentalists had long been targetingcompanies like Te Home Depot BampQ and Mitsubishi because of theircontributions to tropical deforestation not to mention campaigns againstShell Chevron and other oil companies with reputations for pollution andenvironmental injustice Food markets became especially politicized Envi-

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ronmentalists showed how beef consumption threatened the Amazon rainforest how seafood sales contributed to the depletion of species and destruc-tion of ocean habitats and how ldquofactory farmsrdquo polluted local environments

ey also raised concerns about pesticides and genetically modi1047297ed organ-isms (GMOs) in the supply chains of many food brands and retailers Humanrights and development organizations linked Hershey Nestleacute and others to

bonded labor in cacao farms and connected Coca-Cola Pepsi and Cargill (alarge soybean producer) to land grabs that forcibly displaced small farmersin South America Asia and Africa

In response retailers and brands increasingly have adopted voluntary rules

for their supply chains Apparel footwear and electronics companies haveadopted ldquoethical sourcingrdquo policies and ldquocodes of conductrdquo sending auditorsaround the world to assess their suppliersrsquo compliance Some have joinedinitiatives like Social Accountability International (SAI) the Fair Labor

Association (FLA) Business Social Compliance Initiative (BSCI) or theElectronics Industry Citizenship Coalition (EICC) which have their ownsets of rules and auditing procedures Food producers and retailers havesimilarly joined initiatives like the Roundtable on Responsible Soy (RTRS)

or the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) both of which addressthe environmental and social implications of large-scale agricultural planta-tions Sellers of paper and furniture have turned to products certi1047297ed bythe Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) (or its competitor the Programmefor the Endorsement of Forest Certi1047297cation [PEFC]) to demonstrate theirgreen credentials while some food retailers have agreed to sell seafood cer-ti1047297ed by the Marine Stewardship Council ese are just a few examples of

how pressure from social movements has led to the proliferation of ethicalstandards Some of these standards take the form of policies that companiesadopt while others are governed by external associations like those men-tioned above Typically these associations are created either by coalitions ofNGOs and a few leading 1047297rms or by groups of companies hoping to fend offfurther pressure

In some instances social movements have not merely pressured companiesto improve their practices they have sought to endorse alternative models ofproduction Organic agriculture was a movement before it was a market andit helped to legitimate forms of farming that do not rely on pesticides e fairtrade movement originated with the goal of supporting small farmers who

were organized into democratically run cooperatives and it sought to use

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certi1047297cation to direct greater resources toward these farmers not to improveconditions on large plantations (Linton Liou and Shaw 1048626104862410486241048628) Although la-

bor rights advocates have been hesitant to label companies as ldquogoodrdquo groups

like the Worker Rights Consortium (WRC) and the Fair Wear Foundation(FWF) have begun to build market support for factories in which workersare represented by independent unions Similarly some of the impetus forthe Forest Stewardship Council came from foresters environmentalists andindigenous rights groups hoping to support small-scale community forestryoperations not simply to improve industrial timber operations (Bartleyand Smith 1048626104862410486251048624) ese kinds of initiatives are ldquoin the market but not of itrdquo

(Taylor 1048626104862410486241048629) and insert alternative ldquoorders of worthrdquo into market decisions(Boltanski and eacutevenot 104862610486241048624983094) Yet as activists have sought to build marketsupport for these production models they have encountered dilemmas ofldquomainstreamingrdquo alternatives Under pressure larger companies have agreedto sell certi1047297ed products including Starbucks and Fair Trade coffee or eHome Depot and FSC-certi1047297ed lumber But as activists have discoveredthere is a 1047297ne and oen blurry line between building market support and

becoming dependent on big companies in a way that leads to the weakening

of standards As our case studies show the world of voluntary standards whether for

alternatives or ldquobest practicesrdquo involves a constant struggle for the powerto de1047297ne legitimate standards and to determine how strictly they should beapplied in the 1047297eld ere is an ldquoNGO-Industrial Complexrdquo that underliesmost conscientious consumption and production initiatives (Gereffi Garcia-

Johnson and Sasser 1048626104862410486241048625) but it is multifaceted and contentious

e ultimate impacts of conscientious consumption and production proj-ects are oen hard to discern but this much is clear taken together theseactivities amount to a vast new set of standard-seing projects for the globaleconomy Promoted by a mix of NGOs companies and trade associationsthey seek to use global production networks991252or ldquoglobal value chainsrdquo991252rather than the national state to promote rules about fairness justice andsustainability (Cashore Auld and Newsom 1048626104862410486241048628 Guthman 1048626104862410486241048631b Ponte1048626104862410486241048632 Seidman 1048626104862410486241048631) ldquoLead 1047297rmsrdquo in these global value chains991252that is

large retailers and brands from Apple to IKEA to Zara991252have the power toset styles prices and delivery schedules for their suppliers so advocatesargue they should also be able to influence the conditions of workers com-

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munities and the environment Companies frequently adopt standards tofend off activist pressure and the media spotlight but adoption does notmean implementation In some cases alternatives have found a niche in the

market and in other cases voluntary initiatives have proliferated while thelogic of production991252and exploitation991252has remained largely unchanged

Scrutiny of global industries has also spawned tools to help consum-ers make sense of all of these claims and to smartly vote with their wal-lets Consumer Reports magazine can trace its origins to a much earlier waveof muckraking (Rao 1048625104863310486331048632) and with the recent proliferation of competingeco-labels it has sometimes stepped in to referee as have publications from

Co-Op America in the United States and Ethical Consumer magazine in theUnited Kingdom Te Monterey Bay Aquarium in the United States haslong published a list of seafood for environmentally conscious consumersto prefer and avoid Online guides and smartphone apps have made thesetypes of guides more elaborate Goodguidecom developed by some leadingresearchers before being sold to Underwriters Laboratories (UL) compilesa wide array of information to rate products and companies for their healthenvironmental and social impacts Smartphone apps even allow consumers

to trace products to parent companies and investors as with apps that enableconsumers to boyco the conservative Koch Brothers avoid the biotech gi-ant Monsanto or support companies that recognize lesbian gay bisexualand transsexual rights (OrsquoConnor 1048626104862410486251048627)

Of course these consumer guides are only as good as the information thatgoes into them and as our case studies show meaningful accurate informa-tion is oen difficult to come by in complex global industries Furthermore

as our analyses of consumer behavior show only particular subsets of con-sumers have indicated an interest in boycoing or ldquobuycoingrdquo and thereare real questions about how many will pay more for guarantees of fairnessand sustainability Before diving into these issues we must consider thelarger context in which the rise of conscientious consumerism has occurred

983122983141983139983151983150 983142983145983143983157983154983145 983150 983143 983122983141983155983152983151983150 983155983145983138983145983148983145983156983145983141983155 983122 983145983143983144983156983155 983137 983150 983140 983122983157983148983141983155

Debates about consumers producers and ethical standards are vexing inpart because they are tied up with a larger recon1047297guration of responsibilitiesrights and rules in the global economy National and multinational corpo-

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rations have become transnational corporations with activities stretchingacross national boundaries without being deeply rooted in them Nationalstates once the main makers of rules and arbiters of rights are increasingly

just one of many actors issuing rules and claiming to enforce rights Inter-national NGOs and global standards associations have sought to issue rulesand enforce rights as well although their effectiveness in doing so is unclearMore broadly the goal to turn the world into ldquoone big marketrdquo991252associated

with neoliberal ideology991252has challenged earlier conceptions of what na-tional states can and should do to protect or empower citizens workers andthe environment Conscientious consumption and production projects are

to some degree the result of these changes In a world of vertically integratedcompanies and strong responsive states there would be far less demand for

voluntary standards supported by consumers But these changes have notsimply paved the way for conscientious consumerism they have complicatedits meanings and impacts in a variety of ways

Te Supply Chain Revolution

Capitalism in the twentieth century was characterized by the growth of verti-cally integrated corporations which controlled raw materials manufactur-ing and distribution and by the growth of horizontally integrated corpora-tions and conglomerates in which multiple businesses were combined in thesame corporate structure By the 1048625104863310486321048624s these models were giving way to theldquosupply chain revolutionrdquo in which large 1047297rms contract with independentsuppliers rather than owning an entire production process Nike built its

fortunes by being an early adopter of the ldquomanufacturer without factoriesrdquomodel and Walmart became a dominant retailer by making its supply chains

work faster and cheaper than retailers had previously In what Robert Feen-stra (1048625104863310486331048632) called the ldquointegration of trade and disintegration of productionrdquocompanies in industries from apparel to electronics to furniture shed theirfactories contracted with independent manufacturers and focused on build-ing their ldquobrandrdquo images

While some contracting and subcontracting happened within national borders scholars pointed out that many production processes were beingturned into ldquoglobal commodity chainsrdquo and especially ldquobuyer-drivenrdquo globalcommodity chains in which companies nearest the distribution end of the

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chain (retailers and well-known brands) exercised the greatest power overproduction processes and extracted the greatest pro1047297t from them (Gereffi1048625104863310486331048628 1048625104863310486331048633) Other terms such as ldquoglobal production networksrdquo and ldquoglobal

value chainsrdquo described similar phenomena and as many industries shiedto a supply chain model of some sort these different traditions of research

began to merge and more nuanced ways of describing power and coordina-tion in global value chains were articulated (Bair 1048626104862410486241048632 Gereffi Humphreyand Sturgeon 1048626104862410486241048629) is supply chain revolution was facilitated by techno-logical changes that made contracting more efficient and by legal changesthat opened more parts of the world to foreign investment Of course in

some industries such as agriculture large consumer-facing companies hadlong relied on networks of suppliers991252from coffee farmers to growers ofcorn wheat and other commodity crops Yet these industries have beenrecon1047297gured to some degree by the growth of mega-retailers that have cutout middleman distributors

Most important at this point is to recognize how the supply chain revolu-tion both highlighted and blurred the responsibilities of transnational corpo-rations On one hand contracting and subcontracting networks tied retailers

and brands in the United States and Europe to sites of production991252andexploitation991252around the world To be sure multinational corporations likeNestleacute I and PepsiCo had been shamed for the actions of their foreignarms in the 1048625104863310486311048624s but the networked transnational corporations of the 1048625104863310486331048624shad more extensive ties and thus greater vulnerabilities On the other handthe lines of responsibility991252and especially legal liability991252were blurry since

brands and retailers exercised a great deal of power over their suppliers but

did not own those sites of production Initially when sweatshops child la- bor and prison labor were uncovered brands like Nike and Walmart deniedresponsibility on the basis that they did not own the factories where suchabuses occurred As pressure mounted these and other lead 1047297rms in global

value chains began to accept ldquosordquo forms of responsibility by adopting codesof conduct and pledging to monitor and improve conditions in their supplychains ose same companies however 1047297ercely resisted aempts to makethem legally liable (Bartley 1048626104862410486241048629 Shamir 1048626104862410486241048628)

For the most part this remains the situation in the forest products foodapparelfootwear and electronics industries When pressed retailers and

brands have publicly accepted some responsibility to improve conditions in

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kets have remained largely national in scope especially when it comes toissues of fairness and sustainability e World Trade Organization (WTO)has endorsed protections for intellectual property rights but it has le only

narrow spaces for governments to protect workers and environments and ithas refused to address labor rights directly Bilateral and multilateral tradeagreements sometimes include labor and environmental standards but theseare limited in scope and enforceability International organizations suchas the United Nations and the International Labor Organization promoteconventions for governments to adopt but these organizations rarely haveany power to demand enforcement National governments are constrained

in part by a global economy in which 1047297rms and investors can move from one jurisdiction to another but perhaps even more by ideological commitmentsto neoliberal globalization and the rules of the WTO (Evans 1048625104863310486331048631 Rodrik1048626104862410486251048625) As we argue it is a mistake to think that governments are powerless orirrelevant in the face of globalization but there is no doubt that the dearthof binding international regulation of production conditions has led many tolook to the private sector as a way of enforcing standards NGOs for instancehave oen turned to voluntary standards and conscientious consumption as

second-best alternatives to intergovernmental systems of regulationNeoliberalism can be credited not only with helping to hollow out the state

but also with promoting an individualization of responsibility In a processthat theorists have called ldquoresponsibilizationrdquo individuals are treated as hav-ing the duty and capacity to take responsibility for things that should rightly

be seen as the result of social structures is can be seen for instance in at-tempts to reform welfare states to make welfare recipients take responsibility

for their own fates (Rose 1048626104862410486241048624) e moralization of markets has also been aresponsibilization process in which individual consumers are told they havethe duty991252and the ability991252to solve the worldrsquos social problems throughtheir purchases While some scholars use the language of responsibilizationto dismiss conscientious consumption as misguided we do not see this asthe most appropriate response We recognize that individual consumers are

being asked to take responsibility for problems that would oen be beerserved by more collective and robust solutions including revitalized statesand labor unions But it is at least possible that responsibility-taking by con-sumers could help to support more durable solutions in the future especially

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if governments NGOs and consumers themselves have a clearer under-standing of what is and is not being affected by conscientious consumptionand production initiatives

INGOs and ransnational Advocacy Networks

Since the end of World War II NGOs have become key actors in nationalinternational and transnational governance By the turn of the twenty-1047297rstcentury NGOs were carrying out most of the tasks of governing complex so-cieties delivering development assistance mediating social conflicts seing

standards for business developing expert knowledge and reconstructingsocieties aer natural and social disasters By some accounts the proliferationof NGOs and their incorporation into development and governance projectsamounts to an associational revolution that ldquomay constitute as signi1047297cant asocial and political development of the laer twentieth century as the rise ofthe nation state was of the nineteenth centuryrdquo (Edwards and Hulme 104862510486331048633983094 1048626)

International NGOs (INGOs) such as Greenpeace Oxfam or HumanRights Watch have mobilized aention to a variety of global problems from

climate change to new forms of bonded labor ey have garnered mediaaention to these problems and have pushed governments and intergovern-mental organizations to take action In addition the growth of transnationalnetworks of advocates and experts has sometimes allowed domestic activiststo gain leverage over their governments In what Margaret Keck and KathrynSikkink (1048625104863310486331048632) dubbed the ldquoboomerang effectrdquo domestic activists can reachpast indifferent or hostile domestic governments and appeal to transnational

advocacy networks that in turn exert pressure on those governmentsSince the 1048625104863310486331048624s INGOs have increasingly sought to put pressure on trans-

national corporations and restructure markets not just state policies eyhave led efforts to build product certi1047297cation initiatives from the ForestStewardship Council to the Marine Stewardship Council and they havecoordinated ldquomarket campaignsrdquo to convince large retailers to support theseinitiatives In addition the traditional boomerang effect has been supple-mented with what Naomi Klein (1048625104863310486331048633) called the ldquobrand boomerangrdquo in

which grassroots labor or environmental activists call on their internationalallies to put pressure on a well-known company that is operating in (or buy-

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ing from) that location rough these processes INGOs have become im-portant architects advocates and watchdogs of conscientious consumptionand production projects

e rise of INGOs does raise conundrums however especially about therelationship between professional advocates based in Amsterdam or Wash-ington DC and grassroots activists in developing countries To some extentINGOs have become sensitive to these power disparities and local NGOshave become savvy about working with foreign partners But the power ofINGOs to organize transnational campaigns aract media aention andshame global companies does carry the danger that more locally oriented

strategies or those directed to domestic governments are being neglected(Seidman 1048626104862410486241048631)

Standards for Markets and Markets for Standards

Without the supply chain revolution neoliberal globalization and thegrowth of transnational advocacy networks it is hard to imagine the rise ofconscientious consumption and global standards for fairness and sustain-

ability Yet just because initiatives for auditing certifying or reporting onsustainability or fairness have emerged that does not mean they will haveintegrity or impact Typically conscientious consumption and productionprojects are organized as private voluntary initiatives ey aempt to setstandards for markets but they also exist within markets Like all voluntaryprograms they depend on participation from companies and there can oen

be a trade-off between the stringency of standards and the number of partici-

pants (Potoski and Prakash 1048626104862410486241048633) All voluntary initiatives are structurallydependent on their corporate participants so one should take the languageof independent ldquothird-partyrdquo initiatives with a grain of salt Furthermore asprivate initiatives they have no monopoly on standards for a particular topic(as a government would have) is means competing standards initiativescan easily emerge For some observers the private voluntary character ofthese initiatives is reason enough to give up on them (eg Seidman 1048626104862410486241048631)

while for neoliberal advocates of market-based solutions these same featuresmake such initiatives especially aractive As we argue below our approachseeks to unpack variation in the organization of these initiatives and the

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contexts in which they operate At the same time as our case studies showthere are certainly limits on what private voluntary initiatives have beenable to accomplish

983124983144983154 983141983141 983110983154983137 983149983141983155 983137983150 983140 983124983144983141983145983154 983123983144983151983154983156983139983151983149983145983150 983143983155

Given the rise of conscientious consumerism and the growth of standards forglobal industries scholars and advocates are racing to promote simple framesfor making sense of them In this section we discuss three frames that areoen invoked Each captures a slice of something important but each ends

up obscuring as much as it illuminates or more

Te Empowered Sovereign Consumer

Scholars and advocates oen adopt a celebratory tone in discussing consci-entious consumerism ey argue that consumers are being empowered toldquovote with their dollarsrdquo and that these small changes in the habits of affluentconsumers can change or even ldquosaverdquo the world As Ruth Stokes (1048626104862410486251048627) writes

in the Ecologist magazine ldquoI believe that changing the way we shop991252voting with our money991252can help to change the world Companies respond tothe habits of shoppers We all have consumer power we just have to makesure we use it wiselyrdquo If consumers have been manipulated by companiesin the past they are increasingly being empowered by new sources of infor-mation argues Dara OrsquoRourke (1048626104862410486251048625) eorists of ldquopolitical consumerismrdquohave argued that this mode of political expression is especially empowering

for individuals who are alienated from formal politics such as young peopleand women (Michelei 1048626104862410486241048627) Furthermore as companies compete for thesupport of conscientious consumers and the coveted ldquolifestyles of health andsustainabilityrdquo (LOHAS) niche (Emerich 1048626104862410486251048625) many observers argue thatthey will become transparent responsible corporate citizens (Porter andKramer 104862610486241048624983094 Smith 1048625104863310486331048624 Zadek Pruzan and Evans 1048625104863310486331048631)

Such celebrations oen rest on an idealized framing of consumer agency991252that is the ability and willingness of the ldquosovereign citizen-consumerrdquo to bethe prime mover of social change (Jacobsen and Dulsrud 1048626104862410486241048631) e ldquosover-eign consumerrdquo is an old concept that is intended to suggest that consumertastes are the driver of all economic activity As scholars have observed the

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growth of conscientious consumption the sovereign consumer has becomethe sovereign citizen-consumer or what Roberta Sassatelli (1048626104862410486241048631) dubbedthe waking of the ldquosleepy giant of the sovereign citizen-consumerrdquo (104862510486321048632) So-

cial theorist Ulrich Beck perhaps the most prominent theorist of consump-tion as a form of politics argues that ldquocitizens discover the act of shoppingas one in which they can always cast their ballot991252on a world scale no lessrdquo(qtd in Sassatelli 1048626104862410486241048631 104862510486321048632) Michele Michelei (1048626104862410486241048627) takes the provocationeven further

Conflicts over what and where to consume are now central for understanding the func-tioning of affluent Western societies is can even mean that consumers participating

in boycos can for instance be likened to resistance 1047297ghters Yet unlike resistance orrevolutionary conflicts of the past citizen-consumers tend to direct their aention towardthe market rather than state actors (1048625983094ndash10486251048631)

Even if one gets past the hyperbole treating consumer tastes as king orqueen is problematic in several respects First consumersrsquo aitudes turn outto be only one ingredient in the construction of conscientious consumptionmarkets As we show in this book the opportunities for conscientious con-sumption are not distributed evenly across individuals or across countries

Social inequality and differences in market structures mean the social con-text of consumption is just as important as individual aitudes Consumertastes may make a difference but it is difficult to see them as a true primemover

Second it is naive to assume that a change in consumer tastes translatesdirectly into a change in the production processes of global industries AsMargaret Willis and Juliet Schor (1048626104862410486251048626) argue many accounts of consci-

entious consumerism take a ldquonaiumlve aggregationistrdquo approach to marketsassuming that if a large enough number of consumers is interested in al-ternative products the market will simply change to deliver them A quitedifferent story is told by research on industries technologies and organiza-tions over time Production processes are oen ldquolocked inrdquo by a system ofinterrelated technologies and expectations making them difficult to changePaul David (1048625104863310486321048629) famously illustrated this by considering the persistence ofthe inefficient QWERTY keyboard on typewriters and computers Even ifproduction practices are not strongly locked in companies like all organi-zations rarely abandon their core routines and technologies (Hannan andFreeman 1048625104863310486321048633) Perhaps the biggest problem is that those who celebrate the

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transformative power of new consumer tastes assume that industry practicesare changing but they almost never actually investigate this assumption edisconnect between theories of conscientious consumerism and empirical

research on industry practices is stark and it is one thing that we hope toremedy with this book

Finally by celebrating the empowered conscientious politicized con-sumer one obscures the ways that unreflective consumer choices influencelabor and environmental conditions in global industries As much as someconsumers are becoming more conscientious about some of their choicesespecially when it comes to food and drinks (eg organic produce fair trade

coffee) much consumer activity is routine and habitual and some of theethics of consumption are opaque to all but the most commied individu-als Conscientious consumers might be careful to recycle avoid disposableplastic water boles and buy organic vegetables but then eat beef withoutthinking of its massive natural resource demands and the contributions ofcale production to global warming As environmentalists have pointedout encouraging consumers to make their purchases more environmentallyfriendly carries a risk of legitimating overconsumption in affluent markets

which is the foundation of many forms of environmental degradation (Mani-ates and Meyer 1048626104862410486251048624) e issue may not be just the amount of consumption

but its pace as well As will become clear later in this book the rise of ldquofastfashionrdquo and ldquofast electronicsrdquo991252that is the rapid churning through fashion-able styles of clothing and different models of smartphones991252appears to bea root cause of labor exploitation in the apparel and electronics industries

GreenwashFairwash

While some have celebrated conscientious consumerism others have dis-missed voluntary standards eco-labeling and social labeling as ldquogreenwashrdquoor ldquofairwashrdquo As Sharon Beder (1048626104862410486241048625) puts it ldquoTe aempt to provide alsquogreenrsquo and caring image for a corporation is a public relations strategy aimedat promising reform and heading off demands for more substantial and fun-damental changes and government interventionrdquo (104862610486291048627) Claims about fair

and sustainable production in this view simply provide cover to companiesthat are engaged in fundamentally unfair and unsustainable activities ecodes of conduct sustainability reports and information disclosures that are

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highlighted in celebratory accounts of transparency may actually be formsof ldquodisinformationrdquo that obscure companiesrsquo actual practices

e term ldquogreenwashrdquo took off among environmentalists in the late 1048625104863310486321048624s

as a description of advertising campaigns that portrayed companies as pro-tectors of the environment (Beers and Capellaro 1048625104863310486331048625) Greenpeace arguedthat transnational corporations like Shell DuPont and Mitsubishi had ldquoem-

braced the environment as their cause and co-opted its terminologyrdquo even while contributing massively to environmental degradation (Greenpeace1048625104863310486331048626 1048626) e analogue for corporate claims about incomes livelihoods and

justice991252ldquofairwashingrdquo991252entered the lexicon later in the wake of the fair

trade movement As fair trade certi1047297cation was becoming ldquomainstreamedrdquoand imitated scholars and activists began worrying that fairwashing wason the horizon (Conroy 1048626104862410486241048631 Lyon and Moberg 1048626104862410486251048624) Observers have alsocriticized the images produced in the name of ldquocorporate social responsibil-ityrdquo arguing that these are ldquomerely a public relations game lulling us intoa false sense of securityrdquo (Doane 1048626104862410486241048629 10486261048633) Common to all these diagnosesis the sense that most assurances one 1047297nds on a product are nothing morethan public relations efforts

e greenwashfairwash critique captures two key features of conscien-tious consumption and global standards First when faced with criticismcompanies would prefer to be able to improve their images without alteringpro1047297table practices A public relations campaign is typically the 1047297rst line ofdefense Companies may also hire outside organizations991252auditors consul-tants and sometimes NGOs991252to lend some credibility to their campaignsey may also fund seemingly independent standard-seing initiatives that

can endorse their corporate social responsibility programs or label theirproducts As we will see this is how the US timber industryrsquos SustainableForestry Initiative got its start and it helps to account for the role of appareland footwear brands in the Fair Labor Association One must always takeassurances of sustainability and fairness with a grain of salt e dosage ofsalt depends in part on whether claims come from companies themselvesinitiatives that they control or more independent initiatives (If initiativesdepend on the voluntary participation of companies they can never be fully independent but there are gradations) In our analyses of standards (in part1048626 of this book) we are aentive to who has created a particular initiativehow it is funded and how dependent on companies it is Second there is

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10486261048624 983116983151983151983147983145983150983143 983138983141983144983145983150983140 983156983144983141 983116983137983138983141983148

nearly always some hypocrisy present when companies take up greening orfairness initiatives Simply because one product or one aspect of a companyrsquosproduction has earned some credentials does not mean that the companyrsquos

operations overall can be considered green or fair As David Vogel (1048626104862410486241048629)has argued we oen yearn for simple pronouncements of ldquogoodrdquo and ldquobadrdquocompanies But companies like people are complex multifaceted and oencontradictory One part of a company may be developing green productionprocesses while another part lobbies against environmental regulation

On the other hand we see simple distinctions between greenwashfair- wash and ldquotruerdquo reform as a poor match for the current state of global indus-

tries and labeling projects Eco-labeling and social labeling may once have been the domain of public relations personnel but they have become theirown specialized world in which credibility depends on ldquomulti-stakeholderrepresentationrdquo and extensive amounts of accreditation auditing and veri1047297-cation Companies might prefer to respond to criticism with public relationscampaigns but they are oen pushed by activists and investors to go furtherand achieve some kind of external assurance For instance if confronted bylabor rights abuses apparel and footwear companies no longer simply hold

up a code of conduct instead they refer to sophisticated factory monitoringprograms external certi1047297cations and ldquocapacity-buildingrdquo projects (Locke1048626104862410486251048627) Rather than simply co-opting the language of environmentalism manyretailers have been pushed to sell products that are independently certi1047297ed(Conroy 1048626104862410486241048631) Furthermore the world of voluntary certi1047297cation has be-come increasingly formalized For instance to judge compliance with thestandards of the FSC an auditing organization (eg Scienti1047297c Certi1047297cation

Systems SmartWood or the Soil Association) must be accredited by a sepa-rate oversight body (Accreditation Services International) Furthermore theFSC belongs to an umbrella organization991252the ISEAL (International Socialand Environmental Accreditation and Labeling) Alliance991252which de1047297nes

best practices for credible certi1047297cation initiatives To be sure all of this cer-ti1047297cation of the certi1047297ers of the certi1047297ers (and beyond) is not guaranteed to

bring about meaningful improvement Indeed we describe cases where thisformalization has been counterproductive and where seemingly credible ini-tiatives have failed spectacularly But it does mean there is more ldquocheckingrdquothan there is simple ldquowashingrdquo As Peter Dauvergne and Jane Lister (1048626104862410486251048626)put it ldquoCorporate sustainability goals include measurable targets are

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10486261048625983113983150983156983154983151983140983157983139983156983145983151983150

audited by independent groups and are integrated into the core business [through] life-cycle assessment supply chain tracing eco-certi1047297cation andsustainability reportingrdquo (10486271048632) We concur with them that all of this measure-

ment and reporting oen skirts the root causes of problems but one cannotseriously assess conscientious consumption without investigating this activ-ity If the world were as simple as it was when the ldquogreenwashrdquo frame was 1047297rstcoined a book like this would not be necessary

Most importantly the greenwashfairwash frame leaves a key questionunanswered if a claim is not just greenwashfairwash991252in other words if itis backed by stringent standards and credible veri1047297cation processes991252then

what is it It would be tempting to assume that the converse of greenwashfairwash is something like ldquoreal sustainabilityfairnessrdquo on the ground But asour case studies show it is possible to have stringent standards and credibleassessment but still not generate much reform of global industries Our goalis to provide some tools for making sense of these complex (and common)intermediate scenarios

Importing Standards into Empty Spaces

Another problematic frame concerns the implementation of global standardsincluding those supported by conscientious consumerism It is tempting tosee global standards as introducing new rules into otherwise empty spacesFor instance one might think of labor codes of conduct as introducing laborrights into factories that would otherwise be completely unregulated andchaotic Or one might think of global sustainability standards as introducing

environmental norms into seings where businesses would otherwise be freeto pollute with impunity As Alison Brysk puts it global rule-making proj-ects oen ldquoconcern areas previously ungoverned or even unknownrdquo (Brysk1048626104862410486241048629 104862510486261048624) Indeed scholars and practitioners oen portray private rules as1047297lling a ldquoregulatory voidrdquo as they are put into practice especially in devel-oping countries (Sabel OrsquoRourke and Fung 1048626104862410486241048624) For some developingcountries are so lacking in the rule of law as to constitute ldquoareas of limitedstatehoodrdquo in which private rules must serve as a substitute for public author-

ity (Boumlrzel and Risse 1048626104862410486251048624) Sociologists in the ldquoworld societyrdquo school startfrom different assumptions but nevertheless argue that global norms aboutenvironmental protection child labor and human rights are imported into

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developing countries as novel concepts that are completely alien to the locals(Meyer et al 1048625104863310486331048631)

e problem with this approach is not only as Gay Seidman (1048626104862410486241048631) argues

that ldquostateless regulationrdquo usually lacks enforcement power A more funda-mental problem is that this frame obscures the institutional arrangementsthat are in place in developing countries Developing countries are not emptyanonymous uniform places ey are populated with different business sys-tems cultures of production and political institutions What may look fromafar like a relatively empty space turns out on closer inspection to have adense set of preexisting relationships organizations and rules ese local

circumstances can recon1047297gure global rules in myriad ways (Halliday andCarruthers 1048626104862410486241048633 Merry 104862610486241048624983094) For instance in chapter 1048628 we look at fair tradecerti1047297cation and its consequences in Paraguay a place where earlier ways oforganizing agricultural operations set the stage for fair trade projects andshaped their results Fair trade standards were not simply imported to thisseing they were layered onto an existing set of institutions In fact a thickerldquolayeringrdquo of rules with varying consequences has been a common result ofglobal standards (Bartley 1048626104862410486251048625) An ldquoempty spacesrdquo assumption also obscures

ongoing political struggles at the point of production As we will see INGOsand conscientious consumers are far from the only actors concerned withlabor rights sustainability or the fair distribution of resources For instancerecent years have seen a rising tide of strikes in China and mobilization ofgarment workers in Cambodia and Bangladesh (Alam 1048626104862410486251048627 Dara and Wil-lemyns 1048626104862410486251048628 Friedman 1048626104862410486251048627) e land rights of indigenous people in Braziland Indonesia are a concern not only of backers of global sustainable forestry

standards but also of burgeoning movements of indigenous people them-selves (Gerber 1048626104862410486251048625) Social movements in developing countries may struggleto influence powerful global industries but they cannot simply be ignored

When it comes to governmental regulation it is true that developingcountries oen lack the resources and administrative capacities to effec-tively regulate production processes as do many governments in affluentcountries Moreover the logic of global production in some ways gives themdisincentives to do so aggressively implementing regulations may cause in-

vestors991252and orders from brands and retailers991252to flee the country and therules of the WTO make some forms of regulation untenable But ldquodevelopingcountriesrdquo are diverse In nearly all parts of the world there are laws relatedto labor the environment and the rights of citizens Scholars are beginning

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to 1047297nd increased enforcement of these laws in some surprising places fromrevitalized state labor inspection in the export processing zones of the Do-minican Republic (Schrank 1048626104862410486251048627) to aggressive environmental regulators in

Brazil and China (Coslovsky 1048626104862410486251048625 McAllister Van Rooij and Kagan 1048626104862410486251048624)In other instances law can be repressive991252restricting the rights of workers orindigenous communities for instance (Lee 1048626104862410486241048631 Li 1048626104862410486251048624) Again the influ-ences of local structures can vary but one should not assume a blank slate

983105 983122983151983157983143983144 983111983157983145983140983141 983156983151 983125983150 983152983137983139983147983145983150983143 983107983151983150983155983139983145983141 983150983156983145983151983157983155983107983151983150983155983157983149983152983156983145983151983150 983137983150983140 983120983154983151983140983157983139983156983145983151983150 983120983154983151983146983141983139983156983155

How then can one make sense of projects to promote conscientious con-sumption and fair or sustainable production e 1047297rst step is simply to acceptthat there is a great deal of variation ere is variation across individualsand locations in conscientious consumer behavior ere is variation acrossproducts and labeling initiatives in the ldquoon the groundrdquo implications of globalstandards ere is variation across industries (and even within them) in sys-tems of production and these intersect with national (and even subnational)

differences in industry organization To understand whether conscientiousconsumption and fairsustainable production projects can contribute tomeaningful alternatives we must look closely at these industrial and politi-cal contexts A second starting point is to accept that the influence of globalstandards for fairsustainable production is typically highly circumscribedor contingent on other factors As will become clear even the most stringentstandards and most credible initiatives do not transform global industries

ey sometimes influence certain parts of an industry but even this cannotautomatically be assumed

To unpack conscientious consumption initiatives and the global standardsthey endorse we bring four factors to the foreground (1048625) structures of pro-duction and consumption (1048626) the constituencies of standards (1048627) global-local linkages and (1048628) the coexistence of rule making and unruliness

Structures of Production and Consumption

Industry structures shape both the opportunities for conscientious con-sumption to occur and the consequences of rule-making projects at thepoint of production To start some industries are more likely than others to

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become targets of activism which is typically the catalyst for rule-makingand conscientious consumption projects

Lead 1047297rms in global value chains especially when they are large and have

salient corporate reputations make aractive targets for social movements(Bartley and Child 1048626104862410486251048628) Industries that lack powerful and well-known brands tend to aract less scrutiny For instance the manufacturing of bricksespecially in developing countries is oen a highly polluting and exploit-ative industry But because there are not well-known global brands in thisindustry it has received lile international aention In other cases activistshave highlighted a problem but without powerful and recognizable brands

to link this to rule-making projects have not emerged e production ofcheap costume jewelry is rife with exploitation as shown in the documentary Mardi Gras Made in China but this has not become a site of extensive rulemaking and conscientious consumerism In some circumstances the exis-tence of large high-pro1047297le retailers can compensate for a more fragmentedor poorly known set of manufacturers Anti-GMO activists for instancehave pressured manufacturers like Monsanto by going through large retailerslike Marks amp Spencer (Schurman and Munro 1048626104862410486241048633) Our analysis of global

food distribution (in chapter 1048628) is consistent with this observation but italso suggests that the locus of consumer and activist pressure depends onthe speci1047297c product

When activists do press lead 1047297rms to make their supply chains fairer ormore sustainable the consequences seem to depend in part on the structureof that supply chain If suppliers can easily 1047297nd alternative buyers who are notdemanding changes991252that is if there are few suppliers and many buyers991252

they will have lile incentive to comply with a particular lead 1047297rmrsquos rulesGoing further by many accounts when lead 1047297rms have a great deal of powerover ldquocaptiverdquo suppliers they should be able to demand that those suppliersmake improvements (Mayer and Gereffi 1048626104862410486251048624) On the other hand someresearch has questioned whether this power is truly effective or whether itmerely spurs a game in which suppliers pretend to be making improvements(and lead 1047297rms nod in approval) (Locke Amengual and Mangla 1048626104862410486241048633) Wesuspect that the power of lead 1047297rms does make a difference but that moresigni1047297cant changes are possible when lead 1047297rms and suppliers are mutuallydependent and work together over long stretches of time (Our analysis ofthe apparel industry in chapter 1048629 though suggests that long-term collabora-tion is rare) In addition when global value chains are fairly simple in their

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structure without too many intermediaries this should make it easier forstandards to ldquotravelrdquo through them ere is a conundrum here howeversince it is oen in industries with a high degree of subcontracting (such as

apparel) that global standards are in the highest demand If global industries were dominated by vertically integrated 1047297rms rather than dispersed supplychains the world of conscientious consumerism would look quite differentFurthermore sometimes the lack of action by large lead 1047297rms can leave aspace for activists and entrepreneurs to carve out a small market niche basedon fairness or sustainability is is how fair tradendashcerti1047297ed coffee beganand some new projects appear to be emerging in electronics (Fairphone as

discussed in chapter 983094) and apparel (the Alta Gracia factory as discussed inchapter 1048629) Aer looking more closely at our four industries991252timber foodapparelfootwear and electronics991252we return to questions about industrystructure in the bookrsquos conclusion

Industry structures also maer for consumers As we show in the nextchapter opportunities to engage in conscientious consumption are just asimportant as motivations to do so and these opportunities depend in parton the structure of the retail sector in a particular country Generally we sug-

gest that having larger retailers will facilitate consumer purchases of eco- andsocial-labeled products In part this is simply because larger retailers offer a

wider array of choices overall991252that is different versions of the same prod-uct991252while smaller retailers offer fewer choices To be sure small stores canspecialize in ldquoalternativerdquo products and large stores can fail to carry themBut given the trend toward ldquomainstreamingrdquo of alternatives (see Jaffee 1048626104862410486251048626)large retailers have become key points of sale for eco- and social-labeled prod-

ucts Furthermore oligopoly in the retail sector991252the dominance of a smallnumber of large companies991252also seems to magnify the power of activiststo influence the market As Rachel Schurman and William Munro (1048626104862410486241048633)found the existence of a small number of large food retailer chains in the UKallowed the anti-GMO movement to flourish there while it foundered amidthe larger number of supermarket chains in the United States

Constituencies and Standards

Global standards for fairness and sustainability may sound universal butthey spring from the priorities of particular individuals and groups A cru-cial step in understanding these standards is to examine the founders of

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initiatives that make rules audit compliance and certify products as fair orsustainable Some such initiatives such as fair trade certi1047297cation originatedlargely with NGOs or others outside of the industry Others such as the

Electronics Industry Citizenship Coalition and the Sustainable ForestryInitiative were founded almost exclusively by industry associations or othergroups of companies oen in response to the actions of NGOs In betweenare a number of initiatives developed by coalitions of NGOs and companiesfrom the Forest Stewardship Council to Social Accountability InternationalFounders are not everything NGO-initiated programs can become watereddown as they are mainstreamed and industry-initiated programs oen

evolve into formally independent organizations Most programs seek cred-ibility by calling themselves ldquomulti-stakeholderrdquo initiatives We maintainhowever that founding constituencies leave deep imprints on the content ofstandards and on the distribution of power within rule-making initiativesRules can get ratcheted up or down over time but these are usually marginalrevisions to a core approach Furthermore even when initiatives becomeformally independent from the constituencies that created them informalties revolving doors and 1047297nancial contributions oen persist

Generally we expect that industry-initiated programs will have standardsthat depart in relatively small ways from the normal practices of the indus-try Companies may want to improve labor conditions or environmentalperformance of their suppliers but they will be loath to push so far as todisrupt production or force a major change in their sourcing practices As aresult the greater the influence of companies in the founding of an initiativethe more likely it is to use either a ldquobest in classrdquo approach or a ldquocontinuous

improvementrdquo approach In the 1047297rst companies are recognized (throughcerti1047297cation or other endorsement) for demonstrating that they are aboveaverage in their industry is oen skirts the issue of whether they meeta stringent de1047297nition of a 1047297xed standard As Sco Nova (1048626104862410486251048625) has noted aldquobest in classrdquo model is like grading on a curve even if average performanceis quite low e second approach allows companies to start with a relativelylax standard and encourage gradual improvement over time852019

When industry outsiders have power in the initial design standard-seinginitiatives should look somewhat different First their standards are likely todepart more substantially from normal practices in the industry to a greateror lesser degree depending on the power of these outsiders Second these

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initiatives are more likely though certainly not guaranteed to endorse analternative model of production rather than to just reward the best in class orpush for continuous improvement Fair trade certi1047297cation and its emphasis

on democratically managed producer cooperatives (as described in chap-ter 1048628) is the clearest example of this ird and because of this initiativesspawned by outsiders are likely to either remain small or face dilemmas ofmainstreaming as they grow If they seek a large market presence ldquoalterna-tiverdquo programs will inevitably become more dependent on large companiese result may be a watering down of standards although as the case of theFSC shows (in chapter 1048627) this can be counteracted to some degree

For most products there are multiple competing aempts to de1047297ne fair-ness and sustainability For instance there are several ways of certifying thefairness and sustainability of coffee or of assessing the labor conditions ofapparel companies852020 Usually this competition reflects the struggle betweencompanies and NGOs Some scholars believe that such competition dooms

voluntary initiatives since it confuses consumers and lets companies choosetheir own standards (Seidman 1048626104862410486241048631) Others believe that it strengthens gov-ernance by spurring a ldquoratcheting uprdquo of expectations (Sabel OrsquoRourke and

Fung 1048626104862410486241048624) Our analysis of four global industries suggests that different setsof standards can oen coexist not exactly peacefully but with moderateinteraction or in different market niches Competition is inevitable but itseems to neither doom nor guarantee meaningful standards for fairness andsustainability It must be noted that initiatives that began with high bars991252namely Fair Trade and the FSC991252have not been pushed out of the market

by their competitors

Localized Globalisms and Globalized Localisms

Specifying links between ldquothe globalrdquo and ldquothe localrdquo has proven difficultand scholars have oen fallen prey to two types of conceptual dangers Firstin focusing on the global diffusion of a given idea or norm some have por-trayed domestic seings as lile more than passive receivers of a global proj-ect e language of domestic seings as ldquoreceptor sitesrdquo for global models(Frank Hironaka and Schofer 1048626104862410486241048624) is one example of this Pinpointingthis problem researchers are increasingly focusing on how local actors ap-propriate and ldquoindigenizerdquo global models to make them useful or meaningful

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(Halliday and Carruthers 1048626104862410486241048633 Merry 104862610486241048624983094) Second scholars of globaliza-tion oen equate the global with universalism (and oen progress) and thelocal with particularism (and oen backwardness) In so doing scholars

uncritically accept the most dominant model as ldquothe globalrdquo and obscure thepower that was exercised to establish its dominance

To deal with these problems we adopt Bonaventura de Santosrsquos language ofldquoglobalized localismsrdquo and ldquo localized globalismsrdquo (Santos 104862610486241048624983094 Santos andRodriacuteguez Garavito 1048626104862410486241048629) e 1047297rst refers to a process in which a particularis-tic set of ideas and practices becomes a dominant global norm Santos (104862610486241048624983094)provides examples such as ldquothe transformation of the English language into

a lingua franca the globalization of American fast food or popular music orthe worldwide adoption of the same laws of intellectual ownership patentsor telecommunications aggressively promoted by the USArdquo (10486271048633983094) For ourpurpose the key issue is how particular understandings of rights rules andenforcement have become institutionalized as global norms Concretely thenotion of a ldquoglobalized localismrdquo sensitizes us to processes by which particu-lar sets of reformers (NGOs companies or others) have turned their projectsinto ldquoglobalrdquo standards for fairness and sustainability Our point is not to

join the chorus that argues that ldquoWesternrdquo standards are being illegitimatelyforced on people and companies elsewhere ere have long been calls fordecent work and responsible natural resource management in many differ-ent parts of the world But the global standards supported by conscientiousconsumers in North A merica and Europe embody particular approaches tothese issues

e second concept ldquolocalized globalismrdquo refers to the incorporation of

these global models into local routines and expectations e concept sen-sitizes us to the work involved in turning global standards for fairness andsustainability into a concrete practice in a factory forest or farm in someparticular location As we have noted scholars too oen portray these sites asempty spaces We believe it is preferable to start from the opposite premisethat sites of implementation are crowded with different actors and agendasonly some of which are likely to line up with global standard-seing initia-tives Some elements of global standards are easily incorporated into localpractices while others are 1047297ercely resisted But a recognition of localizedglobalisms also has methodological implications It is rare for researchersto actually study these locations in detail It is easier to conduct distant and

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decontextualized studies of CSR or to focus only on the creation of standardsrather than their local implementation Our analyses of the global timberagricultural apparel and electronics industries include aention to speci1047297c

locations from the sugarcane farms of Paraguay to the electronics factoriesof Malaysia

Te Puzzle of Rules Rule Making and the Persistence of Unruliness

One can beer understand conscientious consumption and production proj-ects by recognizing what Tim Bartley (1048626104862410486251048628a) has called the ldquopuzzle of rulesrdquo

in the global economy simply put global capitalism can be ldquounrulyrdquo but italso generates many rule-making projects

e expansion of global markets has facilitated a number of rule-makingprojects from the standardization of accounting procedures to the rules forfairness and sustainability discussed in this book e volume of rule making

by both public and private actors has increased over the past three decadesMany scholars have pointed to these trends as evidence that global capitalismis not manic or ungovernable as it was initially framed Marie-Laure Djelic

and Kerstin Sahlin-Andersson (104862610486241048624983094) argue that ldquothe proliferation of regu-latory activities actors networks or constellations leads to an explosion ofrules and to the profound re-ordering of our worldrdquo (1048625) and they see globalcapitalism as ldquomarked by more991252not less991252rule-making activityrdquo (10486271048631983094)

On the other hand the explosion of rule making has oen been gearedtoward the expansion of markets rather than their restriction and in manyrespects global capitalism has remained unruly In many industries invest-

ment and orders can and do move quickly across locations oen under-mining aempts to impose rules Even more socially controlled European

varieties of capitalism have had their foundations chipped away (Streeck1048626104862410486241048633) Furthermore for all of the efforts of NGOs to build rules for fairnesssustainability and human rights many corners of global industries remainlargely unscrutinized and unaffected by these rule-making projects

As our case studies illustrate even as standards for fairness and sustain-ability have risen to prominence global industries have remained volatileand exploitative Certi1047297cation of sustainable forestry rose to prominencefrom 1048625104863310486331048629 to 1048626104862410486251048624 but so did illegal logging and deforestation worsenedin many places Te global apparel industry has come to be governed by

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numerous codes of conduct and factory monitoring initiatives but it hasalso continued to move quickly from one location to another in search oflow wages and more docile workers e rapid and inconsistent pace of the

global electronics industry has undermined aempts to improve workingconditions while rapidly changing agricultural markets have threatened thelivelihoods of many smallholder farmers

e puzzle of rules can be solved through an analysis of neoliberalism (seeBartley 1048626104862410486251048628a) but it also provokes a simple conclusion about the prospects forglobal fairness and sustainability global industries oen have contradictorytendencies so we should not expect either complete ldquogreenwashrdquoldquofairwashrdquo

or serious transformation Fair trade certi1047297cation has not transformed thelogic of commodity trade but it has improved conditions for some farmersin some circumstances FSC certi1047297cation has not made the timber trade sus-tainable but it has supported improvements in some forests As we developthese 1047297ndings (in part 1048626 of the book) we hope to speak not only to scholars ofconscientious consumerism but also to citizens and consumers themselvesConsumers oen want to feel like their purchases are ldquocleanrdquo of exploitation

but this is unrealistic We believe it would be more promising if consumers

shied from a deterministic to a probabilistic approach conscientious con-sumption may increase onersquos probability of contributing to improvementsand decrease the probability of contributing to the most extreme forms ofexploitation Tis does not answer the question of how large those prob-abilities are (which surely varies by product and label) or the question of howsigni1047297cant those improvements can be But only if consumers shi from anall-or-nothing view of ldquocleanrdquo versus ldquodirtyrdquo production (that is sustainable

versus destructive fair versus exploitative) can they come to an accurateunderstanding of what their purchases can and cannot achieve

983127 983144 983137983156 983116983145 983141 983155 983105 983144 983141 983137 983140

Part 1048625 of this book focuses on dynamics and dilemmas of conscientious con-sumerism In chapter 1048625 we look at why some American and European con-sumers are more likely than others to practice conscientious consumptionUsing survey data on thousands of individual consumers our quantitativeanalyses focus on factors that shape two forms of conscientious consump-tion boycoing and ldquobuycoingrdquo991252that is preferring a product for some po-

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litical or ethical reason Some paerns are related to consumersrsquo beliefs andthe extent to which they can afford to be choosy But individual differencesare only a small part of the story Where consumers are has a great deal to do

with whether they engage in conscientious consumption or not We thereforeconnect the individual survey responses with measures that capture nationaleconomic political and cultural contexts Overall this initial portrait showsthat conscientious consumption is widespread but far from universal withkey differences rooted not only in individual characteristics but in differentstructures of consumption as well

Having sketched some general paerns we delve deeper into the meanings

and implications of conscientious consumerism in chapter 1048626 Our analyses inchapter 1048625 are based on what consumers say they do but there are reasons todoubt that consumers will follow through on what they say or that what theysay truly captures the social meaning of their actions Yet we show that thereis evidence of consumers being wil ling to pay for eco-labels and social labelsConsumers are most likely to do so when their ldquoethicalrdquo choices also servetheir self-interest such as saving on energy costs or eating safer healthierfoods But even for those forms of conscientious consumption that have no

short-term direct bene1047297t for consumers there is mounting evidence thatsome consumers will pay more For labeling enthusiasts this is a good thingBut the ldquoone dollar one voterdquo logic of conscientious consumerism and thestatus-symbol character of some ldquoethicalrdquo products are potentially danger-ous in that they can exacerbate social economic and political inequalitiesamong consumers Moreover there is a danger that conscientious consumer-ism can displace other forms of political engagement promoting individual

consumerism at the expense of democratic citizenship and collective socialmovements Working through these debates we argue that conscientiousconsumerism as an ideology is regressive and counterproductive but speci1047297cpractices of conscientious consumption can sometimes be consistent withother forms of political engagement

Of course the real test of conscientious consumption comes at the pointof production To what extent do voluntary standards forged in response toconsumer concern make a difference ldquoon the groundrdquo in global industries

We tackle this question in part 1048626 of the book by looking at the global produc-tion of four types of products991252(1048625) wood and paper products (1048626) food (espe-cially the agri-food industry) (1048627) apparel and footwear and (1048628) electronics

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Each of these case studies is rooted in the interviews that we have conducted with local actors and other 1047297ne-grained information on the organization ofproduction ese chapters apply the framework sketched above (and a com-

mon organizational template) to allow for comparative insightsChapter 1048627 looks at the rise of forest certi1047297cation and its effects in the global

timber industry Like fair trade the FSC is one of the oldest and most es-tablished certi1047297cation and labeling initiatives It was founded more thantwenty years ago and it spurred a number of imitators and competitors Yetit is not well known among conscientious consumers and its impacts have

been far less than originally intended We trace the rise of forest certi1047297cation

with particular aention to the founders and constituents of the FSC andhow they leveraged the structure of the forest products industry to ldquomake amarketrdquo for certi1047297ed wood and paper Yet applying sustainability standardsto the production of some wood and paper products has barely influencedglobal deforestation A closer look at FSC certi1047297cation in the tropical forestsof Indonesia illustrates both the contradictions of certifying in a shiing andcontentious context and the limited ability of forest certi1047297cation to influencethe main drivers of deforestation

Next in chapter 1048628 we turn to agricultural production and the fairness andsustainability projects that have emerged in this seing Consumers aacha variety of meanings to food and the politics of food consumption has ex-ploded in the past decade In addition to sketching the structure of agri-foodproduction and consumption in general we focus on two types of rule-mak-ing projects fair trade certi1047297cation and an increasingly popular ldquocommod-ity roundtablerdquo approach Looking more closely at two crops991252sugar and

soy991252in one country Paraguay we are able to illustrate the consequences ofdifferent models of certi1047297cation and the crucial role of local context Globalfood politics are being layered onto preexisting institutional arrangementsand it is largely these institutional arrangements that determine whether cer-ti1047297cation is meaningful or not For instance fair trade certi1047297cation seems tomaer most when smallholder farmers are already organized into democrati-cally effective cooperatives or when local organizing al lows them to upgradetheir production capacities over time e contingent effects of conscientiousconsumption come into focus in this chapter

Chapter 1048629 considers how the rise of anti-sweatshop activism in the early1048625104863310486331048624s led to various aempts to monitor and improve working conditions inapparel and footwear factories A rough indication of how these initiatives

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have fared is provided by the occurrence of factory 1047297res in 1048626104862410486251048624ndash1048626104862410486251048627 and thedeath of more than eleven hundred garment workers in the 1048626104862410486251048627 collapse ofthe Rana Plaza building in Bangladesh Our chapter examines the constitu-

encies behind different factory auditing and certi1047297cation initiatives the waysstandards were implemented and the reasons why their effects have beenminimal e structure of apparel and footwear production in many wayscreated the demand for codes of conduct but the structure and the mobilityof the industry have undermined meaningful improvements Looking moreclosely at factories in China we show how aempts to certify particularfactories have fallen short In recent years several new projects to provide

ethical apparel have emerged but there remain few credible alternatives inthis industry

Finally chapter 983094 takes us into the fast-paced world of the electronics in-dustry where companies produce new models of smartphones laptops andother devices at breakneck speed Yet recently this industry has become afocus of aention for the exploitation of production workers especially aera series of worker suicides (and later strikes) at Foxconn factories in Chinaand mounting scrutiny of Foxconnrsquos buyer Apple Electronics brands have

also been accused of using ldquoconflict mineralsrdquo in the production of smart-phones e electronics industry is populated by well-capitalized companiesthat at times have demonstrated good intentions to make the labor processsafer and more humane Yet the industry has struggled to make improve-ments and 1047297nd tenable solutions We argue that the solution to this puzzlelies in the architecture of production and to a large extent ultimately in theorganization of electronics consumption is is a case in which conscien-

tious consumerism has been slow to develop and unreflective consumerismhas been a powerful constraint on signi1047297cant improvement Using detaileddata on factories producing for Hewle-Packard we show how the industrycontinues to demand extraordinarily ldquoflexiblerdquo labor markets and excessive

working hours in its factories in Southeast Asia We have tried to provide a sense of the complexity of these cases and set-

tings while still drawing out clear implications Along the way readers shouldget a clearer sense of the structure and operation of global value chains the

varied geographies of production and the circumscribed consequences ofeco-labels and social labels In a concluding chapter we compare our foursets of products and consider what has been learned

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ldquosustainabilityrdquo have become common features of shopping aisles is in-cludes some of the most signi1047297cant changes in the global economy and polityover the past four decades including the rise of global supply chains trans-

national advocacy networks and neoliberalism as an ideology of governance We then move on to critique three common frames for understanding con-scientious consumption and related global standards is sets the stage forour own framework for analysis which emphasizes industry structures theconstituencies behind standards global-local linkages and what we call theldquopuzzle of rulesrdquo in the global economy Following this introductory chapter

we turn to an analysis of consumer behavior in the United States and Europe

Tis is followed by an aempt to unpack the dilemmas of conscientiousconsumerism991252and our interpretation of what is harmful and helpful aboutit en in part 1048626 of the book we shi from consumption to production anddevelop case studies of four types of products timber food apparel andelectronics All have been subject to standards for ldquofairrdquo or ldquosustainablerdquoproduction yet the results have rarely been what reformers hoped for

983110983154983151983149 983107983137983149983152983137983145983143983150983155 983156983151 983116983137983138983141983148 983155

e story usually begins with a social movement While twentieth-centurysocial movements oen targeted national states and public policy by the turnof the twenty-1047297rst century environmental labor and human rights activists

were also ldquoshaming the corporationrdquo and contesting markets directly Oenthis meant exposing well-known transnational corporationsrsquo complicity withexploitation of workers (especially young women) natural environments

and indigenous people in locations around the world Anti-sweatshop groupsldquonamed and shamedrdquo Nike Walmart HampM and many other companies todraw aention to unsafe working environments physical and verbal abuseand a high-pressure low-wage model of production in the apparel and foot-

wear industry Eventually this approach spread to the electronics industryas activists showed how Apple Hewle-Packard Samsung and others relyon harsh labor conditions in Asia as well as ldquoconflict mineralsrdquo from war-torn areas of Central Africa Environmentalists had long been targetingcompanies like Te Home Depot BampQ and Mitsubishi because of theircontributions to tropical deforestation not to mention campaigns againstShell Chevron and other oil companies with reputations for pollution andenvironmental injustice Food markets became especially politicized Envi-

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ronmentalists showed how beef consumption threatened the Amazon rainforest how seafood sales contributed to the depletion of species and destruc-tion of ocean habitats and how ldquofactory farmsrdquo polluted local environments

ey also raised concerns about pesticides and genetically modi1047297ed organ-isms (GMOs) in the supply chains of many food brands and retailers Humanrights and development organizations linked Hershey Nestleacute and others to

bonded labor in cacao farms and connected Coca-Cola Pepsi and Cargill (alarge soybean producer) to land grabs that forcibly displaced small farmersin South America Asia and Africa

In response retailers and brands increasingly have adopted voluntary rules

for their supply chains Apparel footwear and electronics companies haveadopted ldquoethical sourcingrdquo policies and ldquocodes of conductrdquo sending auditorsaround the world to assess their suppliersrsquo compliance Some have joinedinitiatives like Social Accountability International (SAI) the Fair Labor

Association (FLA) Business Social Compliance Initiative (BSCI) or theElectronics Industry Citizenship Coalition (EICC) which have their ownsets of rules and auditing procedures Food producers and retailers havesimilarly joined initiatives like the Roundtable on Responsible Soy (RTRS)

or the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) both of which addressthe environmental and social implications of large-scale agricultural planta-tions Sellers of paper and furniture have turned to products certi1047297ed bythe Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) (or its competitor the Programmefor the Endorsement of Forest Certi1047297cation [PEFC]) to demonstrate theirgreen credentials while some food retailers have agreed to sell seafood cer-ti1047297ed by the Marine Stewardship Council ese are just a few examples of

how pressure from social movements has led to the proliferation of ethicalstandards Some of these standards take the form of policies that companiesadopt while others are governed by external associations like those men-tioned above Typically these associations are created either by coalitions ofNGOs and a few leading 1047297rms or by groups of companies hoping to fend offfurther pressure

In some instances social movements have not merely pressured companiesto improve their practices they have sought to endorse alternative models ofproduction Organic agriculture was a movement before it was a market andit helped to legitimate forms of farming that do not rely on pesticides e fairtrade movement originated with the goal of supporting small farmers who

were organized into democratically run cooperatives and it sought to use

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certi1047297cation to direct greater resources toward these farmers not to improveconditions on large plantations (Linton Liou and Shaw 1048626104862410486241048628) Although la-

bor rights advocates have been hesitant to label companies as ldquogoodrdquo groups

like the Worker Rights Consortium (WRC) and the Fair Wear Foundation(FWF) have begun to build market support for factories in which workersare represented by independent unions Similarly some of the impetus forthe Forest Stewardship Council came from foresters environmentalists andindigenous rights groups hoping to support small-scale community forestryoperations not simply to improve industrial timber operations (Bartleyand Smith 1048626104862410486251048624) ese kinds of initiatives are ldquoin the market but not of itrdquo

(Taylor 1048626104862410486241048629) and insert alternative ldquoorders of worthrdquo into market decisions(Boltanski and eacutevenot 104862610486241048624983094) Yet as activists have sought to build marketsupport for these production models they have encountered dilemmas ofldquomainstreamingrdquo alternatives Under pressure larger companies have agreedto sell certi1047297ed products including Starbucks and Fair Trade coffee or eHome Depot and FSC-certi1047297ed lumber But as activists have discoveredthere is a 1047297ne and oen blurry line between building market support and

becoming dependent on big companies in a way that leads to the weakening

of standards As our case studies show the world of voluntary standards whether for

alternatives or ldquobest practicesrdquo involves a constant struggle for the powerto de1047297ne legitimate standards and to determine how strictly they should beapplied in the 1047297eld ere is an ldquoNGO-Industrial Complexrdquo that underliesmost conscientious consumption and production initiatives (Gereffi Garcia-

Johnson and Sasser 1048626104862410486241048625) but it is multifaceted and contentious

e ultimate impacts of conscientious consumption and production proj-ects are oen hard to discern but this much is clear taken together theseactivities amount to a vast new set of standard-seing projects for the globaleconomy Promoted by a mix of NGOs companies and trade associationsthey seek to use global production networks991252or ldquoglobal value chainsrdquo991252rather than the national state to promote rules about fairness justice andsustainability (Cashore Auld and Newsom 1048626104862410486241048628 Guthman 1048626104862410486241048631b Ponte1048626104862410486241048632 Seidman 1048626104862410486241048631) ldquoLead 1047297rmsrdquo in these global value chains991252that is

large retailers and brands from Apple to IKEA to Zara991252have the power toset styles prices and delivery schedules for their suppliers so advocatesargue they should also be able to influence the conditions of workers com-

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munities and the environment Companies frequently adopt standards tofend off activist pressure and the media spotlight but adoption does notmean implementation In some cases alternatives have found a niche in the

market and in other cases voluntary initiatives have proliferated while thelogic of production991252and exploitation991252has remained largely unchanged

Scrutiny of global industries has also spawned tools to help consum-ers make sense of all of these claims and to smartly vote with their wal-lets Consumer Reports magazine can trace its origins to a much earlier waveof muckraking (Rao 1048625104863310486331048632) and with the recent proliferation of competingeco-labels it has sometimes stepped in to referee as have publications from

Co-Op America in the United States and Ethical Consumer magazine in theUnited Kingdom Te Monterey Bay Aquarium in the United States haslong published a list of seafood for environmentally conscious consumersto prefer and avoid Online guides and smartphone apps have made thesetypes of guides more elaborate Goodguidecom developed by some leadingresearchers before being sold to Underwriters Laboratories (UL) compilesa wide array of information to rate products and companies for their healthenvironmental and social impacts Smartphone apps even allow consumers

to trace products to parent companies and investors as with apps that enableconsumers to boyco the conservative Koch Brothers avoid the biotech gi-ant Monsanto or support companies that recognize lesbian gay bisexualand transsexual rights (OrsquoConnor 1048626104862410486251048627)

Of course these consumer guides are only as good as the information thatgoes into them and as our case studies show meaningful accurate informa-tion is oen difficult to come by in complex global industries Furthermore

as our analyses of consumer behavior show only particular subsets of con-sumers have indicated an interest in boycoing or ldquobuycoingrdquo and thereare real questions about how many will pay more for guarantees of fairnessand sustainability Before diving into these issues we must consider thelarger context in which the rise of conscientious consumerism has occurred

983122983141983139983151983150 983142983145983143983157983154983145 983150 983143 983122983141983155983152983151983150 983155983145983138983145983148983145983156983145983141983155 983122 983145983143983144983156983155 983137 983150 983140 983122983157983148983141983155

Debates about consumers producers and ethical standards are vexing inpart because they are tied up with a larger recon1047297guration of responsibilitiesrights and rules in the global economy National and multinational corpo-

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rations have become transnational corporations with activities stretchingacross national boundaries without being deeply rooted in them Nationalstates once the main makers of rules and arbiters of rights are increasingly

just one of many actors issuing rules and claiming to enforce rights Inter-national NGOs and global standards associations have sought to issue rulesand enforce rights as well although their effectiveness in doing so is unclearMore broadly the goal to turn the world into ldquoone big marketrdquo991252associated

with neoliberal ideology991252has challenged earlier conceptions of what na-tional states can and should do to protect or empower citizens workers andthe environment Conscientious consumption and production projects are

to some degree the result of these changes In a world of vertically integratedcompanies and strong responsive states there would be far less demand for

voluntary standards supported by consumers But these changes have notsimply paved the way for conscientious consumerism they have complicatedits meanings and impacts in a variety of ways

Te Supply Chain Revolution

Capitalism in the twentieth century was characterized by the growth of verti-cally integrated corporations which controlled raw materials manufactur-ing and distribution and by the growth of horizontally integrated corpora-tions and conglomerates in which multiple businesses were combined in thesame corporate structure By the 1048625104863310486321048624s these models were giving way to theldquosupply chain revolutionrdquo in which large 1047297rms contract with independentsuppliers rather than owning an entire production process Nike built its

fortunes by being an early adopter of the ldquomanufacturer without factoriesrdquomodel and Walmart became a dominant retailer by making its supply chains

work faster and cheaper than retailers had previously In what Robert Feen-stra (1048625104863310486331048632) called the ldquointegration of trade and disintegration of productionrdquocompanies in industries from apparel to electronics to furniture shed theirfactories contracted with independent manufacturers and focused on build-ing their ldquobrandrdquo images

While some contracting and subcontracting happened within national borders scholars pointed out that many production processes were beingturned into ldquoglobal commodity chainsrdquo and especially ldquobuyer-drivenrdquo globalcommodity chains in which companies nearest the distribution end of the

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chain (retailers and well-known brands) exercised the greatest power overproduction processes and extracted the greatest pro1047297t from them (Gereffi1048625104863310486331048628 1048625104863310486331048633) Other terms such as ldquoglobal production networksrdquo and ldquoglobal

value chainsrdquo described similar phenomena and as many industries shiedto a supply chain model of some sort these different traditions of research

began to merge and more nuanced ways of describing power and coordina-tion in global value chains were articulated (Bair 1048626104862410486241048632 Gereffi Humphreyand Sturgeon 1048626104862410486241048629) is supply chain revolution was facilitated by techno-logical changes that made contracting more efficient and by legal changesthat opened more parts of the world to foreign investment Of course in

some industries such as agriculture large consumer-facing companies hadlong relied on networks of suppliers991252from coffee farmers to growers ofcorn wheat and other commodity crops Yet these industries have beenrecon1047297gured to some degree by the growth of mega-retailers that have cutout middleman distributors

Most important at this point is to recognize how the supply chain revolu-tion both highlighted and blurred the responsibilities of transnational corpo-rations On one hand contracting and subcontracting networks tied retailers

and brands in the United States and Europe to sites of production991252andexploitation991252around the world To be sure multinational corporations likeNestleacute I and PepsiCo had been shamed for the actions of their foreignarms in the 1048625104863310486311048624s but the networked transnational corporations of the 1048625104863310486331048624shad more extensive ties and thus greater vulnerabilities On the other handthe lines of responsibility991252and especially legal liability991252were blurry since

brands and retailers exercised a great deal of power over their suppliers but

did not own those sites of production Initially when sweatshops child la- bor and prison labor were uncovered brands like Nike and Walmart deniedresponsibility on the basis that they did not own the factories where suchabuses occurred As pressure mounted these and other lead 1047297rms in global

value chains began to accept ldquosordquo forms of responsibility by adopting codesof conduct and pledging to monitor and improve conditions in their supplychains ose same companies however 1047297ercely resisted aempts to makethem legally liable (Bartley 1048626104862410486241048629 Shamir 1048626104862410486241048628)

For the most part this remains the situation in the forest products foodapparelfootwear and electronics industries When pressed retailers and

brands have publicly accepted some responsibility to improve conditions in

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kets have remained largely national in scope especially when it comes toissues of fairness and sustainability e World Trade Organization (WTO)has endorsed protections for intellectual property rights but it has le only

narrow spaces for governments to protect workers and environments and ithas refused to address labor rights directly Bilateral and multilateral tradeagreements sometimes include labor and environmental standards but theseare limited in scope and enforceability International organizations suchas the United Nations and the International Labor Organization promoteconventions for governments to adopt but these organizations rarely haveany power to demand enforcement National governments are constrained

in part by a global economy in which 1047297rms and investors can move from one jurisdiction to another but perhaps even more by ideological commitmentsto neoliberal globalization and the rules of the WTO (Evans 1048625104863310486331048631 Rodrik1048626104862410486251048625) As we argue it is a mistake to think that governments are powerless orirrelevant in the face of globalization but there is no doubt that the dearthof binding international regulation of production conditions has led many tolook to the private sector as a way of enforcing standards NGOs for instancehave oen turned to voluntary standards and conscientious consumption as

second-best alternatives to intergovernmental systems of regulationNeoliberalism can be credited not only with helping to hollow out the state

but also with promoting an individualization of responsibility In a processthat theorists have called ldquoresponsibilizationrdquo individuals are treated as hav-ing the duty and capacity to take responsibility for things that should rightly

be seen as the result of social structures is can be seen for instance in at-tempts to reform welfare states to make welfare recipients take responsibility

for their own fates (Rose 1048626104862410486241048624) e moralization of markets has also been aresponsibilization process in which individual consumers are told they havethe duty991252and the ability991252to solve the worldrsquos social problems throughtheir purchases While some scholars use the language of responsibilizationto dismiss conscientious consumption as misguided we do not see this asthe most appropriate response We recognize that individual consumers are

being asked to take responsibility for problems that would oen be beerserved by more collective and robust solutions including revitalized statesand labor unions But it is at least possible that responsibility-taking by con-sumers could help to support more durable solutions in the future especially

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if governments NGOs and consumers themselves have a clearer under-standing of what is and is not being affected by conscientious consumptionand production initiatives

INGOs and ransnational Advocacy Networks

Since the end of World War II NGOs have become key actors in nationalinternational and transnational governance By the turn of the twenty-1047297rstcentury NGOs were carrying out most of the tasks of governing complex so-cieties delivering development assistance mediating social conflicts seing

standards for business developing expert knowledge and reconstructingsocieties aer natural and social disasters By some accounts the proliferationof NGOs and their incorporation into development and governance projectsamounts to an associational revolution that ldquomay constitute as signi1047297cant asocial and political development of the laer twentieth century as the rise ofthe nation state was of the nineteenth centuryrdquo (Edwards and Hulme 104862510486331048633983094 1048626)

International NGOs (INGOs) such as Greenpeace Oxfam or HumanRights Watch have mobilized aention to a variety of global problems from

climate change to new forms of bonded labor ey have garnered mediaaention to these problems and have pushed governments and intergovern-mental organizations to take action In addition the growth of transnationalnetworks of advocates and experts has sometimes allowed domestic activiststo gain leverage over their governments In what Margaret Keck and KathrynSikkink (1048625104863310486331048632) dubbed the ldquoboomerang effectrdquo domestic activists can reachpast indifferent or hostile domestic governments and appeal to transnational

advocacy networks that in turn exert pressure on those governmentsSince the 1048625104863310486331048624s INGOs have increasingly sought to put pressure on trans-

national corporations and restructure markets not just state policies eyhave led efforts to build product certi1047297cation initiatives from the ForestStewardship Council to the Marine Stewardship Council and they havecoordinated ldquomarket campaignsrdquo to convince large retailers to support theseinitiatives In addition the traditional boomerang effect has been supple-mented with what Naomi Klein (1048625104863310486331048633) called the ldquobrand boomerangrdquo in

which grassroots labor or environmental activists call on their internationalallies to put pressure on a well-known company that is operating in (or buy-

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10486251048629983113983150983156983154983151983140983157983139983156983145983151983150

ing from) that location rough these processes INGOs have become im-portant architects advocates and watchdogs of conscientious consumptionand production projects

e rise of INGOs does raise conundrums however especially about therelationship between professional advocates based in Amsterdam or Wash-ington DC and grassroots activists in developing countries To some extentINGOs have become sensitive to these power disparities and local NGOshave become savvy about working with foreign partners But the power ofINGOs to organize transnational campaigns aract media aention andshame global companies does carry the danger that more locally oriented

strategies or those directed to domestic governments are being neglected(Seidman 1048626104862410486241048631)

Standards for Markets and Markets for Standards

Without the supply chain revolution neoliberal globalization and thegrowth of transnational advocacy networks it is hard to imagine the rise ofconscientious consumption and global standards for fairness and sustain-

ability Yet just because initiatives for auditing certifying or reporting onsustainability or fairness have emerged that does not mean they will haveintegrity or impact Typically conscientious consumption and productionprojects are organized as private voluntary initiatives ey aempt to setstandards for markets but they also exist within markets Like all voluntaryprograms they depend on participation from companies and there can oen

be a trade-off between the stringency of standards and the number of partici-

pants (Potoski and Prakash 1048626104862410486241048633) All voluntary initiatives are structurallydependent on their corporate participants so one should take the languageof independent ldquothird-partyrdquo initiatives with a grain of salt Furthermore asprivate initiatives they have no monopoly on standards for a particular topic(as a government would have) is means competing standards initiativescan easily emerge For some observers the private voluntary character ofthese initiatives is reason enough to give up on them (eg Seidman 1048626104862410486241048631)

while for neoliberal advocates of market-based solutions these same featuresmake such initiatives especially aractive As we argue below our approachseeks to unpack variation in the organization of these initiatives and the

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contexts in which they operate At the same time as our case studies showthere are certainly limits on what private voluntary initiatives have beenable to accomplish

983124983144983154 983141983141 983110983154983137 983149983141983155 983137983150 983140 983124983144983141983145983154 983123983144983151983154983156983139983151983149983145983150 983143983155

Given the rise of conscientious consumerism and the growth of standards forglobal industries scholars and advocates are racing to promote simple framesfor making sense of them In this section we discuss three frames that areoen invoked Each captures a slice of something important but each ends

up obscuring as much as it illuminates or more

Te Empowered Sovereign Consumer

Scholars and advocates oen adopt a celebratory tone in discussing consci-entious consumerism ey argue that consumers are being empowered toldquovote with their dollarsrdquo and that these small changes in the habits of affluentconsumers can change or even ldquosaverdquo the world As Ruth Stokes (1048626104862410486251048627) writes

in the Ecologist magazine ldquoI believe that changing the way we shop991252voting with our money991252can help to change the world Companies respond tothe habits of shoppers We all have consumer power we just have to makesure we use it wiselyrdquo If consumers have been manipulated by companiesin the past they are increasingly being empowered by new sources of infor-mation argues Dara OrsquoRourke (1048626104862410486251048625) eorists of ldquopolitical consumerismrdquohave argued that this mode of political expression is especially empowering

for individuals who are alienated from formal politics such as young peopleand women (Michelei 1048626104862410486241048627) Furthermore as companies compete for thesupport of conscientious consumers and the coveted ldquolifestyles of health andsustainabilityrdquo (LOHAS) niche (Emerich 1048626104862410486251048625) many observers argue thatthey will become transparent responsible corporate citizens (Porter andKramer 104862610486241048624983094 Smith 1048625104863310486331048624 Zadek Pruzan and Evans 1048625104863310486331048631)

Such celebrations oen rest on an idealized framing of consumer agency991252that is the ability and willingness of the ldquosovereign citizen-consumerrdquo to bethe prime mover of social change (Jacobsen and Dulsrud 1048626104862410486241048631) e ldquosover-eign consumerrdquo is an old concept that is intended to suggest that consumertastes are the driver of all economic activity As scholars have observed the

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growth of conscientious consumption the sovereign consumer has becomethe sovereign citizen-consumer or what Roberta Sassatelli (1048626104862410486241048631) dubbedthe waking of the ldquosleepy giant of the sovereign citizen-consumerrdquo (104862510486321048632) So-

cial theorist Ulrich Beck perhaps the most prominent theorist of consump-tion as a form of politics argues that ldquocitizens discover the act of shoppingas one in which they can always cast their ballot991252on a world scale no lessrdquo(qtd in Sassatelli 1048626104862410486241048631 104862510486321048632) Michele Michelei (1048626104862410486241048627) takes the provocationeven further

Conflicts over what and where to consume are now central for understanding the func-tioning of affluent Western societies is can even mean that consumers participating

in boycos can for instance be likened to resistance 1047297ghters Yet unlike resistance orrevolutionary conflicts of the past citizen-consumers tend to direct their aention towardthe market rather than state actors (1048625983094ndash10486251048631)

Even if one gets past the hyperbole treating consumer tastes as king orqueen is problematic in several respects First consumersrsquo aitudes turn outto be only one ingredient in the construction of conscientious consumptionmarkets As we show in this book the opportunities for conscientious con-sumption are not distributed evenly across individuals or across countries

Social inequality and differences in market structures mean the social con-text of consumption is just as important as individual aitudes Consumertastes may make a difference but it is difficult to see them as a true primemover

Second it is naive to assume that a change in consumer tastes translatesdirectly into a change in the production processes of global industries AsMargaret Willis and Juliet Schor (1048626104862410486251048626) argue many accounts of consci-

entious consumerism take a ldquonaiumlve aggregationistrdquo approach to marketsassuming that if a large enough number of consumers is interested in al-ternative products the market will simply change to deliver them A quitedifferent story is told by research on industries technologies and organiza-tions over time Production processes are oen ldquolocked inrdquo by a system ofinterrelated technologies and expectations making them difficult to changePaul David (1048625104863310486321048629) famously illustrated this by considering the persistence ofthe inefficient QWERTY keyboard on typewriters and computers Even ifproduction practices are not strongly locked in companies like all organi-zations rarely abandon their core routines and technologies (Hannan andFreeman 1048625104863310486321048633) Perhaps the biggest problem is that those who celebrate the

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transformative power of new consumer tastes assume that industry practicesare changing but they almost never actually investigate this assumption edisconnect between theories of conscientious consumerism and empirical

research on industry practices is stark and it is one thing that we hope toremedy with this book

Finally by celebrating the empowered conscientious politicized con-sumer one obscures the ways that unreflective consumer choices influencelabor and environmental conditions in global industries As much as someconsumers are becoming more conscientious about some of their choicesespecially when it comes to food and drinks (eg organic produce fair trade

coffee) much consumer activity is routine and habitual and some of theethics of consumption are opaque to all but the most commied individu-als Conscientious consumers might be careful to recycle avoid disposableplastic water boles and buy organic vegetables but then eat beef withoutthinking of its massive natural resource demands and the contributions ofcale production to global warming As environmentalists have pointedout encouraging consumers to make their purchases more environmentallyfriendly carries a risk of legitimating overconsumption in affluent markets

which is the foundation of many forms of environmental degradation (Mani-ates and Meyer 1048626104862410486251048624) e issue may not be just the amount of consumption

but its pace as well As will become clear later in this book the rise of ldquofastfashionrdquo and ldquofast electronicsrdquo991252that is the rapid churning through fashion-able styles of clothing and different models of smartphones991252appears to bea root cause of labor exploitation in the apparel and electronics industries

GreenwashFairwash

While some have celebrated conscientious consumerism others have dis-missed voluntary standards eco-labeling and social labeling as ldquogreenwashrdquoor ldquofairwashrdquo As Sharon Beder (1048626104862410486241048625) puts it ldquoTe aempt to provide alsquogreenrsquo and caring image for a corporation is a public relations strategy aimedat promising reform and heading off demands for more substantial and fun-damental changes and government interventionrdquo (104862610486291048627) Claims about fair

and sustainable production in this view simply provide cover to companiesthat are engaged in fundamentally unfair and unsustainable activities ecodes of conduct sustainability reports and information disclosures that are

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highlighted in celebratory accounts of transparency may actually be formsof ldquodisinformationrdquo that obscure companiesrsquo actual practices

e term ldquogreenwashrdquo took off among environmentalists in the late 1048625104863310486321048624s

as a description of advertising campaigns that portrayed companies as pro-tectors of the environment (Beers and Capellaro 1048625104863310486331048625) Greenpeace arguedthat transnational corporations like Shell DuPont and Mitsubishi had ldquoem-

braced the environment as their cause and co-opted its terminologyrdquo even while contributing massively to environmental degradation (Greenpeace1048625104863310486331048626 1048626) e analogue for corporate claims about incomes livelihoods and

justice991252ldquofairwashingrdquo991252entered the lexicon later in the wake of the fair

trade movement As fair trade certi1047297cation was becoming ldquomainstreamedrdquoand imitated scholars and activists began worrying that fairwashing wason the horizon (Conroy 1048626104862410486241048631 Lyon and Moberg 1048626104862410486251048624) Observers have alsocriticized the images produced in the name of ldquocorporate social responsibil-ityrdquo arguing that these are ldquomerely a public relations game lulling us intoa false sense of securityrdquo (Doane 1048626104862410486241048629 10486261048633) Common to all these diagnosesis the sense that most assurances one 1047297nds on a product are nothing morethan public relations efforts

e greenwashfairwash critique captures two key features of conscien-tious consumption and global standards First when faced with criticismcompanies would prefer to be able to improve their images without alteringpro1047297table practices A public relations campaign is typically the 1047297rst line ofdefense Companies may also hire outside organizations991252auditors consul-tants and sometimes NGOs991252to lend some credibility to their campaignsey may also fund seemingly independent standard-seing initiatives that

can endorse their corporate social responsibility programs or label theirproducts As we will see this is how the US timber industryrsquos SustainableForestry Initiative got its start and it helps to account for the role of appareland footwear brands in the Fair Labor Association One must always takeassurances of sustainability and fairness with a grain of salt e dosage ofsalt depends in part on whether claims come from companies themselvesinitiatives that they control or more independent initiatives (If initiativesdepend on the voluntary participation of companies they can never be fully independent but there are gradations) In our analyses of standards (in part1048626 of this book) we are aentive to who has created a particular initiativehow it is funded and how dependent on companies it is Second there is

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nearly always some hypocrisy present when companies take up greening orfairness initiatives Simply because one product or one aspect of a companyrsquosproduction has earned some credentials does not mean that the companyrsquos

operations overall can be considered green or fair As David Vogel (1048626104862410486241048629)has argued we oen yearn for simple pronouncements of ldquogoodrdquo and ldquobadrdquocompanies But companies like people are complex multifaceted and oencontradictory One part of a company may be developing green productionprocesses while another part lobbies against environmental regulation

On the other hand we see simple distinctions between greenwashfair- wash and ldquotruerdquo reform as a poor match for the current state of global indus-

tries and labeling projects Eco-labeling and social labeling may once have been the domain of public relations personnel but they have become theirown specialized world in which credibility depends on ldquomulti-stakeholderrepresentationrdquo and extensive amounts of accreditation auditing and veri1047297-cation Companies might prefer to respond to criticism with public relationscampaigns but they are oen pushed by activists and investors to go furtherand achieve some kind of external assurance For instance if confronted bylabor rights abuses apparel and footwear companies no longer simply hold

up a code of conduct instead they refer to sophisticated factory monitoringprograms external certi1047297cations and ldquocapacity-buildingrdquo projects (Locke1048626104862410486251048627) Rather than simply co-opting the language of environmentalism manyretailers have been pushed to sell products that are independently certi1047297ed(Conroy 1048626104862410486241048631) Furthermore the world of voluntary certi1047297cation has be-come increasingly formalized For instance to judge compliance with thestandards of the FSC an auditing organization (eg Scienti1047297c Certi1047297cation

Systems SmartWood or the Soil Association) must be accredited by a sepa-rate oversight body (Accreditation Services International) Furthermore theFSC belongs to an umbrella organization991252the ISEAL (International Socialand Environmental Accreditation and Labeling) Alliance991252which de1047297nes

best practices for credible certi1047297cation initiatives To be sure all of this cer-ti1047297cation of the certi1047297ers of the certi1047297ers (and beyond) is not guaranteed to

bring about meaningful improvement Indeed we describe cases where thisformalization has been counterproductive and where seemingly credible ini-tiatives have failed spectacularly But it does mean there is more ldquocheckingrdquothan there is simple ldquowashingrdquo As Peter Dauvergne and Jane Lister (1048626104862410486251048626)put it ldquoCorporate sustainability goals include measurable targets are

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audited by independent groups and are integrated into the core business [through] life-cycle assessment supply chain tracing eco-certi1047297cation andsustainability reportingrdquo (10486271048632) We concur with them that all of this measure-

ment and reporting oen skirts the root causes of problems but one cannotseriously assess conscientious consumption without investigating this activ-ity If the world were as simple as it was when the ldquogreenwashrdquo frame was 1047297rstcoined a book like this would not be necessary

Most importantly the greenwashfairwash frame leaves a key questionunanswered if a claim is not just greenwashfairwash991252in other words if itis backed by stringent standards and credible veri1047297cation processes991252then

what is it It would be tempting to assume that the converse of greenwashfairwash is something like ldquoreal sustainabilityfairnessrdquo on the ground But asour case studies show it is possible to have stringent standards and credibleassessment but still not generate much reform of global industries Our goalis to provide some tools for making sense of these complex (and common)intermediate scenarios

Importing Standards into Empty Spaces

Another problematic frame concerns the implementation of global standardsincluding those supported by conscientious consumerism It is tempting tosee global standards as introducing new rules into otherwise empty spacesFor instance one might think of labor codes of conduct as introducing laborrights into factories that would otherwise be completely unregulated andchaotic Or one might think of global sustainability standards as introducing

environmental norms into seings where businesses would otherwise be freeto pollute with impunity As Alison Brysk puts it global rule-making proj-ects oen ldquoconcern areas previously ungoverned or even unknownrdquo (Brysk1048626104862410486241048629 104862510486261048624) Indeed scholars and practitioners oen portray private rules as1047297lling a ldquoregulatory voidrdquo as they are put into practice especially in devel-oping countries (Sabel OrsquoRourke and Fung 1048626104862410486241048624) For some developingcountries are so lacking in the rule of law as to constitute ldquoareas of limitedstatehoodrdquo in which private rules must serve as a substitute for public author-

ity (Boumlrzel and Risse 1048626104862410486251048624) Sociologists in the ldquoworld societyrdquo school startfrom different assumptions but nevertheless argue that global norms aboutenvironmental protection child labor and human rights are imported into

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developing countries as novel concepts that are completely alien to the locals(Meyer et al 1048625104863310486331048631)

e problem with this approach is not only as Gay Seidman (1048626104862410486241048631) argues

that ldquostateless regulationrdquo usually lacks enforcement power A more funda-mental problem is that this frame obscures the institutional arrangementsthat are in place in developing countries Developing countries are not emptyanonymous uniform places ey are populated with different business sys-tems cultures of production and political institutions What may look fromafar like a relatively empty space turns out on closer inspection to have adense set of preexisting relationships organizations and rules ese local

circumstances can recon1047297gure global rules in myriad ways (Halliday andCarruthers 1048626104862410486241048633 Merry 104862610486241048624983094) For instance in chapter 1048628 we look at fair tradecerti1047297cation and its consequences in Paraguay a place where earlier ways oforganizing agricultural operations set the stage for fair trade projects andshaped their results Fair trade standards were not simply imported to thisseing they were layered onto an existing set of institutions In fact a thickerldquolayeringrdquo of rules with varying consequences has been a common result ofglobal standards (Bartley 1048626104862410486251048625) An ldquoempty spacesrdquo assumption also obscures

ongoing political struggles at the point of production As we will see INGOsand conscientious consumers are far from the only actors concerned withlabor rights sustainability or the fair distribution of resources For instancerecent years have seen a rising tide of strikes in China and mobilization ofgarment workers in Cambodia and Bangladesh (Alam 1048626104862410486251048627 Dara and Wil-lemyns 1048626104862410486251048628 Friedman 1048626104862410486251048627) e land rights of indigenous people in Braziland Indonesia are a concern not only of backers of global sustainable forestry

standards but also of burgeoning movements of indigenous people them-selves (Gerber 1048626104862410486251048625) Social movements in developing countries may struggleto influence powerful global industries but they cannot simply be ignored

When it comes to governmental regulation it is true that developingcountries oen lack the resources and administrative capacities to effec-tively regulate production processes as do many governments in affluentcountries Moreover the logic of global production in some ways gives themdisincentives to do so aggressively implementing regulations may cause in-

vestors991252and orders from brands and retailers991252to flee the country and therules of the WTO make some forms of regulation untenable But ldquodevelopingcountriesrdquo are diverse In nearly all parts of the world there are laws relatedto labor the environment and the rights of citizens Scholars are beginning

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to 1047297nd increased enforcement of these laws in some surprising places fromrevitalized state labor inspection in the export processing zones of the Do-minican Republic (Schrank 1048626104862410486251048627) to aggressive environmental regulators in

Brazil and China (Coslovsky 1048626104862410486251048625 McAllister Van Rooij and Kagan 1048626104862410486251048624)In other instances law can be repressive991252restricting the rights of workers orindigenous communities for instance (Lee 1048626104862410486241048631 Li 1048626104862410486251048624) Again the influ-ences of local structures can vary but one should not assume a blank slate

983105 983122983151983157983143983144 983111983157983145983140983141 983156983151 983125983150 983152983137983139983147983145983150983143 983107983151983150983155983139983145983141 983150983156983145983151983157983155983107983151983150983155983157983149983152983156983145983151983150 983137983150983140 983120983154983151983140983157983139983156983145983151983150 983120983154983151983146983141983139983156983155

How then can one make sense of projects to promote conscientious con-sumption and fair or sustainable production e 1047297rst step is simply to acceptthat there is a great deal of variation ere is variation across individualsand locations in conscientious consumer behavior ere is variation acrossproducts and labeling initiatives in the ldquoon the groundrdquo implications of globalstandards ere is variation across industries (and even within them) in sys-tems of production and these intersect with national (and even subnational)

differences in industry organization To understand whether conscientiousconsumption and fairsustainable production projects can contribute tomeaningful alternatives we must look closely at these industrial and politi-cal contexts A second starting point is to accept that the influence of globalstandards for fairsustainable production is typically highly circumscribedor contingent on other factors As will become clear even the most stringentstandards and most credible initiatives do not transform global industries

ey sometimes influence certain parts of an industry but even this cannotautomatically be assumed

To unpack conscientious consumption initiatives and the global standardsthey endorse we bring four factors to the foreground (1048625) structures of pro-duction and consumption (1048626) the constituencies of standards (1048627) global-local linkages and (1048628) the coexistence of rule making and unruliness

Structures of Production and Consumption

Industry structures shape both the opportunities for conscientious con-sumption to occur and the consequences of rule-making projects at thepoint of production To start some industries are more likely than others to

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become targets of activism which is typically the catalyst for rule-makingand conscientious consumption projects

Lead 1047297rms in global value chains especially when they are large and have

salient corporate reputations make aractive targets for social movements(Bartley and Child 1048626104862410486251048628) Industries that lack powerful and well-known brands tend to aract less scrutiny For instance the manufacturing of bricksespecially in developing countries is oen a highly polluting and exploit-ative industry But because there are not well-known global brands in thisindustry it has received lile international aention In other cases activistshave highlighted a problem but without powerful and recognizable brands

to link this to rule-making projects have not emerged e production ofcheap costume jewelry is rife with exploitation as shown in the documentary Mardi Gras Made in China but this has not become a site of extensive rulemaking and conscientious consumerism In some circumstances the exis-tence of large high-pro1047297le retailers can compensate for a more fragmentedor poorly known set of manufacturers Anti-GMO activists for instancehave pressured manufacturers like Monsanto by going through large retailerslike Marks amp Spencer (Schurman and Munro 1048626104862410486241048633) Our analysis of global

food distribution (in chapter 1048628) is consistent with this observation but italso suggests that the locus of consumer and activist pressure depends onthe speci1047297c product

When activists do press lead 1047297rms to make their supply chains fairer ormore sustainable the consequences seem to depend in part on the structureof that supply chain If suppliers can easily 1047297nd alternative buyers who are notdemanding changes991252that is if there are few suppliers and many buyers991252

they will have lile incentive to comply with a particular lead 1047297rmrsquos rulesGoing further by many accounts when lead 1047297rms have a great deal of powerover ldquocaptiverdquo suppliers they should be able to demand that those suppliersmake improvements (Mayer and Gereffi 1048626104862410486251048624) On the other hand someresearch has questioned whether this power is truly effective or whether itmerely spurs a game in which suppliers pretend to be making improvements(and lead 1047297rms nod in approval) (Locke Amengual and Mangla 1048626104862410486241048633) Wesuspect that the power of lead 1047297rms does make a difference but that moresigni1047297cant changes are possible when lead 1047297rms and suppliers are mutuallydependent and work together over long stretches of time (Our analysis ofthe apparel industry in chapter 1048629 though suggests that long-term collabora-tion is rare) In addition when global value chains are fairly simple in their

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structure without too many intermediaries this should make it easier forstandards to ldquotravelrdquo through them ere is a conundrum here howeversince it is oen in industries with a high degree of subcontracting (such as

apparel) that global standards are in the highest demand If global industries were dominated by vertically integrated 1047297rms rather than dispersed supplychains the world of conscientious consumerism would look quite differentFurthermore sometimes the lack of action by large lead 1047297rms can leave aspace for activists and entrepreneurs to carve out a small market niche basedon fairness or sustainability is is how fair tradendashcerti1047297ed coffee beganand some new projects appear to be emerging in electronics (Fairphone as

discussed in chapter 983094) and apparel (the Alta Gracia factory as discussed inchapter 1048629) Aer looking more closely at our four industries991252timber foodapparelfootwear and electronics991252we return to questions about industrystructure in the bookrsquos conclusion

Industry structures also maer for consumers As we show in the nextchapter opportunities to engage in conscientious consumption are just asimportant as motivations to do so and these opportunities depend in parton the structure of the retail sector in a particular country Generally we sug-

gest that having larger retailers will facilitate consumer purchases of eco- andsocial-labeled products In part this is simply because larger retailers offer a

wider array of choices overall991252that is different versions of the same prod-uct991252while smaller retailers offer fewer choices To be sure small stores canspecialize in ldquoalternativerdquo products and large stores can fail to carry themBut given the trend toward ldquomainstreamingrdquo of alternatives (see Jaffee 1048626104862410486251048626)large retailers have become key points of sale for eco- and social-labeled prod-

ucts Furthermore oligopoly in the retail sector991252the dominance of a smallnumber of large companies991252also seems to magnify the power of activiststo influence the market As Rachel Schurman and William Munro (1048626104862410486241048633)found the existence of a small number of large food retailer chains in the UKallowed the anti-GMO movement to flourish there while it foundered amidthe larger number of supermarket chains in the United States

Constituencies and Standards

Global standards for fairness and sustainability may sound universal butthey spring from the priorities of particular individuals and groups A cru-cial step in understanding these standards is to examine the founders of

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initiatives that make rules audit compliance and certify products as fair orsustainable Some such initiatives such as fair trade certi1047297cation originatedlargely with NGOs or others outside of the industry Others such as the

Electronics Industry Citizenship Coalition and the Sustainable ForestryInitiative were founded almost exclusively by industry associations or othergroups of companies oen in response to the actions of NGOs In betweenare a number of initiatives developed by coalitions of NGOs and companiesfrom the Forest Stewardship Council to Social Accountability InternationalFounders are not everything NGO-initiated programs can become watereddown as they are mainstreamed and industry-initiated programs oen

evolve into formally independent organizations Most programs seek cred-ibility by calling themselves ldquomulti-stakeholderrdquo initiatives We maintainhowever that founding constituencies leave deep imprints on the content ofstandards and on the distribution of power within rule-making initiativesRules can get ratcheted up or down over time but these are usually marginalrevisions to a core approach Furthermore even when initiatives becomeformally independent from the constituencies that created them informalties revolving doors and 1047297nancial contributions oen persist

Generally we expect that industry-initiated programs will have standardsthat depart in relatively small ways from the normal practices of the indus-try Companies may want to improve labor conditions or environmentalperformance of their suppliers but they will be loath to push so far as todisrupt production or force a major change in their sourcing practices As aresult the greater the influence of companies in the founding of an initiativethe more likely it is to use either a ldquobest in classrdquo approach or a ldquocontinuous

improvementrdquo approach In the 1047297rst companies are recognized (throughcerti1047297cation or other endorsement) for demonstrating that they are aboveaverage in their industry is oen skirts the issue of whether they meeta stringent de1047297nition of a 1047297xed standard As Sco Nova (1048626104862410486251048625) has noted aldquobest in classrdquo model is like grading on a curve even if average performanceis quite low e second approach allows companies to start with a relativelylax standard and encourage gradual improvement over time852019

When industry outsiders have power in the initial design standard-seinginitiatives should look somewhat different First their standards are likely todepart more substantially from normal practices in the industry to a greateror lesser degree depending on the power of these outsiders Second these

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initiatives are more likely though certainly not guaranteed to endorse analternative model of production rather than to just reward the best in class orpush for continuous improvement Fair trade certi1047297cation and its emphasis

on democratically managed producer cooperatives (as described in chap-ter 1048628) is the clearest example of this ird and because of this initiativesspawned by outsiders are likely to either remain small or face dilemmas ofmainstreaming as they grow If they seek a large market presence ldquoalterna-tiverdquo programs will inevitably become more dependent on large companiese result may be a watering down of standards although as the case of theFSC shows (in chapter 1048627) this can be counteracted to some degree

For most products there are multiple competing aempts to de1047297ne fair-ness and sustainability For instance there are several ways of certifying thefairness and sustainability of coffee or of assessing the labor conditions ofapparel companies852020 Usually this competition reflects the struggle betweencompanies and NGOs Some scholars believe that such competition dooms

voluntary initiatives since it confuses consumers and lets companies choosetheir own standards (Seidman 1048626104862410486241048631) Others believe that it strengthens gov-ernance by spurring a ldquoratcheting uprdquo of expectations (Sabel OrsquoRourke and

Fung 1048626104862410486241048624) Our analysis of four global industries suggests that different setsof standards can oen coexist not exactly peacefully but with moderateinteraction or in different market niches Competition is inevitable but itseems to neither doom nor guarantee meaningful standards for fairness andsustainability It must be noted that initiatives that began with high bars991252namely Fair Trade and the FSC991252have not been pushed out of the market

by their competitors

Localized Globalisms and Globalized Localisms

Specifying links between ldquothe globalrdquo and ldquothe localrdquo has proven difficultand scholars have oen fallen prey to two types of conceptual dangers Firstin focusing on the global diffusion of a given idea or norm some have por-trayed domestic seings as lile more than passive receivers of a global proj-ect e language of domestic seings as ldquoreceptor sitesrdquo for global models(Frank Hironaka and Schofer 1048626104862410486241048624) is one example of this Pinpointingthis problem researchers are increasingly focusing on how local actors ap-propriate and ldquoindigenizerdquo global models to make them useful or meaningful

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(Halliday and Carruthers 1048626104862410486241048633 Merry 104862610486241048624983094) Second scholars of globaliza-tion oen equate the global with universalism (and oen progress) and thelocal with particularism (and oen backwardness) In so doing scholars

uncritically accept the most dominant model as ldquothe globalrdquo and obscure thepower that was exercised to establish its dominance

To deal with these problems we adopt Bonaventura de Santosrsquos language ofldquoglobalized localismsrdquo and ldquo localized globalismsrdquo (Santos 104862610486241048624983094 Santos andRodriacuteguez Garavito 1048626104862410486241048629) e 1047297rst refers to a process in which a particularis-tic set of ideas and practices becomes a dominant global norm Santos (104862610486241048624983094)provides examples such as ldquothe transformation of the English language into

a lingua franca the globalization of American fast food or popular music orthe worldwide adoption of the same laws of intellectual ownership patentsor telecommunications aggressively promoted by the USArdquo (10486271048633983094) For ourpurpose the key issue is how particular understandings of rights rules andenforcement have become institutionalized as global norms Concretely thenotion of a ldquoglobalized localismrdquo sensitizes us to processes by which particu-lar sets of reformers (NGOs companies or others) have turned their projectsinto ldquoglobalrdquo standards for fairness and sustainability Our point is not to

join the chorus that argues that ldquoWesternrdquo standards are being illegitimatelyforced on people and companies elsewhere ere have long been calls fordecent work and responsible natural resource management in many differ-ent parts of the world But the global standards supported by conscientiousconsumers in North A merica and Europe embody particular approaches tothese issues

e second concept ldquolocalized globalismrdquo refers to the incorporation of

these global models into local routines and expectations e concept sen-sitizes us to the work involved in turning global standards for fairness andsustainability into a concrete practice in a factory forest or farm in someparticular location As we have noted scholars too oen portray these sites asempty spaces We believe it is preferable to start from the opposite premisethat sites of implementation are crowded with different actors and agendasonly some of which are likely to line up with global standard-seing initia-tives Some elements of global standards are easily incorporated into localpractices while others are 1047297ercely resisted But a recognition of localizedglobalisms also has methodological implications It is rare for researchersto actually study these locations in detail It is easier to conduct distant and

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10486261048633983113983150983156983154983151983140983157983139983156983145983151983150

decontextualized studies of CSR or to focus only on the creation of standardsrather than their local implementation Our analyses of the global timberagricultural apparel and electronics industries include aention to speci1047297c

locations from the sugarcane farms of Paraguay to the electronics factoriesof Malaysia

Te Puzzle of Rules Rule Making and the Persistence of Unruliness

One can beer understand conscientious consumption and production proj-ects by recognizing what Tim Bartley (1048626104862410486251048628a) has called the ldquopuzzle of rulesrdquo

in the global economy simply put global capitalism can be ldquounrulyrdquo but italso generates many rule-making projects

e expansion of global markets has facilitated a number of rule-makingprojects from the standardization of accounting procedures to the rules forfairness and sustainability discussed in this book e volume of rule making

by both public and private actors has increased over the past three decadesMany scholars have pointed to these trends as evidence that global capitalismis not manic or ungovernable as it was initially framed Marie-Laure Djelic

and Kerstin Sahlin-Andersson (104862610486241048624983094) argue that ldquothe proliferation of regu-latory activities actors networks or constellations leads to an explosion ofrules and to the profound re-ordering of our worldrdquo (1048625) and they see globalcapitalism as ldquomarked by more991252not less991252rule-making activityrdquo (10486271048631983094)

On the other hand the explosion of rule making has oen been gearedtoward the expansion of markets rather than their restriction and in manyrespects global capitalism has remained unruly In many industries invest-

ment and orders can and do move quickly across locations oen under-mining aempts to impose rules Even more socially controlled European

varieties of capitalism have had their foundations chipped away (Streeck1048626104862410486241048633) Furthermore for all of the efforts of NGOs to build rules for fairnesssustainability and human rights many corners of global industries remainlargely unscrutinized and unaffected by these rule-making projects

As our case studies illustrate even as standards for fairness and sustain-ability have risen to prominence global industries have remained volatileand exploitative Certi1047297cation of sustainable forestry rose to prominencefrom 1048625104863310486331048629 to 1048626104862410486251048624 but so did illegal logging and deforestation worsenedin many places Te global apparel industry has come to be governed by

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numerous codes of conduct and factory monitoring initiatives but it hasalso continued to move quickly from one location to another in search oflow wages and more docile workers e rapid and inconsistent pace of the

global electronics industry has undermined aempts to improve workingconditions while rapidly changing agricultural markets have threatened thelivelihoods of many smallholder farmers

e puzzle of rules can be solved through an analysis of neoliberalism (seeBartley 1048626104862410486251048628a) but it also provokes a simple conclusion about the prospects forglobal fairness and sustainability global industries oen have contradictorytendencies so we should not expect either complete ldquogreenwashrdquoldquofairwashrdquo

or serious transformation Fair trade certi1047297cation has not transformed thelogic of commodity trade but it has improved conditions for some farmersin some circumstances FSC certi1047297cation has not made the timber trade sus-tainable but it has supported improvements in some forests As we developthese 1047297ndings (in part 1048626 of the book) we hope to speak not only to scholars ofconscientious consumerism but also to citizens and consumers themselvesConsumers oen want to feel like their purchases are ldquocleanrdquo of exploitation

but this is unrealistic We believe it would be more promising if consumers

shied from a deterministic to a probabilistic approach conscientious con-sumption may increase onersquos probability of contributing to improvementsand decrease the probability of contributing to the most extreme forms ofexploitation Tis does not answer the question of how large those prob-abilities are (which surely varies by product and label) or the question of howsigni1047297cant those improvements can be But only if consumers shi from anall-or-nothing view of ldquocleanrdquo versus ldquodirtyrdquo production (that is sustainable

versus destructive fair versus exploitative) can they come to an accurateunderstanding of what their purchases can and cannot achieve

983127 983144 983137983156 983116983145 983141 983155 983105 983144 983141 983137 983140

Part 1048625 of this book focuses on dynamics and dilemmas of conscientious con-sumerism In chapter 1048625 we look at why some American and European con-sumers are more likely than others to practice conscientious consumptionUsing survey data on thousands of individual consumers our quantitativeanalyses focus on factors that shape two forms of conscientious consump-tion boycoing and ldquobuycoingrdquo991252that is preferring a product for some po-

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litical or ethical reason Some paerns are related to consumersrsquo beliefs andthe extent to which they can afford to be choosy But individual differencesare only a small part of the story Where consumers are has a great deal to do

with whether they engage in conscientious consumption or not We thereforeconnect the individual survey responses with measures that capture nationaleconomic political and cultural contexts Overall this initial portrait showsthat conscientious consumption is widespread but far from universal withkey differences rooted not only in individual characteristics but in differentstructures of consumption as well

Having sketched some general paerns we delve deeper into the meanings

and implications of conscientious consumerism in chapter 1048626 Our analyses inchapter 1048625 are based on what consumers say they do but there are reasons todoubt that consumers will follow through on what they say or that what theysay truly captures the social meaning of their actions Yet we show that thereis evidence of consumers being wil ling to pay for eco-labels and social labelsConsumers are most likely to do so when their ldquoethicalrdquo choices also servetheir self-interest such as saving on energy costs or eating safer healthierfoods But even for those forms of conscientious consumption that have no

short-term direct bene1047297t for consumers there is mounting evidence thatsome consumers will pay more For labeling enthusiasts this is a good thingBut the ldquoone dollar one voterdquo logic of conscientious consumerism and thestatus-symbol character of some ldquoethicalrdquo products are potentially danger-ous in that they can exacerbate social economic and political inequalitiesamong consumers Moreover there is a danger that conscientious consumer-ism can displace other forms of political engagement promoting individual

consumerism at the expense of democratic citizenship and collective socialmovements Working through these debates we argue that conscientiousconsumerism as an ideology is regressive and counterproductive but speci1047297cpractices of conscientious consumption can sometimes be consistent withother forms of political engagement

Of course the real test of conscientious consumption comes at the pointof production To what extent do voluntary standards forged in response toconsumer concern make a difference ldquoon the groundrdquo in global industries

We tackle this question in part 1048626 of the book by looking at the global produc-tion of four types of products991252(1048625) wood and paper products (1048626) food (espe-cially the agri-food industry) (1048627) apparel and footwear and (1048628) electronics

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Each of these case studies is rooted in the interviews that we have conducted with local actors and other 1047297ne-grained information on the organization ofproduction ese chapters apply the framework sketched above (and a com-

mon organizational template) to allow for comparative insightsChapter 1048627 looks at the rise of forest certi1047297cation and its effects in the global

timber industry Like fair trade the FSC is one of the oldest and most es-tablished certi1047297cation and labeling initiatives It was founded more thantwenty years ago and it spurred a number of imitators and competitors Yetit is not well known among conscientious consumers and its impacts have

been far less than originally intended We trace the rise of forest certi1047297cation

with particular aention to the founders and constituents of the FSC andhow they leveraged the structure of the forest products industry to ldquomake amarketrdquo for certi1047297ed wood and paper Yet applying sustainability standardsto the production of some wood and paper products has barely influencedglobal deforestation A closer look at FSC certi1047297cation in the tropical forestsof Indonesia illustrates both the contradictions of certifying in a shiing andcontentious context and the limited ability of forest certi1047297cation to influencethe main drivers of deforestation

Next in chapter 1048628 we turn to agricultural production and the fairness andsustainability projects that have emerged in this seing Consumers aacha variety of meanings to food and the politics of food consumption has ex-ploded in the past decade In addition to sketching the structure of agri-foodproduction and consumption in general we focus on two types of rule-mak-ing projects fair trade certi1047297cation and an increasingly popular ldquocommod-ity roundtablerdquo approach Looking more closely at two crops991252sugar and

soy991252in one country Paraguay we are able to illustrate the consequences ofdifferent models of certi1047297cation and the crucial role of local context Globalfood politics are being layered onto preexisting institutional arrangementsand it is largely these institutional arrangements that determine whether cer-ti1047297cation is meaningful or not For instance fair trade certi1047297cation seems tomaer most when smallholder farmers are already organized into democrati-cally effective cooperatives or when local organizing al lows them to upgradetheir production capacities over time e contingent effects of conscientiousconsumption come into focus in this chapter

Chapter 1048629 considers how the rise of anti-sweatshop activism in the early1048625104863310486331048624s led to various aempts to monitor and improve working conditions inapparel and footwear factories A rough indication of how these initiatives

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have fared is provided by the occurrence of factory 1047297res in 1048626104862410486251048624ndash1048626104862410486251048627 and thedeath of more than eleven hundred garment workers in the 1048626104862410486251048627 collapse ofthe Rana Plaza building in Bangladesh Our chapter examines the constitu-

encies behind different factory auditing and certi1047297cation initiatives the waysstandards were implemented and the reasons why their effects have beenminimal e structure of apparel and footwear production in many wayscreated the demand for codes of conduct but the structure and the mobilityof the industry have undermined meaningful improvements Looking moreclosely at factories in China we show how aempts to certify particularfactories have fallen short In recent years several new projects to provide

ethical apparel have emerged but there remain few credible alternatives inthis industry

Finally chapter 983094 takes us into the fast-paced world of the electronics in-dustry where companies produce new models of smartphones laptops andother devices at breakneck speed Yet recently this industry has become afocus of aention for the exploitation of production workers especially aera series of worker suicides (and later strikes) at Foxconn factories in Chinaand mounting scrutiny of Foxconnrsquos buyer Apple Electronics brands have

also been accused of using ldquoconflict mineralsrdquo in the production of smart-phones e electronics industry is populated by well-capitalized companiesthat at times have demonstrated good intentions to make the labor processsafer and more humane Yet the industry has struggled to make improve-ments and 1047297nd tenable solutions We argue that the solution to this puzzlelies in the architecture of production and to a large extent ultimately in theorganization of electronics consumption is is a case in which conscien-

tious consumerism has been slow to develop and unreflective consumerismhas been a powerful constraint on signi1047297cant improvement Using detaileddata on factories producing for Hewle-Packard we show how the industrycontinues to demand extraordinarily ldquoflexiblerdquo labor markets and excessive

working hours in its factories in Southeast Asia We have tried to provide a sense of the complexity of these cases and set-

tings while still drawing out clear implications Along the way readers shouldget a clearer sense of the structure and operation of global value chains the

varied geographies of production and the circumscribed consequences ofeco-labels and social labels In a concluding chapter we compare our foursets of products and consider what has been learned

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ronmentalists showed how beef consumption threatened the Amazon rainforest how seafood sales contributed to the depletion of species and destruc-tion of ocean habitats and how ldquofactory farmsrdquo polluted local environments

ey also raised concerns about pesticides and genetically modi1047297ed organ-isms (GMOs) in the supply chains of many food brands and retailers Humanrights and development organizations linked Hershey Nestleacute and others to

bonded labor in cacao farms and connected Coca-Cola Pepsi and Cargill (alarge soybean producer) to land grabs that forcibly displaced small farmersin South America Asia and Africa

In response retailers and brands increasingly have adopted voluntary rules

for their supply chains Apparel footwear and electronics companies haveadopted ldquoethical sourcingrdquo policies and ldquocodes of conductrdquo sending auditorsaround the world to assess their suppliersrsquo compliance Some have joinedinitiatives like Social Accountability International (SAI) the Fair Labor

Association (FLA) Business Social Compliance Initiative (BSCI) or theElectronics Industry Citizenship Coalition (EICC) which have their ownsets of rules and auditing procedures Food producers and retailers havesimilarly joined initiatives like the Roundtable on Responsible Soy (RTRS)

or the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) both of which addressthe environmental and social implications of large-scale agricultural planta-tions Sellers of paper and furniture have turned to products certi1047297ed bythe Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) (or its competitor the Programmefor the Endorsement of Forest Certi1047297cation [PEFC]) to demonstrate theirgreen credentials while some food retailers have agreed to sell seafood cer-ti1047297ed by the Marine Stewardship Council ese are just a few examples of

how pressure from social movements has led to the proliferation of ethicalstandards Some of these standards take the form of policies that companiesadopt while others are governed by external associations like those men-tioned above Typically these associations are created either by coalitions ofNGOs and a few leading 1047297rms or by groups of companies hoping to fend offfurther pressure

In some instances social movements have not merely pressured companiesto improve their practices they have sought to endorse alternative models ofproduction Organic agriculture was a movement before it was a market andit helped to legitimate forms of farming that do not rely on pesticides e fairtrade movement originated with the goal of supporting small farmers who

were organized into democratically run cooperatives and it sought to use

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certi1047297cation to direct greater resources toward these farmers not to improveconditions on large plantations (Linton Liou and Shaw 1048626104862410486241048628) Although la-

bor rights advocates have been hesitant to label companies as ldquogoodrdquo groups

like the Worker Rights Consortium (WRC) and the Fair Wear Foundation(FWF) have begun to build market support for factories in which workersare represented by independent unions Similarly some of the impetus forthe Forest Stewardship Council came from foresters environmentalists andindigenous rights groups hoping to support small-scale community forestryoperations not simply to improve industrial timber operations (Bartleyand Smith 1048626104862410486251048624) ese kinds of initiatives are ldquoin the market but not of itrdquo

(Taylor 1048626104862410486241048629) and insert alternative ldquoorders of worthrdquo into market decisions(Boltanski and eacutevenot 104862610486241048624983094) Yet as activists have sought to build marketsupport for these production models they have encountered dilemmas ofldquomainstreamingrdquo alternatives Under pressure larger companies have agreedto sell certi1047297ed products including Starbucks and Fair Trade coffee or eHome Depot and FSC-certi1047297ed lumber But as activists have discoveredthere is a 1047297ne and oen blurry line between building market support and

becoming dependent on big companies in a way that leads to the weakening

of standards As our case studies show the world of voluntary standards whether for

alternatives or ldquobest practicesrdquo involves a constant struggle for the powerto de1047297ne legitimate standards and to determine how strictly they should beapplied in the 1047297eld ere is an ldquoNGO-Industrial Complexrdquo that underliesmost conscientious consumption and production initiatives (Gereffi Garcia-

Johnson and Sasser 1048626104862410486241048625) but it is multifaceted and contentious

e ultimate impacts of conscientious consumption and production proj-ects are oen hard to discern but this much is clear taken together theseactivities amount to a vast new set of standard-seing projects for the globaleconomy Promoted by a mix of NGOs companies and trade associationsthey seek to use global production networks991252or ldquoglobal value chainsrdquo991252rather than the national state to promote rules about fairness justice andsustainability (Cashore Auld and Newsom 1048626104862410486241048628 Guthman 1048626104862410486241048631b Ponte1048626104862410486241048632 Seidman 1048626104862410486241048631) ldquoLead 1047297rmsrdquo in these global value chains991252that is

large retailers and brands from Apple to IKEA to Zara991252have the power toset styles prices and delivery schedules for their suppliers so advocatesargue they should also be able to influence the conditions of workers com-

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munities and the environment Companies frequently adopt standards tofend off activist pressure and the media spotlight but adoption does notmean implementation In some cases alternatives have found a niche in the

market and in other cases voluntary initiatives have proliferated while thelogic of production991252and exploitation991252has remained largely unchanged

Scrutiny of global industries has also spawned tools to help consum-ers make sense of all of these claims and to smartly vote with their wal-lets Consumer Reports magazine can trace its origins to a much earlier waveof muckraking (Rao 1048625104863310486331048632) and with the recent proliferation of competingeco-labels it has sometimes stepped in to referee as have publications from

Co-Op America in the United States and Ethical Consumer magazine in theUnited Kingdom Te Monterey Bay Aquarium in the United States haslong published a list of seafood for environmentally conscious consumersto prefer and avoid Online guides and smartphone apps have made thesetypes of guides more elaborate Goodguidecom developed by some leadingresearchers before being sold to Underwriters Laboratories (UL) compilesa wide array of information to rate products and companies for their healthenvironmental and social impacts Smartphone apps even allow consumers

to trace products to parent companies and investors as with apps that enableconsumers to boyco the conservative Koch Brothers avoid the biotech gi-ant Monsanto or support companies that recognize lesbian gay bisexualand transsexual rights (OrsquoConnor 1048626104862410486251048627)

Of course these consumer guides are only as good as the information thatgoes into them and as our case studies show meaningful accurate informa-tion is oen difficult to come by in complex global industries Furthermore

as our analyses of consumer behavior show only particular subsets of con-sumers have indicated an interest in boycoing or ldquobuycoingrdquo and thereare real questions about how many will pay more for guarantees of fairnessand sustainability Before diving into these issues we must consider thelarger context in which the rise of conscientious consumerism has occurred

983122983141983139983151983150 983142983145983143983157983154983145 983150 983143 983122983141983155983152983151983150 983155983145983138983145983148983145983156983145983141983155 983122 983145983143983144983156983155 983137 983150 983140 983122983157983148983141983155

Debates about consumers producers and ethical standards are vexing inpart because they are tied up with a larger recon1047297guration of responsibilitiesrights and rules in the global economy National and multinational corpo-

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rations have become transnational corporations with activities stretchingacross national boundaries without being deeply rooted in them Nationalstates once the main makers of rules and arbiters of rights are increasingly

just one of many actors issuing rules and claiming to enforce rights Inter-national NGOs and global standards associations have sought to issue rulesand enforce rights as well although their effectiveness in doing so is unclearMore broadly the goal to turn the world into ldquoone big marketrdquo991252associated

with neoliberal ideology991252has challenged earlier conceptions of what na-tional states can and should do to protect or empower citizens workers andthe environment Conscientious consumption and production projects are

to some degree the result of these changes In a world of vertically integratedcompanies and strong responsive states there would be far less demand for

voluntary standards supported by consumers But these changes have notsimply paved the way for conscientious consumerism they have complicatedits meanings and impacts in a variety of ways

Te Supply Chain Revolution

Capitalism in the twentieth century was characterized by the growth of verti-cally integrated corporations which controlled raw materials manufactur-ing and distribution and by the growth of horizontally integrated corpora-tions and conglomerates in which multiple businesses were combined in thesame corporate structure By the 1048625104863310486321048624s these models were giving way to theldquosupply chain revolutionrdquo in which large 1047297rms contract with independentsuppliers rather than owning an entire production process Nike built its

fortunes by being an early adopter of the ldquomanufacturer without factoriesrdquomodel and Walmart became a dominant retailer by making its supply chains

work faster and cheaper than retailers had previously In what Robert Feen-stra (1048625104863310486331048632) called the ldquointegration of trade and disintegration of productionrdquocompanies in industries from apparel to electronics to furniture shed theirfactories contracted with independent manufacturers and focused on build-ing their ldquobrandrdquo images

While some contracting and subcontracting happened within national borders scholars pointed out that many production processes were beingturned into ldquoglobal commodity chainsrdquo and especially ldquobuyer-drivenrdquo globalcommodity chains in which companies nearest the distribution end of the

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chain (retailers and well-known brands) exercised the greatest power overproduction processes and extracted the greatest pro1047297t from them (Gereffi1048625104863310486331048628 1048625104863310486331048633) Other terms such as ldquoglobal production networksrdquo and ldquoglobal

value chainsrdquo described similar phenomena and as many industries shiedto a supply chain model of some sort these different traditions of research

began to merge and more nuanced ways of describing power and coordina-tion in global value chains were articulated (Bair 1048626104862410486241048632 Gereffi Humphreyand Sturgeon 1048626104862410486241048629) is supply chain revolution was facilitated by techno-logical changes that made contracting more efficient and by legal changesthat opened more parts of the world to foreign investment Of course in

some industries such as agriculture large consumer-facing companies hadlong relied on networks of suppliers991252from coffee farmers to growers ofcorn wheat and other commodity crops Yet these industries have beenrecon1047297gured to some degree by the growth of mega-retailers that have cutout middleman distributors

Most important at this point is to recognize how the supply chain revolu-tion both highlighted and blurred the responsibilities of transnational corpo-rations On one hand contracting and subcontracting networks tied retailers

and brands in the United States and Europe to sites of production991252andexploitation991252around the world To be sure multinational corporations likeNestleacute I and PepsiCo had been shamed for the actions of their foreignarms in the 1048625104863310486311048624s but the networked transnational corporations of the 1048625104863310486331048624shad more extensive ties and thus greater vulnerabilities On the other handthe lines of responsibility991252and especially legal liability991252were blurry since

brands and retailers exercised a great deal of power over their suppliers but

did not own those sites of production Initially when sweatshops child la- bor and prison labor were uncovered brands like Nike and Walmart deniedresponsibility on the basis that they did not own the factories where suchabuses occurred As pressure mounted these and other lead 1047297rms in global

value chains began to accept ldquosordquo forms of responsibility by adopting codesof conduct and pledging to monitor and improve conditions in their supplychains ose same companies however 1047297ercely resisted aempts to makethem legally liable (Bartley 1048626104862410486241048629 Shamir 1048626104862410486241048628)

For the most part this remains the situation in the forest products foodapparelfootwear and electronics industries When pressed retailers and

brands have publicly accepted some responsibility to improve conditions in

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kets have remained largely national in scope especially when it comes toissues of fairness and sustainability e World Trade Organization (WTO)has endorsed protections for intellectual property rights but it has le only

narrow spaces for governments to protect workers and environments and ithas refused to address labor rights directly Bilateral and multilateral tradeagreements sometimes include labor and environmental standards but theseare limited in scope and enforceability International organizations suchas the United Nations and the International Labor Organization promoteconventions for governments to adopt but these organizations rarely haveany power to demand enforcement National governments are constrained

in part by a global economy in which 1047297rms and investors can move from one jurisdiction to another but perhaps even more by ideological commitmentsto neoliberal globalization and the rules of the WTO (Evans 1048625104863310486331048631 Rodrik1048626104862410486251048625) As we argue it is a mistake to think that governments are powerless orirrelevant in the face of globalization but there is no doubt that the dearthof binding international regulation of production conditions has led many tolook to the private sector as a way of enforcing standards NGOs for instancehave oen turned to voluntary standards and conscientious consumption as

second-best alternatives to intergovernmental systems of regulationNeoliberalism can be credited not only with helping to hollow out the state

but also with promoting an individualization of responsibility In a processthat theorists have called ldquoresponsibilizationrdquo individuals are treated as hav-ing the duty and capacity to take responsibility for things that should rightly

be seen as the result of social structures is can be seen for instance in at-tempts to reform welfare states to make welfare recipients take responsibility

for their own fates (Rose 1048626104862410486241048624) e moralization of markets has also been aresponsibilization process in which individual consumers are told they havethe duty991252and the ability991252to solve the worldrsquos social problems throughtheir purchases While some scholars use the language of responsibilizationto dismiss conscientious consumption as misguided we do not see this asthe most appropriate response We recognize that individual consumers are

being asked to take responsibility for problems that would oen be beerserved by more collective and robust solutions including revitalized statesand labor unions But it is at least possible that responsibility-taking by con-sumers could help to support more durable solutions in the future especially

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if governments NGOs and consumers themselves have a clearer under-standing of what is and is not being affected by conscientious consumptionand production initiatives

INGOs and ransnational Advocacy Networks

Since the end of World War II NGOs have become key actors in nationalinternational and transnational governance By the turn of the twenty-1047297rstcentury NGOs were carrying out most of the tasks of governing complex so-cieties delivering development assistance mediating social conflicts seing

standards for business developing expert knowledge and reconstructingsocieties aer natural and social disasters By some accounts the proliferationof NGOs and their incorporation into development and governance projectsamounts to an associational revolution that ldquomay constitute as signi1047297cant asocial and political development of the laer twentieth century as the rise ofthe nation state was of the nineteenth centuryrdquo (Edwards and Hulme 104862510486331048633983094 1048626)

International NGOs (INGOs) such as Greenpeace Oxfam or HumanRights Watch have mobilized aention to a variety of global problems from

climate change to new forms of bonded labor ey have garnered mediaaention to these problems and have pushed governments and intergovern-mental organizations to take action In addition the growth of transnationalnetworks of advocates and experts has sometimes allowed domestic activiststo gain leverage over their governments In what Margaret Keck and KathrynSikkink (1048625104863310486331048632) dubbed the ldquoboomerang effectrdquo domestic activists can reachpast indifferent or hostile domestic governments and appeal to transnational

advocacy networks that in turn exert pressure on those governmentsSince the 1048625104863310486331048624s INGOs have increasingly sought to put pressure on trans-

national corporations and restructure markets not just state policies eyhave led efforts to build product certi1047297cation initiatives from the ForestStewardship Council to the Marine Stewardship Council and they havecoordinated ldquomarket campaignsrdquo to convince large retailers to support theseinitiatives In addition the traditional boomerang effect has been supple-mented with what Naomi Klein (1048625104863310486331048633) called the ldquobrand boomerangrdquo in

which grassroots labor or environmental activists call on their internationalallies to put pressure on a well-known company that is operating in (or buy-

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10486251048629983113983150983156983154983151983140983157983139983156983145983151983150

ing from) that location rough these processes INGOs have become im-portant architects advocates and watchdogs of conscientious consumptionand production projects

e rise of INGOs does raise conundrums however especially about therelationship between professional advocates based in Amsterdam or Wash-ington DC and grassroots activists in developing countries To some extentINGOs have become sensitive to these power disparities and local NGOshave become savvy about working with foreign partners But the power ofINGOs to organize transnational campaigns aract media aention andshame global companies does carry the danger that more locally oriented

strategies or those directed to domestic governments are being neglected(Seidman 1048626104862410486241048631)

Standards for Markets and Markets for Standards

Without the supply chain revolution neoliberal globalization and thegrowth of transnational advocacy networks it is hard to imagine the rise ofconscientious consumption and global standards for fairness and sustain-

ability Yet just because initiatives for auditing certifying or reporting onsustainability or fairness have emerged that does not mean they will haveintegrity or impact Typically conscientious consumption and productionprojects are organized as private voluntary initiatives ey aempt to setstandards for markets but they also exist within markets Like all voluntaryprograms they depend on participation from companies and there can oen

be a trade-off between the stringency of standards and the number of partici-

pants (Potoski and Prakash 1048626104862410486241048633) All voluntary initiatives are structurallydependent on their corporate participants so one should take the languageof independent ldquothird-partyrdquo initiatives with a grain of salt Furthermore asprivate initiatives they have no monopoly on standards for a particular topic(as a government would have) is means competing standards initiativescan easily emerge For some observers the private voluntary character ofthese initiatives is reason enough to give up on them (eg Seidman 1048626104862410486241048631)

while for neoliberal advocates of market-based solutions these same featuresmake such initiatives especially aractive As we argue below our approachseeks to unpack variation in the organization of these initiatives and the

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contexts in which they operate At the same time as our case studies showthere are certainly limits on what private voluntary initiatives have beenable to accomplish

983124983144983154 983141983141 983110983154983137 983149983141983155 983137983150 983140 983124983144983141983145983154 983123983144983151983154983156983139983151983149983145983150 983143983155

Given the rise of conscientious consumerism and the growth of standards forglobal industries scholars and advocates are racing to promote simple framesfor making sense of them In this section we discuss three frames that areoen invoked Each captures a slice of something important but each ends

up obscuring as much as it illuminates or more

Te Empowered Sovereign Consumer

Scholars and advocates oen adopt a celebratory tone in discussing consci-entious consumerism ey argue that consumers are being empowered toldquovote with their dollarsrdquo and that these small changes in the habits of affluentconsumers can change or even ldquosaverdquo the world As Ruth Stokes (1048626104862410486251048627) writes

in the Ecologist magazine ldquoI believe that changing the way we shop991252voting with our money991252can help to change the world Companies respond tothe habits of shoppers We all have consumer power we just have to makesure we use it wiselyrdquo If consumers have been manipulated by companiesin the past they are increasingly being empowered by new sources of infor-mation argues Dara OrsquoRourke (1048626104862410486251048625) eorists of ldquopolitical consumerismrdquohave argued that this mode of political expression is especially empowering

for individuals who are alienated from formal politics such as young peopleand women (Michelei 1048626104862410486241048627) Furthermore as companies compete for thesupport of conscientious consumers and the coveted ldquolifestyles of health andsustainabilityrdquo (LOHAS) niche (Emerich 1048626104862410486251048625) many observers argue thatthey will become transparent responsible corporate citizens (Porter andKramer 104862610486241048624983094 Smith 1048625104863310486331048624 Zadek Pruzan and Evans 1048625104863310486331048631)

Such celebrations oen rest on an idealized framing of consumer agency991252that is the ability and willingness of the ldquosovereign citizen-consumerrdquo to bethe prime mover of social change (Jacobsen and Dulsrud 1048626104862410486241048631) e ldquosover-eign consumerrdquo is an old concept that is intended to suggest that consumertastes are the driver of all economic activity As scholars have observed the

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growth of conscientious consumption the sovereign consumer has becomethe sovereign citizen-consumer or what Roberta Sassatelli (1048626104862410486241048631) dubbedthe waking of the ldquosleepy giant of the sovereign citizen-consumerrdquo (104862510486321048632) So-

cial theorist Ulrich Beck perhaps the most prominent theorist of consump-tion as a form of politics argues that ldquocitizens discover the act of shoppingas one in which they can always cast their ballot991252on a world scale no lessrdquo(qtd in Sassatelli 1048626104862410486241048631 104862510486321048632) Michele Michelei (1048626104862410486241048627) takes the provocationeven further

Conflicts over what and where to consume are now central for understanding the func-tioning of affluent Western societies is can even mean that consumers participating

in boycos can for instance be likened to resistance 1047297ghters Yet unlike resistance orrevolutionary conflicts of the past citizen-consumers tend to direct their aention towardthe market rather than state actors (1048625983094ndash10486251048631)

Even if one gets past the hyperbole treating consumer tastes as king orqueen is problematic in several respects First consumersrsquo aitudes turn outto be only one ingredient in the construction of conscientious consumptionmarkets As we show in this book the opportunities for conscientious con-sumption are not distributed evenly across individuals or across countries

Social inequality and differences in market structures mean the social con-text of consumption is just as important as individual aitudes Consumertastes may make a difference but it is difficult to see them as a true primemover

Second it is naive to assume that a change in consumer tastes translatesdirectly into a change in the production processes of global industries AsMargaret Willis and Juliet Schor (1048626104862410486251048626) argue many accounts of consci-

entious consumerism take a ldquonaiumlve aggregationistrdquo approach to marketsassuming that if a large enough number of consumers is interested in al-ternative products the market will simply change to deliver them A quitedifferent story is told by research on industries technologies and organiza-tions over time Production processes are oen ldquolocked inrdquo by a system ofinterrelated technologies and expectations making them difficult to changePaul David (1048625104863310486321048629) famously illustrated this by considering the persistence ofthe inefficient QWERTY keyboard on typewriters and computers Even ifproduction practices are not strongly locked in companies like all organi-zations rarely abandon their core routines and technologies (Hannan andFreeman 1048625104863310486321048633) Perhaps the biggest problem is that those who celebrate the

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transformative power of new consumer tastes assume that industry practicesare changing but they almost never actually investigate this assumption edisconnect between theories of conscientious consumerism and empirical

research on industry practices is stark and it is one thing that we hope toremedy with this book

Finally by celebrating the empowered conscientious politicized con-sumer one obscures the ways that unreflective consumer choices influencelabor and environmental conditions in global industries As much as someconsumers are becoming more conscientious about some of their choicesespecially when it comes to food and drinks (eg organic produce fair trade

coffee) much consumer activity is routine and habitual and some of theethics of consumption are opaque to all but the most commied individu-als Conscientious consumers might be careful to recycle avoid disposableplastic water boles and buy organic vegetables but then eat beef withoutthinking of its massive natural resource demands and the contributions ofcale production to global warming As environmentalists have pointedout encouraging consumers to make their purchases more environmentallyfriendly carries a risk of legitimating overconsumption in affluent markets

which is the foundation of many forms of environmental degradation (Mani-ates and Meyer 1048626104862410486251048624) e issue may not be just the amount of consumption

but its pace as well As will become clear later in this book the rise of ldquofastfashionrdquo and ldquofast electronicsrdquo991252that is the rapid churning through fashion-able styles of clothing and different models of smartphones991252appears to bea root cause of labor exploitation in the apparel and electronics industries

GreenwashFairwash

While some have celebrated conscientious consumerism others have dis-missed voluntary standards eco-labeling and social labeling as ldquogreenwashrdquoor ldquofairwashrdquo As Sharon Beder (1048626104862410486241048625) puts it ldquoTe aempt to provide alsquogreenrsquo and caring image for a corporation is a public relations strategy aimedat promising reform and heading off demands for more substantial and fun-damental changes and government interventionrdquo (104862610486291048627) Claims about fair

and sustainable production in this view simply provide cover to companiesthat are engaged in fundamentally unfair and unsustainable activities ecodes of conduct sustainability reports and information disclosures that are

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highlighted in celebratory accounts of transparency may actually be formsof ldquodisinformationrdquo that obscure companiesrsquo actual practices

e term ldquogreenwashrdquo took off among environmentalists in the late 1048625104863310486321048624s

as a description of advertising campaigns that portrayed companies as pro-tectors of the environment (Beers and Capellaro 1048625104863310486331048625) Greenpeace arguedthat transnational corporations like Shell DuPont and Mitsubishi had ldquoem-

braced the environment as their cause and co-opted its terminologyrdquo even while contributing massively to environmental degradation (Greenpeace1048625104863310486331048626 1048626) e analogue for corporate claims about incomes livelihoods and

justice991252ldquofairwashingrdquo991252entered the lexicon later in the wake of the fair

trade movement As fair trade certi1047297cation was becoming ldquomainstreamedrdquoand imitated scholars and activists began worrying that fairwashing wason the horizon (Conroy 1048626104862410486241048631 Lyon and Moberg 1048626104862410486251048624) Observers have alsocriticized the images produced in the name of ldquocorporate social responsibil-ityrdquo arguing that these are ldquomerely a public relations game lulling us intoa false sense of securityrdquo (Doane 1048626104862410486241048629 10486261048633) Common to all these diagnosesis the sense that most assurances one 1047297nds on a product are nothing morethan public relations efforts

e greenwashfairwash critique captures two key features of conscien-tious consumption and global standards First when faced with criticismcompanies would prefer to be able to improve their images without alteringpro1047297table practices A public relations campaign is typically the 1047297rst line ofdefense Companies may also hire outside organizations991252auditors consul-tants and sometimes NGOs991252to lend some credibility to their campaignsey may also fund seemingly independent standard-seing initiatives that

can endorse their corporate social responsibility programs or label theirproducts As we will see this is how the US timber industryrsquos SustainableForestry Initiative got its start and it helps to account for the role of appareland footwear brands in the Fair Labor Association One must always takeassurances of sustainability and fairness with a grain of salt e dosage ofsalt depends in part on whether claims come from companies themselvesinitiatives that they control or more independent initiatives (If initiativesdepend on the voluntary participation of companies they can never be fully independent but there are gradations) In our analyses of standards (in part1048626 of this book) we are aentive to who has created a particular initiativehow it is funded and how dependent on companies it is Second there is

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nearly always some hypocrisy present when companies take up greening orfairness initiatives Simply because one product or one aspect of a companyrsquosproduction has earned some credentials does not mean that the companyrsquos

operations overall can be considered green or fair As David Vogel (1048626104862410486241048629)has argued we oen yearn for simple pronouncements of ldquogoodrdquo and ldquobadrdquocompanies But companies like people are complex multifaceted and oencontradictory One part of a company may be developing green productionprocesses while another part lobbies against environmental regulation

On the other hand we see simple distinctions between greenwashfair- wash and ldquotruerdquo reform as a poor match for the current state of global indus-

tries and labeling projects Eco-labeling and social labeling may once have been the domain of public relations personnel but they have become theirown specialized world in which credibility depends on ldquomulti-stakeholderrepresentationrdquo and extensive amounts of accreditation auditing and veri1047297-cation Companies might prefer to respond to criticism with public relationscampaigns but they are oen pushed by activists and investors to go furtherand achieve some kind of external assurance For instance if confronted bylabor rights abuses apparel and footwear companies no longer simply hold

up a code of conduct instead they refer to sophisticated factory monitoringprograms external certi1047297cations and ldquocapacity-buildingrdquo projects (Locke1048626104862410486251048627) Rather than simply co-opting the language of environmentalism manyretailers have been pushed to sell products that are independently certi1047297ed(Conroy 1048626104862410486241048631) Furthermore the world of voluntary certi1047297cation has be-come increasingly formalized For instance to judge compliance with thestandards of the FSC an auditing organization (eg Scienti1047297c Certi1047297cation

Systems SmartWood or the Soil Association) must be accredited by a sepa-rate oversight body (Accreditation Services International) Furthermore theFSC belongs to an umbrella organization991252the ISEAL (International Socialand Environmental Accreditation and Labeling) Alliance991252which de1047297nes

best practices for credible certi1047297cation initiatives To be sure all of this cer-ti1047297cation of the certi1047297ers of the certi1047297ers (and beyond) is not guaranteed to

bring about meaningful improvement Indeed we describe cases where thisformalization has been counterproductive and where seemingly credible ini-tiatives have failed spectacularly But it does mean there is more ldquocheckingrdquothan there is simple ldquowashingrdquo As Peter Dauvergne and Jane Lister (1048626104862410486251048626)put it ldquoCorporate sustainability goals include measurable targets are

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audited by independent groups and are integrated into the core business [through] life-cycle assessment supply chain tracing eco-certi1047297cation andsustainability reportingrdquo (10486271048632) We concur with them that all of this measure-

ment and reporting oen skirts the root causes of problems but one cannotseriously assess conscientious consumption without investigating this activ-ity If the world were as simple as it was when the ldquogreenwashrdquo frame was 1047297rstcoined a book like this would not be necessary

Most importantly the greenwashfairwash frame leaves a key questionunanswered if a claim is not just greenwashfairwash991252in other words if itis backed by stringent standards and credible veri1047297cation processes991252then

what is it It would be tempting to assume that the converse of greenwashfairwash is something like ldquoreal sustainabilityfairnessrdquo on the ground But asour case studies show it is possible to have stringent standards and credibleassessment but still not generate much reform of global industries Our goalis to provide some tools for making sense of these complex (and common)intermediate scenarios

Importing Standards into Empty Spaces

Another problematic frame concerns the implementation of global standardsincluding those supported by conscientious consumerism It is tempting tosee global standards as introducing new rules into otherwise empty spacesFor instance one might think of labor codes of conduct as introducing laborrights into factories that would otherwise be completely unregulated andchaotic Or one might think of global sustainability standards as introducing

environmental norms into seings where businesses would otherwise be freeto pollute with impunity As Alison Brysk puts it global rule-making proj-ects oen ldquoconcern areas previously ungoverned or even unknownrdquo (Brysk1048626104862410486241048629 104862510486261048624) Indeed scholars and practitioners oen portray private rules as1047297lling a ldquoregulatory voidrdquo as they are put into practice especially in devel-oping countries (Sabel OrsquoRourke and Fung 1048626104862410486241048624) For some developingcountries are so lacking in the rule of law as to constitute ldquoareas of limitedstatehoodrdquo in which private rules must serve as a substitute for public author-

ity (Boumlrzel and Risse 1048626104862410486251048624) Sociologists in the ldquoworld societyrdquo school startfrom different assumptions but nevertheless argue that global norms aboutenvironmental protection child labor and human rights are imported into

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developing countries as novel concepts that are completely alien to the locals(Meyer et al 1048625104863310486331048631)

e problem with this approach is not only as Gay Seidman (1048626104862410486241048631) argues

that ldquostateless regulationrdquo usually lacks enforcement power A more funda-mental problem is that this frame obscures the institutional arrangementsthat are in place in developing countries Developing countries are not emptyanonymous uniform places ey are populated with different business sys-tems cultures of production and political institutions What may look fromafar like a relatively empty space turns out on closer inspection to have adense set of preexisting relationships organizations and rules ese local

circumstances can recon1047297gure global rules in myriad ways (Halliday andCarruthers 1048626104862410486241048633 Merry 104862610486241048624983094) For instance in chapter 1048628 we look at fair tradecerti1047297cation and its consequences in Paraguay a place where earlier ways oforganizing agricultural operations set the stage for fair trade projects andshaped their results Fair trade standards were not simply imported to thisseing they were layered onto an existing set of institutions In fact a thickerldquolayeringrdquo of rules with varying consequences has been a common result ofglobal standards (Bartley 1048626104862410486251048625) An ldquoempty spacesrdquo assumption also obscures

ongoing political struggles at the point of production As we will see INGOsand conscientious consumers are far from the only actors concerned withlabor rights sustainability or the fair distribution of resources For instancerecent years have seen a rising tide of strikes in China and mobilization ofgarment workers in Cambodia and Bangladesh (Alam 1048626104862410486251048627 Dara and Wil-lemyns 1048626104862410486251048628 Friedman 1048626104862410486251048627) e land rights of indigenous people in Braziland Indonesia are a concern not only of backers of global sustainable forestry

standards but also of burgeoning movements of indigenous people them-selves (Gerber 1048626104862410486251048625) Social movements in developing countries may struggleto influence powerful global industries but they cannot simply be ignored

When it comes to governmental regulation it is true that developingcountries oen lack the resources and administrative capacities to effec-tively regulate production processes as do many governments in affluentcountries Moreover the logic of global production in some ways gives themdisincentives to do so aggressively implementing regulations may cause in-

vestors991252and orders from brands and retailers991252to flee the country and therules of the WTO make some forms of regulation untenable But ldquodevelopingcountriesrdquo are diverse In nearly all parts of the world there are laws relatedto labor the environment and the rights of citizens Scholars are beginning

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to 1047297nd increased enforcement of these laws in some surprising places fromrevitalized state labor inspection in the export processing zones of the Do-minican Republic (Schrank 1048626104862410486251048627) to aggressive environmental regulators in

Brazil and China (Coslovsky 1048626104862410486251048625 McAllister Van Rooij and Kagan 1048626104862410486251048624)In other instances law can be repressive991252restricting the rights of workers orindigenous communities for instance (Lee 1048626104862410486241048631 Li 1048626104862410486251048624) Again the influ-ences of local structures can vary but one should not assume a blank slate

983105 983122983151983157983143983144 983111983157983145983140983141 983156983151 983125983150 983152983137983139983147983145983150983143 983107983151983150983155983139983145983141 983150983156983145983151983157983155983107983151983150983155983157983149983152983156983145983151983150 983137983150983140 983120983154983151983140983157983139983156983145983151983150 983120983154983151983146983141983139983156983155

How then can one make sense of projects to promote conscientious con-sumption and fair or sustainable production e 1047297rst step is simply to acceptthat there is a great deal of variation ere is variation across individualsand locations in conscientious consumer behavior ere is variation acrossproducts and labeling initiatives in the ldquoon the groundrdquo implications of globalstandards ere is variation across industries (and even within them) in sys-tems of production and these intersect with national (and even subnational)

differences in industry organization To understand whether conscientiousconsumption and fairsustainable production projects can contribute tomeaningful alternatives we must look closely at these industrial and politi-cal contexts A second starting point is to accept that the influence of globalstandards for fairsustainable production is typically highly circumscribedor contingent on other factors As will become clear even the most stringentstandards and most credible initiatives do not transform global industries

ey sometimes influence certain parts of an industry but even this cannotautomatically be assumed

To unpack conscientious consumption initiatives and the global standardsthey endorse we bring four factors to the foreground (1048625) structures of pro-duction and consumption (1048626) the constituencies of standards (1048627) global-local linkages and (1048628) the coexistence of rule making and unruliness

Structures of Production and Consumption

Industry structures shape both the opportunities for conscientious con-sumption to occur and the consequences of rule-making projects at thepoint of production To start some industries are more likely than others to

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become targets of activism which is typically the catalyst for rule-makingand conscientious consumption projects

Lead 1047297rms in global value chains especially when they are large and have

salient corporate reputations make aractive targets for social movements(Bartley and Child 1048626104862410486251048628) Industries that lack powerful and well-known brands tend to aract less scrutiny For instance the manufacturing of bricksespecially in developing countries is oen a highly polluting and exploit-ative industry But because there are not well-known global brands in thisindustry it has received lile international aention In other cases activistshave highlighted a problem but without powerful and recognizable brands

to link this to rule-making projects have not emerged e production ofcheap costume jewelry is rife with exploitation as shown in the documentary Mardi Gras Made in China but this has not become a site of extensive rulemaking and conscientious consumerism In some circumstances the exis-tence of large high-pro1047297le retailers can compensate for a more fragmentedor poorly known set of manufacturers Anti-GMO activists for instancehave pressured manufacturers like Monsanto by going through large retailerslike Marks amp Spencer (Schurman and Munro 1048626104862410486241048633) Our analysis of global

food distribution (in chapter 1048628) is consistent with this observation but italso suggests that the locus of consumer and activist pressure depends onthe speci1047297c product

When activists do press lead 1047297rms to make their supply chains fairer ormore sustainable the consequences seem to depend in part on the structureof that supply chain If suppliers can easily 1047297nd alternative buyers who are notdemanding changes991252that is if there are few suppliers and many buyers991252

they will have lile incentive to comply with a particular lead 1047297rmrsquos rulesGoing further by many accounts when lead 1047297rms have a great deal of powerover ldquocaptiverdquo suppliers they should be able to demand that those suppliersmake improvements (Mayer and Gereffi 1048626104862410486251048624) On the other hand someresearch has questioned whether this power is truly effective or whether itmerely spurs a game in which suppliers pretend to be making improvements(and lead 1047297rms nod in approval) (Locke Amengual and Mangla 1048626104862410486241048633) Wesuspect that the power of lead 1047297rms does make a difference but that moresigni1047297cant changes are possible when lead 1047297rms and suppliers are mutuallydependent and work together over long stretches of time (Our analysis ofthe apparel industry in chapter 1048629 though suggests that long-term collabora-tion is rare) In addition when global value chains are fairly simple in their

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structure without too many intermediaries this should make it easier forstandards to ldquotravelrdquo through them ere is a conundrum here howeversince it is oen in industries with a high degree of subcontracting (such as

apparel) that global standards are in the highest demand If global industries were dominated by vertically integrated 1047297rms rather than dispersed supplychains the world of conscientious consumerism would look quite differentFurthermore sometimes the lack of action by large lead 1047297rms can leave aspace for activists and entrepreneurs to carve out a small market niche basedon fairness or sustainability is is how fair tradendashcerti1047297ed coffee beganand some new projects appear to be emerging in electronics (Fairphone as

discussed in chapter 983094) and apparel (the Alta Gracia factory as discussed inchapter 1048629) Aer looking more closely at our four industries991252timber foodapparelfootwear and electronics991252we return to questions about industrystructure in the bookrsquos conclusion

Industry structures also maer for consumers As we show in the nextchapter opportunities to engage in conscientious consumption are just asimportant as motivations to do so and these opportunities depend in parton the structure of the retail sector in a particular country Generally we sug-

gest that having larger retailers will facilitate consumer purchases of eco- andsocial-labeled products In part this is simply because larger retailers offer a

wider array of choices overall991252that is different versions of the same prod-uct991252while smaller retailers offer fewer choices To be sure small stores canspecialize in ldquoalternativerdquo products and large stores can fail to carry themBut given the trend toward ldquomainstreamingrdquo of alternatives (see Jaffee 1048626104862410486251048626)large retailers have become key points of sale for eco- and social-labeled prod-

ucts Furthermore oligopoly in the retail sector991252the dominance of a smallnumber of large companies991252also seems to magnify the power of activiststo influence the market As Rachel Schurman and William Munro (1048626104862410486241048633)found the existence of a small number of large food retailer chains in the UKallowed the anti-GMO movement to flourish there while it foundered amidthe larger number of supermarket chains in the United States

Constituencies and Standards

Global standards for fairness and sustainability may sound universal butthey spring from the priorities of particular individuals and groups A cru-cial step in understanding these standards is to examine the founders of

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initiatives that make rules audit compliance and certify products as fair orsustainable Some such initiatives such as fair trade certi1047297cation originatedlargely with NGOs or others outside of the industry Others such as the

Electronics Industry Citizenship Coalition and the Sustainable ForestryInitiative were founded almost exclusively by industry associations or othergroups of companies oen in response to the actions of NGOs In betweenare a number of initiatives developed by coalitions of NGOs and companiesfrom the Forest Stewardship Council to Social Accountability InternationalFounders are not everything NGO-initiated programs can become watereddown as they are mainstreamed and industry-initiated programs oen

evolve into formally independent organizations Most programs seek cred-ibility by calling themselves ldquomulti-stakeholderrdquo initiatives We maintainhowever that founding constituencies leave deep imprints on the content ofstandards and on the distribution of power within rule-making initiativesRules can get ratcheted up or down over time but these are usually marginalrevisions to a core approach Furthermore even when initiatives becomeformally independent from the constituencies that created them informalties revolving doors and 1047297nancial contributions oen persist

Generally we expect that industry-initiated programs will have standardsthat depart in relatively small ways from the normal practices of the indus-try Companies may want to improve labor conditions or environmentalperformance of their suppliers but they will be loath to push so far as todisrupt production or force a major change in their sourcing practices As aresult the greater the influence of companies in the founding of an initiativethe more likely it is to use either a ldquobest in classrdquo approach or a ldquocontinuous

improvementrdquo approach In the 1047297rst companies are recognized (throughcerti1047297cation or other endorsement) for demonstrating that they are aboveaverage in their industry is oen skirts the issue of whether they meeta stringent de1047297nition of a 1047297xed standard As Sco Nova (1048626104862410486251048625) has noted aldquobest in classrdquo model is like grading on a curve even if average performanceis quite low e second approach allows companies to start with a relativelylax standard and encourage gradual improvement over time852019

When industry outsiders have power in the initial design standard-seinginitiatives should look somewhat different First their standards are likely todepart more substantially from normal practices in the industry to a greateror lesser degree depending on the power of these outsiders Second these

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initiatives are more likely though certainly not guaranteed to endorse analternative model of production rather than to just reward the best in class orpush for continuous improvement Fair trade certi1047297cation and its emphasis

on democratically managed producer cooperatives (as described in chap-ter 1048628) is the clearest example of this ird and because of this initiativesspawned by outsiders are likely to either remain small or face dilemmas ofmainstreaming as they grow If they seek a large market presence ldquoalterna-tiverdquo programs will inevitably become more dependent on large companiese result may be a watering down of standards although as the case of theFSC shows (in chapter 1048627) this can be counteracted to some degree

For most products there are multiple competing aempts to de1047297ne fair-ness and sustainability For instance there are several ways of certifying thefairness and sustainability of coffee or of assessing the labor conditions ofapparel companies852020 Usually this competition reflects the struggle betweencompanies and NGOs Some scholars believe that such competition dooms

voluntary initiatives since it confuses consumers and lets companies choosetheir own standards (Seidman 1048626104862410486241048631) Others believe that it strengthens gov-ernance by spurring a ldquoratcheting uprdquo of expectations (Sabel OrsquoRourke and

Fung 1048626104862410486241048624) Our analysis of four global industries suggests that different setsof standards can oen coexist not exactly peacefully but with moderateinteraction or in different market niches Competition is inevitable but itseems to neither doom nor guarantee meaningful standards for fairness andsustainability It must be noted that initiatives that began with high bars991252namely Fair Trade and the FSC991252have not been pushed out of the market

by their competitors

Localized Globalisms and Globalized Localisms

Specifying links between ldquothe globalrdquo and ldquothe localrdquo has proven difficultand scholars have oen fallen prey to two types of conceptual dangers Firstin focusing on the global diffusion of a given idea or norm some have por-trayed domestic seings as lile more than passive receivers of a global proj-ect e language of domestic seings as ldquoreceptor sitesrdquo for global models(Frank Hironaka and Schofer 1048626104862410486241048624) is one example of this Pinpointingthis problem researchers are increasingly focusing on how local actors ap-propriate and ldquoindigenizerdquo global models to make them useful or meaningful

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(Halliday and Carruthers 1048626104862410486241048633 Merry 104862610486241048624983094) Second scholars of globaliza-tion oen equate the global with universalism (and oen progress) and thelocal with particularism (and oen backwardness) In so doing scholars

uncritically accept the most dominant model as ldquothe globalrdquo and obscure thepower that was exercised to establish its dominance

To deal with these problems we adopt Bonaventura de Santosrsquos language ofldquoglobalized localismsrdquo and ldquo localized globalismsrdquo (Santos 104862610486241048624983094 Santos andRodriacuteguez Garavito 1048626104862410486241048629) e 1047297rst refers to a process in which a particularis-tic set of ideas and practices becomes a dominant global norm Santos (104862610486241048624983094)provides examples such as ldquothe transformation of the English language into

a lingua franca the globalization of American fast food or popular music orthe worldwide adoption of the same laws of intellectual ownership patentsor telecommunications aggressively promoted by the USArdquo (10486271048633983094) For ourpurpose the key issue is how particular understandings of rights rules andenforcement have become institutionalized as global norms Concretely thenotion of a ldquoglobalized localismrdquo sensitizes us to processes by which particu-lar sets of reformers (NGOs companies or others) have turned their projectsinto ldquoglobalrdquo standards for fairness and sustainability Our point is not to

join the chorus that argues that ldquoWesternrdquo standards are being illegitimatelyforced on people and companies elsewhere ere have long been calls fordecent work and responsible natural resource management in many differ-ent parts of the world But the global standards supported by conscientiousconsumers in North A merica and Europe embody particular approaches tothese issues

e second concept ldquolocalized globalismrdquo refers to the incorporation of

these global models into local routines and expectations e concept sen-sitizes us to the work involved in turning global standards for fairness andsustainability into a concrete practice in a factory forest or farm in someparticular location As we have noted scholars too oen portray these sites asempty spaces We believe it is preferable to start from the opposite premisethat sites of implementation are crowded with different actors and agendasonly some of which are likely to line up with global standard-seing initia-tives Some elements of global standards are easily incorporated into localpractices while others are 1047297ercely resisted But a recognition of localizedglobalisms also has methodological implications It is rare for researchersto actually study these locations in detail It is easier to conduct distant and

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decontextualized studies of CSR or to focus only on the creation of standardsrather than their local implementation Our analyses of the global timberagricultural apparel and electronics industries include aention to speci1047297c

locations from the sugarcane farms of Paraguay to the electronics factoriesof Malaysia

Te Puzzle of Rules Rule Making and the Persistence of Unruliness

One can beer understand conscientious consumption and production proj-ects by recognizing what Tim Bartley (1048626104862410486251048628a) has called the ldquopuzzle of rulesrdquo

in the global economy simply put global capitalism can be ldquounrulyrdquo but italso generates many rule-making projects

e expansion of global markets has facilitated a number of rule-makingprojects from the standardization of accounting procedures to the rules forfairness and sustainability discussed in this book e volume of rule making

by both public and private actors has increased over the past three decadesMany scholars have pointed to these trends as evidence that global capitalismis not manic or ungovernable as it was initially framed Marie-Laure Djelic

and Kerstin Sahlin-Andersson (104862610486241048624983094) argue that ldquothe proliferation of regu-latory activities actors networks or constellations leads to an explosion ofrules and to the profound re-ordering of our worldrdquo (1048625) and they see globalcapitalism as ldquomarked by more991252not less991252rule-making activityrdquo (10486271048631983094)

On the other hand the explosion of rule making has oen been gearedtoward the expansion of markets rather than their restriction and in manyrespects global capitalism has remained unruly In many industries invest-

ment and orders can and do move quickly across locations oen under-mining aempts to impose rules Even more socially controlled European

varieties of capitalism have had their foundations chipped away (Streeck1048626104862410486241048633) Furthermore for all of the efforts of NGOs to build rules for fairnesssustainability and human rights many corners of global industries remainlargely unscrutinized and unaffected by these rule-making projects

As our case studies illustrate even as standards for fairness and sustain-ability have risen to prominence global industries have remained volatileand exploitative Certi1047297cation of sustainable forestry rose to prominencefrom 1048625104863310486331048629 to 1048626104862410486251048624 but so did illegal logging and deforestation worsenedin many places Te global apparel industry has come to be governed by

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numerous codes of conduct and factory monitoring initiatives but it hasalso continued to move quickly from one location to another in search oflow wages and more docile workers e rapid and inconsistent pace of the

global electronics industry has undermined aempts to improve workingconditions while rapidly changing agricultural markets have threatened thelivelihoods of many smallholder farmers

e puzzle of rules can be solved through an analysis of neoliberalism (seeBartley 1048626104862410486251048628a) but it also provokes a simple conclusion about the prospects forglobal fairness and sustainability global industries oen have contradictorytendencies so we should not expect either complete ldquogreenwashrdquoldquofairwashrdquo

or serious transformation Fair trade certi1047297cation has not transformed thelogic of commodity trade but it has improved conditions for some farmersin some circumstances FSC certi1047297cation has not made the timber trade sus-tainable but it has supported improvements in some forests As we developthese 1047297ndings (in part 1048626 of the book) we hope to speak not only to scholars ofconscientious consumerism but also to citizens and consumers themselvesConsumers oen want to feel like their purchases are ldquocleanrdquo of exploitation

but this is unrealistic We believe it would be more promising if consumers

shied from a deterministic to a probabilistic approach conscientious con-sumption may increase onersquos probability of contributing to improvementsand decrease the probability of contributing to the most extreme forms ofexploitation Tis does not answer the question of how large those prob-abilities are (which surely varies by product and label) or the question of howsigni1047297cant those improvements can be But only if consumers shi from anall-or-nothing view of ldquocleanrdquo versus ldquodirtyrdquo production (that is sustainable

versus destructive fair versus exploitative) can they come to an accurateunderstanding of what their purchases can and cannot achieve

983127 983144 983137983156 983116983145 983141 983155 983105 983144 983141 983137 983140

Part 1048625 of this book focuses on dynamics and dilemmas of conscientious con-sumerism In chapter 1048625 we look at why some American and European con-sumers are more likely than others to practice conscientious consumptionUsing survey data on thousands of individual consumers our quantitativeanalyses focus on factors that shape two forms of conscientious consump-tion boycoing and ldquobuycoingrdquo991252that is preferring a product for some po-

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litical or ethical reason Some paerns are related to consumersrsquo beliefs andthe extent to which they can afford to be choosy But individual differencesare only a small part of the story Where consumers are has a great deal to do

with whether they engage in conscientious consumption or not We thereforeconnect the individual survey responses with measures that capture nationaleconomic political and cultural contexts Overall this initial portrait showsthat conscientious consumption is widespread but far from universal withkey differences rooted not only in individual characteristics but in differentstructures of consumption as well

Having sketched some general paerns we delve deeper into the meanings

and implications of conscientious consumerism in chapter 1048626 Our analyses inchapter 1048625 are based on what consumers say they do but there are reasons todoubt that consumers will follow through on what they say or that what theysay truly captures the social meaning of their actions Yet we show that thereis evidence of consumers being wil ling to pay for eco-labels and social labelsConsumers are most likely to do so when their ldquoethicalrdquo choices also servetheir self-interest such as saving on energy costs or eating safer healthierfoods But even for those forms of conscientious consumption that have no

short-term direct bene1047297t for consumers there is mounting evidence thatsome consumers will pay more For labeling enthusiasts this is a good thingBut the ldquoone dollar one voterdquo logic of conscientious consumerism and thestatus-symbol character of some ldquoethicalrdquo products are potentially danger-ous in that they can exacerbate social economic and political inequalitiesamong consumers Moreover there is a danger that conscientious consumer-ism can displace other forms of political engagement promoting individual

consumerism at the expense of democratic citizenship and collective socialmovements Working through these debates we argue that conscientiousconsumerism as an ideology is regressive and counterproductive but speci1047297cpractices of conscientious consumption can sometimes be consistent withother forms of political engagement

Of course the real test of conscientious consumption comes at the pointof production To what extent do voluntary standards forged in response toconsumer concern make a difference ldquoon the groundrdquo in global industries

We tackle this question in part 1048626 of the book by looking at the global produc-tion of four types of products991252(1048625) wood and paper products (1048626) food (espe-cially the agri-food industry) (1048627) apparel and footwear and (1048628) electronics

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Each of these case studies is rooted in the interviews that we have conducted with local actors and other 1047297ne-grained information on the organization ofproduction ese chapters apply the framework sketched above (and a com-

mon organizational template) to allow for comparative insightsChapter 1048627 looks at the rise of forest certi1047297cation and its effects in the global

timber industry Like fair trade the FSC is one of the oldest and most es-tablished certi1047297cation and labeling initiatives It was founded more thantwenty years ago and it spurred a number of imitators and competitors Yetit is not well known among conscientious consumers and its impacts have

been far less than originally intended We trace the rise of forest certi1047297cation

with particular aention to the founders and constituents of the FSC andhow they leveraged the structure of the forest products industry to ldquomake amarketrdquo for certi1047297ed wood and paper Yet applying sustainability standardsto the production of some wood and paper products has barely influencedglobal deforestation A closer look at FSC certi1047297cation in the tropical forestsof Indonesia illustrates both the contradictions of certifying in a shiing andcontentious context and the limited ability of forest certi1047297cation to influencethe main drivers of deforestation

Next in chapter 1048628 we turn to agricultural production and the fairness andsustainability projects that have emerged in this seing Consumers aacha variety of meanings to food and the politics of food consumption has ex-ploded in the past decade In addition to sketching the structure of agri-foodproduction and consumption in general we focus on two types of rule-mak-ing projects fair trade certi1047297cation and an increasingly popular ldquocommod-ity roundtablerdquo approach Looking more closely at two crops991252sugar and

soy991252in one country Paraguay we are able to illustrate the consequences ofdifferent models of certi1047297cation and the crucial role of local context Globalfood politics are being layered onto preexisting institutional arrangementsand it is largely these institutional arrangements that determine whether cer-ti1047297cation is meaningful or not For instance fair trade certi1047297cation seems tomaer most when smallholder farmers are already organized into democrati-cally effective cooperatives or when local organizing al lows them to upgradetheir production capacities over time e contingent effects of conscientiousconsumption come into focus in this chapter

Chapter 1048629 considers how the rise of anti-sweatshop activism in the early1048625104863310486331048624s led to various aempts to monitor and improve working conditions inapparel and footwear factories A rough indication of how these initiatives

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have fared is provided by the occurrence of factory 1047297res in 1048626104862410486251048624ndash1048626104862410486251048627 and thedeath of more than eleven hundred garment workers in the 1048626104862410486251048627 collapse ofthe Rana Plaza building in Bangladesh Our chapter examines the constitu-

encies behind different factory auditing and certi1047297cation initiatives the waysstandards were implemented and the reasons why their effects have beenminimal e structure of apparel and footwear production in many wayscreated the demand for codes of conduct but the structure and the mobilityof the industry have undermined meaningful improvements Looking moreclosely at factories in China we show how aempts to certify particularfactories have fallen short In recent years several new projects to provide

ethical apparel have emerged but there remain few credible alternatives inthis industry

Finally chapter 983094 takes us into the fast-paced world of the electronics in-dustry where companies produce new models of smartphones laptops andother devices at breakneck speed Yet recently this industry has become afocus of aention for the exploitation of production workers especially aera series of worker suicides (and later strikes) at Foxconn factories in Chinaand mounting scrutiny of Foxconnrsquos buyer Apple Electronics brands have

also been accused of using ldquoconflict mineralsrdquo in the production of smart-phones e electronics industry is populated by well-capitalized companiesthat at times have demonstrated good intentions to make the labor processsafer and more humane Yet the industry has struggled to make improve-ments and 1047297nd tenable solutions We argue that the solution to this puzzlelies in the architecture of production and to a large extent ultimately in theorganization of electronics consumption is is a case in which conscien-

tious consumerism has been slow to develop and unreflective consumerismhas been a powerful constraint on signi1047297cant improvement Using detaileddata on factories producing for Hewle-Packard we show how the industrycontinues to demand extraordinarily ldquoflexiblerdquo labor markets and excessive

working hours in its factories in Southeast Asia We have tried to provide a sense of the complexity of these cases and set-

tings while still drawing out clear implications Along the way readers shouldget a clearer sense of the structure and operation of global value chains the

varied geographies of production and the circumscribed consequences ofeco-labels and social labels In a concluding chapter we compare our foursets of products and consider what has been learned

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certi1047297cation to direct greater resources toward these farmers not to improveconditions on large plantations (Linton Liou and Shaw 1048626104862410486241048628) Although la-

bor rights advocates have been hesitant to label companies as ldquogoodrdquo groups

like the Worker Rights Consortium (WRC) and the Fair Wear Foundation(FWF) have begun to build market support for factories in which workersare represented by independent unions Similarly some of the impetus forthe Forest Stewardship Council came from foresters environmentalists andindigenous rights groups hoping to support small-scale community forestryoperations not simply to improve industrial timber operations (Bartleyand Smith 1048626104862410486251048624) ese kinds of initiatives are ldquoin the market but not of itrdquo

(Taylor 1048626104862410486241048629) and insert alternative ldquoorders of worthrdquo into market decisions(Boltanski and eacutevenot 104862610486241048624983094) Yet as activists have sought to build marketsupport for these production models they have encountered dilemmas ofldquomainstreamingrdquo alternatives Under pressure larger companies have agreedto sell certi1047297ed products including Starbucks and Fair Trade coffee or eHome Depot and FSC-certi1047297ed lumber But as activists have discoveredthere is a 1047297ne and oen blurry line between building market support and

becoming dependent on big companies in a way that leads to the weakening

of standards As our case studies show the world of voluntary standards whether for

alternatives or ldquobest practicesrdquo involves a constant struggle for the powerto de1047297ne legitimate standards and to determine how strictly they should beapplied in the 1047297eld ere is an ldquoNGO-Industrial Complexrdquo that underliesmost conscientious consumption and production initiatives (Gereffi Garcia-

Johnson and Sasser 1048626104862410486241048625) but it is multifaceted and contentious

e ultimate impacts of conscientious consumption and production proj-ects are oen hard to discern but this much is clear taken together theseactivities amount to a vast new set of standard-seing projects for the globaleconomy Promoted by a mix of NGOs companies and trade associationsthey seek to use global production networks991252or ldquoglobal value chainsrdquo991252rather than the national state to promote rules about fairness justice andsustainability (Cashore Auld and Newsom 1048626104862410486241048628 Guthman 1048626104862410486241048631b Ponte1048626104862410486241048632 Seidman 1048626104862410486241048631) ldquoLead 1047297rmsrdquo in these global value chains991252that is

large retailers and brands from Apple to IKEA to Zara991252have the power toset styles prices and delivery schedules for their suppliers so advocatesargue they should also be able to influence the conditions of workers com-

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munities and the environment Companies frequently adopt standards tofend off activist pressure and the media spotlight but adoption does notmean implementation In some cases alternatives have found a niche in the

market and in other cases voluntary initiatives have proliferated while thelogic of production991252and exploitation991252has remained largely unchanged

Scrutiny of global industries has also spawned tools to help consum-ers make sense of all of these claims and to smartly vote with their wal-lets Consumer Reports magazine can trace its origins to a much earlier waveof muckraking (Rao 1048625104863310486331048632) and with the recent proliferation of competingeco-labels it has sometimes stepped in to referee as have publications from

Co-Op America in the United States and Ethical Consumer magazine in theUnited Kingdom Te Monterey Bay Aquarium in the United States haslong published a list of seafood for environmentally conscious consumersto prefer and avoid Online guides and smartphone apps have made thesetypes of guides more elaborate Goodguidecom developed by some leadingresearchers before being sold to Underwriters Laboratories (UL) compilesa wide array of information to rate products and companies for their healthenvironmental and social impacts Smartphone apps even allow consumers

to trace products to parent companies and investors as with apps that enableconsumers to boyco the conservative Koch Brothers avoid the biotech gi-ant Monsanto or support companies that recognize lesbian gay bisexualand transsexual rights (OrsquoConnor 1048626104862410486251048627)

Of course these consumer guides are only as good as the information thatgoes into them and as our case studies show meaningful accurate informa-tion is oen difficult to come by in complex global industries Furthermore

as our analyses of consumer behavior show only particular subsets of con-sumers have indicated an interest in boycoing or ldquobuycoingrdquo and thereare real questions about how many will pay more for guarantees of fairnessand sustainability Before diving into these issues we must consider thelarger context in which the rise of conscientious consumerism has occurred

983122983141983139983151983150 983142983145983143983157983154983145 983150 983143 983122983141983155983152983151983150 983155983145983138983145983148983145983156983145983141983155 983122 983145983143983144983156983155 983137 983150 983140 983122983157983148983141983155

Debates about consumers producers and ethical standards are vexing inpart because they are tied up with a larger recon1047297guration of responsibilitiesrights and rules in the global economy National and multinational corpo-

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rations have become transnational corporations with activities stretchingacross national boundaries without being deeply rooted in them Nationalstates once the main makers of rules and arbiters of rights are increasingly

just one of many actors issuing rules and claiming to enforce rights Inter-national NGOs and global standards associations have sought to issue rulesand enforce rights as well although their effectiveness in doing so is unclearMore broadly the goal to turn the world into ldquoone big marketrdquo991252associated

with neoliberal ideology991252has challenged earlier conceptions of what na-tional states can and should do to protect or empower citizens workers andthe environment Conscientious consumption and production projects are

to some degree the result of these changes In a world of vertically integratedcompanies and strong responsive states there would be far less demand for

voluntary standards supported by consumers But these changes have notsimply paved the way for conscientious consumerism they have complicatedits meanings and impacts in a variety of ways

Te Supply Chain Revolution

Capitalism in the twentieth century was characterized by the growth of verti-cally integrated corporations which controlled raw materials manufactur-ing and distribution and by the growth of horizontally integrated corpora-tions and conglomerates in which multiple businesses were combined in thesame corporate structure By the 1048625104863310486321048624s these models were giving way to theldquosupply chain revolutionrdquo in which large 1047297rms contract with independentsuppliers rather than owning an entire production process Nike built its

fortunes by being an early adopter of the ldquomanufacturer without factoriesrdquomodel and Walmart became a dominant retailer by making its supply chains

work faster and cheaper than retailers had previously In what Robert Feen-stra (1048625104863310486331048632) called the ldquointegration of trade and disintegration of productionrdquocompanies in industries from apparel to electronics to furniture shed theirfactories contracted with independent manufacturers and focused on build-ing their ldquobrandrdquo images

While some contracting and subcontracting happened within national borders scholars pointed out that many production processes were beingturned into ldquoglobal commodity chainsrdquo and especially ldquobuyer-drivenrdquo globalcommodity chains in which companies nearest the distribution end of the

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chain (retailers and well-known brands) exercised the greatest power overproduction processes and extracted the greatest pro1047297t from them (Gereffi1048625104863310486331048628 1048625104863310486331048633) Other terms such as ldquoglobal production networksrdquo and ldquoglobal

value chainsrdquo described similar phenomena and as many industries shiedto a supply chain model of some sort these different traditions of research

began to merge and more nuanced ways of describing power and coordina-tion in global value chains were articulated (Bair 1048626104862410486241048632 Gereffi Humphreyand Sturgeon 1048626104862410486241048629) is supply chain revolution was facilitated by techno-logical changes that made contracting more efficient and by legal changesthat opened more parts of the world to foreign investment Of course in

some industries such as agriculture large consumer-facing companies hadlong relied on networks of suppliers991252from coffee farmers to growers ofcorn wheat and other commodity crops Yet these industries have beenrecon1047297gured to some degree by the growth of mega-retailers that have cutout middleman distributors

Most important at this point is to recognize how the supply chain revolu-tion both highlighted and blurred the responsibilities of transnational corpo-rations On one hand contracting and subcontracting networks tied retailers

and brands in the United States and Europe to sites of production991252andexploitation991252around the world To be sure multinational corporations likeNestleacute I and PepsiCo had been shamed for the actions of their foreignarms in the 1048625104863310486311048624s but the networked transnational corporations of the 1048625104863310486331048624shad more extensive ties and thus greater vulnerabilities On the other handthe lines of responsibility991252and especially legal liability991252were blurry since

brands and retailers exercised a great deal of power over their suppliers but

did not own those sites of production Initially when sweatshops child la- bor and prison labor were uncovered brands like Nike and Walmart deniedresponsibility on the basis that they did not own the factories where suchabuses occurred As pressure mounted these and other lead 1047297rms in global

value chains began to accept ldquosordquo forms of responsibility by adopting codesof conduct and pledging to monitor and improve conditions in their supplychains ose same companies however 1047297ercely resisted aempts to makethem legally liable (Bartley 1048626104862410486241048629 Shamir 1048626104862410486241048628)

For the most part this remains the situation in the forest products foodapparelfootwear and electronics industries When pressed retailers and

brands have publicly accepted some responsibility to improve conditions in

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10486251048627983113983150983156983154983151983140983157983139983156983145983151983150

kets have remained largely national in scope especially when it comes toissues of fairness and sustainability e World Trade Organization (WTO)has endorsed protections for intellectual property rights but it has le only

narrow spaces for governments to protect workers and environments and ithas refused to address labor rights directly Bilateral and multilateral tradeagreements sometimes include labor and environmental standards but theseare limited in scope and enforceability International organizations suchas the United Nations and the International Labor Organization promoteconventions for governments to adopt but these organizations rarely haveany power to demand enforcement National governments are constrained

in part by a global economy in which 1047297rms and investors can move from one jurisdiction to another but perhaps even more by ideological commitmentsto neoliberal globalization and the rules of the WTO (Evans 1048625104863310486331048631 Rodrik1048626104862410486251048625) As we argue it is a mistake to think that governments are powerless orirrelevant in the face of globalization but there is no doubt that the dearthof binding international regulation of production conditions has led many tolook to the private sector as a way of enforcing standards NGOs for instancehave oen turned to voluntary standards and conscientious consumption as

second-best alternatives to intergovernmental systems of regulationNeoliberalism can be credited not only with helping to hollow out the state

but also with promoting an individualization of responsibility In a processthat theorists have called ldquoresponsibilizationrdquo individuals are treated as hav-ing the duty and capacity to take responsibility for things that should rightly

be seen as the result of social structures is can be seen for instance in at-tempts to reform welfare states to make welfare recipients take responsibility

for their own fates (Rose 1048626104862410486241048624) e moralization of markets has also been aresponsibilization process in which individual consumers are told they havethe duty991252and the ability991252to solve the worldrsquos social problems throughtheir purchases While some scholars use the language of responsibilizationto dismiss conscientious consumption as misguided we do not see this asthe most appropriate response We recognize that individual consumers are

being asked to take responsibility for problems that would oen be beerserved by more collective and robust solutions including revitalized statesand labor unions But it is at least possible that responsibility-taking by con-sumers could help to support more durable solutions in the future especially

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if governments NGOs and consumers themselves have a clearer under-standing of what is and is not being affected by conscientious consumptionand production initiatives

INGOs and ransnational Advocacy Networks

Since the end of World War II NGOs have become key actors in nationalinternational and transnational governance By the turn of the twenty-1047297rstcentury NGOs were carrying out most of the tasks of governing complex so-cieties delivering development assistance mediating social conflicts seing

standards for business developing expert knowledge and reconstructingsocieties aer natural and social disasters By some accounts the proliferationof NGOs and their incorporation into development and governance projectsamounts to an associational revolution that ldquomay constitute as signi1047297cant asocial and political development of the laer twentieth century as the rise ofthe nation state was of the nineteenth centuryrdquo (Edwards and Hulme 104862510486331048633983094 1048626)

International NGOs (INGOs) such as Greenpeace Oxfam or HumanRights Watch have mobilized aention to a variety of global problems from

climate change to new forms of bonded labor ey have garnered mediaaention to these problems and have pushed governments and intergovern-mental organizations to take action In addition the growth of transnationalnetworks of advocates and experts has sometimes allowed domestic activiststo gain leverage over their governments In what Margaret Keck and KathrynSikkink (1048625104863310486331048632) dubbed the ldquoboomerang effectrdquo domestic activists can reachpast indifferent or hostile domestic governments and appeal to transnational

advocacy networks that in turn exert pressure on those governmentsSince the 1048625104863310486331048624s INGOs have increasingly sought to put pressure on trans-

national corporations and restructure markets not just state policies eyhave led efforts to build product certi1047297cation initiatives from the ForestStewardship Council to the Marine Stewardship Council and they havecoordinated ldquomarket campaignsrdquo to convince large retailers to support theseinitiatives In addition the traditional boomerang effect has been supple-mented with what Naomi Klein (1048625104863310486331048633) called the ldquobrand boomerangrdquo in

which grassroots labor or environmental activists call on their internationalallies to put pressure on a well-known company that is operating in (or buy-

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10486251048629983113983150983156983154983151983140983157983139983156983145983151983150

ing from) that location rough these processes INGOs have become im-portant architects advocates and watchdogs of conscientious consumptionand production projects

e rise of INGOs does raise conundrums however especially about therelationship between professional advocates based in Amsterdam or Wash-ington DC and grassroots activists in developing countries To some extentINGOs have become sensitive to these power disparities and local NGOshave become savvy about working with foreign partners But the power ofINGOs to organize transnational campaigns aract media aention andshame global companies does carry the danger that more locally oriented

strategies or those directed to domestic governments are being neglected(Seidman 1048626104862410486241048631)

Standards for Markets and Markets for Standards

Without the supply chain revolution neoliberal globalization and thegrowth of transnational advocacy networks it is hard to imagine the rise ofconscientious consumption and global standards for fairness and sustain-

ability Yet just because initiatives for auditing certifying or reporting onsustainability or fairness have emerged that does not mean they will haveintegrity or impact Typically conscientious consumption and productionprojects are organized as private voluntary initiatives ey aempt to setstandards for markets but they also exist within markets Like all voluntaryprograms they depend on participation from companies and there can oen

be a trade-off between the stringency of standards and the number of partici-

pants (Potoski and Prakash 1048626104862410486241048633) All voluntary initiatives are structurallydependent on their corporate participants so one should take the languageof independent ldquothird-partyrdquo initiatives with a grain of salt Furthermore asprivate initiatives they have no monopoly on standards for a particular topic(as a government would have) is means competing standards initiativescan easily emerge For some observers the private voluntary character ofthese initiatives is reason enough to give up on them (eg Seidman 1048626104862410486241048631)

while for neoliberal advocates of market-based solutions these same featuresmake such initiatives especially aractive As we argue below our approachseeks to unpack variation in the organization of these initiatives and the

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contexts in which they operate At the same time as our case studies showthere are certainly limits on what private voluntary initiatives have beenable to accomplish

983124983144983154 983141983141 983110983154983137 983149983141983155 983137983150 983140 983124983144983141983145983154 983123983144983151983154983156983139983151983149983145983150 983143983155

Given the rise of conscientious consumerism and the growth of standards forglobal industries scholars and advocates are racing to promote simple framesfor making sense of them In this section we discuss three frames that areoen invoked Each captures a slice of something important but each ends

up obscuring as much as it illuminates or more

Te Empowered Sovereign Consumer

Scholars and advocates oen adopt a celebratory tone in discussing consci-entious consumerism ey argue that consumers are being empowered toldquovote with their dollarsrdquo and that these small changes in the habits of affluentconsumers can change or even ldquosaverdquo the world As Ruth Stokes (1048626104862410486251048627) writes

in the Ecologist magazine ldquoI believe that changing the way we shop991252voting with our money991252can help to change the world Companies respond tothe habits of shoppers We all have consumer power we just have to makesure we use it wiselyrdquo If consumers have been manipulated by companiesin the past they are increasingly being empowered by new sources of infor-mation argues Dara OrsquoRourke (1048626104862410486251048625) eorists of ldquopolitical consumerismrdquohave argued that this mode of political expression is especially empowering

for individuals who are alienated from formal politics such as young peopleand women (Michelei 1048626104862410486241048627) Furthermore as companies compete for thesupport of conscientious consumers and the coveted ldquolifestyles of health andsustainabilityrdquo (LOHAS) niche (Emerich 1048626104862410486251048625) many observers argue thatthey will become transparent responsible corporate citizens (Porter andKramer 104862610486241048624983094 Smith 1048625104863310486331048624 Zadek Pruzan and Evans 1048625104863310486331048631)

Such celebrations oen rest on an idealized framing of consumer agency991252that is the ability and willingness of the ldquosovereign citizen-consumerrdquo to bethe prime mover of social change (Jacobsen and Dulsrud 1048626104862410486241048631) e ldquosover-eign consumerrdquo is an old concept that is intended to suggest that consumertastes are the driver of all economic activity As scholars have observed the

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growth of conscientious consumption the sovereign consumer has becomethe sovereign citizen-consumer or what Roberta Sassatelli (1048626104862410486241048631) dubbedthe waking of the ldquosleepy giant of the sovereign citizen-consumerrdquo (104862510486321048632) So-

cial theorist Ulrich Beck perhaps the most prominent theorist of consump-tion as a form of politics argues that ldquocitizens discover the act of shoppingas one in which they can always cast their ballot991252on a world scale no lessrdquo(qtd in Sassatelli 1048626104862410486241048631 104862510486321048632) Michele Michelei (1048626104862410486241048627) takes the provocationeven further

Conflicts over what and where to consume are now central for understanding the func-tioning of affluent Western societies is can even mean that consumers participating

in boycos can for instance be likened to resistance 1047297ghters Yet unlike resistance orrevolutionary conflicts of the past citizen-consumers tend to direct their aention towardthe market rather than state actors (1048625983094ndash10486251048631)

Even if one gets past the hyperbole treating consumer tastes as king orqueen is problematic in several respects First consumersrsquo aitudes turn outto be only one ingredient in the construction of conscientious consumptionmarkets As we show in this book the opportunities for conscientious con-sumption are not distributed evenly across individuals or across countries

Social inequality and differences in market structures mean the social con-text of consumption is just as important as individual aitudes Consumertastes may make a difference but it is difficult to see them as a true primemover

Second it is naive to assume that a change in consumer tastes translatesdirectly into a change in the production processes of global industries AsMargaret Willis and Juliet Schor (1048626104862410486251048626) argue many accounts of consci-

entious consumerism take a ldquonaiumlve aggregationistrdquo approach to marketsassuming that if a large enough number of consumers is interested in al-ternative products the market will simply change to deliver them A quitedifferent story is told by research on industries technologies and organiza-tions over time Production processes are oen ldquolocked inrdquo by a system ofinterrelated technologies and expectations making them difficult to changePaul David (1048625104863310486321048629) famously illustrated this by considering the persistence ofthe inefficient QWERTY keyboard on typewriters and computers Even ifproduction practices are not strongly locked in companies like all organi-zations rarely abandon their core routines and technologies (Hannan andFreeman 1048625104863310486321048633) Perhaps the biggest problem is that those who celebrate the

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transformative power of new consumer tastes assume that industry practicesare changing but they almost never actually investigate this assumption edisconnect between theories of conscientious consumerism and empirical

research on industry practices is stark and it is one thing that we hope toremedy with this book

Finally by celebrating the empowered conscientious politicized con-sumer one obscures the ways that unreflective consumer choices influencelabor and environmental conditions in global industries As much as someconsumers are becoming more conscientious about some of their choicesespecially when it comes to food and drinks (eg organic produce fair trade

coffee) much consumer activity is routine and habitual and some of theethics of consumption are opaque to all but the most commied individu-als Conscientious consumers might be careful to recycle avoid disposableplastic water boles and buy organic vegetables but then eat beef withoutthinking of its massive natural resource demands and the contributions ofcale production to global warming As environmentalists have pointedout encouraging consumers to make their purchases more environmentallyfriendly carries a risk of legitimating overconsumption in affluent markets

which is the foundation of many forms of environmental degradation (Mani-ates and Meyer 1048626104862410486251048624) e issue may not be just the amount of consumption

but its pace as well As will become clear later in this book the rise of ldquofastfashionrdquo and ldquofast electronicsrdquo991252that is the rapid churning through fashion-able styles of clothing and different models of smartphones991252appears to bea root cause of labor exploitation in the apparel and electronics industries

GreenwashFairwash

While some have celebrated conscientious consumerism others have dis-missed voluntary standards eco-labeling and social labeling as ldquogreenwashrdquoor ldquofairwashrdquo As Sharon Beder (1048626104862410486241048625) puts it ldquoTe aempt to provide alsquogreenrsquo and caring image for a corporation is a public relations strategy aimedat promising reform and heading off demands for more substantial and fun-damental changes and government interventionrdquo (104862610486291048627) Claims about fair

and sustainable production in this view simply provide cover to companiesthat are engaged in fundamentally unfair and unsustainable activities ecodes of conduct sustainability reports and information disclosures that are

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highlighted in celebratory accounts of transparency may actually be formsof ldquodisinformationrdquo that obscure companiesrsquo actual practices

e term ldquogreenwashrdquo took off among environmentalists in the late 1048625104863310486321048624s

as a description of advertising campaigns that portrayed companies as pro-tectors of the environment (Beers and Capellaro 1048625104863310486331048625) Greenpeace arguedthat transnational corporations like Shell DuPont and Mitsubishi had ldquoem-

braced the environment as their cause and co-opted its terminologyrdquo even while contributing massively to environmental degradation (Greenpeace1048625104863310486331048626 1048626) e analogue for corporate claims about incomes livelihoods and

justice991252ldquofairwashingrdquo991252entered the lexicon later in the wake of the fair

trade movement As fair trade certi1047297cation was becoming ldquomainstreamedrdquoand imitated scholars and activists began worrying that fairwashing wason the horizon (Conroy 1048626104862410486241048631 Lyon and Moberg 1048626104862410486251048624) Observers have alsocriticized the images produced in the name of ldquocorporate social responsibil-ityrdquo arguing that these are ldquomerely a public relations game lulling us intoa false sense of securityrdquo (Doane 1048626104862410486241048629 10486261048633) Common to all these diagnosesis the sense that most assurances one 1047297nds on a product are nothing morethan public relations efforts

e greenwashfairwash critique captures two key features of conscien-tious consumption and global standards First when faced with criticismcompanies would prefer to be able to improve their images without alteringpro1047297table practices A public relations campaign is typically the 1047297rst line ofdefense Companies may also hire outside organizations991252auditors consul-tants and sometimes NGOs991252to lend some credibility to their campaignsey may also fund seemingly independent standard-seing initiatives that

can endorse their corporate social responsibility programs or label theirproducts As we will see this is how the US timber industryrsquos SustainableForestry Initiative got its start and it helps to account for the role of appareland footwear brands in the Fair Labor Association One must always takeassurances of sustainability and fairness with a grain of salt e dosage ofsalt depends in part on whether claims come from companies themselvesinitiatives that they control or more independent initiatives (If initiativesdepend on the voluntary participation of companies they can never be fully independent but there are gradations) In our analyses of standards (in part1048626 of this book) we are aentive to who has created a particular initiativehow it is funded and how dependent on companies it is Second there is

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nearly always some hypocrisy present when companies take up greening orfairness initiatives Simply because one product or one aspect of a companyrsquosproduction has earned some credentials does not mean that the companyrsquos

operations overall can be considered green or fair As David Vogel (1048626104862410486241048629)has argued we oen yearn for simple pronouncements of ldquogoodrdquo and ldquobadrdquocompanies But companies like people are complex multifaceted and oencontradictory One part of a company may be developing green productionprocesses while another part lobbies against environmental regulation

On the other hand we see simple distinctions between greenwashfair- wash and ldquotruerdquo reform as a poor match for the current state of global indus-

tries and labeling projects Eco-labeling and social labeling may once have been the domain of public relations personnel but they have become theirown specialized world in which credibility depends on ldquomulti-stakeholderrepresentationrdquo and extensive amounts of accreditation auditing and veri1047297-cation Companies might prefer to respond to criticism with public relationscampaigns but they are oen pushed by activists and investors to go furtherand achieve some kind of external assurance For instance if confronted bylabor rights abuses apparel and footwear companies no longer simply hold

up a code of conduct instead they refer to sophisticated factory monitoringprograms external certi1047297cations and ldquocapacity-buildingrdquo projects (Locke1048626104862410486251048627) Rather than simply co-opting the language of environmentalism manyretailers have been pushed to sell products that are independently certi1047297ed(Conroy 1048626104862410486241048631) Furthermore the world of voluntary certi1047297cation has be-come increasingly formalized For instance to judge compliance with thestandards of the FSC an auditing organization (eg Scienti1047297c Certi1047297cation

Systems SmartWood or the Soil Association) must be accredited by a sepa-rate oversight body (Accreditation Services International) Furthermore theFSC belongs to an umbrella organization991252the ISEAL (International Socialand Environmental Accreditation and Labeling) Alliance991252which de1047297nes

best practices for credible certi1047297cation initiatives To be sure all of this cer-ti1047297cation of the certi1047297ers of the certi1047297ers (and beyond) is not guaranteed to

bring about meaningful improvement Indeed we describe cases where thisformalization has been counterproductive and where seemingly credible ini-tiatives have failed spectacularly But it does mean there is more ldquocheckingrdquothan there is simple ldquowashingrdquo As Peter Dauvergne and Jane Lister (1048626104862410486251048626)put it ldquoCorporate sustainability goals include measurable targets are

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audited by independent groups and are integrated into the core business [through] life-cycle assessment supply chain tracing eco-certi1047297cation andsustainability reportingrdquo (10486271048632) We concur with them that all of this measure-

ment and reporting oen skirts the root causes of problems but one cannotseriously assess conscientious consumption without investigating this activ-ity If the world were as simple as it was when the ldquogreenwashrdquo frame was 1047297rstcoined a book like this would not be necessary

Most importantly the greenwashfairwash frame leaves a key questionunanswered if a claim is not just greenwashfairwash991252in other words if itis backed by stringent standards and credible veri1047297cation processes991252then

what is it It would be tempting to assume that the converse of greenwashfairwash is something like ldquoreal sustainabilityfairnessrdquo on the ground But asour case studies show it is possible to have stringent standards and credibleassessment but still not generate much reform of global industries Our goalis to provide some tools for making sense of these complex (and common)intermediate scenarios

Importing Standards into Empty Spaces

Another problematic frame concerns the implementation of global standardsincluding those supported by conscientious consumerism It is tempting tosee global standards as introducing new rules into otherwise empty spacesFor instance one might think of labor codes of conduct as introducing laborrights into factories that would otherwise be completely unregulated andchaotic Or one might think of global sustainability standards as introducing

environmental norms into seings where businesses would otherwise be freeto pollute with impunity As Alison Brysk puts it global rule-making proj-ects oen ldquoconcern areas previously ungoverned or even unknownrdquo (Brysk1048626104862410486241048629 104862510486261048624) Indeed scholars and practitioners oen portray private rules as1047297lling a ldquoregulatory voidrdquo as they are put into practice especially in devel-oping countries (Sabel OrsquoRourke and Fung 1048626104862410486241048624) For some developingcountries are so lacking in the rule of law as to constitute ldquoareas of limitedstatehoodrdquo in which private rules must serve as a substitute for public author-

ity (Boumlrzel and Risse 1048626104862410486251048624) Sociologists in the ldquoworld societyrdquo school startfrom different assumptions but nevertheless argue that global norms aboutenvironmental protection child labor and human rights are imported into

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developing countries as novel concepts that are completely alien to the locals(Meyer et al 1048625104863310486331048631)

e problem with this approach is not only as Gay Seidman (1048626104862410486241048631) argues

that ldquostateless regulationrdquo usually lacks enforcement power A more funda-mental problem is that this frame obscures the institutional arrangementsthat are in place in developing countries Developing countries are not emptyanonymous uniform places ey are populated with different business sys-tems cultures of production and political institutions What may look fromafar like a relatively empty space turns out on closer inspection to have adense set of preexisting relationships organizations and rules ese local

circumstances can recon1047297gure global rules in myriad ways (Halliday andCarruthers 1048626104862410486241048633 Merry 104862610486241048624983094) For instance in chapter 1048628 we look at fair tradecerti1047297cation and its consequences in Paraguay a place where earlier ways oforganizing agricultural operations set the stage for fair trade projects andshaped their results Fair trade standards were not simply imported to thisseing they were layered onto an existing set of institutions In fact a thickerldquolayeringrdquo of rules with varying consequences has been a common result ofglobal standards (Bartley 1048626104862410486251048625) An ldquoempty spacesrdquo assumption also obscures

ongoing political struggles at the point of production As we will see INGOsand conscientious consumers are far from the only actors concerned withlabor rights sustainability or the fair distribution of resources For instancerecent years have seen a rising tide of strikes in China and mobilization ofgarment workers in Cambodia and Bangladesh (Alam 1048626104862410486251048627 Dara and Wil-lemyns 1048626104862410486251048628 Friedman 1048626104862410486251048627) e land rights of indigenous people in Braziland Indonesia are a concern not only of backers of global sustainable forestry

standards but also of burgeoning movements of indigenous people them-selves (Gerber 1048626104862410486251048625) Social movements in developing countries may struggleto influence powerful global industries but they cannot simply be ignored

When it comes to governmental regulation it is true that developingcountries oen lack the resources and administrative capacities to effec-tively regulate production processes as do many governments in affluentcountries Moreover the logic of global production in some ways gives themdisincentives to do so aggressively implementing regulations may cause in-

vestors991252and orders from brands and retailers991252to flee the country and therules of the WTO make some forms of regulation untenable But ldquodevelopingcountriesrdquo are diverse In nearly all parts of the world there are laws relatedto labor the environment and the rights of citizens Scholars are beginning

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to 1047297nd increased enforcement of these laws in some surprising places fromrevitalized state labor inspection in the export processing zones of the Do-minican Republic (Schrank 1048626104862410486251048627) to aggressive environmental regulators in

Brazil and China (Coslovsky 1048626104862410486251048625 McAllister Van Rooij and Kagan 1048626104862410486251048624)In other instances law can be repressive991252restricting the rights of workers orindigenous communities for instance (Lee 1048626104862410486241048631 Li 1048626104862410486251048624) Again the influ-ences of local structures can vary but one should not assume a blank slate

983105 983122983151983157983143983144 983111983157983145983140983141 983156983151 983125983150 983152983137983139983147983145983150983143 983107983151983150983155983139983145983141 983150983156983145983151983157983155983107983151983150983155983157983149983152983156983145983151983150 983137983150983140 983120983154983151983140983157983139983156983145983151983150 983120983154983151983146983141983139983156983155

How then can one make sense of projects to promote conscientious con-sumption and fair or sustainable production e 1047297rst step is simply to acceptthat there is a great deal of variation ere is variation across individualsand locations in conscientious consumer behavior ere is variation acrossproducts and labeling initiatives in the ldquoon the groundrdquo implications of globalstandards ere is variation across industries (and even within them) in sys-tems of production and these intersect with national (and even subnational)

differences in industry organization To understand whether conscientiousconsumption and fairsustainable production projects can contribute tomeaningful alternatives we must look closely at these industrial and politi-cal contexts A second starting point is to accept that the influence of globalstandards for fairsustainable production is typically highly circumscribedor contingent on other factors As will become clear even the most stringentstandards and most credible initiatives do not transform global industries

ey sometimes influence certain parts of an industry but even this cannotautomatically be assumed

To unpack conscientious consumption initiatives and the global standardsthey endorse we bring four factors to the foreground (1048625) structures of pro-duction and consumption (1048626) the constituencies of standards (1048627) global-local linkages and (1048628) the coexistence of rule making and unruliness

Structures of Production and Consumption

Industry structures shape both the opportunities for conscientious con-sumption to occur and the consequences of rule-making projects at thepoint of production To start some industries are more likely than others to

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become targets of activism which is typically the catalyst for rule-makingand conscientious consumption projects

Lead 1047297rms in global value chains especially when they are large and have

salient corporate reputations make aractive targets for social movements(Bartley and Child 1048626104862410486251048628) Industries that lack powerful and well-known brands tend to aract less scrutiny For instance the manufacturing of bricksespecially in developing countries is oen a highly polluting and exploit-ative industry But because there are not well-known global brands in thisindustry it has received lile international aention In other cases activistshave highlighted a problem but without powerful and recognizable brands

to link this to rule-making projects have not emerged e production ofcheap costume jewelry is rife with exploitation as shown in the documentary Mardi Gras Made in China but this has not become a site of extensive rulemaking and conscientious consumerism In some circumstances the exis-tence of large high-pro1047297le retailers can compensate for a more fragmentedor poorly known set of manufacturers Anti-GMO activists for instancehave pressured manufacturers like Monsanto by going through large retailerslike Marks amp Spencer (Schurman and Munro 1048626104862410486241048633) Our analysis of global

food distribution (in chapter 1048628) is consistent with this observation but italso suggests that the locus of consumer and activist pressure depends onthe speci1047297c product

When activists do press lead 1047297rms to make their supply chains fairer ormore sustainable the consequences seem to depend in part on the structureof that supply chain If suppliers can easily 1047297nd alternative buyers who are notdemanding changes991252that is if there are few suppliers and many buyers991252

they will have lile incentive to comply with a particular lead 1047297rmrsquos rulesGoing further by many accounts when lead 1047297rms have a great deal of powerover ldquocaptiverdquo suppliers they should be able to demand that those suppliersmake improvements (Mayer and Gereffi 1048626104862410486251048624) On the other hand someresearch has questioned whether this power is truly effective or whether itmerely spurs a game in which suppliers pretend to be making improvements(and lead 1047297rms nod in approval) (Locke Amengual and Mangla 1048626104862410486241048633) Wesuspect that the power of lead 1047297rms does make a difference but that moresigni1047297cant changes are possible when lead 1047297rms and suppliers are mutuallydependent and work together over long stretches of time (Our analysis ofthe apparel industry in chapter 1048629 though suggests that long-term collabora-tion is rare) In addition when global value chains are fairly simple in their

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structure without too many intermediaries this should make it easier forstandards to ldquotravelrdquo through them ere is a conundrum here howeversince it is oen in industries with a high degree of subcontracting (such as

apparel) that global standards are in the highest demand If global industries were dominated by vertically integrated 1047297rms rather than dispersed supplychains the world of conscientious consumerism would look quite differentFurthermore sometimes the lack of action by large lead 1047297rms can leave aspace for activists and entrepreneurs to carve out a small market niche basedon fairness or sustainability is is how fair tradendashcerti1047297ed coffee beganand some new projects appear to be emerging in electronics (Fairphone as

discussed in chapter 983094) and apparel (the Alta Gracia factory as discussed inchapter 1048629) Aer looking more closely at our four industries991252timber foodapparelfootwear and electronics991252we return to questions about industrystructure in the bookrsquos conclusion

Industry structures also maer for consumers As we show in the nextchapter opportunities to engage in conscientious consumption are just asimportant as motivations to do so and these opportunities depend in parton the structure of the retail sector in a particular country Generally we sug-

gest that having larger retailers will facilitate consumer purchases of eco- andsocial-labeled products In part this is simply because larger retailers offer a

wider array of choices overall991252that is different versions of the same prod-uct991252while smaller retailers offer fewer choices To be sure small stores canspecialize in ldquoalternativerdquo products and large stores can fail to carry themBut given the trend toward ldquomainstreamingrdquo of alternatives (see Jaffee 1048626104862410486251048626)large retailers have become key points of sale for eco- and social-labeled prod-

ucts Furthermore oligopoly in the retail sector991252the dominance of a smallnumber of large companies991252also seems to magnify the power of activiststo influence the market As Rachel Schurman and William Munro (1048626104862410486241048633)found the existence of a small number of large food retailer chains in the UKallowed the anti-GMO movement to flourish there while it foundered amidthe larger number of supermarket chains in the United States

Constituencies and Standards

Global standards for fairness and sustainability may sound universal butthey spring from the priorities of particular individuals and groups A cru-cial step in understanding these standards is to examine the founders of

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initiatives that make rules audit compliance and certify products as fair orsustainable Some such initiatives such as fair trade certi1047297cation originatedlargely with NGOs or others outside of the industry Others such as the

Electronics Industry Citizenship Coalition and the Sustainable ForestryInitiative were founded almost exclusively by industry associations or othergroups of companies oen in response to the actions of NGOs In betweenare a number of initiatives developed by coalitions of NGOs and companiesfrom the Forest Stewardship Council to Social Accountability InternationalFounders are not everything NGO-initiated programs can become watereddown as they are mainstreamed and industry-initiated programs oen

evolve into formally independent organizations Most programs seek cred-ibility by calling themselves ldquomulti-stakeholderrdquo initiatives We maintainhowever that founding constituencies leave deep imprints on the content ofstandards and on the distribution of power within rule-making initiativesRules can get ratcheted up or down over time but these are usually marginalrevisions to a core approach Furthermore even when initiatives becomeformally independent from the constituencies that created them informalties revolving doors and 1047297nancial contributions oen persist

Generally we expect that industry-initiated programs will have standardsthat depart in relatively small ways from the normal practices of the indus-try Companies may want to improve labor conditions or environmentalperformance of their suppliers but they will be loath to push so far as todisrupt production or force a major change in their sourcing practices As aresult the greater the influence of companies in the founding of an initiativethe more likely it is to use either a ldquobest in classrdquo approach or a ldquocontinuous

improvementrdquo approach In the 1047297rst companies are recognized (throughcerti1047297cation or other endorsement) for demonstrating that they are aboveaverage in their industry is oen skirts the issue of whether they meeta stringent de1047297nition of a 1047297xed standard As Sco Nova (1048626104862410486251048625) has noted aldquobest in classrdquo model is like grading on a curve even if average performanceis quite low e second approach allows companies to start with a relativelylax standard and encourage gradual improvement over time852019

When industry outsiders have power in the initial design standard-seinginitiatives should look somewhat different First their standards are likely todepart more substantially from normal practices in the industry to a greateror lesser degree depending on the power of these outsiders Second these

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initiatives are more likely though certainly not guaranteed to endorse analternative model of production rather than to just reward the best in class orpush for continuous improvement Fair trade certi1047297cation and its emphasis

on democratically managed producer cooperatives (as described in chap-ter 1048628) is the clearest example of this ird and because of this initiativesspawned by outsiders are likely to either remain small or face dilemmas ofmainstreaming as they grow If they seek a large market presence ldquoalterna-tiverdquo programs will inevitably become more dependent on large companiese result may be a watering down of standards although as the case of theFSC shows (in chapter 1048627) this can be counteracted to some degree

For most products there are multiple competing aempts to de1047297ne fair-ness and sustainability For instance there are several ways of certifying thefairness and sustainability of coffee or of assessing the labor conditions ofapparel companies852020 Usually this competition reflects the struggle betweencompanies and NGOs Some scholars believe that such competition dooms

voluntary initiatives since it confuses consumers and lets companies choosetheir own standards (Seidman 1048626104862410486241048631) Others believe that it strengthens gov-ernance by spurring a ldquoratcheting uprdquo of expectations (Sabel OrsquoRourke and

Fung 1048626104862410486241048624) Our analysis of four global industries suggests that different setsof standards can oen coexist not exactly peacefully but with moderateinteraction or in different market niches Competition is inevitable but itseems to neither doom nor guarantee meaningful standards for fairness andsustainability It must be noted that initiatives that began with high bars991252namely Fair Trade and the FSC991252have not been pushed out of the market

by their competitors

Localized Globalisms and Globalized Localisms

Specifying links between ldquothe globalrdquo and ldquothe localrdquo has proven difficultand scholars have oen fallen prey to two types of conceptual dangers Firstin focusing on the global diffusion of a given idea or norm some have por-trayed domestic seings as lile more than passive receivers of a global proj-ect e language of domestic seings as ldquoreceptor sitesrdquo for global models(Frank Hironaka and Schofer 1048626104862410486241048624) is one example of this Pinpointingthis problem researchers are increasingly focusing on how local actors ap-propriate and ldquoindigenizerdquo global models to make them useful or meaningful

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(Halliday and Carruthers 1048626104862410486241048633 Merry 104862610486241048624983094) Second scholars of globaliza-tion oen equate the global with universalism (and oen progress) and thelocal with particularism (and oen backwardness) In so doing scholars

uncritically accept the most dominant model as ldquothe globalrdquo and obscure thepower that was exercised to establish its dominance

To deal with these problems we adopt Bonaventura de Santosrsquos language ofldquoglobalized localismsrdquo and ldquo localized globalismsrdquo (Santos 104862610486241048624983094 Santos andRodriacuteguez Garavito 1048626104862410486241048629) e 1047297rst refers to a process in which a particularis-tic set of ideas and practices becomes a dominant global norm Santos (104862610486241048624983094)provides examples such as ldquothe transformation of the English language into

a lingua franca the globalization of American fast food or popular music orthe worldwide adoption of the same laws of intellectual ownership patentsor telecommunications aggressively promoted by the USArdquo (10486271048633983094) For ourpurpose the key issue is how particular understandings of rights rules andenforcement have become institutionalized as global norms Concretely thenotion of a ldquoglobalized localismrdquo sensitizes us to processes by which particu-lar sets of reformers (NGOs companies or others) have turned their projectsinto ldquoglobalrdquo standards for fairness and sustainability Our point is not to

join the chorus that argues that ldquoWesternrdquo standards are being illegitimatelyforced on people and companies elsewhere ere have long been calls fordecent work and responsible natural resource management in many differ-ent parts of the world But the global standards supported by conscientiousconsumers in North A merica and Europe embody particular approaches tothese issues

e second concept ldquolocalized globalismrdquo refers to the incorporation of

these global models into local routines and expectations e concept sen-sitizes us to the work involved in turning global standards for fairness andsustainability into a concrete practice in a factory forest or farm in someparticular location As we have noted scholars too oen portray these sites asempty spaces We believe it is preferable to start from the opposite premisethat sites of implementation are crowded with different actors and agendasonly some of which are likely to line up with global standard-seing initia-tives Some elements of global standards are easily incorporated into localpractices while others are 1047297ercely resisted But a recognition of localizedglobalisms also has methodological implications It is rare for researchersto actually study these locations in detail It is easier to conduct distant and

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decontextualized studies of CSR or to focus only on the creation of standardsrather than their local implementation Our analyses of the global timberagricultural apparel and electronics industries include aention to speci1047297c

locations from the sugarcane farms of Paraguay to the electronics factoriesof Malaysia

Te Puzzle of Rules Rule Making and the Persistence of Unruliness

One can beer understand conscientious consumption and production proj-ects by recognizing what Tim Bartley (1048626104862410486251048628a) has called the ldquopuzzle of rulesrdquo

in the global economy simply put global capitalism can be ldquounrulyrdquo but italso generates many rule-making projects

e expansion of global markets has facilitated a number of rule-makingprojects from the standardization of accounting procedures to the rules forfairness and sustainability discussed in this book e volume of rule making

by both public and private actors has increased over the past three decadesMany scholars have pointed to these trends as evidence that global capitalismis not manic or ungovernable as it was initially framed Marie-Laure Djelic

and Kerstin Sahlin-Andersson (104862610486241048624983094) argue that ldquothe proliferation of regu-latory activities actors networks or constellations leads to an explosion ofrules and to the profound re-ordering of our worldrdquo (1048625) and they see globalcapitalism as ldquomarked by more991252not less991252rule-making activityrdquo (10486271048631983094)

On the other hand the explosion of rule making has oen been gearedtoward the expansion of markets rather than their restriction and in manyrespects global capitalism has remained unruly In many industries invest-

ment and orders can and do move quickly across locations oen under-mining aempts to impose rules Even more socially controlled European

varieties of capitalism have had their foundations chipped away (Streeck1048626104862410486241048633) Furthermore for all of the efforts of NGOs to build rules for fairnesssustainability and human rights many corners of global industries remainlargely unscrutinized and unaffected by these rule-making projects

As our case studies illustrate even as standards for fairness and sustain-ability have risen to prominence global industries have remained volatileand exploitative Certi1047297cation of sustainable forestry rose to prominencefrom 1048625104863310486331048629 to 1048626104862410486251048624 but so did illegal logging and deforestation worsenedin many places Te global apparel industry has come to be governed by

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numerous codes of conduct and factory monitoring initiatives but it hasalso continued to move quickly from one location to another in search oflow wages and more docile workers e rapid and inconsistent pace of the

global electronics industry has undermined aempts to improve workingconditions while rapidly changing agricultural markets have threatened thelivelihoods of many smallholder farmers

e puzzle of rules can be solved through an analysis of neoliberalism (seeBartley 1048626104862410486251048628a) but it also provokes a simple conclusion about the prospects forglobal fairness and sustainability global industries oen have contradictorytendencies so we should not expect either complete ldquogreenwashrdquoldquofairwashrdquo

or serious transformation Fair trade certi1047297cation has not transformed thelogic of commodity trade but it has improved conditions for some farmersin some circumstances FSC certi1047297cation has not made the timber trade sus-tainable but it has supported improvements in some forests As we developthese 1047297ndings (in part 1048626 of the book) we hope to speak not only to scholars ofconscientious consumerism but also to citizens and consumers themselvesConsumers oen want to feel like their purchases are ldquocleanrdquo of exploitation

but this is unrealistic We believe it would be more promising if consumers

shied from a deterministic to a probabilistic approach conscientious con-sumption may increase onersquos probability of contributing to improvementsand decrease the probability of contributing to the most extreme forms ofexploitation Tis does not answer the question of how large those prob-abilities are (which surely varies by product and label) or the question of howsigni1047297cant those improvements can be But only if consumers shi from anall-or-nothing view of ldquocleanrdquo versus ldquodirtyrdquo production (that is sustainable

versus destructive fair versus exploitative) can they come to an accurateunderstanding of what their purchases can and cannot achieve

983127 983144 983137983156 983116983145 983141 983155 983105 983144 983141 983137 983140

Part 1048625 of this book focuses on dynamics and dilemmas of conscientious con-sumerism In chapter 1048625 we look at why some American and European con-sumers are more likely than others to practice conscientious consumptionUsing survey data on thousands of individual consumers our quantitativeanalyses focus on factors that shape two forms of conscientious consump-tion boycoing and ldquobuycoingrdquo991252that is preferring a product for some po-

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litical or ethical reason Some paerns are related to consumersrsquo beliefs andthe extent to which they can afford to be choosy But individual differencesare only a small part of the story Where consumers are has a great deal to do

with whether they engage in conscientious consumption or not We thereforeconnect the individual survey responses with measures that capture nationaleconomic political and cultural contexts Overall this initial portrait showsthat conscientious consumption is widespread but far from universal withkey differences rooted not only in individual characteristics but in differentstructures of consumption as well

Having sketched some general paerns we delve deeper into the meanings

and implications of conscientious consumerism in chapter 1048626 Our analyses inchapter 1048625 are based on what consumers say they do but there are reasons todoubt that consumers will follow through on what they say or that what theysay truly captures the social meaning of their actions Yet we show that thereis evidence of consumers being wil ling to pay for eco-labels and social labelsConsumers are most likely to do so when their ldquoethicalrdquo choices also servetheir self-interest such as saving on energy costs or eating safer healthierfoods But even for those forms of conscientious consumption that have no

short-term direct bene1047297t for consumers there is mounting evidence thatsome consumers will pay more For labeling enthusiasts this is a good thingBut the ldquoone dollar one voterdquo logic of conscientious consumerism and thestatus-symbol character of some ldquoethicalrdquo products are potentially danger-ous in that they can exacerbate social economic and political inequalitiesamong consumers Moreover there is a danger that conscientious consumer-ism can displace other forms of political engagement promoting individual

consumerism at the expense of democratic citizenship and collective socialmovements Working through these debates we argue that conscientiousconsumerism as an ideology is regressive and counterproductive but speci1047297cpractices of conscientious consumption can sometimes be consistent withother forms of political engagement

Of course the real test of conscientious consumption comes at the pointof production To what extent do voluntary standards forged in response toconsumer concern make a difference ldquoon the groundrdquo in global industries

We tackle this question in part 1048626 of the book by looking at the global produc-tion of four types of products991252(1048625) wood and paper products (1048626) food (espe-cially the agri-food industry) (1048627) apparel and footwear and (1048628) electronics

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Each of these case studies is rooted in the interviews that we have conducted with local actors and other 1047297ne-grained information on the organization ofproduction ese chapters apply the framework sketched above (and a com-

mon organizational template) to allow for comparative insightsChapter 1048627 looks at the rise of forest certi1047297cation and its effects in the global

timber industry Like fair trade the FSC is one of the oldest and most es-tablished certi1047297cation and labeling initiatives It was founded more thantwenty years ago and it spurred a number of imitators and competitors Yetit is not well known among conscientious consumers and its impacts have

been far less than originally intended We trace the rise of forest certi1047297cation

with particular aention to the founders and constituents of the FSC andhow they leveraged the structure of the forest products industry to ldquomake amarketrdquo for certi1047297ed wood and paper Yet applying sustainability standardsto the production of some wood and paper products has barely influencedglobal deforestation A closer look at FSC certi1047297cation in the tropical forestsof Indonesia illustrates both the contradictions of certifying in a shiing andcontentious context and the limited ability of forest certi1047297cation to influencethe main drivers of deforestation

Next in chapter 1048628 we turn to agricultural production and the fairness andsustainability projects that have emerged in this seing Consumers aacha variety of meanings to food and the politics of food consumption has ex-ploded in the past decade In addition to sketching the structure of agri-foodproduction and consumption in general we focus on two types of rule-mak-ing projects fair trade certi1047297cation and an increasingly popular ldquocommod-ity roundtablerdquo approach Looking more closely at two crops991252sugar and

soy991252in one country Paraguay we are able to illustrate the consequences ofdifferent models of certi1047297cation and the crucial role of local context Globalfood politics are being layered onto preexisting institutional arrangementsand it is largely these institutional arrangements that determine whether cer-ti1047297cation is meaningful or not For instance fair trade certi1047297cation seems tomaer most when smallholder farmers are already organized into democrati-cally effective cooperatives or when local organizing al lows them to upgradetheir production capacities over time e contingent effects of conscientiousconsumption come into focus in this chapter

Chapter 1048629 considers how the rise of anti-sweatshop activism in the early1048625104863310486331048624s led to various aempts to monitor and improve working conditions inapparel and footwear factories A rough indication of how these initiatives

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have fared is provided by the occurrence of factory 1047297res in 1048626104862410486251048624ndash1048626104862410486251048627 and thedeath of more than eleven hundred garment workers in the 1048626104862410486251048627 collapse ofthe Rana Plaza building in Bangladesh Our chapter examines the constitu-

encies behind different factory auditing and certi1047297cation initiatives the waysstandards were implemented and the reasons why their effects have beenminimal e structure of apparel and footwear production in many wayscreated the demand for codes of conduct but the structure and the mobilityof the industry have undermined meaningful improvements Looking moreclosely at factories in China we show how aempts to certify particularfactories have fallen short In recent years several new projects to provide

ethical apparel have emerged but there remain few credible alternatives inthis industry

Finally chapter 983094 takes us into the fast-paced world of the electronics in-dustry where companies produce new models of smartphones laptops andother devices at breakneck speed Yet recently this industry has become afocus of aention for the exploitation of production workers especially aera series of worker suicides (and later strikes) at Foxconn factories in Chinaand mounting scrutiny of Foxconnrsquos buyer Apple Electronics brands have

also been accused of using ldquoconflict mineralsrdquo in the production of smart-phones e electronics industry is populated by well-capitalized companiesthat at times have demonstrated good intentions to make the labor processsafer and more humane Yet the industry has struggled to make improve-ments and 1047297nd tenable solutions We argue that the solution to this puzzlelies in the architecture of production and to a large extent ultimately in theorganization of electronics consumption is is a case in which conscien-

tious consumerism has been slow to develop and unreflective consumerismhas been a powerful constraint on signi1047297cant improvement Using detaileddata on factories producing for Hewle-Packard we show how the industrycontinues to demand extraordinarily ldquoflexiblerdquo labor markets and excessive

working hours in its factories in Southeast Asia We have tried to provide a sense of the complexity of these cases and set-

tings while still drawing out clear implications Along the way readers shouldget a clearer sense of the structure and operation of global value chains the

varied geographies of production and the circumscribed consequences ofeco-labels and social labels In a concluding chapter we compare our foursets of products and consider what has been learned

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munities and the environment Companies frequently adopt standards tofend off activist pressure and the media spotlight but adoption does notmean implementation In some cases alternatives have found a niche in the

market and in other cases voluntary initiatives have proliferated while thelogic of production991252and exploitation991252has remained largely unchanged

Scrutiny of global industries has also spawned tools to help consum-ers make sense of all of these claims and to smartly vote with their wal-lets Consumer Reports magazine can trace its origins to a much earlier waveof muckraking (Rao 1048625104863310486331048632) and with the recent proliferation of competingeco-labels it has sometimes stepped in to referee as have publications from

Co-Op America in the United States and Ethical Consumer magazine in theUnited Kingdom Te Monterey Bay Aquarium in the United States haslong published a list of seafood for environmentally conscious consumersto prefer and avoid Online guides and smartphone apps have made thesetypes of guides more elaborate Goodguidecom developed by some leadingresearchers before being sold to Underwriters Laboratories (UL) compilesa wide array of information to rate products and companies for their healthenvironmental and social impacts Smartphone apps even allow consumers

to trace products to parent companies and investors as with apps that enableconsumers to boyco the conservative Koch Brothers avoid the biotech gi-ant Monsanto or support companies that recognize lesbian gay bisexualand transsexual rights (OrsquoConnor 1048626104862410486251048627)

Of course these consumer guides are only as good as the information thatgoes into them and as our case studies show meaningful accurate informa-tion is oen difficult to come by in complex global industries Furthermore

as our analyses of consumer behavior show only particular subsets of con-sumers have indicated an interest in boycoing or ldquobuycoingrdquo and thereare real questions about how many will pay more for guarantees of fairnessand sustainability Before diving into these issues we must consider thelarger context in which the rise of conscientious consumerism has occurred

983122983141983139983151983150 983142983145983143983157983154983145 983150 983143 983122983141983155983152983151983150 983155983145983138983145983148983145983156983145983141983155 983122 983145983143983144983156983155 983137 983150 983140 983122983157983148983141983155

Debates about consumers producers and ethical standards are vexing inpart because they are tied up with a larger recon1047297guration of responsibilitiesrights and rules in the global economy National and multinational corpo-

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rations have become transnational corporations with activities stretchingacross national boundaries without being deeply rooted in them Nationalstates once the main makers of rules and arbiters of rights are increasingly

just one of many actors issuing rules and claiming to enforce rights Inter-national NGOs and global standards associations have sought to issue rulesand enforce rights as well although their effectiveness in doing so is unclearMore broadly the goal to turn the world into ldquoone big marketrdquo991252associated

with neoliberal ideology991252has challenged earlier conceptions of what na-tional states can and should do to protect or empower citizens workers andthe environment Conscientious consumption and production projects are

to some degree the result of these changes In a world of vertically integratedcompanies and strong responsive states there would be far less demand for

voluntary standards supported by consumers But these changes have notsimply paved the way for conscientious consumerism they have complicatedits meanings and impacts in a variety of ways

Te Supply Chain Revolution

Capitalism in the twentieth century was characterized by the growth of verti-cally integrated corporations which controlled raw materials manufactur-ing and distribution and by the growth of horizontally integrated corpora-tions and conglomerates in which multiple businesses were combined in thesame corporate structure By the 1048625104863310486321048624s these models were giving way to theldquosupply chain revolutionrdquo in which large 1047297rms contract with independentsuppliers rather than owning an entire production process Nike built its

fortunes by being an early adopter of the ldquomanufacturer without factoriesrdquomodel and Walmart became a dominant retailer by making its supply chains

work faster and cheaper than retailers had previously In what Robert Feen-stra (1048625104863310486331048632) called the ldquointegration of trade and disintegration of productionrdquocompanies in industries from apparel to electronics to furniture shed theirfactories contracted with independent manufacturers and focused on build-ing their ldquobrandrdquo images

While some contracting and subcontracting happened within national borders scholars pointed out that many production processes were beingturned into ldquoglobal commodity chainsrdquo and especially ldquobuyer-drivenrdquo globalcommodity chains in which companies nearest the distribution end of the

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chain (retailers and well-known brands) exercised the greatest power overproduction processes and extracted the greatest pro1047297t from them (Gereffi1048625104863310486331048628 1048625104863310486331048633) Other terms such as ldquoglobal production networksrdquo and ldquoglobal

value chainsrdquo described similar phenomena and as many industries shiedto a supply chain model of some sort these different traditions of research

began to merge and more nuanced ways of describing power and coordina-tion in global value chains were articulated (Bair 1048626104862410486241048632 Gereffi Humphreyand Sturgeon 1048626104862410486241048629) is supply chain revolution was facilitated by techno-logical changes that made contracting more efficient and by legal changesthat opened more parts of the world to foreign investment Of course in

some industries such as agriculture large consumer-facing companies hadlong relied on networks of suppliers991252from coffee farmers to growers ofcorn wheat and other commodity crops Yet these industries have beenrecon1047297gured to some degree by the growth of mega-retailers that have cutout middleman distributors

Most important at this point is to recognize how the supply chain revolu-tion both highlighted and blurred the responsibilities of transnational corpo-rations On one hand contracting and subcontracting networks tied retailers

and brands in the United States and Europe to sites of production991252andexploitation991252around the world To be sure multinational corporations likeNestleacute I and PepsiCo had been shamed for the actions of their foreignarms in the 1048625104863310486311048624s but the networked transnational corporations of the 1048625104863310486331048624shad more extensive ties and thus greater vulnerabilities On the other handthe lines of responsibility991252and especially legal liability991252were blurry since

brands and retailers exercised a great deal of power over their suppliers but

did not own those sites of production Initially when sweatshops child la- bor and prison labor were uncovered brands like Nike and Walmart deniedresponsibility on the basis that they did not own the factories where suchabuses occurred As pressure mounted these and other lead 1047297rms in global

value chains began to accept ldquosordquo forms of responsibility by adopting codesof conduct and pledging to monitor and improve conditions in their supplychains ose same companies however 1047297ercely resisted aempts to makethem legally liable (Bartley 1048626104862410486241048629 Shamir 1048626104862410486241048628)

For the most part this remains the situation in the forest products foodapparelfootwear and electronics industries When pressed retailers and

brands have publicly accepted some responsibility to improve conditions in

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kets have remained largely national in scope especially when it comes toissues of fairness and sustainability e World Trade Organization (WTO)has endorsed protections for intellectual property rights but it has le only

narrow spaces for governments to protect workers and environments and ithas refused to address labor rights directly Bilateral and multilateral tradeagreements sometimes include labor and environmental standards but theseare limited in scope and enforceability International organizations suchas the United Nations and the International Labor Organization promoteconventions for governments to adopt but these organizations rarely haveany power to demand enforcement National governments are constrained

in part by a global economy in which 1047297rms and investors can move from one jurisdiction to another but perhaps even more by ideological commitmentsto neoliberal globalization and the rules of the WTO (Evans 1048625104863310486331048631 Rodrik1048626104862410486251048625) As we argue it is a mistake to think that governments are powerless orirrelevant in the face of globalization but there is no doubt that the dearthof binding international regulation of production conditions has led many tolook to the private sector as a way of enforcing standards NGOs for instancehave oen turned to voluntary standards and conscientious consumption as

second-best alternatives to intergovernmental systems of regulationNeoliberalism can be credited not only with helping to hollow out the state

but also with promoting an individualization of responsibility In a processthat theorists have called ldquoresponsibilizationrdquo individuals are treated as hav-ing the duty and capacity to take responsibility for things that should rightly

be seen as the result of social structures is can be seen for instance in at-tempts to reform welfare states to make welfare recipients take responsibility

for their own fates (Rose 1048626104862410486241048624) e moralization of markets has also been aresponsibilization process in which individual consumers are told they havethe duty991252and the ability991252to solve the worldrsquos social problems throughtheir purchases While some scholars use the language of responsibilizationto dismiss conscientious consumption as misguided we do not see this asthe most appropriate response We recognize that individual consumers are

being asked to take responsibility for problems that would oen be beerserved by more collective and robust solutions including revitalized statesand labor unions But it is at least possible that responsibility-taking by con-sumers could help to support more durable solutions in the future especially

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if governments NGOs and consumers themselves have a clearer under-standing of what is and is not being affected by conscientious consumptionand production initiatives

INGOs and ransnational Advocacy Networks

Since the end of World War II NGOs have become key actors in nationalinternational and transnational governance By the turn of the twenty-1047297rstcentury NGOs were carrying out most of the tasks of governing complex so-cieties delivering development assistance mediating social conflicts seing

standards for business developing expert knowledge and reconstructingsocieties aer natural and social disasters By some accounts the proliferationof NGOs and their incorporation into development and governance projectsamounts to an associational revolution that ldquomay constitute as signi1047297cant asocial and political development of the laer twentieth century as the rise ofthe nation state was of the nineteenth centuryrdquo (Edwards and Hulme 104862510486331048633983094 1048626)

International NGOs (INGOs) such as Greenpeace Oxfam or HumanRights Watch have mobilized aention to a variety of global problems from

climate change to new forms of bonded labor ey have garnered mediaaention to these problems and have pushed governments and intergovern-mental organizations to take action In addition the growth of transnationalnetworks of advocates and experts has sometimes allowed domestic activiststo gain leverage over their governments In what Margaret Keck and KathrynSikkink (1048625104863310486331048632) dubbed the ldquoboomerang effectrdquo domestic activists can reachpast indifferent or hostile domestic governments and appeal to transnational

advocacy networks that in turn exert pressure on those governmentsSince the 1048625104863310486331048624s INGOs have increasingly sought to put pressure on trans-

national corporations and restructure markets not just state policies eyhave led efforts to build product certi1047297cation initiatives from the ForestStewardship Council to the Marine Stewardship Council and they havecoordinated ldquomarket campaignsrdquo to convince large retailers to support theseinitiatives In addition the traditional boomerang effect has been supple-mented with what Naomi Klein (1048625104863310486331048633) called the ldquobrand boomerangrdquo in

which grassroots labor or environmental activists call on their internationalallies to put pressure on a well-known company that is operating in (or buy-

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ing from) that location rough these processes INGOs have become im-portant architects advocates and watchdogs of conscientious consumptionand production projects

e rise of INGOs does raise conundrums however especially about therelationship between professional advocates based in Amsterdam or Wash-ington DC and grassroots activists in developing countries To some extentINGOs have become sensitive to these power disparities and local NGOshave become savvy about working with foreign partners But the power ofINGOs to organize transnational campaigns aract media aention andshame global companies does carry the danger that more locally oriented

strategies or those directed to domestic governments are being neglected(Seidman 1048626104862410486241048631)

Standards for Markets and Markets for Standards

Without the supply chain revolution neoliberal globalization and thegrowth of transnational advocacy networks it is hard to imagine the rise ofconscientious consumption and global standards for fairness and sustain-

ability Yet just because initiatives for auditing certifying or reporting onsustainability or fairness have emerged that does not mean they will haveintegrity or impact Typically conscientious consumption and productionprojects are organized as private voluntary initiatives ey aempt to setstandards for markets but they also exist within markets Like all voluntaryprograms they depend on participation from companies and there can oen

be a trade-off between the stringency of standards and the number of partici-

pants (Potoski and Prakash 1048626104862410486241048633) All voluntary initiatives are structurallydependent on their corporate participants so one should take the languageof independent ldquothird-partyrdquo initiatives with a grain of salt Furthermore asprivate initiatives they have no monopoly on standards for a particular topic(as a government would have) is means competing standards initiativescan easily emerge For some observers the private voluntary character ofthese initiatives is reason enough to give up on them (eg Seidman 1048626104862410486241048631)

while for neoliberal advocates of market-based solutions these same featuresmake such initiatives especially aractive As we argue below our approachseeks to unpack variation in the organization of these initiatives and the

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contexts in which they operate At the same time as our case studies showthere are certainly limits on what private voluntary initiatives have beenable to accomplish

983124983144983154 983141983141 983110983154983137 983149983141983155 983137983150 983140 983124983144983141983145983154 983123983144983151983154983156983139983151983149983145983150 983143983155

Given the rise of conscientious consumerism and the growth of standards forglobal industries scholars and advocates are racing to promote simple framesfor making sense of them In this section we discuss three frames that areoen invoked Each captures a slice of something important but each ends

up obscuring as much as it illuminates or more

Te Empowered Sovereign Consumer

Scholars and advocates oen adopt a celebratory tone in discussing consci-entious consumerism ey argue that consumers are being empowered toldquovote with their dollarsrdquo and that these small changes in the habits of affluentconsumers can change or even ldquosaverdquo the world As Ruth Stokes (1048626104862410486251048627) writes

in the Ecologist magazine ldquoI believe that changing the way we shop991252voting with our money991252can help to change the world Companies respond tothe habits of shoppers We all have consumer power we just have to makesure we use it wiselyrdquo If consumers have been manipulated by companiesin the past they are increasingly being empowered by new sources of infor-mation argues Dara OrsquoRourke (1048626104862410486251048625) eorists of ldquopolitical consumerismrdquohave argued that this mode of political expression is especially empowering

for individuals who are alienated from formal politics such as young peopleand women (Michelei 1048626104862410486241048627) Furthermore as companies compete for thesupport of conscientious consumers and the coveted ldquolifestyles of health andsustainabilityrdquo (LOHAS) niche (Emerich 1048626104862410486251048625) many observers argue thatthey will become transparent responsible corporate citizens (Porter andKramer 104862610486241048624983094 Smith 1048625104863310486331048624 Zadek Pruzan and Evans 1048625104863310486331048631)

Such celebrations oen rest on an idealized framing of consumer agency991252that is the ability and willingness of the ldquosovereign citizen-consumerrdquo to bethe prime mover of social change (Jacobsen and Dulsrud 1048626104862410486241048631) e ldquosover-eign consumerrdquo is an old concept that is intended to suggest that consumertastes are the driver of all economic activity As scholars have observed the

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growth of conscientious consumption the sovereign consumer has becomethe sovereign citizen-consumer or what Roberta Sassatelli (1048626104862410486241048631) dubbedthe waking of the ldquosleepy giant of the sovereign citizen-consumerrdquo (104862510486321048632) So-

cial theorist Ulrich Beck perhaps the most prominent theorist of consump-tion as a form of politics argues that ldquocitizens discover the act of shoppingas one in which they can always cast their ballot991252on a world scale no lessrdquo(qtd in Sassatelli 1048626104862410486241048631 104862510486321048632) Michele Michelei (1048626104862410486241048627) takes the provocationeven further

Conflicts over what and where to consume are now central for understanding the func-tioning of affluent Western societies is can even mean that consumers participating

in boycos can for instance be likened to resistance 1047297ghters Yet unlike resistance orrevolutionary conflicts of the past citizen-consumers tend to direct their aention towardthe market rather than state actors (1048625983094ndash10486251048631)

Even if one gets past the hyperbole treating consumer tastes as king orqueen is problematic in several respects First consumersrsquo aitudes turn outto be only one ingredient in the construction of conscientious consumptionmarkets As we show in this book the opportunities for conscientious con-sumption are not distributed evenly across individuals or across countries

Social inequality and differences in market structures mean the social con-text of consumption is just as important as individual aitudes Consumertastes may make a difference but it is difficult to see them as a true primemover

Second it is naive to assume that a change in consumer tastes translatesdirectly into a change in the production processes of global industries AsMargaret Willis and Juliet Schor (1048626104862410486251048626) argue many accounts of consci-

entious consumerism take a ldquonaiumlve aggregationistrdquo approach to marketsassuming that if a large enough number of consumers is interested in al-ternative products the market will simply change to deliver them A quitedifferent story is told by research on industries technologies and organiza-tions over time Production processes are oen ldquolocked inrdquo by a system ofinterrelated technologies and expectations making them difficult to changePaul David (1048625104863310486321048629) famously illustrated this by considering the persistence ofthe inefficient QWERTY keyboard on typewriters and computers Even ifproduction practices are not strongly locked in companies like all organi-zations rarely abandon their core routines and technologies (Hannan andFreeman 1048625104863310486321048633) Perhaps the biggest problem is that those who celebrate the

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transformative power of new consumer tastes assume that industry practicesare changing but they almost never actually investigate this assumption edisconnect between theories of conscientious consumerism and empirical

research on industry practices is stark and it is one thing that we hope toremedy with this book

Finally by celebrating the empowered conscientious politicized con-sumer one obscures the ways that unreflective consumer choices influencelabor and environmental conditions in global industries As much as someconsumers are becoming more conscientious about some of their choicesespecially when it comes to food and drinks (eg organic produce fair trade

coffee) much consumer activity is routine and habitual and some of theethics of consumption are opaque to all but the most commied individu-als Conscientious consumers might be careful to recycle avoid disposableplastic water boles and buy organic vegetables but then eat beef withoutthinking of its massive natural resource demands and the contributions ofcale production to global warming As environmentalists have pointedout encouraging consumers to make their purchases more environmentallyfriendly carries a risk of legitimating overconsumption in affluent markets

which is the foundation of many forms of environmental degradation (Mani-ates and Meyer 1048626104862410486251048624) e issue may not be just the amount of consumption

but its pace as well As will become clear later in this book the rise of ldquofastfashionrdquo and ldquofast electronicsrdquo991252that is the rapid churning through fashion-able styles of clothing and different models of smartphones991252appears to bea root cause of labor exploitation in the apparel and electronics industries

GreenwashFairwash

While some have celebrated conscientious consumerism others have dis-missed voluntary standards eco-labeling and social labeling as ldquogreenwashrdquoor ldquofairwashrdquo As Sharon Beder (1048626104862410486241048625) puts it ldquoTe aempt to provide alsquogreenrsquo and caring image for a corporation is a public relations strategy aimedat promising reform and heading off demands for more substantial and fun-damental changes and government interventionrdquo (104862610486291048627) Claims about fair

and sustainable production in this view simply provide cover to companiesthat are engaged in fundamentally unfair and unsustainable activities ecodes of conduct sustainability reports and information disclosures that are

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highlighted in celebratory accounts of transparency may actually be formsof ldquodisinformationrdquo that obscure companiesrsquo actual practices

e term ldquogreenwashrdquo took off among environmentalists in the late 1048625104863310486321048624s

as a description of advertising campaigns that portrayed companies as pro-tectors of the environment (Beers and Capellaro 1048625104863310486331048625) Greenpeace arguedthat transnational corporations like Shell DuPont and Mitsubishi had ldquoem-

braced the environment as their cause and co-opted its terminologyrdquo even while contributing massively to environmental degradation (Greenpeace1048625104863310486331048626 1048626) e analogue for corporate claims about incomes livelihoods and

justice991252ldquofairwashingrdquo991252entered the lexicon later in the wake of the fair

trade movement As fair trade certi1047297cation was becoming ldquomainstreamedrdquoand imitated scholars and activists began worrying that fairwashing wason the horizon (Conroy 1048626104862410486241048631 Lyon and Moberg 1048626104862410486251048624) Observers have alsocriticized the images produced in the name of ldquocorporate social responsibil-ityrdquo arguing that these are ldquomerely a public relations game lulling us intoa false sense of securityrdquo (Doane 1048626104862410486241048629 10486261048633) Common to all these diagnosesis the sense that most assurances one 1047297nds on a product are nothing morethan public relations efforts

e greenwashfairwash critique captures two key features of conscien-tious consumption and global standards First when faced with criticismcompanies would prefer to be able to improve their images without alteringpro1047297table practices A public relations campaign is typically the 1047297rst line ofdefense Companies may also hire outside organizations991252auditors consul-tants and sometimes NGOs991252to lend some credibility to their campaignsey may also fund seemingly independent standard-seing initiatives that

can endorse their corporate social responsibility programs or label theirproducts As we will see this is how the US timber industryrsquos SustainableForestry Initiative got its start and it helps to account for the role of appareland footwear brands in the Fair Labor Association One must always takeassurances of sustainability and fairness with a grain of salt e dosage ofsalt depends in part on whether claims come from companies themselvesinitiatives that they control or more independent initiatives (If initiativesdepend on the voluntary participation of companies they can never be fully independent but there are gradations) In our analyses of standards (in part1048626 of this book) we are aentive to who has created a particular initiativehow it is funded and how dependent on companies it is Second there is

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nearly always some hypocrisy present when companies take up greening orfairness initiatives Simply because one product or one aspect of a companyrsquosproduction has earned some credentials does not mean that the companyrsquos

operations overall can be considered green or fair As David Vogel (1048626104862410486241048629)has argued we oen yearn for simple pronouncements of ldquogoodrdquo and ldquobadrdquocompanies But companies like people are complex multifaceted and oencontradictory One part of a company may be developing green productionprocesses while another part lobbies against environmental regulation

On the other hand we see simple distinctions between greenwashfair- wash and ldquotruerdquo reform as a poor match for the current state of global indus-

tries and labeling projects Eco-labeling and social labeling may once have been the domain of public relations personnel but they have become theirown specialized world in which credibility depends on ldquomulti-stakeholderrepresentationrdquo and extensive amounts of accreditation auditing and veri1047297-cation Companies might prefer to respond to criticism with public relationscampaigns but they are oen pushed by activists and investors to go furtherand achieve some kind of external assurance For instance if confronted bylabor rights abuses apparel and footwear companies no longer simply hold

up a code of conduct instead they refer to sophisticated factory monitoringprograms external certi1047297cations and ldquocapacity-buildingrdquo projects (Locke1048626104862410486251048627) Rather than simply co-opting the language of environmentalism manyretailers have been pushed to sell products that are independently certi1047297ed(Conroy 1048626104862410486241048631) Furthermore the world of voluntary certi1047297cation has be-come increasingly formalized For instance to judge compliance with thestandards of the FSC an auditing organization (eg Scienti1047297c Certi1047297cation

Systems SmartWood or the Soil Association) must be accredited by a sepa-rate oversight body (Accreditation Services International) Furthermore theFSC belongs to an umbrella organization991252the ISEAL (International Socialand Environmental Accreditation and Labeling) Alliance991252which de1047297nes

best practices for credible certi1047297cation initiatives To be sure all of this cer-ti1047297cation of the certi1047297ers of the certi1047297ers (and beyond) is not guaranteed to

bring about meaningful improvement Indeed we describe cases where thisformalization has been counterproductive and where seemingly credible ini-tiatives have failed spectacularly But it does mean there is more ldquocheckingrdquothan there is simple ldquowashingrdquo As Peter Dauvergne and Jane Lister (1048626104862410486251048626)put it ldquoCorporate sustainability goals include measurable targets are

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audited by independent groups and are integrated into the core business [through] life-cycle assessment supply chain tracing eco-certi1047297cation andsustainability reportingrdquo (10486271048632) We concur with them that all of this measure-

ment and reporting oen skirts the root causes of problems but one cannotseriously assess conscientious consumption without investigating this activ-ity If the world were as simple as it was when the ldquogreenwashrdquo frame was 1047297rstcoined a book like this would not be necessary

Most importantly the greenwashfairwash frame leaves a key questionunanswered if a claim is not just greenwashfairwash991252in other words if itis backed by stringent standards and credible veri1047297cation processes991252then

what is it It would be tempting to assume that the converse of greenwashfairwash is something like ldquoreal sustainabilityfairnessrdquo on the ground But asour case studies show it is possible to have stringent standards and credibleassessment but still not generate much reform of global industries Our goalis to provide some tools for making sense of these complex (and common)intermediate scenarios

Importing Standards into Empty Spaces

Another problematic frame concerns the implementation of global standardsincluding those supported by conscientious consumerism It is tempting tosee global standards as introducing new rules into otherwise empty spacesFor instance one might think of labor codes of conduct as introducing laborrights into factories that would otherwise be completely unregulated andchaotic Or one might think of global sustainability standards as introducing

environmental norms into seings where businesses would otherwise be freeto pollute with impunity As Alison Brysk puts it global rule-making proj-ects oen ldquoconcern areas previously ungoverned or even unknownrdquo (Brysk1048626104862410486241048629 104862510486261048624) Indeed scholars and practitioners oen portray private rules as1047297lling a ldquoregulatory voidrdquo as they are put into practice especially in devel-oping countries (Sabel OrsquoRourke and Fung 1048626104862410486241048624) For some developingcountries are so lacking in the rule of law as to constitute ldquoareas of limitedstatehoodrdquo in which private rules must serve as a substitute for public author-

ity (Boumlrzel and Risse 1048626104862410486251048624) Sociologists in the ldquoworld societyrdquo school startfrom different assumptions but nevertheless argue that global norms aboutenvironmental protection child labor and human rights are imported into

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developing countries as novel concepts that are completely alien to the locals(Meyer et al 1048625104863310486331048631)

e problem with this approach is not only as Gay Seidman (1048626104862410486241048631) argues

that ldquostateless regulationrdquo usually lacks enforcement power A more funda-mental problem is that this frame obscures the institutional arrangementsthat are in place in developing countries Developing countries are not emptyanonymous uniform places ey are populated with different business sys-tems cultures of production and political institutions What may look fromafar like a relatively empty space turns out on closer inspection to have adense set of preexisting relationships organizations and rules ese local

circumstances can recon1047297gure global rules in myriad ways (Halliday andCarruthers 1048626104862410486241048633 Merry 104862610486241048624983094) For instance in chapter 1048628 we look at fair tradecerti1047297cation and its consequences in Paraguay a place where earlier ways oforganizing agricultural operations set the stage for fair trade projects andshaped their results Fair trade standards were not simply imported to thisseing they were layered onto an existing set of institutions In fact a thickerldquolayeringrdquo of rules with varying consequences has been a common result ofglobal standards (Bartley 1048626104862410486251048625) An ldquoempty spacesrdquo assumption also obscures

ongoing political struggles at the point of production As we will see INGOsand conscientious consumers are far from the only actors concerned withlabor rights sustainability or the fair distribution of resources For instancerecent years have seen a rising tide of strikes in China and mobilization ofgarment workers in Cambodia and Bangladesh (Alam 1048626104862410486251048627 Dara and Wil-lemyns 1048626104862410486251048628 Friedman 1048626104862410486251048627) e land rights of indigenous people in Braziland Indonesia are a concern not only of backers of global sustainable forestry

standards but also of burgeoning movements of indigenous people them-selves (Gerber 1048626104862410486251048625) Social movements in developing countries may struggleto influence powerful global industries but they cannot simply be ignored

When it comes to governmental regulation it is true that developingcountries oen lack the resources and administrative capacities to effec-tively regulate production processes as do many governments in affluentcountries Moreover the logic of global production in some ways gives themdisincentives to do so aggressively implementing regulations may cause in-

vestors991252and orders from brands and retailers991252to flee the country and therules of the WTO make some forms of regulation untenable But ldquodevelopingcountriesrdquo are diverse In nearly all parts of the world there are laws relatedto labor the environment and the rights of citizens Scholars are beginning

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to 1047297nd increased enforcement of these laws in some surprising places fromrevitalized state labor inspection in the export processing zones of the Do-minican Republic (Schrank 1048626104862410486251048627) to aggressive environmental regulators in

Brazil and China (Coslovsky 1048626104862410486251048625 McAllister Van Rooij and Kagan 1048626104862410486251048624)In other instances law can be repressive991252restricting the rights of workers orindigenous communities for instance (Lee 1048626104862410486241048631 Li 1048626104862410486251048624) Again the influ-ences of local structures can vary but one should not assume a blank slate

983105 983122983151983157983143983144 983111983157983145983140983141 983156983151 983125983150 983152983137983139983147983145983150983143 983107983151983150983155983139983145983141 983150983156983145983151983157983155983107983151983150983155983157983149983152983156983145983151983150 983137983150983140 983120983154983151983140983157983139983156983145983151983150 983120983154983151983146983141983139983156983155

How then can one make sense of projects to promote conscientious con-sumption and fair or sustainable production e 1047297rst step is simply to acceptthat there is a great deal of variation ere is variation across individualsand locations in conscientious consumer behavior ere is variation acrossproducts and labeling initiatives in the ldquoon the groundrdquo implications of globalstandards ere is variation across industries (and even within them) in sys-tems of production and these intersect with national (and even subnational)

differences in industry organization To understand whether conscientiousconsumption and fairsustainable production projects can contribute tomeaningful alternatives we must look closely at these industrial and politi-cal contexts A second starting point is to accept that the influence of globalstandards for fairsustainable production is typically highly circumscribedor contingent on other factors As will become clear even the most stringentstandards and most credible initiatives do not transform global industries

ey sometimes influence certain parts of an industry but even this cannotautomatically be assumed

To unpack conscientious consumption initiatives and the global standardsthey endorse we bring four factors to the foreground (1048625) structures of pro-duction and consumption (1048626) the constituencies of standards (1048627) global-local linkages and (1048628) the coexistence of rule making and unruliness

Structures of Production and Consumption

Industry structures shape both the opportunities for conscientious con-sumption to occur and the consequences of rule-making projects at thepoint of production To start some industries are more likely than others to

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become targets of activism which is typically the catalyst for rule-makingand conscientious consumption projects

Lead 1047297rms in global value chains especially when they are large and have

salient corporate reputations make aractive targets for social movements(Bartley and Child 1048626104862410486251048628) Industries that lack powerful and well-known brands tend to aract less scrutiny For instance the manufacturing of bricksespecially in developing countries is oen a highly polluting and exploit-ative industry But because there are not well-known global brands in thisindustry it has received lile international aention In other cases activistshave highlighted a problem but without powerful and recognizable brands

to link this to rule-making projects have not emerged e production ofcheap costume jewelry is rife with exploitation as shown in the documentary Mardi Gras Made in China but this has not become a site of extensive rulemaking and conscientious consumerism In some circumstances the exis-tence of large high-pro1047297le retailers can compensate for a more fragmentedor poorly known set of manufacturers Anti-GMO activists for instancehave pressured manufacturers like Monsanto by going through large retailerslike Marks amp Spencer (Schurman and Munro 1048626104862410486241048633) Our analysis of global

food distribution (in chapter 1048628) is consistent with this observation but italso suggests that the locus of consumer and activist pressure depends onthe speci1047297c product

When activists do press lead 1047297rms to make their supply chains fairer ormore sustainable the consequences seem to depend in part on the structureof that supply chain If suppliers can easily 1047297nd alternative buyers who are notdemanding changes991252that is if there are few suppliers and many buyers991252

they will have lile incentive to comply with a particular lead 1047297rmrsquos rulesGoing further by many accounts when lead 1047297rms have a great deal of powerover ldquocaptiverdquo suppliers they should be able to demand that those suppliersmake improvements (Mayer and Gereffi 1048626104862410486251048624) On the other hand someresearch has questioned whether this power is truly effective or whether itmerely spurs a game in which suppliers pretend to be making improvements(and lead 1047297rms nod in approval) (Locke Amengual and Mangla 1048626104862410486241048633) Wesuspect that the power of lead 1047297rms does make a difference but that moresigni1047297cant changes are possible when lead 1047297rms and suppliers are mutuallydependent and work together over long stretches of time (Our analysis ofthe apparel industry in chapter 1048629 though suggests that long-term collabora-tion is rare) In addition when global value chains are fairly simple in their

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structure without too many intermediaries this should make it easier forstandards to ldquotravelrdquo through them ere is a conundrum here howeversince it is oen in industries with a high degree of subcontracting (such as

apparel) that global standards are in the highest demand If global industries were dominated by vertically integrated 1047297rms rather than dispersed supplychains the world of conscientious consumerism would look quite differentFurthermore sometimes the lack of action by large lead 1047297rms can leave aspace for activists and entrepreneurs to carve out a small market niche basedon fairness or sustainability is is how fair tradendashcerti1047297ed coffee beganand some new projects appear to be emerging in electronics (Fairphone as

discussed in chapter 983094) and apparel (the Alta Gracia factory as discussed inchapter 1048629) Aer looking more closely at our four industries991252timber foodapparelfootwear and electronics991252we return to questions about industrystructure in the bookrsquos conclusion

Industry structures also maer for consumers As we show in the nextchapter opportunities to engage in conscientious consumption are just asimportant as motivations to do so and these opportunities depend in parton the structure of the retail sector in a particular country Generally we sug-

gest that having larger retailers will facilitate consumer purchases of eco- andsocial-labeled products In part this is simply because larger retailers offer a

wider array of choices overall991252that is different versions of the same prod-uct991252while smaller retailers offer fewer choices To be sure small stores canspecialize in ldquoalternativerdquo products and large stores can fail to carry themBut given the trend toward ldquomainstreamingrdquo of alternatives (see Jaffee 1048626104862410486251048626)large retailers have become key points of sale for eco- and social-labeled prod-

ucts Furthermore oligopoly in the retail sector991252the dominance of a smallnumber of large companies991252also seems to magnify the power of activiststo influence the market As Rachel Schurman and William Munro (1048626104862410486241048633)found the existence of a small number of large food retailer chains in the UKallowed the anti-GMO movement to flourish there while it foundered amidthe larger number of supermarket chains in the United States

Constituencies and Standards

Global standards for fairness and sustainability may sound universal butthey spring from the priorities of particular individuals and groups A cru-cial step in understanding these standards is to examine the founders of

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initiatives that make rules audit compliance and certify products as fair orsustainable Some such initiatives such as fair trade certi1047297cation originatedlargely with NGOs or others outside of the industry Others such as the

Electronics Industry Citizenship Coalition and the Sustainable ForestryInitiative were founded almost exclusively by industry associations or othergroups of companies oen in response to the actions of NGOs In betweenare a number of initiatives developed by coalitions of NGOs and companiesfrom the Forest Stewardship Council to Social Accountability InternationalFounders are not everything NGO-initiated programs can become watereddown as they are mainstreamed and industry-initiated programs oen

evolve into formally independent organizations Most programs seek cred-ibility by calling themselves ldquomulti-stakeholderrdquo initiatives We maintainhowever that founding constituencies leave deep imprints on the content ofstandards and on the distribution of power within rule-making initiativesRules can get ratcheted up or down over time but these are usually marginalrevisions to a core approach Furthermore even when initiatives becomeformally independent from the constituencies that created them informalties revolving doors and 1047297nancial contributions oen persist

Generally we expect that industry-initiated programs will have standardsthat depart in relatively small ways from the normal practices of the indus-try Companies may want to improve labor conditions or environmentalperformance of their suppliers but they will be loath to push so far as todisrupt production or force a major change in their sourcing practices As aresult the greater the influence of companies in the founding of an initiativethe more likely it is to use either a ldquobest in classrdquo approach or a ldquocontinuous

improvementrdquo approach In the 1047297rst companies are recognized (throughcerti1047297cation or other endorsement) for demonstrating that they are aboveaverage in their industry is oen skirts the issue of whether they meeta stringent de1047297nition of a 1047297xed standard As Sco Nova (1048626104862410486251048625) has noted aldquobest in classrdquo model is like grading on a curve even if average performanceis quite low e second approach allows companies to start with a relativelylax standard and encourage gradual improvement over time852019

When industry outsiders have power in the initial design standard-seinginitiatives should look somewhat different First their standards are likely todepart more substantially from normal practices in the industry to a greateror lesser degree depending on the power of these outsiders Second these

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initiatives are more likely though certainly not guaranteed to endorse analternative model of production rather than to just reward the best in class orpush for continuous improvement Fair trade certi1047297cation and its emphasis

on democratically managed producer cooperatives (as described in chap-ter 1048628) is the clearest example of this ird and because of this initiativesspawned by outsiders are likely to either remain small or face dilemmas ofmainstreaming as they grow If they seek a large market presence ldquoalterna-tiverdquo programs will inevitably become more dependent on large companiese result may be a watering down of standards although as the case of theFSC shows (in chapter 1048627) this can be counteracted to some degree

For most products there are multiple competing aempts to de1047297ne fair-ness and sustainability For instance there are several ways of certifying thefairness and sustainability of coffee or of assessing the labor conditions ofapparel companies852020 Usually this competition reflects the struggle betweencompanies and NGOs Some scholars believe that such competition dooms

voluntary initiatives since it confuses consumers and lets companies choosetheir own standards (Seidman 1048626104862410486241048631) Others believe that it strengthens gov-ernance by spurring a ldquoratcheting uprdquo of expectations (Sabel OrsquoRourke and

Fung 1048626104862410486241048624) Our analysis of four global industries suggests that different setsof standards can oen coexist not exactly peacefully but with moderateinteraction or in different market niches Competition is inevitable but itseems to neither doom nor guarantee meaningful standards for fairness andsustainability It must be noted that initiatives that began with high bars991252namely Fair Trade and the FSC991252have not been pushed out of the market

by their competitors

Localized Globalisms and Globalized Localisms

Specifying links between ldquothe globalrdquo and ldquothe localrdquo has proven difficultand scholars have oen fallen prey to two types of conceptual dangers Firstin focusing on the global diffusion of a given idea or norm some have por-trayed domestic seings as lile more than passive receivers of a global proj-ect e language of domestic seings as ldquoreceptor sitesrdquo for global models(Frank Hironaka and Schofer 1048626104862410486241048624) is one example of this Pinpointingthis problem researchers are increasingly focusing on how local actors ap-propriate and ldquoindigenizerdquo global models to make them useful or meaningful

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(Halliday and Carruthers 1048626104862410486241048633 Merry 104862610486241048624983094) Second scholars of globaliza-tion oen equate the global with universalism (and oen progress) and thelocal with particularism (and oen backwardness) In so doing scholars

uncritically accept the most dominant model as ldquothe globalrdquo and obscure thepower that was exercised to establish its dominance

To deal with these problems we adopt Bonaventura de Santosrsquos language ofldquoglobalized localismsrdquo and ldquo localized globalismsrdquo (Santos 104862610486241048624983094 Santos andRodriacuteguez Garavito 1048626104862410486241048629) e 1047297rst refers to a process in which a particularis-tic set of ideas and practices becomes a dominant global norm Santos (104862610486241048624983094)provides examples such as ldquothe transformation of the English language into

a lingua franca the globalization of American fast food or popular music orthe worldwide adoption of the same laws of intellectual ownership patentsor telecommunications aggressively promoted by the USArdquo (10486271048633983094) For ourpurpose the key issue is how particular understandings of rights rules andenforcement have become institutionalized as global norms Concretely thenotion of a ldquoglobalized localismrdquo sensitizes us to processes by which particu-lar sets of reformers (NGOs companies or others) have turned their projectsinto ldquoglobalrdquo standards for fairness and sustainability Our point is not to

join the chorus that argues that ldquoWesternrdquo standards are being illegitimatelyforced on people and companies elsewhere ere have long been calls fordecent work and responsible natural resource management in many differ-ent parts of the world But the global standards supported by conscientiousconsumers in North A merica and Europe embody particular approaches tothese issues

e second concept ldquolocalized globalismrdquo refers to the incorporation of

these global models into local routines and expectations e concept sen-sitizes us to the work involved in turning global standards for fairness andsustainability into a concrete practice in a factory forest or farm in someparticular location As we have noted scholars too oen portray these sites asempty spaces We believe it is preferable to start from the opposite premisethat sites of implementation are crowded with different actors and agendasonly some of which are likely to line up with global standard-seing initia-tives Some elements of global standards are easily incorporated into localpractices while others are 1047297ercely resisted But a recognition of localizedglobalisms also has methodological implications It is rare for researchersto actually study these locations in detail It is easier to conduct distant and

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decontextualized studies of CSR or to focus only on the creation of standardsrather than their local implementation Our analyses of the global timberagricultural apparel and electronics industries include aention to speci1047297c

locations from the sugarcane farms of Paraguay to the electronics factoriesof Malaysia

Te Puzzle of Rules Rule Making and the Persistence of Unruliness

One can beer understand conscientious consumption and production proj-ects by recognizing what Tim Bartley (1048626104862410486251048628a) has called the ldquopuzzle of rulesrdquo

in the global economy simply put global capitalism can be ldquounrulyrdquo but italso generates many rule-making projects

e expansion of global markets has facilitated a number of rule-makingprojects from the standardization of accounting procedures to the rules forfairness and sustainability discussed in this book e volume of rule making

by both public and private actors has increased over the past three decadesMany scholars have pointed to these trends as evidence that global capitalismis not manic or ungovernable as it was initially framed Marie-Laure Djelic

and Kerstin Sahlin-Andersson (104862610486241048624983094) argue that ldquothe proliferation of regu-latory activities actors networks or constellations leads to an explosion ofrules and to the profound re-ordering of our worldrdquo (1048625) and they see globalcapitalism as ldquomarked by more991252not less991252rule-making activityrdquo (10486271048631983094)

On the other hand the explosion of rule making has oen been gearedtoward the expansion of markets rather than their restriction and in manyrespects global capitalism has remained unruly In many industries invest-

ment and orders can and do move quickly across locations oen under-mining aempts to impose rules Even more socially controlled European

varieties of capitalism have had their foundations chipped away (Streeck1048626104862410486241048633) Furthermore for all of the efforts of NGOs to build rules for fairnesssustainability and human rights many corners of global industries remainlargely unscrutinized and unaffected by these rule-making projects

As our case studies illustrate even as standards for fairness and sustain-ability have risen to prominence global industries have remained volatileand exploitative Certi1047297cation of sustainable forestry rose to prominencefrom 1048625104863310486331048629 to 1048626104862410486251048624 but so did illegal logging and deforestation worsenedin many places Te global apparel industry has come to be governed by

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numerous codes of conduct and factory monitoring initiatives but it hasalso continued to move quickly from one location to another in search oflow wages and more docile workers e rapid and inconsistent pace of the

global electronics industry has undermined aempts to improve workingconditions while rapidly changing agricultural markets have threatened thelivelihoods of many smallholder farmers

e puzzle of rules can be solved through an analysis of neoliberalism (seeBartley 1048626104862410486251048628a) but it also provokes a simple conclusion about the prospects forglobal fairness and sustainability global industries oen have contradictorytendencies so we should not expect either complete ldquogreenwashrdquoldquofairwashrdquo

or serious transformation Fair trade certi1047297cation has not transformed thelogic of commodity trade but it has improved conditions for some farmersin some circumstances FSC certi1047297cation has not made the timber trade sus-tainable but it has supported improvements in some forests As we developthese 1047297ndings (in part 1048626 of the book) we hope to speak not only to scholars ofconscientious consumerism but also to citizens and consumers themselvesConsumers oen want to feel like their purchases are ldquocleanrdquo of exploitation

but this is unrealistic We believe it would be more promising if consumers

shied from a deterministic to a probabilistic approach conscientious con-sumption may increase onersquos probability of contributing to improvementsand decrease the probability of contributing to the most extreme forms ofexploitation Tis does not answer the question of how large those prob-abilities are (which surely varies by product and label) or the question of howsigni1047297cant those improvements can be But only if consumers shi from anall-or-nothing view of ldquocleanrdquo versus ldquodirtyrdquo production (that is sustainable

versus destructive fair versus exploitative) can they come to an accurateunderstanding of what their purchases can and cannot achieve

983127 983144 983137983156 983116983145 983141 983155 983105 983144 983141 983137 983140

Part 1048625 of this book focuses on dynamics and dilemmas of conscientious con-sumerism In chapter 1048625 we look at why some American and European con-sumers are more likely than others to practice conscientious consumptionUsing survey data on thousands of individual consumers our quantitativeanalyses focus on factors that shape two forms of conscientious consump-tion boycoing and ldquobuycoingrdquo991252that is preferring a product for some po-

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litical or ethical reason Some paerns are related to consumersrsquo beliefs andthe extent to which they can afford to be choosy But individual differencesare only a small part of the story Where consumers are has a great deal to do

with whether they engage in conscientious consumption or not We thereforeconnect the individual survey responses with measures that capture nationaleconomic political and cultural contexts Overall this initial portrait showsthat conscientious consumption is widespread but far from universal withkey differences rooted not only in individual characteristics but in differentstructures of consumption as well

Having sketched some general paerns we delve deeper into the meanings

and implications of conscientious consumerism in chapter 1048626 Our analyses inchapter 1048625 are based on what consumers say they do but there are reasons todoubt that consumers will follow through on what they say or that what theysay truly captures the social meaning of their actions Yet we show that thereis evidence of consumers being wil ling to pay for eco-labels and social labelsConsumers are most likely to do so when their ldquoethicalrdquo choices also servetheir self-interest such as saving on energy costs or eating safer healthierfoods But even for those forms of conscientious consumption that have no

short-term direct bene1047297t for consumers there is mounting evidence thatsome consumers will pay more For labeling enthusiasts this is a good thingBut the ldquoone dollar one voterdquo logic of conscientious consumerism and thestatus-symbol character of some ldquoethicalrdquo products are potentially danger-ous in that they can exacerbate social economic and political inequalitiesamong consumers Moreover there is a danger that conscientious consumer-ism can displace other forms of political engagement promoting individual

consumerism at the expense of democratic citizenship and collective socialmovements Working through these debates we argue that conscientiousconsumerism as an ideology is regressive and counterproductive but speci1047297cpractices of conscientious consumption can sometimes be consistent withother forms of political engagement

Of course the real test of conscientious consumption comes at the pointof production To what extent do voluntary standards forged in response toconsumer concern make a difference ldquoon the groundrdquo in global industries

We tackle this question in part 1048626 of the book by looking at the global produc-tion of four types of products991252(1048625) wood and paper products (1048626) food (espe-cially the agri-food industry) (1048627) apparel and footwear and (1048628) electronics

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Each of these case studies is rooted in the interviews that we have conducted with local actors and other 1047297ne-grained information on the organization ofproduction ese chapters apply the framework sketched above (and a com-

mon organizational template) to allow for comparative insightsChapter 1048627 looks at the rise of forest certi1047297cation and its effects in the global

timber industry Like fair trade the FSC is one of the oldest and most es-tablished certi1047297cation and labeling initiatives It was founded more thantwenty years ago and it spurred a number of imitators and competitors Yetit is not well known among conscientious consumers and its impacts have

been far less than originally intended We trace the rise of forest certi1047297cation

with particular aention to the founders and constituents of the FSC andhow they leveraged the structure of the forest products industry to ldquomake amarketrdquo for certi1047297ed wood and paper Yet applying sustainability standardsto the production of some wood and paper products has barely influencedglobal deforestation A closer look at FSC certi1047297cation in the tropical forestsof Indonesia illustrates both the contradictions of certifying in a shiing andcontentious context and the limited ability of forest certi1047297cation to influencethe main drivers of deforestation

Next in chapter 1048628 we turn to agricultural production and the fairness andsustainability projects that have emerged in this seing Consumers aacha variety of meanings to food and the politics of food consumption has ex-ploded in the past decade In addition to sketching the structure of agri-foodproduction and consumption in general we focus on two types of rule-mak-ing projects fair trade certi1047297cation and an increasingly popular ldquocommod-ity roundtablerdquo approach Looking more closely at two crops991252sugar and

soy991252in one country Paraguay we are able to illustrate the consequences ofdifferent models of certi1047297cation and the crucial role of local context Globalfood politics are being layered onto preexisting institutional arrangementsand it is largely these institutional arrangements that determine whether cer-ti1047297cation is meaningful or not For instance fair trade certi1047297cation seems tomaer most when smallholder farmers are already organized into democrati-cally effective cooperatives or when local organizing al lows them to upgradetheir production capacities over time e contingent effects of conscientiousconsumption come into focus in this chapter

Chapter 1048629 considers how the rise of anti-sweatshop activism in the early1048625104863310486331048624s led to various aempts to monitor and improve working conditions inapparel and footwear factories A rough indication of how these initiatives

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have fared is provided by the occurrence of factory 1047297res in 1048626104862410486251048624ndash1048626104862410486251048627 and thedeath of more than eleven hundred garment workers in the 1048626104862410486251048627 collapse ofthe Rana Plaza building in Bangladesh Our chapter examines the constitu-

encies behind different factory auditing and certi1047297cation initiatives the waysstandards were implemented and the reasons why their effects have beenminimal e structure of apparel and footwear production in many wayscreated the demand for codes of conduct but the structure and the mobilityof the industry have undermined meaningful improvements Looking moreclosely at factories in China we show how aempts to certify particularfactories have fallen short In recent years several new projects to provide

ethical apparel have emerged but there remain few credible alternatives inthis industry

Finally chapter 983094 takes us into the fast-paced world of the electronics in-dustry where companies produce new models of smartphones laptops andother devices at breakneck speed Yet recently this industry has become afocus of aention for the exploitation of production workers especially aera series of worker suicides (and later strikes) at Foxconn factories in Chinaand mounting scrutiny of Foxconnrsquos buyer Apple Electronics brands have

also been accused of using ldquoconflict mineralsrdquo in the production of smart-phones e electronics industry is populated by well-capitalized companiesthat at times have demonstrated good intentions to make the labor processsafer and more humane Yet the industry has struggled to make improve-ments and 1047297nd tenable solutions We argue that the solution to this puzzlelies in the architecture of production and to a large extent ultimately in theorganization of electronics consumption is is a case in which conscien-

tious consumerism has been slow to develop and unreflective consumerismhas been a powerful constraint on signi1047297cant improvement Using detaileddata on factories producing for Hewle-Packard we show how the industrycontinues to demand extraordinarily ldquoflexiblerdquo labor markets and excessive

working hours in its factories in Southeast Asia We have tried to provide a sense of the complexity of these cases and set-

tings while still drawing out clear implications Along the way readers shouldget a clearer sense of the structure and operation of global value chains the

varied geographies of production and the circumscribed consequences ofeco-labels and social labels In a concluding chapter we compare our foursets of products and consider what has been learned

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rations have become transnational corporations with activities stretchingacross national boundaries without being deeply rooted in them Nationalstates once the main makers of rules and arbiters of rights are increasingly

just one of many actors issuing rules and claiming to enforce rights Inter-national NGOs and global standards associations have sought to issue rulesand enforce rights as well although their effectiveness in doing so is unclearMore broadly the goal to turn the world into ldquoone big marketrdquo991252associated

with neoliberal ideology991252has challenged earlier conceptions of what na-tional states can and should do to protect or empower citizens workers andthe environment Conscientious consumption and production projects are

to some degree the result of these changes In a world of vertically integratedcompanies and strong responsive states there would be far less demand for

voluntary standards supported by consumers But these changes have notsimply paved the way for conscientious consumerism they have complicatedits meanings and impacts in a variety of ways

Te Supply Chain Revolution

Capitalism in the twentieth century was characterized by the growth of verti-cally integrated corporations which controlled raw materials manufactur-ing and distribution and by the growth of horizontally integrated corpora-tions and conglomerates in which multiple businesses were combined in thesame corporate structure By the 1048625104863310486321048624s these models were giving way to theldquosupply chain revolutionrdquo in which large 1047297rms contract with independentsuppliers rather than owning an entire production process Nike built its

fortunes by being an early adopter of the ldquomanufacturer without factoriesrdquomodel and Walmart became a dominant retailer by making its supply chains

work faster and cheaper than retailers had previously In what Robert Feen-stra (1048625104863310486331048632) called the ldquointegration of trade and disintegration of productionrdquocompanies in industries from apparel to electronics to furniture shed theirfactories contracted with independent manufacturers and focused on build-ing their ldquobrandrdquo images

While some contracting and subcontracting happened within national borders scholars pointed out that many production processes were beingturned into ldquoglobal commodity chainsrdquo and especially ldquobuyer-drivenrdquo globalcommodity chains in which companies nearest the distribution end of the

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chain (retailers and well-known brands) exercised the greatest power overproduction processes and extracted the greatest pro1047297t from them (Gereffi1048625104863310486331048628 1048625104863310486331048633) Other terms such as ldquoglobal production networksrdquo and ldquoglobal

value chainsrdquo described similar phenomena and as many industries shiedto a supply chain model of some sort these different traditions of research

began to merge and more nuanced ways of describing power and coordina-tion in global value chains were articulated (Bair 1048626104862410486241048632 Gereffi Humphreyand Sturgeon 1048626104862410486241048629) is supply chain revolution was facilitated by techno-logical changes that made contracting more efficient and by legal changesthat opened more parts of the world to foreign investment Of course in

some industries such as agriculture large consumer-facing companies hadlong relied on networks of suppliers991252from coffee farmers to growers ofcorn wheat and other commodity crops Yet these industries have beenrecon1047297gured to some degree by the growth of mega-retailers that have cutout middleman distributors

Most important at this point is to recognize how the supply chain revolu-tion both highlighted and blurred the responsibilities of transnational corpo-rations On one hand contracting and subcontracting networks tied retailers

and brands in the United States and Europe to sites of production991252andexploitation991252around the world To be sure multinational corporations likeNestleacute I and PepsiCo had been shamed for the actions of their foreignarms in the 1048625104863310486311048624s but the networked transnational corporations of the 1048625104863310486331048624shad more extensive ties and thus greater vulnerabilities On the other handthe lines of responsibility991252and especially legal liability991252were blurry since

brands and retailers exercised a great deal of power over their suppliers but

did not own those sites of production Initially when sweatshops child la- bor and prison labor were uncovered brands like Nike and Walmart deniedresponsibility on the basis that they did not own the factories where suchabuses occurred As pressure mounted these and other lead 1047297rms in global

value chains began to accept ldquosordquo forms of responsibility by adopting codesof conduct and pledging to monitor and improve conditions in their supplychains ose same companies however 1047297ercely resisted aempts to makethem legally liable (Bartley 1048626104862410486241048629 Shamir 1048626104862410486241048628)

For the most part this remains the situation in the forest products foodapparelfootwear and electronics industries When pressed retailers and

brands have publicly accepted some responsibility to improve conditions in

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kets have remained largely national in scope especially when it comes toissues of fairness and sustainability e World Trade Organization (WTO)has endorsed protections for intellectual property rights but it has le only

narrow spaces for governments to protect workers and environments and ithas refused to address labor rights directly Bilateral and multilateral tradeagreements sometimes include labor and environmental standards but theseare limited in scope and enforceability International organizations suchas the United Nations and the International Labor Organization promoteconventions for governments to adopt but these organizations rarely haveany power to demand enforcement National governments are constrained

in part by a global economy in which 1047297rms and investors can move from one jurisdiction to another but perhaps even more by ideological commitmentsto neoliberal globalization and the rules of the WTO (Evans 1048625104863310486331048631 Rodrik1048626104862410486251048625) As we argue it is a mistake to think that governments are powerless orirrelevant in the face of globalization but there is no doubt that the dearthof binding international regulation of production conditions has led many tolook to the private sector as a way of enforcing standards NGOs for instancehave oen turned to voluntary standards and conscientious consumption as

second-best alternatives to intergovernmental systems of regulationNeoliberalism can be credited not only with helping to hollow out the state

but also with promoting an individualization of responsibility In a processthat theorists have called ldquoresponsibilizationrdquo individuals are treated as hav-ing the duty and capacity to take responsibility for things that should rightly

be seen as the result of social structures is can be seen for instance in at-tempts to reform welfare states to make welfare recipients take responsibility

for their own fates (Rose 1048626104862410486241048624) e moralization of markets has also been aresponsibilization process in which individual consumers are told they havethe duty991252and the ability991252to solve the worldrsquos social problems throughtheir purchases While some scholars use the language of responsibilizationto dismiss conscientious consumption as misguided we do not see this asthe most appropriate response We recognize that individual consumers are

being asked to take responsibility for problems that would oen be beerserved by more collective and robust solutions including revitalized statesand labor unions But it is at least possible that responsibility-taking by con-sumers could help to support more durable solutions in the future especially

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if governments NGOs and consumers themselves have a clearer under-standing of what is and is not being affected by conscientious consumptionand production initiatives

INGOs and ransnational Advocacy Networks

Since the end of World War II NGOs have become key actors in nationalinternational and transnational governance By the turn of the twenty-1047297rstcentury NGOs were carrying out most of the tasks of governing complex so-cieties delivering development assistance mediating social conflicts seing

standards for business developing expert knowledge and reconstructingsocieties aer natural and social disasters By some accounts the proliferationof NGOs and their incorporation into development and governance projectsamounts to an associational revolution that ldquomay constitute as signi1047297cant asocial and political development of the laer twentieth century as the rise ofthe nation state was of the nineteenth centuryrdquo (Edwards and Hulme 104862510486331048633983094 1048626)

International NGOs (INGOs) such as Greenpeace Oxfam or HumanRights Watch have mobilized aention to a variety of global problems from

climate change to new forms of bonded labor ey have garnered mediaaention to these problems and have pushed governments and intergovern-mental organizations to take action In addition the growth of transnationalnetworks of advocates and experts has sometimes allowed domestic activiststo gain leverage over their governments In what Margaret Keck and KathrynSikkink (1048625104863310486331048632) dubbed the ldquoboomerang effectrdquo domestic activists can reachpast indifferent or hostile domestic governments and appeal to transnational

advocacy networks that in turn exert pressure on those governmentsSince the 1048625104863310486331048624s INGOs have increasingly sought to put pressure on trans-

national corporations and restructure markets not just state policies eyhave led efforts to build product certi1047297cation initiatives from the ForestStewardship Council to the Marine Stewardship Council and they havecoordinated ldquomarket campaignsrdquo to convince large retailers to support theseinitiatives In addition the traditional boomerang effect has been supple-mented with what Naomi Klein (1048625104863310486331048633) called the ldquobrand boomerangrdquo in

which grassroots labor or environmental activists call on their internationalallies to put pressure on a well-known company that is operating in (or buy-

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ing from) that location rough these processes INGOs have become im-portant architects advocates and watchdogs of conscientious consumptionand production projects

e rise of INGOs does raise conundrums however especially about therelationship between professional advocates based in Amsterdam or Wash-ington DC and grassroots activists in developing countries To some extentINGOs have become sensitive to these power disparities and local NGOshave become savvy about working with foreign partners But the power ofINGOs to organize transnational campaigns aract media aention andshame global companies does carry the danger that more locally oriented

strategies or those directed to domestic governments are being neglected(Seidman 1048626104862410486241048631)

Standards for Markets and Markets for Standards

Without the supply chain revolution neoliberal globalization and thegrowth of transnational advocacy networks it is hard to imagine the rise ofconscientious consumption and global standards for fairness and sustain-

ability Yet just because initiatives for auditing certifying or reporting onsustainability or fairness have emerged that does not mean they will haveintegrity or impact Typically conscientious consumption and productionprojects are organized as private voluntary initiatives ey aempt to setstandards for markets but they also exist within markets Like all voluntaryprograms they depend on participation from companies and there can oen

be a trade-off between the stringency of standards and the number of partici-

pants (Potoski and Prakash 1048626104862410486241048633) All voluntary initiatives are structurallydependent on their corporate participants so one should take the languageof independent ldquothird-partyrdquo initiatives with a grain of salt Furthermore asprivate initiatives they have no monopoly on standards for a particular topic(as a government would have) is means competing standards initiativescan easily emerge For some observers the private voluntary character ofthese initiatives is reason enough to give up on them (eg Seidman 1048626104862410486241048631)

while for neoliberal advocates of market-based solutions these same featuresmake such initiatives especially aractive As we argue below our approachseeks to unpack variation in the organization of these initiatives and the

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contexts in which they operate At the same time as our case studies showthere are certainly limits on what private voluntary initiatives have beenable to accomplish

983124983144983154 983141983141 983110983154983137 983149983141983155 983137983150 983140 983124983144983141983145983154 983123983144983151983154983156983139983151983149983145983150 983143983155

Given the rise of conscientious consumerism and the growth of standards forglobal industries scholars and advocates are racing to promote simple framesfor making sense of them In this section we discuss three frames that areoen invoked Each captures a slice of something important but each ends

up obscuring as much as it illuminates or more

Te Empowered Sovereign Consumer

Scholars and advocates oen adopt a celebratory tone in discussing consci-entious consumerism ey argue that consumers are being empowered toldquovote with their dollarsrdquo and that these small changes in the habits of affluentconsumers can change or even ldquosaverdquo the world As Ruth Stokes (1048626104862410486251048627) writes

in the Ecologist magazine ldquoI believe that changing the way we shop991252voting with our money991252can help to change the world Companies respond tothe habits of shoppers We all have consumer power we just have to makesure we use it wiselyrdquo If consumers have been manipulated by companiesin the past they are increasingly being empowered by new sources of infor-mation argues Dara OrsquoRourke (1048626104862410486251048625) eorists of ldquopolitical consumerismrdquohave argued that this mode of political expression is especially empowering

for individuals who are alienated from formal politics such as young peopleand women (Michelei 1048626104862410486241048627) Furthermore as companies compete for thesupport of conscientious consumers and the coveted ldquolifestyles of health andsustainabilityrdquo (LOHAS) niche (Emerich 1048626104862410486251048625) many observers argue thatthey will become transparent responsible corporate citizens (Porter andKramer 104862610486241048624983094 Smith 1048625104863310486331048624 Zadek Pruzan and Evans 1048625104863310486331048631)

Such celebrations oen rest on an idealized framing of consumer agency991252that is the ability and willingness of the ldquosovereign citizen-consumerrdquo to bethe prime mover of social change (Jacobsen and Dulsrud 1048626104862410486241048631) e ldquosover-eign consumerrdquo is an old concept that is intended to suggest that consumertastes are the driver of all economic activity As scholars have observed the

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growth of conscientious consumption the sovereign consumer has becomethe sovereign citizen-consumer or what Roberta Sassatelli (1048626104862410486241048631) dubbedthe waking of the ldquosleepy giant of the sovereign citizen-consumerrdquo (104862510486321048632) So-

cial theorist Ulrich Beck perhaps the most prominent theorist of consump-tion as a form of politics argues that ldquocitizens discover the act of shoppingas one in which they can always cast their ballot991252on a world scale no lessrdquo(qtd in Sassatelli 1048626104862410486241048631 104862510486321048632) Michele Michelei (1048626104862410486241048627) takes the provocationeven further

Conflicts over what and where to consume are now central for understanding the func-tioning of affluent Western societies is can even mean that consumers participating

in boycos can for instance be likened to resistance 1047297ghters Yet unlike resistance orrevolutionary conflicts of the past citizen-consumers tend to direct their aention towardthe market rather than state actors (1048625983094ndash10486251048631)

Even if one gets past the hyperbole treating consumer tastes as king orqueen is problematic in several respects First consumersrsquo aitudes turn outto be only one ingredient in the construction of conscientious consumptionmarkets As we show in this book the opportunities for conscientious con-sumption are not distributed evenly across individuals or across countries

Social inequality and differences in market structures mean the social con-text of consumption is just as important as individual aitudes Consumertastes may make a difference but it is difficult to see them as a true primemover

Second it is naive to assume that a change in consumer tastes translatesdirectly into a change in the production processes of global industries AsMargaret Willis and Juliet Schor (1048626104862410486251048626) argue many accounts of consci-

entious consumerism take a ldquonaiumlve aggregationistrdquo approach to marketsassuming that if a large enough number of consumers is interested in al-ternative products the market will simply change to deliver them A quitedifferent story is told by research on industries technologies and organiza-tions over time Production processes are oen ldquolocked inrdquo by a system ofinterrelated technologies and expectations making them difficult to changePaul David (1048625104863310486321048629) famously illustrated this by considering the persistence ofthe inefficient QWERTY keyboard on typewriters and computers Even ifproduction practices are not strongly locked in companies like all organi-zations rarely abandon their core routines and technologies (Hannan andFreeman 1048625104863310486321048633) Perhaps the biggest problem is that those who celebrate the

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transformative power of new consumer tastes assume that industry practicesare changing but they almost never actually investigate this assumption edisconnect between theories of conscientious consumerism and empirical

research on industry practices is stark and it is one thing that we hope toremedy with this book

Finally by celebrating the empowered conscientious politicized con-sumer one obscures the ways that unreflective consumer choices influencelabor and environmental conditions in global industries As much as someconsumers are becoming more conscientious about some of their choicesespecially when it comes to food and drinks (eg organic produce fair trade

coffee) much consumer activity is routine and habitual and some of theethics of consumption are opaque to all but the most commied individu-als Conscientious consumers might be careful to recycle avoid disposableplastic water boles and buy organic vegetables but then eat beef withoutthinking of its massive natural resource demands and the contributions ofcale production to global warming As environmentalists have pointedout encouraging consumers to make their purchases more environmentallyfriendly carries a risk of legitimating overconsumption in affluent markets

which is the foundation of many forms of environmental degradation (Mani-ates and Meyer 1048626104862410486251048624) e issue may not be just the amount of consumption

but its pace as well As will become clear later in this book the rise of ldquofastfashionrdquo and ldquofast electronicsrdquo991252that is the rapid churning through fashion-able styles of clothing and different models of smartphones991252appears to bea root cause of labor exploitation in the apparel and electronics industries

GreenwashFairwash

While some have celebrated conscientious consumerism others have dis-missed voluntary standards eco-labeling and social labeling as ldquogreenwashrdquoor ldquofairwashrdquo As Sharon Beder (1048626104862410486241048625) puts it ldquoTe aempt to provide alsquogreenrsquo and caring image for a corporation is a public relations strategy aimedat promising reform and heading off demands for more substantial and fun-damental changes and government interventionrdquo (104862610486291048627) Claims about fair

and sustainable production in this view simply provide cover to companiesthat are engaged in fundamentally unfair and unsustainable activities ecodes of conduct sustainability reports and information disclosures that are

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highlighted in celebratory accounts of transparency may actually be formsof ldquodisinformationrdquo that obscure companiesrsquo actual practices

e term ldquogreenwashrdquo took off among environmentalists in the late 1048625104863310486321048624s

as a description of advertising campaigns that portrayed companies as pro-tectors of the environment (Beers and Capellaro 1048625104863310486331048625) Greenpeace arguedthat transnational corporations like Shell DuPont and Mitsubishi had ldquoem-

braced the environment as their cause and co-opted its terminologyrdquo even while contributing massively to environmental degradation (Greenpeace1048625104863310486331048626 1048626) e analogue for corporate claims about incomes livelihoods and

justice991252ldquofairwashingrdquo991252entered the lexicon later in the wake of the fair

trade movement As fair trade certi1047297cation was becoming ldquomainstreamedrdquoand imitated scholars and activists began worrying that fairwashing wason the horizon (Conroy 1048626104862410486241048631 Lyon and Moberg 1048626104862410486251048624) Observers have alsocriticized the images produced in the name of ldquocorporate social responsibil-ityrdquo arguing that these are ldquomerely a public relations game lulling us intoa false sense of securityrdquo (Doane 1048626104862410486241048629 10486261048633) Common to all these diagnosesis the sense that most assurances one 1047297nds on a product are nothing morethan public relations efforts

e greenwashfairwash critique captures two key features of conscien-tious consumption and global standards First when faced with criticismcompanies would prefer to be able to improve their images without alteringpro1047297table practices A public relations campaign is typically the 1047297rst line ofdefense Companies may also hire outside organizations991252auditors consul-tants and sometimes NGOs991252to lend some credibility to their campaignsey may also fund seemingly independent standard-seing initiatives that

can endorse their corporate social responsibility programs or label theirproducts As we will see this is how the US timber industryrsquos SustainableForestry Initiative got its start and it helps to account for the role of appareland footwear brands in the Fair Labor Association One must always takeassurances of sustainability and fairness with a grain of salt e dosage ofsalt depends in part on whether claims come from companies themselvesinitiatives that they control or more independent initiatives (If initiativesdepend on the voluntary participation of companies they can never be fully independent but there are gradations) In our analyses of standards (in part1048626 of this book) we are aentive to who has created a particular initiativehow it is funded and how dependent on companies it is Second there is

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nearly always some hypocrisy present when companies take up greening orfairness initiatives Simply because one product or one aspect of a companyrsquosproduction has earned some credentials does not mean that the companyrsquos

operations overall can be considered green or fair As David Vogel (1048626104862410486241048629)has argued we oen yearn for simple pronouncements of ldquogoodrdquo and ldquobadrdquocompanies But companies like people are complex multifaceted and oencontradictory One part of a company may be developing green productionprocesses while another part lobbies against environmental regulation

On the other hand we see simple distinctions between greenwashfair- wash and ldquotruerdquo reform as a poor match for the current state of global indus-

tries and labeling projects Eco-labeling and social labeling may once have been the domain of public relations personnel but they have become theirown specialized world in which credibility depends on ldquomulti-stakeholderrepresentationrdquo and extensive amounts of accreditation auditing and veri1047297-cation Companies might prefer to respond to criticism with public relationscampaigns but they are oen pushed by activists and investors to go furtherand achieve some kind of external assurance For instance if confronted bylabor rights abuses apparel and footwear companies no longer simply hold

up a code of conduct instead they refer to sophisticated factory monitoringprograms external certi1047297cations and ldquocapacity-buildingrdquo projects (Locke1048626104862410486251048627) Rather than simply co-opting the language of environmentalism manyretailers have been pushed to sell products that are independently certi1047297ed(Conroy 1048626104862410486241048631) Furthermore the world of voluntary certi1047297cation has be-come increasingly formalized For instance to judge compliance with thestandards of the FSC an auditing organization (eg Scienti1047297c Certi1047297cation

Systems SmartWood or the Soil Association) must be accredited by a sepa-rate oversight body (Accreditation Services International) Furthermore theFSC belongs to an umbrella organization991252the ISEAL (International Socialand Environmental Accreditation and Labeling) Alliance991252which de1047297nes

best practices for credible certi1047297cation initiatives To be sure all of this cer-ti1047297cation of the certi1047297ers of the certi1047297ers (and beyond) is not guaranteed to

bring about meaningful improvement Indeed we describe cases where thisformalization has been counterproductive and where seemingly credible ini-tiatives have failed spectacularly But it does mean there is more ldquocheckingrdquothan there is simple ldquowashingrdquo As Peter Dauvergne and Jane Lister (1048626104862410486251048626)put it ldquoCorporate sustainability goals include measurable targets are

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audited by independent groups and are integrated into the core business [through] life-cycle assessment supply chain tracing eco-certi1047297cation andsustainability reportingrdquo (10486271048632) We concur with them that all of this measure-

ment and reporting oen skirts the root causes of problems but one cannotseriously assess conscientious consumption without investigating this activ-ity If the world were as simple as it was when the ldquogreenwashrdquo frame was 1047297rstcoined a book like this would not be necessary

Most importantly the greenwashfairwash frame leaves a key questionunanswered if a claim is not just greenwashfairwash991252in other words if itis backed by stringent standards and credible veri1047297cation processes991252then

what is it It would be tempting to assume that the converse of greenwashfairwash is something like ldquoreal sustainabilityfairnessrdquo on the ground But asour case studies show it is possible to have stringent standards and credibleassessment but still not generate much reform of global industries Our goalis to provide some tools for making sense of these complex (and common)intermediate scenarios

Importing Standards into Empty Spaces

Another problematic frame concerns the implementation of global standardsincluding those supported by conscientious consumerism It is tempting tosee global standards as introducing new rules into otherwise empty spacesFor instance one might think of labor codes of conduct as introducing laborrights into factories that would otherwise be completely unregulated andchaotic Or one might think of global sustainability standards as introducing

environmental norms into seings where businesses would otherwise be freeto pollute with impunity As Alison Brysk puts it global rule-making proj-ects oen ldquoconcern areas previously ungoverned or even unknownrdquo (Brysk1048626104862410486241048629 104862510486261048624) Indeed scholars and practitioners oen portray private rules as1047297lling a ldquoregulatory voidrdquo as they are put into practice especially in devel-oping countries (Sabel OrsquoRourke and Fung 1048626104862410486241048624) For some developingcountries are so lacking in the rule of law as to constitute ldquoareas of limitedstatehoodrdquo in which private rules must serve as a substitute for public author-

ity (Boumlrzel and Risse 1048626104862410486251048624) Sociologists in the ldquoworld societyrdquo school startfrom different assumptions but nevertheless argue that global norms aboutenvironmental protection child labor and human rights are imported into

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developing countries as novel concepts that are completely alien to the locals(Meyer et al 1048625104863310486331048631)

e problem with this approach is not only as Gay Seidman (1048626104862410486241048631) argues

that ldquostateless regulationrdquo usually lacks enforcement power A more funda-mental problem is that this frame obscures the institutional arrangementsthat are in place in developing countries Developing countries are not emptyanonymous uniform places ey are populated with different business sys-tems cultures of production and political institutions What may look fromafar like a relatively empty space turns out on closer inspection to have adense set of preexisting relationships organizations and rules ese local

circumstances can recon1047297gure global rules in myriad ways (Halliday andCarruthers 1048626104862410486241048633 Merry 104862610486241048624983094) For instance in chapter 1048628 we look at fair tradecerti1047297cation and its consequences in Paraguay a place where earlier ways oforganizing agricultural operations set the stage for fair trade projects andshaped their results Fair trade standards were not simply imported to thisseing they were layered onto an existing set of institutions In fact a thickerldquolayeringrdquo of rules with varying consequences has been a common result ofglobal standards (Bartley 1048626104862410486251048625) An ldquoempty spacesrdquo assumption also obscures

ongoing political struggles at the point of production As we will see INGOsand conscientious consumers are far from the only actors concerned withlabor rights sustainability or the fair distribution of resources For instancerecent years have seen a rising tide of strikes in China and mobilization ofgarment workers in Cambodia and Bangladesh (Alam 1048626104862410486251048627 Dara and Wil-lemyns 1048626104862410486251048628 Friedman 1048626104862410486251048627) e land rights of indigenous people in Braziland Indonesia are a concern not only of backers of global sustainable forestry

standards but also of burgeoning movements of indigenous people them-selves (Gerber 1048626104862410486251048625) Social movements in developing countries may struggleto influence powerful global industries but they cannot simply be ignored

When it comes to governmental regulation it is true that developingcountries oen lack the resources and administrative capacities to effec-tively regulate production processes as do many governments in affluentcountries Moreover the logic of global production in some ways gives themdisincentives to do so aggressively implementing regulations may cause in-

vestors991252and orders from brands and retailers991252to flee the country and therules of the WTO make some forms of regulation untenable But ldquodevelopingcountriesrdquo are diverse In nearly all parts of the world there are laws relatedto labor the environment and the rights of citizens Scholars are beginning

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to 1047297nd increased enforcement of these laws in some surprising places fromrevitalized state labor inspection in the export processing zones of the Do-minican Republic (Schrank 1048626104862410486251048627) to aggressive environmental regulators in

Brazil and China (Coslovsky 1048626104862410486251048625 McAllister Van Rooij and Kagan 1048626104862410486251048624)In other instances law can be repressive991252restricting the rights of workers orindigenous communities for instance (Lee 1048626104862410486241048631 Li 1048626104862410486251048624) Again the influ-ences of local structures can vary but one should not assume a blank slate

983105 983122983151983157983143983144 983111983157983145983140983141 983156983151 983125983150 983152983137983139983147983145983150983143 983107983151983150983155983139983145983141 983150983156983145983151983157983155983107983151983150983155983157983149983152983156983145983151983150 983137983150983140 983120983154983151983140983157983139983156983145983151983150 983120983154983151983146983141983139983156983155

How then can one make sense of projects to promote conscientious con-sumption and fair or sustainable production e 1047297rst step is simply to acceptthat there is a great deal of variation ere is variation across individualsand locations in conscientious consumer behavior ere is variation acrossproducts and labeling initiatives in the ldquoon the groundrdquo implications of globalstandards ere is variation across industries (and even within them) in sys-tems of production and these intersect with national (and even subnational)

differences in industry organization To understand whether conscientiousconsumption and fairsustainable production projects can contribute tomeaningful alternatives we must look closely at these industrial and politi-cal contexts A second starting point is to accept that the influence of globalstandards for fairsustainable production is typically highly circumscribedor contingent on other factors As will become clear even the most stringentstandards and most credible initiatives do not transform global industries

ey sometimes influence certain parts of an industry but even this cannotautomatically be assumed

To unpack conscientious consumption initiatives and the global standardsthey endorse we bring four factors to the foreground (1048625) structures of pro-duction and consumption (1048626) the constituencies of standards (1048627) global-local linkages and (1048628) the coexistence of rule making and unruliness

Structures of Production and Consumption

Industry structures shape both the opportunities for conscientious con-sumption to occur and the consequences of rule-making projects at thepoint of production To start some industries are more likely than others to

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become targets of activism which is typically the catalyst for rule-makingand conscientious consumption projects

Lead 1047297rms in global value chains especially when they are large and have

salient corporate reputations make aractive targets for social movements(Bartley and Child 1048626104862410486251048628) Industries that lack powerful and well-known brands tend to aract less scrutiny For instance the manufacturing of bricksespecially in developing countries is oen a highly polluting and exploit-ative industry But because there are not well-known global brands in thisindustry it has received lile international aention In other cases activistshave highlighted a problem but without powerful and recognizable brands

to link this to rule-making projects have not emerged e production ofcheap costume jewelry is rife with exploitation as shown in the documentary Mardi Gras Made in China but this has not become a site of extensive rulemaking and conscientious consumerism In some circumstances the exis-tence of large high-pro1047297le retailers can compensate for a more fragmentedor poorly known set of manufacturers Anti-GMO activists for instancehave pressured manufacturers like Monsanto by going through large retailerslike Marks amp Spencer (Schurman and Munro 1048626104862410486241048633) Our analysis of global

food distribution (in chapter 1048628) is consistent with this observation but italso suggests that the locus of consumer and activist pressure depends onthe speci1047297c product

When activists do press lead 1047297rms to make their supply chains fairer ormore sustainable the consequences seem to depend in part on the structureof that supply chain If suppliers can easily 1047297nd alternative buyers who are notdemanding changes991252that is if there are few suppliers and many buyers991252

they will have lile incentive to comply with a particular lead 1047297rmrsquos rulesGoing further by many accounts when lead 1047297rms have a great deal of powerover ldquocaptiverdquo suppliers they should be able to demand that those suppliersmake improvements (Mayer and Gereffi 1048626104862410486251048624) On the other hand someresearch has questioned whether this power is truly effective or whether itmerely spurs a game in which suppliers pretend to be making improvements(and lead 1047297rms nod in approval) (Locke Amengual and Mangla 1048626104862410486241048633) Wesuspect that the power of lead 1047297rms does make a difference but that moresigni1047297cant changes are possible when lead 1047297rms and suppliers are mutuallydependent and work together over long stretches of time (Our analysis ofthe apparel industry in chapter 1048629 though suggests that long-term collabora-tion is rare) In addition when global value chains are fairly simple in their

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structure without too many intermediaries this should make it easier forstandards to ldquotravelrdquo through them ere is a conundrum here howeversince it is oen in industries with a high degree of subcontracting (such as

apparel) that global standards are in the highest demand If global industries were dominated by vertically integrated 1047297rms rather than dispersed supplychains the world of conscientious consumerism would look quite differentFurthermore sometimes the lack of action by large lead 1047297rms can leave aspace for activists and entrepreneurs to carve out a small market niche basedon fairness or sustainability is is how fair tradendashcerti1047297ed coffee beganand some new projects appear to be emerging in electronics (Fairphone as

discussed in chapter 983094) and apparel (the Alta Gracia factory as discussed inchapter 1048629) Aer looking more closely at our four industries991252timber foodapparelfootwear and electronics991252we return to questions about industrystructure in the bookrsquos conclusion

Industry structures also maer for consumers As we show in the nextchapter opportunities to engage in conscientious consumption are just asimportant as motivations to do so and these opportunities depend in parton the structure of the retail sector in a particular country Generally we sug-

gest that having larger retailers will facilitate consumer purchases of eco- andsocial-labeled products In part this is simply because larger retailers offer a

wider array of choices overall991252that is different versions of the same prod-uct991252while smaller retailers offer fewer choices To be sure small stores canspecialize in ldquoalternativerdquo products and large stores can fail to carry themBut given the trend toward ldquomainstreamingrdquo of alternatives (see Jaffee 1048626104862410486251048626)large retailers have become key points of sale for eco- and social-labeled prod-

ucts Furthermore oligopoly in the retail sector991252the dominance of a smallnumber of large companies991252also seems to magnify the power of activiststo influence the market As Rachel Schurman and William Munro (1048626104862410486241048633)found the existence of a small number of large food retailer chains in the UKallowed the anti-GMO movement to flourish there while it foundered amidthe larger number of supermarket chains in the United States

Constituencies and Standards

Global standards for fairness and sustainability may sound universal butthey spring from the priorities of particular individuals and groups A cru-cial step in understanding these standards is to examine the founders of

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initiatives that make rules audit compliance and certify products as fair orsustainable Some such initiatives such as fair trade certi1047297cation originatedlargely with NGOs or others outside of the industry Others such as the

Electronics Industry Citizenship Coalition and the Sustainable ForestryInitiative were founded almost exclusively by industry associations or othergroups of companies oen in response to the actions of NGOs In betweenare a number of initiatives developed by coalitions of NGOs and companiesfrom the Forest Stewardship Council to Social Accountability InternationalFounders are not everything NGO-initiated programs can become watereddown as they are mainstreamed and industry-initiated programs oen

evolve into formally independent organizations Most programs seek cred-ibility by calling themselves ldquomulti-stakeholderrdquo initiatives We maintainhowever that founding constituencies leave deep imprints on the content ofstandards and on the distribution of power within rule-making initiativesRules can get ratcheted up or down over time but these are usually marginalrevisions to a core approach Furthermore even when initiatives becomeformally independent from the constituencies that created them informalties revolving doors and 1047297nancial contributions oen persist

Generally we expect that industry-initiated programs will have standardsthat depart in relatively small ways from the normal practices of the indus-try Companies may want to improve labor conditions or environmentalperformance of their suppliers but they will be loath to push so far as todisrupt production or force a major change in their sourcing practices As aresult the greater the influence of companies in the founding of an initiativethe more likely it is to use either a ldquobest in classrdquo approach or a ldquocontinuous

improvementrdquo approach In the 1047297rst companies are recognized (throughcerti1047297cation or other endorsement) for demonstrating that they are aboveaverage in their industry is oen skirts the issue of whether they meeta stringent de1047297nition of a 1047297xed standard As Sco Nova (1048626104862410486251048625) has noted aldquobest in classrdquo model is like grading on a curve even if average performanceis quite low e second approach allows companies to start with a relativelylax standard and encourage gradual improvement over time852019

When industry outsiders have power in the initial design standard-seinginitiatives should look somewhat different First their standards are likely todepart more substantially from normal practices in the industry to a greateror lesser degree depending on the power of these outsiders Second these

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10486261048631983113983150983156983154983151983140983157983139983156983145983151983150

initiatives are more likely though certainly not guaranteed to endorse analternative model of production rather than to just reward the best in class orpush for continuous improvement Fair trade certi1047297cation and its emphasis

on democratically managed producer cooperatives (as described in chap-ter 1048628) is the clearest example of this ird and because of this initiativesspawned by outsiders are likely to either remain small or face dilemmas ofmainstreaming as they grow If they seek a large market presence ldquoalterna-tiverdquo programs will inevitably become more dependent on large companiese result may be a watering down of standards although as the case of theFSC shows (in chapter 1048627) this can be counteracted to some degree

For most products there are multiple competing aempts to de1047297ne fair-ness and sustainability For instance there are several ways of certifying thefairness and sustainability of coffee or of assessing the labor conditions ofapparel companies852020 Usually this competition reflects the struggle betweencompanies and NGOs Some scholars believe that such competition dooms

voluntary initiatives since it confuses consumers and lets companies choosetheir own standards (Seidman 1048626104862410486241048631) Others believe that it strengthens gov-ernance by spurring a ldquoratcheting uprdquo of expectations (Sabel OrsquoRourke and

Fung 1048626104862410486241048624) Our analysis of four global industries suggests that different setsof standards can oen coexist not exactly peacefully but with moderateinteraction or in different market niches Competition is inevitable but itseems to neither doom nor guarantee meaningful standards for fairness andsustainability It must be noted that initiatives that began with high bars991252namely Fair Trade and the FSC991252have not been pushed out of the market

by their competitors

Localized Globalisms and Globalized Localisms

Specifying links between ldquothe globalrdquo and ldquothe localrdquo has proven difficultand scholars have oen fallen prey to two types of conceptual dangers Firstin focusing on the global diffusion of a given idea or norm some have por-trayed domestic seings as lile more than passive receivers of a global proj-ect e language of domestic seings as ldquoreceptor sitesrdquo for global models(Frank Hironaka and Schofer 1048626104862410486241048624) is one example of this Pinpointingthis problem researchers are increasingly focusing on how local actors ap-propriate and ldquoindigenizerdquo global models to make them useful or meaningful

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(Halliday and Carruthers 1048626104862410486241048633 Merry 104862610486241048624983094) Second scholars of globaliza-tion oen equate the global with universalism (and oen progress) and thelocal with particularism (and oen backwardness) In so doing scholars

uncritically accept the most dominant model as ldquothe globalrdquo and obscure thepower that was exercised to establish its dominance

To deal with these problems we adopt Bonaventura de Santosrsquos language ofldquoglobalized localismsrdquo and ldquo localized globalismsrdquo (Santos 104862610486241048624983094 Santos andRodriacuteguez Garavito 1048626104862410486241048629) e 1047297rst refers to a process in which a particularis-tic set of ideas and practices becomes a dominant global norm Santos (104862610486241048624983094)provides examples such as ldquothe transformation of the English language into

a lingua franca the globalization of American fast food or popular music orthe worldwide adoption of the same laws of intellectual ownership patentsor telecommunications aggressively promoted by the USArdquo (10486271048633983094) For ourpurpose the key issue is how particular understandings of rights rules andenforcement have become institutionalized as global norms Concretely thenotion of a ldquoglobalized localismrdquo sensitizes us to processes by which particu-lar sets of reformers (NGOs companies or others) have turned their projectsinto ldquoglobalrdquo standards for fairness and sustainability Our point is not to

join the chorus that argues that ldquoWesternrdquo standards are being illegitimatelyforced on people and companies elsewhere ere have long been calls fordecent work and responsible natural resource management in many differ-ent parts of the world But the global standards supported by conscientiousconsumers in North A merica and Europe embody particular approaches tothese issues

e second concept ldquolocalized globalismrdquo refers to the incorporation of

these global models into local routines and expectations e concept sen-sitizes us to the work involved in turning global standards for fairness andsustainability into a concrete practice in a factory forest or farm in someparticular location As we have noted scholars too oen portray these sites asempty spaces We believe it is preferable to start from the opposite premisethat sites of implementation are crowded with different actors and agendasonly some of which are likely to line up with global standard-seing initia-tives Some elements of global standards are easily incorporated into localpractices while others are 1047297ercely resisted But a recognition of localizedglobalisms also has methodological implications It is rare for researchersto actually study these locations in detail It is easier to conduct distant and

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decontextualized studies of CSR or to focus only on the creation of standardsrather than their local implementation Our analyses of the global timberagricultural apparel and electronics industries include aention to speci1047297c

locations from the sugarcane farms of Paraguay to the electronics factoriesof Malaysia

Te Puzzle of Rules Rule Making and the Persistence of Unruliness

One can beer understand conscientious consumption and production proj-ects by recognizing what Tim Bartley (1048626104862410486251048628a) has called the ldquopuzzle of rulesrdquo

in the global economy simply put global capitalism can be ldquounrulyrdquo but italso generates many rule-making projects

e expansion of global markets has facilitated a number of rule-makingprojects from the standardization of accounting procedures to the rules forfairness and sustainability discussed in this book e volume of rule making

by both public and private actors has increased over the past three decadesMany scholars have pointed to these trends as evidence that global capitalismis not manic or ungovernable as it was initially framed Marie-Laure Djelic

and Kerstin Sahlin-Andersson (104862610486241048624983094) argue that ldquothe proliferation of regu-latory activities actors networks or constellations leads to an explosion ofrules and to the profound re-ordering of our worldrdquo (1048625) and they see globalcapitalism as ldquomarked by more991252not less991252rule-making activityrdquo (10486271048631983094)

On the other hand the explosion of rule making has oen been gearedtoward the expansion of markets rather than their restriction and in manyrespects global capitalism has remained unruly In many industries invest-

ment and orders can and do move quickly across locations oen under-mining aempts to impose rules Even more socially controlled European

varieties of capitalism have had their foundations chipped away (Streeck1048626104862410486241048633) Furthermore for all of the efforts of NGOs to build rules for fairnesssustainability and human rights many corners of global industries remainlargely unscrutinized and unaffected by these rule-making projects

As our case studies illustrate even as standards for fairness and sustain-ability have risen to prominence global industries have remained volatileand exploitative Certi1047297cation of sustainable forestry rose to prominencefrom 1048625104863310486331048629 to 1048626104862410486251048624 but so did illegal logging and deforestation worsenedin many places Te global apparel industry has come to be governed by

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numerous codes of conduct and factory monitoring initiatives but it hasalso continued to move quickly from one location to another in search oflow wages and more docile workers e rapid and inconsistent pace of the

global electronics industry has undermined aempts to improve workingconditions while rapidly changing agricultural markets have threatened thelivelihoods of many smallholder farmers

e puzzle of rules can be solved through an analysis of neoliberalism (seeBartley 1048626104862410486251048628a) but it also provokes a simple conclusion about the prospects forglobal fairness and sustainability global industries oen have contradictorytendencies so we should not expect either complete ldquogreenwashrdquoldquofairwashrdquo

or serious transformation Fair trade certi1047297cation has not transformed thelogic of commodity trade but it has improved conditions for some farmersin some circumstances FSC certi1047297cation has not made the timber trade sus-tainable but it has supported improvements in some forests As we developthese 1047297ndings (in part 1048626 of the book) we hope to speak not only to scholars ofconscientious consumerism but also to citizens and consumers themselvesConsumers oen want to feel like their purchases are ldquocleanrdquo of exploitation

but this is unrealistic We believe it would be more promising if consumers

shied from a deterministic to a probabilistic approach conscientious con-sumption may increase onersquos probability of contributing to improvementsand decrease the probability of contributing to the most extreme forms ofexploitation Tis does not answer the question of how large those prob-abilities are (which surely varies by product and label) or the question of howsigni1047297cant those improvements can be But only if consumers shi from anall-or-nothing view of ldquocleanrdquo versus ldquodirtyrdquo production (that is sustainable

versus destructive fair versus exploitative) can they come to an accurateunderstanding of what their purchases can and cannot achieve

983127 983144 983137983156 983116983145 983141 983155 983105 983144 983141 983137 983140

Part 1048625 of this book focuses on dynamics and dilemmas of conscientious con-sumerism In chapter 1048625 we look at why some American and European con-sumers are more likely than others to practice conscientious consumptionUsing survey data on thousands of individual consumers our quantitativeanalyses focus on factors that shape two forms of conscientious consump-tion boycoing and ldquobuycoingrdquo991252that is preferring a product for some po-

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litical or ethical reason Some paerns are related to consumersrsquo beliefs andthe extent to which they can afford to be choosy But individual differencesare only a small part of the story Where consumers are has a great deal to do

with whether they engage in conscientious consumption or not We thereforeconnect the individual survey responses with measures that capture nationaleconomic political and cultural contexts Overall this initial portrait showsthat conscientious consumption is widespread but far from universal withkey differences rooted not only in individual characteristics but in differentstructures of consumption as well

Having sketched some general paerns we delve deeper into the meanings

and implications of conscientious consumerism in chapter 1048626 Our analyses inchapter 1048625 are based on what consumers say they do but there are reasons todoubt that consumers will follow through on what they say or that what theysay truly captures the social meaning of their actions Yet we show that thereis evidence of consumers being wil ling to pay for eco-labels and social labelsConsumers are most likely to do so when their ldquoethicalrdquo choices also servetheir self-interest such as saving on energy costs or eating safer healthierfoods But even for those forms of conscientious consumption that have no

short-term direct bene1047297t for consumers there is mounting evidence thatsome consumers will pay more For labeling enthusiasts this is a good thingBut the ldquoone dollar one voterdquo logic of conscientious consumerism and thestatus-symbol character of some ldquoethicalrdquo products are potentially danger-ous in that they can exacerbate social economic and political inequalitiesamong consumers Moreover there is a danger that conscientious consumer-ism can displace other forms of political engagement promoting individual

consumerism at the expense of democratic citizenship and collective socialmovements Working through these debates we argue that conscientiousconsumerism as an ideology is regressive and counterproductive but speci1047297cpractices of conscientious consumption can sometimes be consistent withother forms of political engagement

Of course the real test of conscientious consumption comes at the pointof production To what extent do voluntary standards forged in response toconsumer concern make a difference ldquoon the groundrdquo in global industries

We tackle this question in part 1048626 of the book by looking at the global produc-tion of four types of products991252(1048625) wood and paper products (1048626) food (espe-cially the agri-food industry) (1048627) apparel and footwear and (1048628) electronics

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Each of these case studies is rooted in the interviews that we have conducted with local actors and other 1047297ne-grained information on the organization ofproduction ese chapters apply the framework sketched above (and a com-

mon organizational template) to allow for comparative insightsChapter 1048627 looks at the rise of forest certi1047297cation and its effects in the global

timber industry Like fair trade the FSC is one of the oldest and most es-tablished certi1047297cation and labeling initiatives It was founded more thantwenty years ago and it spurred a number of imitators and competitors Yetit is not well known among conscientious consumers and its impacts have

been far less than originally intended We trace the rise of forest certi1047297cation

with particular aention to the founders and constituents of the FSC andhow they leveraged the structure of the forest products industry to ldquomake amarketrdquo for certi1047297ed wood and paper Yet applying sustainability standardsto the production of some wood and paper products has barely influencedglobal deforestation A closer look at FSC certi1047297cation in the tropical forestsof Indonesia illustrates both the contradictions of certifying in a shiing andcontentious context and the limited ability of forest certi1047297cation to influencethe main drivers of deforestation

Next in chapter 1048628 we turn to agricultural production and the fairness andsustainability projects that have emerged in this seing Consumers aacha variety of meanings to food and the politics of food consumption has ex-ploded in the past decade In addition to sketching the structure of agri-foodproduction and consumption in general we focus on two types of rule-mak-ing projects fair trade certi1047297cation and an increasingly popular ldquocommod-ity roundtablerdquo approach Looking more closely at two crops991252sugar and

soy991252in one country Paraguay we are able to illustrate the consequences ofdifferent models of certi1047297cation and the crucial role of local context Globalfood politics are being layered onto preexisting institutional arrangementsand it is largely these institutional arrangements that determine whether cer-ti1047297cation is meaningful or not For instance fair trade certi1047297cation seems tomaer most when smallholder farmers are already organized into democrati-cally effective cooperatives or when local organizing al lows them to upgradetheir production capacities over time e contingent effects of conscientiousconsumption come into focus in this chapter

Chapter 1048629 considers how the rise of anti-sweatshop activism in the early1048625104863310486331048624s led to various aempts to monitor and improve working conditions inapparel and footwear factories A rough indication of how these initiatives

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have fared is provided by the occurrence of factory 1047297res in 1048626104862410486251048624ndash1048626104862410486251048627 and thedeath of more than eleven hundred garment workers in the 1048626104862410486251048627 collapse ofthe Rana Plaza building in Bangladesh Our chapter examines the constitu-

encies behind different factory auditing and certi1047297cation initiatives the waysstandards were implemented and the reasons why their effects have beenminimal e structure of apparel and footwear production in many wayscreated the demand for codes of conduct but the structure and the mobilityof the industry have undermined meaningful improvements Looking moreclosely at factories in China we show how aempts to certify particularfactories have fallen short In recent years several new projects to provide

ethical apparel have emerged but there remain few credible alternatives inthis industry

Finally chapter 983094 takes us into the fast-paced world of the electronics in-dustry where companies produce new models of smartphones laptops andother devices at breakneck speed Yet recently this industry has become afocus of aention for the exploitation of production workers especially aera series of worker suicides (and later strikes) at Foxconn factories in Chinaand mounting scrutiny of Foxconnrsquos buyer Apple Electronics brands have

also been accused of using ldquoconflict mineralsrdquo in the production of smart-phones e electronics industry is populated by well-capitalized companiesthat at times have demonstrated good intentions to make the labor processsafer and more humane Yet the industry has struggled to make improve-ments and 1047297nd tenable solutions We argue that the solution to this puzzlelies in the architecture of production and to a large extent ultimately in theorganization of electronics consumption is is a case in which conscien-

tious consumerism has been slow to develop and unreflective consumerismhas been a powerful constraint on signi1047297cant improvement Using detaileddata on factories producing for Hewle-Packard we show how the industrycontinues to demand extraordinarily ldquoflexiblerdquo labor markets and excessive

working hours in its factories in Southeast Asia We have tried to provide a sense of the complexity of these cases and set-

tings while still drawing out clear implications Along the way readers shouldget a clearer sense of the structure and operation of global value chains the

varied geographies of production and the circumscribed consequences ofeco-labels and social labels In a concluding chapter we compare our foursets of products and consider what has been learned

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chain (retailers and well-known brands) exercised the greatest power overproduction processes and extracted the greatest pro1047297t from them (Gereffi1048625104863310486331048628 1048625104863310486331048633) Other terms such as ldquoglobal production networksrdquo and ldquoglobal

value chainsrdquo described similar phenomena and as many industries shiedto a supply chain model of some sort these different traditions of research

began to merge and more nuanced ways of describing power and coordina-tion in global value chains were articulated (Bair 1048626104862410486241048632 Gereffi Humphreyand Sturgeon 1048626104862410486241048629) is supply chain revolution was facilitated by techno-logical changes that made contracting more efficient and by legal changesthat opened more parts of the world to foreign investment Of course in

some industries such as agriculture large consumer-facing companies hadlong relied on networks of suppliers991252from coffee farmers to growers ofcorn wheat and other commodity crops Yet these industries have beenrecon1047297gured to some degree by the growth of mega-retailers that have cutout middleman distributors

Most important at this point is to recognize how the supply chain revolu-tion both highlighted and blurred the responsibilities of transnational corpo-rations On one hand contracting and subcontracting networks tied retailers

and brands in the United States and Europe to sites of production991252andexploitation991252around the world To be sure multinational corporations likeNestleacute I and PepsiCo had been shamed for the actions of their foreignarms in the 1048625104863310486311048624s but the networked transnational corporations of the 1048625104863310486331048624shad more extensive ties and thus greater vulnerabilities On the other handthe lines of responsibility991252and especially legal liability991252were blurry since

brands and retailers exercised a great deal of power over their suppliers but

did not own those sites of production Initially when sweatshops child la- bor and prison labor were uncovered brands like Nike and Walmart deniedresponsibility on the basis that they did not own the factories where suchabuses occurred As pressure mounted these and other lead 1047297rms in global

value chains began to accept ldquosordquo forms of responsibility by adopting codesof conduct and pledging to monitor and improve conditions in their supplychains ose same companies however 1047297ercely resisted aempts to makethem legally liable (Bartley 1048626104862410486241048629 Shamir 1048626104862410486241048628)

For the most part this remains the situation in the forest products foodapparelfootwear and electronics industries When pressed retailers and

brands have publicly accepted some responsibility to improve conditions in

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kets have remained largely national in scope especially when it comes toissues of fairness and sustainability e World Trade Organization (WTO)has endorsed protections for intellectual property rights but it has le only

narrow spaces for governments to protect workers and environments and ithas refused to address labor rights directly Bilateral and multilateral tradeagreements sometimes include labor and environmental standards but theseare limited in scope and enforceability International organizations suchas the United Nations and the International Labor Organization promoteconventions for governments to adopt but these organizations rarely haveany power to demand enforcement National governments are constrained

in part by a global economy in which 1047297rms and investors can move from one jurisdiction to another but perhaps even more by ideological commitmentsto neoliberal globalization and the rules of the WTO (Evans 1048625104863310486331048631 Rodrik1048626104862410486251048625) As we argue it is a mistake to think that governments are powerless orirrelevant in the face of globalization but there is no doubt that the dearthof binding international regulation of production conditions has led many tolook to the private sector as a way of enforcing standards NGOs for instancehave oen turned to voluntary standards and conscientious consumption as

second-best alternatives to intergovernmental systems of regulationNeoliberalism can be credited not only with helping to hollow out the state

but also with promoting an individualization of responsibility In a processthat theorists have called ldquoresponsibilizationrdquo individuals are treated as hav-ing the duty and capacity to take responsibility for things that should rightly

be seen as the result of social structures is can be seen for instance in at-tempts to reform welfare states to make welfare recipients take responsibility

for their own fates (Rose 1048626104862410486241048624) e moralization of markets has also been aresponsibilization process in which individual consumers are told they havethe duty991252and the ability991252to solve the worldrsquos social problems throughtheir purchases While some scholars use the language of responsibilizationto dismiss conscientious consumption as misguided we do not see this asthe most appropriate response We recognize that individual consumers are

being asked to take responsibility for problems that would oen be beerserved by more collective and robust solutions including revitalized statesand labor unions But it is at least possible that responsibility-taking by con-sumers could help to support more durable solutions in the future especially

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if governments NGOs and consumers themselves have a clearer under-standing of what is and is not being affected by conscientious consumptionand production initiatives

INGOs and ransnational Advocacy Networks

Since the end of World War II NGOs have become key actors in nationalinternational and transnational governance By the turn of the twenty-1047297rstcentury NGOs were carrying out most of the tasks of governing complex so-cieties delivering development assistance mediating social conflicts seing

standards for business developing expert knowledge and reconstructingsocieties aer natural and social disasters By some accounts the proliferationof NGOs and their incorporation into development and governance projectsamounts to an associational revolution that ldquomay constitute as signi1047297cant asocial and political development of the laer twentieth century as the rise ofthe nation state was of the nineteenth centuryrdquo (Edwards and Hulme 104862510486331048633983094 1048626)

International NGOs (INGOs) such as Greenpeace Oxfam or HumanRights Watch have mobilized aention to a variety of global problems from

climate change to new forms of bonded labor ey have garnered mediaaention to these problems and have pushed governments and intergovern-mental organizations to take action In addition the growth of transnationalnetworks of advocates and experts has sometimes allowed domestic activiststo gain leverage over their governments In what Margaret Keck and KathrynSikkink (1048625104863310486331048632) dubbed the ldquoboomerang effectrdquo domestic activists can reachpast indifferent or hostile domestic governments and appeal to transnational

advocacy networks that in turn exert pressure on those governmentsSince the 1048625104863310486331048624s INGOs have increasingly sought to put pressure on trans-

national corporations and restructure markets not just state policies eyhave led efforts to build product certi1047297cation initiatives from the ForestStewardship Council to the Marine Stewardship Council and they havecoordinated ldquomarket campaignsrdquo to convince large retailers to support theseinitiatives In addition the traditional boomerang effect has been supple-mented with what Naomi Klein (1048625104863310486331048633) called the ldquobrand boomerangrdquo in

which grassroots labor or environmental activists call on their internationalallies to put pressure on a well-known company that is operating in (or buy-

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ing from) that location rough these processes INGOs have become im-portant architects advocates and watchdogs of conscientious consumptionand production projects

e rise of INGOs does raise conundrums however especially about therelationship between professional advocates based in Amsterdam or Wash-ington DC and grassroots activists in developing countries To some extentINGOs have become sensitive to these power disparities and local NGOshave become savvy about working with foreign partners But the power ofINGOs to organize transnational campaigns aract media aention andshame global companies does carry the danger that more locally oriented

strategies or those directed to domestic governments are being neglected(Seidman 1048626104862410486241048631)

Standards for Markets and Markets for Standards

Without the supply chain revolution neoliberal globalization and thegrowth of transnational advocacy networks it is hard to imagine the rise ofconscientious consumption and global standards for fairness and sustain-

ability Yet just because initiatives for auditing certifying or reporting onsustainability or fairness have emerged that does not mean they will haveintegrity or impact Typically conscientious consumption and productionprojects are organized as private voluntary initiatives ey aempt to setstandards for markets but they also exist within markets Like all voluntaryprograms they depend on participation from companies and there can oen

be a trade-off between the stringency of standards and the number of partici-

pants (Potoski and Prakash 1048626104862410486241048633) All voluntary initiatives are structurallydependent on their corporate participants so one should take the languageof independent ldquothird-partyrdquo initiatives with a grain of salt Furthermore asprivate initiatives they have no monopoly on standards for a particular topic(as a government would have) is means competing standards initiativescan easily emerge For some observers the private voluntary character ofthese initiatives is reason enough to give up on them (eg Seidman 1048626104862410486241048631)

while for neoliberal advocates of market-based solutions these same featuresmake such initiatives especially aractive As we argue below our approachseeks to unpack variation in the organization of these initiatives and the

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contexts in which they operate At the same time as our case studies showthere are certainly limits on what private voluntary initiatives have beenable to accomplish

983124983144983154 983141983141 983110983154983137 983149983141983155 983137983150 983140 983124983144983141983145983154 983123983144983151983154983156983139983151983149983145983150 983143983155

Given the rise of conscientious consumerism and the growth of standards forglobal industries scholars and advocates are racing to promote simple framesfor making sense of them In this section we discuss three frames that areoen invoked Each captures a slice of something important but each ends

up obscuring as much as it illuminates or more

Te Empowered Sovereign Consumer

Scholars and advocates oen adopt a celebratory tone in discussing consci-entious consumerism ey argue that consumers are being empowered toldquovote with their dollarsrdquo and that these small changes in the habits of affluentconsumers can change or even ldquosaverdquo the world As Ruth Stokes (1048626104862410486251048627) writes

in the Ecologist magazine ldquoI believe that changing the way we shop991252voting with our money991252can help to change the world Companies respond tothe habits of shoppers We all have consumer power we just have to makesure we use it wiselyrdquo If consumers have been manipulated by companiesin the past they are increasingly being empowered by new sources of infor-mation argues Dara OrsquoRourke (1048626104862410486251048625) eorists of ldquopolitical consumerismrdquohave argued that this mode of political expression is especially empowering

for individuals who are alienated from formal politics such as young peopleand women (Michelei 1048626104862410486241048627) Furthermore as companies compete for thesupport of conscientious consumers and the coveted ldquolifestyles of health andsustainabilityrdquo (LOHAS) niche (Emerich 1048626104862410486251048625) many observers argue thatthey will become transparent responsible corporate citizens (Porter andKramer 104862610486241048624983094 Smith 1048625104863310486331048624 Zadek Pruzan and Evans 1048625104863310486331048631)

Such celebrations oen rest on an idealized framing of consumer agency991252that is the ability and willingness of the ldquosovereign citizen-consumerrdquo to bethe prime mover of social change (Jacobsen and Dulsrud 1048626104862410486241048631) e ldquosover-eign consumerrdquo is an old concept that is intended to suggest that consumertastes are the driver of all economic activity As scholars have observed the

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growth of conscientious consumption the sovereign consumer has becomethe sovereign citizen-consumer or what Roberta Sassatelli (1048626104862410486241048631) dubbedthe waking of the ldquosleepy giant of the sovereign citizen-consumerrdquo (104862510486321048632) So-

cial theorist Ulrich Beck perhaps the most prominent theorist of consump-tion as a form of politics argues that ldquocitizens discover the act of shoppingas one in which they can always cast their ballot991252on a world scale no lessrdquo(qtd in Sassatelli 1048626104862410486241048631 104862510486321048632) Michele Michelei (1048626104862410486241048627) takes the provocationeven further

Conflicts over what and where to consume are now central for understanding the func-tioning of affluent Western societies is can even mean that consumers participating

in boycos can for instance be likened to resistance 1047297ghters Yet unlike resistance orrevolutionary conflicts of the past citizen-consumers tend to direct their aention towardthe market rather than state actors (1048625983094ndash10486251048631)

Even if one gets past the hyperbole treating consumer tastes as king orqueen is problematic in several respects First consumersrsquo aitudes turn outto be only one ingredient in the construction of conscientious consumptionmarkets As we show in this book the opportunities for conscientious con-sumption are not distributed evenly across individuals or across countries

Social inequality and differences in market structures mean the social con-text of consumption is just as important as individual aitudes Consumertastes may make a difference but it is difficult to see them as a true primemover

Second it is naive to assume that a change in consumer tastes translatesdirectly into a change in the production processes of global industries AsMargaret Willis and Juliet Schor (1048626104862410486251048626) argue many accounts of consci-

entious consumerism take a ldquonaiumlve aggregationistrdquo approach to marketsassuming that if a large enough number of consumers is interested in al-ternative products the market will simply change to deliver them A quitedifferent story is told by research on industries technologies and organiza-tions over time Production processes are oen ldquolocked inrdquo by a system ofinterrelated technologies and expectations making them difficult to changePaul David (1048625104863310486321048629) famously illustrated this by considering the persistence ofthe inefficient QWERTY keyboard on typewriters and computers Even ifproduction practices are not strongly locked in companies like all organi-zations rarely abandon their core routines and technologies (Hannan andFreeman 1048625104863310486321048633) Perhaps the biggest problem is that those who celebrate the

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transformative power of new consumer tastes assume that industry practicesare changing but they almost never actually investigate this assumption edisconnect between theories of conscientious consumerism and empirical

research on industry practices is stark and it is one thing that we hope toremedy with this book

Finally by celebrating the empowered conscientious politicized con-sumer one obscures the ways that unreflective consumer choices influencelabor and environmental conditions in global industries As much as someconsumers are becoming more conscientious about some of their choicesespecially when it comes to food and drinks (eg organic produce fair trade

coffee) much consumer activity is routine and habitual and some of theethics of consumption are opaque to all but the most commied individu-als Conscientious consumers might be careful to recycle avoid disposableplastic water boles and buy organic vegetables but then eat beef withoutthinking of its massive natural resource demands and the contributions ofcale production to global warming As environmentalists have pointedout encouraging consumers to make their purchases more environmentallyfriendly carries a risk of legitimating overconsumption in affluent markets

which is the foundation of many forms of environmental degradation (Mani-ates and Meyer 1048626104862410486251048624) e issue may not be just the amount of consumption

but its pace as well As will become clear later in this book the rise of ldquofastfashionrdquo and ldquofast electronicsrdquo991252that is the rapid churning through fashion-able styles of clothing and different models of smartphones991252appears to bea root cause of labor exploitation in the apparel and electronics industries

GreenwashFairwash

While some have celebrated conscientious consumerism others have dis-missed voluntary standards eco-labeling and social labeling as ldquogreenwashrdquoor ldquofairwashrdquo As Sharon Beder (1048626104862410486241048625) puts it ldquoTe aempt to provide alsquogreenrsquo and caring image for a corporation is a public relations strategy aimedat promising reform and heading off demands for more substantial and fun-damental changes and government interventionrdquo (104862610486291048627) Claims about fair

and sustainable production in this view simply provide cover to companiesthat are engaged in fundamentally unfair and unsustainable activities ecodes of conduct sustainability reports and information disclosures that are

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highlighted in celebratory accounts of transparency may actually be formsof ldquodisinformationrdquo that obscure companiesrsquo actual practices

e term ldquogreenwashrdquo took off among environmentalists in the late 1048625104863310486321048624s

as a description of advertising campaigns that portrayed companies as pro-tectors of the environment (Beers and Capellaro 1048625104863310486331048625) Greenpeace arguedthat transnational corporations like Shell DuPont and Mitsubishi had ldquoem-

braced the environment as their cause and co-opted its terminologyrdquo even while contributing massively to environmental degradation (Greenpeace1048625104863310486331048626 1048626) e analogue for corporate claims about incomes livelihoods and

justice991252ldquofairwashingrdquo991252entered the lexicon later in the wake of the fair

trade movement As fair trade certi1047297cation was becoming ldquomainstreamedrdquoand imitated scholars and activists began worrying that fairwashing wason the horizon (Conroy 1048626104862410486241048631 Lyon and Moberg 1048626104862410486251048624) Observers have alsocriticized the images produced in the name of ldquocorporate social responsibil-ityrdquo arguing that these are ldquomerely a public relations game lulling us intoa false sense of securityrdquo (Doane 1048626104862410486241048629 10486261048633) Common to all these diagnosesis the sense that most assurances one 1047297nds on a product are nothing morethan public relations efforts

e greenwashfairwash critique captures two key features of conscien-tious consumption and global standards First when faced with criticismcompanies would prefer to be able to improve their images without alteringpro1047297table practices A public relations campaign is typically the 1047297rst line ofdefense Companies may also hire outside organizations991252auditors consul-tants and sometimes NGOs991252to lend some credibility to their campaignsey may also fund seemingly independent standard-seing initiatives that

can endorse their corporate social responsibility programs or label theirproducts As we will see this is how the US timber industryrsquos SustainableForestry Initiative got its start and it helps to account for the role of appareland footwear brands in the Fair Labor Association One must always takeassurances of sustainability and fairness with a grain of salt e dosage ofsalt depends in part on whether claims come from companies themselvesinitiatives that they control or more independent initiatives (If initiativesdepend on the voluntary participation of companies they can never be fully independent but there are gradations) In our analyses of standards (in part1048626 of this book) we are aentive to who has created a particular initiativehow it is funded and how dependent on companies it is Second there is

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nearly always some hypocrisy present when companies take up greening orfairness initiatives Simply because one product or one aspect of a companyrsquosproduction has earned some credentials does not mean that the companyrsquos

operations overall can be considered green or fair As David Vogel (1048626104862410486241048629)has argued we oen yearn for simple pronouncements of ldquogoodrdquo and ldquobadrdquocompanies But companies like people are complex multifaceted and oencontradictory One part of a company may be developing green productionprocesses while another part lobbies against environmental regulation

On the other hand we see simple distinctions between greenwashfair- wash and ldquotruerdquo reform as a poor match for the current state of global indus-

tries and labeling projects Eco-labeling and social labeling may once have been the domain of public relations personnel but they have become theirown specialized world in which credibility depends on ldquomulti-stakeholderrepresentationrdquo and extensive amounts of accreditation auditing and veri1047297-cation Companies might prefer to respond to criticism with public relationscampaigns but they are oen pushed by activists and investors to go furtherand achieve some kind of external assurance For instance if confronted bylabor rights abuses apparel and footwear companies no longer simply hold

up a code of conduct instead they refer to sophisticated factory monitoringprograms external certi1047297cations and ldquocapacity-buildingrdquo projects (Locke1048626104862410486251048627) Rather than simply co-opting the language of environmentalism manyretailers have been pushed to sell products that are independently certi1047297ed(Conroy 1048626104862410486241048631) Furthermore the world of voluntary certi1047297cation has be-come increasingly formalized For instance to judge compliance with thestandards of the FSC an auditing organization (eg Scienti1047297c Certi1047297cation

Systems SmartWood or the Soil Association) must be accredited by a sepa-rate oversight body (Accreditation Services International) Furthermore theFSC belongs to an umbrella organization991252the ISEAL (International Socialand Environmental Accreditation and Labeling) Alliance991252which de1047297nes

best practices for credible certi1047297cation initiatives To be sure all of this cer-ti1047297cation of the certi1047297ers of the certi1047297ers (and beyond) is not guaranteed to

bring about meaningful improvement Indeed we describe cases where thisformalization has been counterproductive and where seemingly credible ini-tiatives have failed spectacularly But it does mean there is more ldquocheckingrdquothan there is simple ldquowashingrdquo As Peter Dauvergne and Jane Lister (1048626104862410486251048626)put it ldquoCorporate sustainability goals include measurable targets are

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audited by independent groups and are integrated into the core business [through] life-cycle assessment supply chain tracing eco-certi1047297cation andsustainability reportingrdquo (10486271048632) We concur with them that all of this measure-

ment and reporting oen skirts the root causes of problems but one cannotseriously assess conscientious consumption without investigating this activ-ity If the world were as simple as it was when the ldquogreenwashrdquo frame was 1047297rstcoined a book like this would not be necessary

Most importantly the greenwashfairwash frame leaves a key questionunanswered if a claim is not just greenwashfairwash991252in other words if itis backed by stringent standards and credible veri1047297cation processes991252then

what is it It would be tempting to assume that the converse of greenwashfairwash is something like ldquoreal sustainabilityfairnessrdquo on the ground But asour case studies show it is possible to have stringent standards and credibleassessment but still not generate much reform of global industries Our goalis to provide some tools for making sense of these complex (and common)intermediate scenarios

Importing Standards into Empty Spaces

Another problematic frame concerns the implementation of global standardsincluding those supported by conscientious consumerism It is tempting tosee global standards as introducing new rules into otherwise empty spacesFor instance one might think of labor codes of conduct as introducing laborrights into factories that would otherwise be completely unregulated andchaotic Or one might think of global sustainability standards as introducing

environmental norms into seings where businesses would otherwise be freeto pollute with impunity As Alison Brysk puts it global rule-making proj-ects oen ldquoconcern areas previously ungoverned or even unknownrdquo (Brysk1048626104862410486241048629 104862510486261048624) Indeed scholars and practitioners oen portray private rules as1047297lling a ldquoregulatory voidrdquo as they are put into practice especially in devel-oping countries (Sabel OrsquoRourke and Fung 1048626104862410486241048624) For some developingcountries are so lacking in the rule of law as to constitute ldquoareas of limitedstatehoodrdquo in which private rules must serve as a substitute for public author-

ity (Boumlrzel and Risse 1048626104862410486251048624) Sociologists in the ldquoworld societyrdquo school startfrom different assumptions but nevertheless argue that global norms aboutenvironmental protection child labor and human rights are imported into

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developing countries as novel concepts that are completely alien to the locals(Meyer et al 1048625104863310486331048631)

e problem with this approach is not only as Gay Seidman (1048626104862410486241048631) argues

that ldquostateless regulationrdquo usually lacks enforcement power A more funda-mental problem is that this frame obscures the institutional arrangementsthat are in place in developing countries Developing countries are not emptyanonymous uniform places ey are populated with different business sys-tems cultures of production and political institutions What may look fromafar like a relatively empty space turns out on closer inspection to have adense set of preexisting relationships organizations and rules ese local

circumstances can recon1047297gure global rules in myriad ways (Halliday andCarruthers 1048626104862410486241048633 Merry 104862610486241048624983094) For instance in chapter 1048628 we look at fair tradecerti1047297cation and its consequences in Paraguay a place where earlier ways oforganizing agricultural operations set the stage for fair trade projects andshaped their results Fair trade standards were not simply imported to thisseing they were layered onto an existing set of institutions In fact a thickerldquolayeringrdquo of rules with varying consequences has been a common result ofglobal standards (Bartley 1048626104862410486251048625) An ldquoempty spacesrdquo assumption also obscures

ongoing political struggles at the point of production As we will see INGOsand conscientious consumers are far from the only actors concerned withlabor rights sustainability or the fair distribution of resources For instancerecent years have seen a rising tide of strikes in China and mobilization ofgarment workers in Cambodia and Bangladesh (Alam 1048626104862410486251048627 Dara and Wil-lemyns 1048626104862410486251048628 Friedman 1048626104862410486251048627) e land rights of indigenous people in Braziland Indonesia are a concern not only of backers of global sustainable forestry

standards but also of burgeoning movements of indigenous people them-selves (Gerber 1048626104862410486251048625) Social movements in developing countries may struggleto influence powerful global industries but they cannot simply be ignored

When it comes to governmental regulation it is true that developingcountries oen lack the resources and administrative capacities to effec-tively regulate production processes as do many governments in affluentcountries Moreover the logic of global production in some ways gives themdisincentives to do so aggressively implementing regulations may cause in-

vestors991252and orders from brands and retailers991252to flee the country and therules of the WTO make some forms of regulation untenable But ldquodevelopingcountriesrdquo are diverse In nearly all parts of the world there are laws relatedto labor the environment and the rights of citizens Scholars are beginning

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to 1047297nd increased enforcement of these laws in some surprising places fromrevitalized state labor inspection in the export processing zones of the Do-minican Republic (Schrank 1048626104862410486251048627) to aggressive environmental regulators in

Brazil and China (Coslovsky 1048626104862410486251048625 McAllister Van Rooij and Kagan 1048626104862410486251048624)In other instances law can be repressive991252restricting the rights of workers orindigenous communities for instance (Lee 1048626104862410486241048631 Li 1048626104862410486251048624) Again the influ-ences of local structures can vary but one should not assume a blank slate

983105 983122983151983157983143983144 983111983157983145983140983141 983156983151 983125983150 983152983137983139983147983145983150983143 983107983151983150983155983139983145983141 983150983156983145983151983157983155983107983151983150983155983157983149983152983156983145983151983150 983137983150983140 983120983154983151983140983157983139983156983145983151983150 983120983154983151983146983141983139983156983155

How then can one make sense of projects to promote conscientious con-sumption and fair or sustainable production e 1047297rst step is simply to acceptthat there is a great deal of variation ere is variation across individualsand locations in conscientious consumer behavior ere is variation acrossproducts and labeling initiatives in the ldquoon the groundrdquo implications of globalstandards ere is variation across industries (and even within them) in sys-tems of production and these intersect with national (and even subnational)

differences in industry organization To understand whether conscientiousconsumption and fairsustainable production projects can contribute tomeaningful alternatives we must look closely at these industrial and politi-cal contexts A second starting point is to accept that the influence of globalstandards for fairsustainable production is typically highly circumscribedor contingent on other factors As will become clear even the most stringentstandards and most credible initiatives do not transform global industries

ey sometimes influence certain parts of an industry but even this cannotautomatically be assumed

To unpack conscientious consumption initiatives and the global standardsthey endorse we bring four factors to the foreground (1048625) structures of pro-duction and consumption (1048626) the constituencies of standards (1048627) global-local linkages and (1048628) the coexistence of rule making and unruliness

Structures of Production and Consumption

Industry structures shape both the opportunities for conscientious con-sumption to occur and the consequences of rule-making projects at thepoint of production To start some industries are more likely than others to

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become targets of activism which is typically the catalyst for rule-makingand conscientious consumption projects

Lead 1047297rms in global value chains especially when they are large and have

salient corporate reputations make aractive targets for social movements(Bartley and Child 1048626104862410486251048628) Industries that lack powerful and well-known brands tend to aract less scrutiny For instance the manufacturing of bricksespecially in developing countries is oen a highly polluting and exploit-ative industry But because there are not well-known global brands in thisindustry it has received lile international aention In other cases activistshave highlighted a problem but without powerful and recognizable brands

to link this to rule-making projects have not emerged e production ofcheap costume jewelry is rife with exploitation as shown in the documentary Mardi Gras Made in China but this has not become a site of extensive rulemaking and conscientious consumerism In some circumstances the exis-tence of large high-pro1047297le retailers can compensate for a more fragmentedor poorly known set of manufacturers Anti-GMO activists for instancehave pressured manufacturers like Monsanto by going through large retailerslike Marks amp Spencer (Schurman and Munro 1048626104862410486241048633) Our analysis of global

food distribution (in chapter 1048628) is consistent with this observation but italso suggests that the locus of consumer and activist pressure depends onthe speci1047297c product

When activists do press lead 1047297rms to make their supply chains fairer ormore sustainable the consequences seem to depend in part on the structureof that supply chain If suppliers can easily 1047297nd alternative buyers who are notdemanding changes991252that is if there are few suppliers and many buyers991252

they will have lile incentive to comply with a particular lead 1047297rmrsquos rulesGoing further by many accounts when lead 1047297rms have a great deal of powerover ldquocaptiverdquo suppliers they should be able to demand that those suppliersmake improvements (Mayer and Gereffi 1048626104862410486251048624) On the other hand someresearch has questioned whether this power is truly effective or whether itmerely spurs a game in which suppliers pretend to be making improvements(and lead 1047297rms nod in approval) (Locke Amengual and Mangla 1048626104862410486241048633) Wesuspect that the power of lead 1047297rms does make a difference but that moresigni1047297cant changes are possible when lead 1047297rms and suppliers are mutuallydependent and work together over long stretches of time (Our analysis ofthe apparel industry in chapter 1048629 though suggests that long-term collabora-tion is rare) In addition when global value chains are fairly simple in their

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structure without too many intermediaries this should make it easier forstandards to ldquotravelrdquo through them ere is a conundrum here howeversince it is oen in industries with a high degree of subcontracting (such as

apparel) that global standards are in the highest demand If global industries were dominated by vertically integrated 1047297rms rather than dispersed supplychains the world of conscientious consumerism would look quite differentFurthermore sometimes the lack of action by large lead 1047297rms can leave aspace for activists and entrepreneurs to carve out a small market niche basedon fairness or sustainability is is how fair tradendashcerti1047297ed coffee beganand some new projects appear to be emerging in electronics (Fairphone as

discussed in chapter 983094) and apparel (the Alta Gracia factory as discussed inchapter 1048629) Aer looking more closely at our four industries991252timber foodapparelfootwear and electronics991252we return to questions about industrystructure in the bookrsquos conclusion

Industry structures also maer for consumers As we show in the nextchapter opportunities to engage in conscientious consumption are just asimportant as motivations to do so and these opportunities depend in parton the structure of the retail sector in a particular country Generally we sug-

gest that having larger retailers will facilitate consumer purchases of eco- andsocial-labeled products In part this is simply because larger retailers offer a

wider array of choices overall991252that is different versions of the same prod-uct991252while smaller retailers offer fewer choices To be sure small stores canspecialize in ldquoalternativerdquo products and large stores can fail to carry themBut given the trend toward ldquomainstreamingrdquo of alternatives (see Jaffee 1048626104862410486251048626)large retailers have become key points of sale for eco- and social-labeled prod-

ucts Furthermore oligopoly in the retail sector991252the dominance of a smallnumber of large companies991252also seems to magnify the power of activiststo influence the market As Rachel Schurman and William Munro (1048626104862410486241048633)found the existence of a small number of large food retailer chains in the UKallowed the anti-GMO movement to flourish there while it foundered amidthe larger number of supermarket chains in the United States

Constituencies and Standards

Global standards for fairness and sustainability may sound universal butthey spring from the priorities of particular individuals and groups A cru-cial step in understanding these standards is to examine the founders of

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initiatives that make rules audit compliance and certify products as fair orsustainable Some such initiatives such as fair trade certi1047297cation originatedlargely with NGOs or others outside of the industry Others such as the

Electronics Industry Citizenship Coalition and the Sustainable ForestryInitiative were founded almost exclusively by industry associations or othergroups of companies oen in response to the actions of NGOs In betweenare a number of initiatives developed by coalitions of NGOs and companiesfrom the Forest Stewardship Council to Social Accountability InternationalFounders are not everything NGO-initiated programs can become watereddown as they are mainstreamed and industry-initiated programs oen

evolve into formally independent organizations Most programs seek cred-ibility by calling themselves ldquomulti-stakeholderrdquo initiatives We maintainhowever that founding constituencies leave deep imprints on the content ofstandards and on the distribution of power within rule-making initiativesRules can get ratcheted up or down over time but these are usually marginalrevisions to a core approach Furthermore even when initiatives becomeformally independent from the constituencies that created them informalties revolving doors and 1047297nancial contributions oen persist

Generally we expect that industry-initiated programs will have standardsthat depart in relatively small ways from the normal practices of the indus-try Companies may want to improve labor conditions or environmentalperformance of their suppliers but they will be loath to push so far as todisrupt production or force a major change in their sourcing practices As aresult the greater the influence of companies in the founding of an initiativethe more likely it is to use either a ldquobest in classrdquo approach or a ldquocontinuous

improvementrdquo approach In the 1047297rst companies are recognized (throughcerti1047297cation or other endorsement) for demonstrating that they are aboveaverage in their industry is oen skirts the issue of whether they meeta stringent de1047297nition of a 1047297xed standard As Sco Nova (1048626104862410486251048625) has noted aldquobest in classrdquo model is like grading on a curve even if average performanceis quite low e second approach allows companies to start with a relativelylax standard and encourage gradual improvement over time852019

When industry outsiders have power in the initial design standard-seinginitiatives should look somewhat different First their standards are likely todepart more substantially from normal practices in the industry to a greateror lesser degree depending on the power of these outsiders Second these

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initiatives are more likely though certainly not guaranteed to endorse analternative model of production rather than to just reward the best in class orpush for continuous improvement Fair trade certi1047297cation and its emphasis

on democratically managed producer cooperatives (as described in chap-ter 1048628) is the clearest example of this ird and because of this initiativesspawned by outsiders are likely to either remain small or face dilemmas ofmainstreaming as they grow If they seek a large market presence ldquoalterna-tiverdquo programs will inevitably become more dependent on large companiese result may be a watering down of standards although as the case of theFSC shows (in chapter 1048627) this can be counteracted to some degree

For most products there are multiple competing aempts to de1047297ne fair-ness and sustainability For instance there are several ways of certifying thefairness and sustainability of coffee or of assessing the labor conditions ofapparel companies852020 Usually this competition reflects the struggle betweencompanies and NGOs Some scholars believe that such competition dooms

voluntary initiatives since it confuses consumers and lets companies choosetheir own standards (Seidman 1048626104862410486241048631) Others believe that it strengthens gov-ernance by spurring a ldquoratcheting uprdquo of expectations (Sabel OrsquoRourke and

Fung 1048626104862410486241048624) Our analysis of four global industries suggests that different setsof standards can oen coexist not exactly peacefully but with moderateinteraction or in different market niches Competition is inevitable but itseems to neither doom nor guarantee meaningful standards for fairness andsustainability It must be noted that initiatives that began with high bars991252namely Fair Trade and the FSC991252have not been pushed out of the market

by their competitors

Localized Globalisms and Globalized Localisms

Specifying links between ldquothe globalrdquo and ldquothe localrdquo has proven difficultand scholars have oen fallen prey to two types of conceptual dangers Firstin focusing on the global diffusion of a given idea or norm some have por-trayed domestic seings as lile more than passive receivers of a global proj-ect e language of domestic seings as ldquoreceptor sitesrdquo for global models(Frank Hironaka and Schofer 1048626104862410486241048624) is one example of this Pinpointingthis problem researchers are increasingly focusing on how local actors ap-propriate and ldquoindigenizerdquo global models to make them useful or meaningful

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10486261048632 983116983151983151983147983145983150983143 983138983141983144983145983150983140 983156983144983141 983116983137983138983141983148

(Halliday and Carruthers 1048626104862410486241048633 Merry 104862610486241048624983094) Second scholars of globaliza-tion oen equate the global with universalism (and oen progress) and thelocal with particularism (and oen backwardness) In so doing scholars

uncritically accept the most dominant model as ldquothe globalrdquo and obscure thepower that was exercised to establish its dominance

To deal with these problems we adopt Bonaventura de Santosrsquos language ofldquoglobalized localismsrdquo and ldquo localized globalismsrdquo (Santos 104862610486241048624983094 Santos andRodriacuteguez Garavito 1048626104862410486241048629) e 1047297rst refers to a process in which a particularis-tic set of ideas and practices becomes a dominant global norm Santos (104862610486241048624983094)provides examples such as ldquothe transformation of the English language into

a lingua franca the globalization of American fast food or popular music orthe worldwide adoption of the same laws of intellectual ownership patentsor telecommunications aggressively promoted by the USArdquo (10486271048633983094) For ourpurpose the key issue is how particular understandings of rights rules andenforcement have become institutionalized as global norms Concretely thenotion of a ldquoglobalized localismrdquo sensitizes us to processes by which particu-lar sets of reformers (NGOs companies or others) have turned their projectsinto ldquoglobalrdquo standards for fairness and sustainability Our point is not to

join the chorus that argues that ldquoWesternrdquo standards are being illegitimatelyforced on people and companies elsewhere ere have long been calls fordecent work and responsible natural resource management in many differ-ent parts of the world But the global standards supported by conscientiousconsumers in North A merica and Europe embody particular approaches tothese issues

e second concept ldquolocalized globalismrdquo refers to the incorporation of

these global models into local routines and expectations e concept sen-sitizes us to the work involved in turning global standards for fairness andsustainability into a concrete practice in a factory forest or farm in someparticular location As we have noted scholars too oen portray these sites asempty spaces We believe it is preferable to start from the opposite premisethat sites of implementation are crowded with different actors and agendasonly some of which are likely to line up with global standard-seing initia-tives Some elements of global standards are easily incorporated into localpractices while others are 1047297ercely resisted But a recognition of localizedglobalisms also has methodological implications It is rare for researchersto actually study these locations in detail It is easier to conduct distant and

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decontextualized studies of CSR or to focus only on the creation of standardsrather than their local implementation Our analyses of the global timberagricultural apparel and electronics industries include aention to speci1047297c

locations from the sugarcane farms of Paraguay to the electronics factoriesof Malaysia

Te Puzzle of Rules Rule Making and the Persistence of Unruliness

One can beer understand conscientious consumption and production proj-ects by recognizing what Tim Bartley (1048626104862410486251048628a) has called the ldquopuzzle of rulesrdquo

in the global economy simply put global capitalism can be ldquounrulyrdquo but italso generates many rule-making projects

e expansion of global markets has facilitated a number of rule-makingprojects from the standardization of accounting procedures to the rules forfairness and sustainability discussed in this book e volume of rule making

by both public and private actors has increased over the past three decadesMany scholars have pointed to these trends as evidence that global capitalismis not manic or ungovernable as it was initially framed Marie-Laure Djelic

and Kerstin Sahlin-Andersson (104862610486241048624983094) argue that ldquothe proliferation of regu-latory activities actors networks or constellations leads to an explosion ofrules and to the profound re-ordering of our worldrdquo (1048625) and they see globalcapitalism as ldquomarked by more991252not less991252rule-making activityrdquo (10486271048631983094)

On the other hand the explosion of rule making has oen been gearedtoward the expansion of markets rather than their restriction and in manyrespects global capitalism has remained unruly In many industries invest-

ment and orders can and do move quickly across locations oen under-mining aempts to impose rules Even more socially controlled European

varieties of capitalism have had their foundations chipped away (Streeck1048626104862410486241048633) Furthermore for all of the efforts of NGOs to build rules for fairnesssustainability and human rights many corners of global industries remainlargely unscrutinized and unaffected by these rule-making projects

As our case studies illustrate even as standards for fairness and sustain-ability have risen to prominence global industries have remained volatileand exploitative Certi1047297cation of sustainable forestry rose to prominencefrom 1048625104863310486331048629 to 1048626104862410486251048624 but so did illegal logging and deforestation worsenedin many places Te global apparel industry has come to be governed by

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numerous codes of conduct and factory monitoring initiatives but it hasalso continued to move quickly from one location to another in search oflow wages and more docile workers e rapid and inconsistent pace of the

global electronics industry has undermined aempts to improve workingconditions while rapidly changing agricultural markets have threatened thelivelihoods of many smallholder farmers

e puzzle of rules can be solved through an analysis of neoliberalism (seeBartley 1048626104862410486251048628a) but it also provokes a simple conclusion about the prospects forglobal fairness and sustainability global industries oen have contradictorytendencies so we should not expect either complete ldquogreenwashrdquoldquofairwashrdquo

or serious transformation Fair trade certi1047297cation has not transformed thelogic of commodity trade but it has improved conditions for some farmersin some circumstances FSC certi1047297cation has not made the timber trade sus-tainable but it has supported improvements in some forests As we developthese 1047297ndings (in part 1048626 of the book) we hope to speak not only to scholars ofconscientious consumerism but also to citizens and consumers themselvesConsumers oen want to feel like their purchases are ldquocleanrdquo of exploitation

but this is unrealistic We believe it would be more promising if consumers

shied from a deterministic to a probabilistic approach conscientious con-sumption may increase onersquos probability of contributing to improvementsand decrease the probability of contributing to the most extreme forms ofexploitation Tis does not answer the question of how large those prob-abilities are (which surely varies by product and label) or the question of howsigni1047297cant those improvements can be But only if consumers shi from anall-or-nothing view of ldquocleanrdquo versus ldquodirtyrdquo production (that is sustainable

versus destructive fair versus exploitative) can they come to an accurateunderstanding of what their purchases can and cannot achieve

983127 983144 983137983156 983116983145 983141 983155 983105 983144 983141 983137 983140

Part 1048625 of this book focuses on dynamics and dilemmas of conscientious con-sumerism In chapter 1048625 we look at why some American and European con-sumers are more likely than others to practice conscientious consumptionUsing survey data on thousands of individual consumers our quantitativeanalyses focus on factors that shape two forms of conscientious consump-tion boycoing and ldquobuycoingrdquo991252that is preferring a product for some po-

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litical or ethical reason Some paerns are related to consumersrsquo beliefs andthe extent to which they can afford to be choosy But individual differencesare only a small part of the story Where consumers are has a great deal to do

with whether they engage in conscientious consumption or not We thereforeconnect the individual survey responses with measures that capture nationaleconomic political and cultural contexts Overall this initial portrait showsthat conscientious consumption is widespread but far from universal withkey differences rooted not only in individual characteristics but in differentstructures of consumption as well

Having sketched some general paerns we delve deeper into the meanings

and implications of conscientious consumerism in chapter 1048626 Our analyses inchapter 1048625 are based on what consumers say they do but there are reasons todoubt that consumers will follow through on what they say or that what theysay truly captures the social meaning of their actions Yet we show that thereis evidence of consumers being wil ling to pay for eco-labels and social labelsConsumers are most likely to do so when their ldquoethicalrdquo choices also servetheir self-interest such as saving on energy costs or eating safer healthierfoods But even for those forms of conscientious consumption that have no

short-term direct bene1047297t for consumers there is mounting evidence thatsome consumers will pay more For labeling enthusiasts this is a good thingBut the ldquoone dollar one voterdquo logic of conscientious consumerism and thestatus-symbol character of some ldquoethicalrdquo products are potentially danger-ous in that they can exacerbate social economic and political inequalitiesamong consumers Moreover there is a danger that conscientious consumer-ism can displace other forms of political engagement promoting individual

consumerism at the expense of democratic citizenship and collective socialmovements Working through these debates we argue that conscientiousconsumerism as an ideology is regressive and counterproductive but speci1047297cpractices of conscientious consumption can sometimes be consistent withother forms of political engagement

Of course the real test of conscientious consumption comes at the pointof production To what extent do voluntary standards forged in response toconsumer concern make a difference ldquoon the groundrdquo in global industries

We tackle this question in part 1048626 of the book by looking at the global produc-tion of four types of products991252(1048625) wood and paper products (1048626) food (espe-cially the agri-food industry) (1048627) apparel and footwear and (1048628) electronics

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Each of these case studies is rooted in the interviews that we have conducted with local actors and other 1047297ne-grained information on the organization ofproduction ese chapters apply the framework sketched above (and a com-

mon organizational template) to allow for comparative insightsChapter 1048627 looks at the rise of forest certi1047297cation and its effects in the global

timber industry Like fair trade the FSC is one of the oldest and most es-tablished certi1047297cation and labeling initiatives It was founded more thantwenty years ago and it spurred a number of imitators and competitors Yetit is not well known among conscientious consumers and its impacts have

been far less than originally intended We trace the rise of forest certi1047297cation

with particular aention to the founders and constituents of the FSC andhow they leveraged the structure of the forest products industry to ldquomake amarketrdquo for certi1047297ed wood and paper Yet applying sustainability standardsto the production of some wood and paper products has barely influencedglobal deforestation A closer look at FSC certi1047297cation in the tropical forestsof Indonesia illustrates both the contradictions of certifying in a shiing andcontentious context and the limited ability of forest certi1047297cation to influencethe main drivers of deforestation

Next in chapter 1048628 we turn to agricultural production and the fairness andsustainability projects that have emerged in this seing Consumers aacha variety of meanings to food and the politics of food consumption has ex-ploded in the past decade In addition to sketching the structure of agri-foodproduction and consumption in general we focus on two types of rule-mak-ing projects fair trade certi1047297cation and an increasingly popular ldquocommod-ity roundtablerdquo approach Looking more closely at two crops991252sugar and

soy991252in one country Paraguay we are able to illustrate the consequences ofdifferent models of certi1047297cation and the crucial role of local context Globalfood politics are being layered onto preexisting institutional arrangementsand it is largely these institutional arrangements that determine whether cer-ti1047297cation is meaningful or not For instance fair trade certi1047297cation seems tomaer most when smallholder farmers are already organized into democrati-cally effective cooperatives or when local organizing al lows them to upgradetheir production capacities over time e contingent effects of conscientiousconsumption come into focus in this chapter

Chapter 1048629 considers how the rise of anti-sweatshop activism in the early1048625104863310486331048624s led to various aempts to monitor and improve working conditions inapparel and footwear factories A rough indication of how these initiatives

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have fared is provided by the occurrence of factory 1047297res in 1048626104862410486251048624ndash1048626104862410486251048627 and thedeath of more than eleven hundred garment workers in the 1048626104862410486251048627 collapse ofthe Rana Plaza building in Bangladesh Our chapter examines the constitu-

encies behind different factory auditing and certi1047297cation initiatives the waysstandards were implemented and the reasons why their effects have beenminimal e structure of apparel and footwear production in many wayscreated the demand for codes of conduct but the structure and the mobilityof the industry have undermined meaningful improvements Looking moreclosely at factories in China we show how aempts to certify particularfactories have fallen short In recent years several new projects to provide

ethical apparel have emerged but there remain few credible alternatives inthis industry

Finally chapter 983094 takes us into the fast-paced world of the electronics in-dustry where companies produce new models of smartphones laptops andother devices at breakneck speed Yet recently this industry has become afocus of aention for the exploitation of production workers especially aera series of worker suicides (and later strikes) at Foxconn factories in Chinaand mounting scrutiny of Foxconnrsquos buyer Apple Electronics brands have

also been accused of using ldquoconflict mineralsrdquo in the production of smart-phones e electronics industry is populated by well-capitalized companiesthat at times have demonstrated good intentions to make the labor processsafer and more humane Yet the industry has struggled to make improve-ments and 1047297nd tenable solutions We argue that the solution to this puzzlelies in the architecture of production and to a large extent ultimately in theorganization of electronics consumption is is a case in which conscien-

tious consumerism has been slow to develop and unreflective consumerismhas been a powerful constraint on signi1047297cant improvement Using detaileddata on factories producing for Hewle-Packard we show how the industrycontinues to demand extraordinarily ldquoflexiblerdquo labor markets and excessive

working hours in its factories in Southeast Asia We have tried to provide a sense of the complexity of these cases and set-

tings while still drawing out clear implications Along the way readers shouldget a clearer sense of the structure and operation of global value chains the

varied geographies of production and the circumscribed consequences ofeco-labels and social labels In a concluding chapter we compare our foursets of products and consider what has been learned

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kets have remained largely national in scope especially when it comes toissues of fairness and sustainability e World Trade Organization (WTO)has endorsed protections for intellectual property rights but it has le only

narrow spaces for governments to protect workers and environments and ithas refused to address labor rights directly Bilateral and multilateral tradeagreements sometimes include labor and environmental standards but theseare limited in scope and enforceability International organizations suchas the United Nations and the International Labor Organization promoteconventions for governments to adopt but these organizations rarely haveany power to demand enforcement National governments are constrained

in part by a global economy in which 1047297rms and investors can move from one jurisdiction to another but perhaps even more by ideological commitmentsto neoliberal globalization and the rules of the WTO (Evans 1048625104863310486331048631 Rodrik1048626104862410486251048625) As we argue it is a mistake to think that governments are powerless orirrelevant in the face of globalization but there is no doubt that the dearthof binding international regulation of production conditions has led many tolook to the private sector as a way of enforcing standards NGOs for instancehave oen turned to voluntary standards and conscientious consumption as

second-best alternatives to intergovernmental systems of regulationNeoliberalism can be credited not only with helping to hollow out the state

but also with promoting an individualization of responsibility In a processthat theorists have called ldquoresponsibilizationrdquo individuals are treated as hav-ing the duty and capacity to take responsibility for things that should rightly

be seen as the result of social structures is can be seen for instance in at-tempts to reform welfare states to make welfare recipients take responsibility

for their own fates (Rose 1048626104862410486241048624) e moralization of markets has also been aresponsibilization process in which individual consumers are told they havethe duty991252and the ability991252to solve the worldrsquos social problems throughtheir purchases While some scholars use the language of responsibilizationto dismiss conscientious consumption as misguided we do not see this asthe most appropriate response We recognize that individual consumers are

being asked to take responsibility for problems that would oen be beerserved by more collective and robust solutions including revitalized statesand labor unions But it is at least possible that responsibility-taking by con-sumers could help to support more durable solutions in the future especially

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if governments NGOs and consumers themselves have a clearer under-standing of what is and is not being affected by conscientious consumptionand production initiatives

INGOs and ransnational Advocacy Networks

Since the end of World War II NGOs have become key actors in nationalinternational and transnational governance By the turn of the twenty-1047297rstcentury NGOs were carrying out most of the tasks of governing complex so-cieties delivering development assistance mediating social conflicts seing

standards for business developing expert knowledge and reconstructingsocieties aer natural and social disasters By some accounts the proliferationof NGOs and their incorporation into development and governance projectsamounts to an associational revolution that ldquomay constitute as signi1047297cant asocial and political development of the laer twentieth century as the rise ofthe nation state was of the nineteenth centuryrdquo (Edwards and Hulme 104862510486331048633983094 1048626)

International NGOs (INGOs) such as Greenpeace Oxfam or HumanRights Watch have mobilized aention to a variety of global problems from

climate change to new forms of bonded labor ey have garnered mediaaention to these problems and have pushed governments and intergovern-mental organizations to take action In addition the growth of transnationalnetworks of advocates and experts has sometimes allowed domestic activiststo gain leverage over their governments In what Margaret Keck and KathrynSikkink (1048625104863310486331048632) dubbed the ldquoboomerang effectrdquo domestic activists can reachpast indifferent or hostile domestic governments and appeal to transnational

advocacy networks that in turn exert pressure on those governmentsSince the 1048625104863310486331048624s INGOs have increasingly sought to put pressure on trans-

national corporations and restructure markets not just state policies eyhave led efforts to build product certi1047297cation initiatives from the ForestStewardship Council to the Marine Stewardship Council and they havecoordinated ldquomarket campaignsrdquo to convince large retailers to support theseinitiatives In addition the traditional boomerang effect has been supple-mented with what Naomi Klein (1048625104863310486331048633) called the ldquobrand boomerangrdquo in

which grassroots labor or environmental activists call on their internationalallies to put pressure on a well-known company that is operating in (or buy-

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ing from) that location rough these processes INGOs have become im-portant architects advocates and watchdogs of conscientious consumptionand production projects

e rise of INGOs does raise conundrums however especially about therelationship between professional advocates based in Amsterdam or Wash-ington DC and grassroots activists in developing countries To some extentINGOs have become sensitive to these power disparities and local NGOshave become savvy about working with foreign partners But the power ofINGOs to organize transnational campaigns aract media aention andshame global companies does carry the danger that more locally oriented

strategies or those directed to domestic governments are being neglected(Seidman 1048626104862410486241048631)

Standards for Markets and Markets for Standards

Without the supply chain revolution neoliberal globalization and thegrowth of transnational advocacy networks it is hard to imagine the rise ofconscientious consumption and global standards for fairness and sustain-

ability Yet just because initiatives for auditing certifying or reporting onsustainability or fairness have emerged that does not mean they will haveintegrity or impact Typically conscientious consumption and productionprojects are organized as private voluntary initiatives ey aempt to setstandards for markets but they also exist within markets Like all voluntaryprograms they depend on participation from companies and there can oen

be a trade-off between the stringency of standards and the number of partici-

pants (Potoski and Prakash 1048626104862410486241048633) All voluntary initiatives are structurallydependent on their corporate participants so one should take the languageof independent ldquothird-partyrdquo initiatives with a grain of salt Furthermore asprivate initiatives they have no monopoly on standards for a particular topic(as a government would have) is means competing standards initiativescan easily emerge For some observers the private voluntary character ofthese initiatives is reason enough to give up on them (eg Seidman 1048626104862410486241048631)

while for neoliberal advocates of market-based solutions these same featuresmake such initiatives especially aractive As we argue below our approachseeks to unpack variation in the organization of these initiatives and the

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contexts in which they operate At the same time as our case studies showthere are certainly limits on what private voluntary initiatives have beenable to accomplish

983124983144983154 983141983141 983110983154983137 983149983141983155 983137983150 983140 983124983144983141983145983154 983123983144983151983154983156983139983151983149983145983150 983143983155

Given the rise of conscientious consumerism and the growth of standards forglobal industries scholars and advocates are racing to promote simple framesfor making sense of them In this section we discuss three frames that areoen invoked Each captures a slice of something important but each ends

up obscuring as much as it illuminates or more

Te Empowered Sovereign Consumer

Scholars and advocates oen adopt a celebratory tone in discussing consci-entious consumerism ey argue that consumers are being empowered toldquovote with their dollarsrdquo and that these small changes in the habits of affluentconsumers can change or even ldquosaverdquo the world As Ruth Stokes (1048626104862410486251048627) writes

in the Ecologist magazine ldquoI believe that changing the way we shop991252voting with our money991252can help to change the world Companies respond tothe habits of shoppers We all have consumer power we just have to makesure we use it wiselyrdquo If consumers have been manipulated by companiesin the past they are increasingly being empowered by new sources of infor-mation argues Dara OrsquoRourke (1048626104862410486251048625) eorists of ldquopolitical consumerismrdquohave argued that this mode of political expression is especially empowering

for individuals who are alienated from formal politics such as young peopleand women (Michelei 1048626104862410486241048627) Furthermore as companies compete for thesupport of conscientious consumers and the coveted ldquolifestyles of health andsustainabilityrdquo (LOHAS) niche (Emerich 1048626104862410486251048625) many observers argue thatthey will become transparent responsible corporate citizens (Porter andKramer 104862610486241048624983094 Smith 1048625104863310486331048624 Zadek Pruzan and Evans 1048625104863310486331048631)

Such celebrations oen rest on an idealized framing of consumer agency991252that is the ability and willingness of the ldquosovereign citizen-consumerrdquo to bethe prime mover of social change (Jacobsen and Dulsrud 1048626104862410486241048631) e ldquosover-eign consumerrdquo is an old concept that is intended to suggest that consumertastes are the driver of all economic activity As scholars have observed the

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growth of conscientious consumption the sovereign consumer has becomethe sovereign citizen-consumer or what Roberta Sassatelli (1048626104862410486241048631) dubbedthe waking of the ldquosleepy giant of the sovereign citizen-consumerrdquo (104862510486321048632) So-

cial theorist Ulrich Beck perhaps the most prominent theorist of consump-tion as a form of politics argues that ldquocitizens discover the act of shoppingas one in which they can always cast their ballot991252on a world scale no lessrdquo(qtd in Sassatelli 1048626104862410486241048631 104862510486321048632) Michele Michelei (1048626104862410486241048627) takes the provocationeven further

Conflicts over what and where to consume are now central for understanding the func-tioning of affluent Western societies is can even mean that consumers participating

in boycos can for instance be likened to resistance 1047297ghters Yet unlike resistance orrevolutionary conflicts of the past citizen-consumers tend to direct their aention towardthe market rather than state actors (1048625983094ndash10486251048631)

Even if one gets past the hyperbole treating consumer tastes as king orqueen is problematic in several respects First consumersrsquo aitudes turn outto be only one ingredient in the construction of conscientious consumptionmarkets As we show in this book the opportunities for conscientious con-sumption are not distributed evenly across individuals or across countries

Social inequality and differences in market structures mean the social con-text of consumption is just as important as individual aitudes Consumertastes may make a difference but it is difficult to see them as a true primemover

Second it is naive to assume that a change in consumer tastes translatesdirectly into a change in the production processes of global industries AsMargaret Willis and Juliet Schor (1048626104862410486251048626) argue many accounts of consci-

entious consumerism take a ldquonaiumlve aggregationistrdquo approach to marketsassuming that if a large enough number of consumers is interested in al-ternative products the market will simply change to deliver them A quitedifferent story is told by research on industries technologies and organiza-tions over time Production processes are oen ldquolocked inrdquo by a system ofinterrelated technologies and expectations making them difficult to changePaul David (1048625104863310486321048629) famously illustrated this by considering the persistence ofthe inefficient QWERTY keyboard on typewriters and computers Even ifproduction practices are not strongly locked in companies like all organi-zations rarely abandon their core routines and technologies (Hannan andFreeman 1048625104863310486321048633) Perhaps the biggest problem is that those who celebrate the

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transformative power of new consumer tastes assume that industry practicesare changing but they almost never actually investigate this assumption edisconnect between theories of conscientious consumerism and empirical

research on industry practices is stark and it is one thing that we hope toremedy with this book

Finally by celebrating the empowered conscientious politicized con-sumer one obscures the ways that unreflective consumer choices influencelabor and environmental conditions in global industries As much as someconsumers are becoming more conscientious about some of their choicesespecially when it comes to food and drinks (eg organic produce fair trade

coffee) much consumer activity is routine and habitual and some of theethics of consumption are opaque to all but the most commied individu-als Conscientious consumers might be careful to recycle avoid disposableplastic water boles and buy organic vegetables but then eat beef withoutthinking of its massive natural resource demands and the contributions ofcale production to global warming As environmentalists have pointedout encouraging consumers to make their purchases more environmentallyfriendly carries a risk of legitimating overconsumption in affluent markets

which is the foundation of many forms of environmental degradation (Mani-ates and Meyer 1048626104862410486251048624) e issue may not be just the amount of consumption

but its pace as well As will become clear later in this book the rise of ldquofastfashionrdquo and ldquofast electronicsrdquo991252that is the rapid churning through fashion-able styles of clothing and different models of smartphones991252appears to bea root cause of labor exploitation in the apparel and electronics industries

GreenwashFairwash

While some have celebrated conscientious consumerism others have dis-missed voluntary standards eco-labeling and social labeling as ldquogreenwashrdquoor ldquofairwashrdquo As Sharon Beder (1048626104862410486241048625) puts it ldquoTe aempt to provide alsquogreenrsquo and caring image for a corporation is a public relations strategy aimedat promising reform and heading off demands for more substantial and fun-damental changes and government interventionrdquo (104862610486291048627) Claims about fair

and sustainable production in this view simply provide cover to companiesthat are engaged in fundamentally unfair and unsustainable activities ecodes of conduct sustainability reports and information disclosures that are

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highlighted in celebratory accounts of transparency may actually be formsof ldquodisinformationrdquo that obscure companiesrsquo actual practices

e term ldquogreenwashrdquo took off among environmentalists in the late 1048625104863310486321048624s

as a description of advertising campaigns that portrayed companies as pro-tectors of the environment (Beers and Capellaro 1048625104863310486331048625) Greenpeace arguedthat transnational corporations like Shell DuPont and Mitsubishi had ldquoem-

braced the environment as their cause and co-opted its terminologyrdquo even while contributing massively to environmental degradation (Greenpeace1048625104863310486331048626 1048626) e analogue for corporate claims about incomes livelihoods and

justice991252ldquofairwashingrdquo991252entered the lexicon later in the wake of the fair

trade movement As fair trade certi1047297cation was becoming ldquomainstreamedrdquoand imitated scholars and activists began worrying that fairwashing wason the horizon (Conroy 1048626104862410486241048631 Lyon and Moberg 1048626104862410486251048624) Observers have alsocriticized the images produced in the name of ldquocorporate social responsibil-ityrdquo arguing that these are ldquomerely a public relations game lulling us intoa false sense of securityrdquo (Doane 1048626104862410486241048629 10486261048633) Common to all these diagnosesis the sense that most assurances one 1047297nds on a product are nothing morethan public relations efforts

e greenwashfairwash critique captures two key features of conscien-tious consumption and global standards First when faced with criticismcompanies would prefer to be able to improve their images without alteringpro1047297table practices A public relations campaign is typically the 1047297rst line ofdefense Companies may also hire outside organizations991252auditors consul-tants and sometimes NGOs991252to lend some credibility to their campaignsey may also fund seemingly independent standard-seing initiatives that

can endorse their corporate social responsibility programs or label theirproducts As we will see this is how the US timber industryrsquos SustainableForestry Initiative got its start and it helps to account for the role of appareland footwear brands in the Fair Labor Association One must always takeassurances of sustainability and fairness with a grain of salt e dosage ofsalt depends in part on whether claims come from companies themselvesinitiatives that they control or more independent initiatives (If initiativesdepend on the voluntary participation of companies they can never be fully independent but there are gradations) In our analyses of standards (in part1048626 of this book) we are aentive to who has created a particular initiativehow it is funded and how dependent on companies it is Second there is

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nearly always some hypocrisy present when companies take up greening orfairness initiatives Simply because one product or one aspect of a companyrsquosproduction has earned some credentials does not mean that the companyrsquos

operations overall can be considered green or fair As David Vogel (1048626104862410486241048629)has argued we oen yearn for simple pronouncements of ldquogoodrdquo and ldquobadrdquocompanies But companies like people are complex multifaceted and oencontradictory One part of a company may be developing green productionprocesses while another part lobbies against environmental regulation

On the other hand we see simple distinctions between greenwashfair- wash and ldquotruerdquo reform as a poor match for the current state of global indus-

tries and labeling projects Eco-labeling and social labeling may once have been the domain of public relations personnel but they have become theirown specialized world in which credibility depends on ldquomulti-stakeholderrepresentationrdquo and extensive amounts of accreditation auditing and veri1047297-cation Companies might prefer to respond to criticism with public relationscampaigns but they are oen pushed by activists and investors to go furtherand achieve some kind of external assurance For instance if confronted bylabor rights abuses apparel and footwear companies no longer simply hold

up a code of conduct instead they refer to sophisticated factory monitoringprograms external certi1047297cations and ldquocapacity-buildingrdquo projects (Locke1048626104862410486251048627) Rather than simply co-opting the language of environmentalism manyretailers have been pushed to sell products that are independently certi1047297ed(Conroy 1048626104862410486241048631) Furthermore the world of voluntary certi1047297cation has be-come increasingly formalized For instance to judge compliance with thestandards of the FSC an auditing organization (eg Scienti1047297c Certi1047297cation

Systems SmartWood or the Soil Association) must be accredited by a sepa-rate oversight body (Accreditation Services International) Furthermore theFSC belongs to an umbrella organization991252the ISEAL (International Socialand Environmental Accreditation and Labeling) Alliance991252which de1047297nes

best practices for credible certi1047297cation initiatives To be sure all of this cer-ti1047297cation of the certi1047297ers of the certi1047297ers (and beyond) is not guaranteed to

bring about meaningful improvement Indeed we describe cases where thisformalization has been counterproductive and where seemingly credible ini-tiatives have failed spectacularly But it does mean there is more ldquocheckingrdquothan there is simple ldquowashingrdquo As Peter Dauvergne and Jane Lister (1048626104862410486251048626)put it ldquoCorporate sustainability goals include measurable targets are

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audited by independent groups and are integrated into the core business [through] life-cycle assessment supply chain tracing eco-certi1047297cation andsustainability reportingrdquo (10486271048632) We concur with them that all of this measure-

ment and reporting oen skirts the root causes of problems but one cannotseriously assess conscientious consumption without investigating this activ-ity If the world were as simple as it was when the ldquogreenwashrdquo frame was 1047297rstcoined a book like this would not be necessary

Most importantly the greenwashfairwash frame leaves a key questionunanswered if a claim is not just greenwashfairwash991252in other words if itis backed by stringent standards and credible veri1047297cation processes991252then

what is it It would be tempting to assume that the converse of greenwashfairwash is something like ldquoreal sustainabilityfairnessrdquo on the ground But asour case studies show it is possible to have stringent standards and credibleassessment but still not generate much reform of global industries Our goalis to provide some tools for making sense of these complex (and common)intermediate scenarios

Importing Standards into Empty Spaces

Another problematic frame concerns the implementation of global standardsincluding those supported by conscientious consumerism It is tempting tosee global standards as introducing new rules into otherwise empty spacesFor instance one might think of labor codes of conduct as introducing laborrights into factories that would otherwise be completely unregulated andchaotic Or one might think of global sustainability standards as introducing

environmental norms into seings where businesses would otherwise be freeto pollute with impunity As Alison Brysk puts it global rule-making proj-ects oen ldquoconcern areas previously ungoverned or even unknownrdquo (Brysk1048626104862410486241048629 104862510486261048624) Indeed scholars and practitioners oen portray private rules as1047297lling a ldquoregulatory voidrdquo as they are put into practice especially in devel-oping countries (Sabel OrsquoRourke and Fung 1048626104862410486241048624) For some developingcountries are so lacking in the rule of law as to constitute ldquoareas of limitedstatehoodrdquo in which private rules must serve as a substitute for public author-

ity (Boumlrzel and Risse 1048626104862410486251048624) Sociologists in the ldquoworld societyrdquo school startfrom different assumptions but nevertheless argue that global norms aboutenvironmental protection child labor and human rights are imported into

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developing countries as novel concepts that are completely alien to the locals(Meyer et al 1048625104863310486331048631)

e problem with this approach is not only as Gay Seidman (1048626104862410486241048631) argues

that ldquostateless regulationrdquo usually lacks enforcement power A more funda-mental problem is that this frame obscures the institutional arrangementsthat are in place in developing countries Developing countries are not emptyanonymous uniform places ey are populated with different business sys-tems cultures of production and political institutions What may look fromafar like a relatively empty space turns out on closer inspection to have adense set of preexisting relationships organizations and rules ese local

circumstances can recon1047297gure global rules in myriad ways (Halliday andCarruthers 1048626104862410486241048633 Merry 104862610486241048624983094) For instance in chapter 1048628 we look at fair tradecerti1047297cation and its consequences in Paraguay a place where earlier ways oforganizing agricultural operations set the stage for fair trade projects andshaped their results Fair trade standards were not simply imported to thisseing they were layered onto an existing set of institutions In fact a thickerldquolayeringrdquo of rules with varying consequences has been a common result ofglobal standards (Bartley 1048626104862410486251048625) An ldquoempty spacesrdquo assumption also obscures

ongoing political struggles at the point of production As we will see INGOsand conscientious consumers are far from the only actors concerned withlabor rights sustainability or the fair distribution of resources For instancerecent years have seen a rising tide of strikes in China and mobilization ofgarment workers in Cambodia and Bangladesh (Alam 1048626104862410486251048627 Dara and Wil-lemyns 1048626104862410486251048628 Friedman 1048626104862410486251048627) e land rights of indigenous people in Braziland Indonesia are a concern not only of backers of global sustainable forestry

standards but also of burgeoning movements of indigenous people them-selves (Gerber 1048626104862410486251048625) Social movements in developing countries may struggleto influence powerful global industries but they cannot simply be ignored

When it comes to governmental regulation it is true that developingcountries oen lack the resources and administrative capacities to effec-tively regulate production processes as do many governments in affluentcountries Moreover the logic of global production in some ways gives themdisincentives to do so aggressively implementing regulations may cause in-

vestors991252and orders from brands and retailers991252to flee the country and therules of the WTO make some forms of regulation untenable But ldquodevelopingcountriesrdquo are diverse In nearly all parts of the world there are laws relatedto labor the environment and the rights of citizens Scholars are beginning

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to 1047297nd increased enforcement of these laws in some surprising places fromrevitalized state labor inspection in the export processing zones of the Do-minican Republic (Schrank 1048626104862410486251048627) to aggressive environmental regulators in

Brazil and China (Coslovsky 1048626104862410486251048625 McAllister Van Rooij and Kagan 1048626104862410486251048624)In other instances law can be repressive991252restricting the rights of workers orindigenous communities for instance (Lee 1048626104862410486241048631 Li 1048626104862410486251048624) Again the influ-ences of local structures can vary but one should not assume a blank slate

983105 983122983151983157983143983144 983111983157983145983140983141 983156983151 983125983150 983152983137983139983147983145983150983143 983107983151983150983155983139983145983141 983150983156983145983151983157983155983107983151983150983155983157983149983152983156983145983151983150 983137983150983140 983120983154983151983140983157983139983156983145983151983150 983120983154983151983146983141983139983156983155

How then can one make sense of projects to promote conscientious con-sumption and fair or sustainable production e 1047297rst step is simply to acceptthat there is a great deal of variation ere is variation across individualsand locations in conscientious consumer behavior ere is variation acrossproducts and labeling initiatives in the ldquoon the groundrdquo implications of globalstandards ere is variation across industries (and even within them) in sys-tems of production and these intersect with national (and even subnational)

differences in industry organization To understand whether conscientiousconsumption and fairsustainable production projects can contribute tomeaningful alternatives we must look closely at these industrial and politi-cal contexts A second starting point is to accept that the influence of globalstandards for fairsustainable production is typically highly circumscribedor contingent on other factors As will become clear even the most stringentstandards and most credible initiatives do not transform global industries

ey sometimes influence certain parts of an industry but even this cannotautomatically be assumed

To unpack conscientious consumption initiatives and the global standardsthey endorse we bring four factors to the foreground (1048625) structures of pro-duction and consumption (1048626) the constituencies of standards (1048627) global-local linkages and (1048628) the coexistence of rule making and unruliness

Structures of Production and Consumption

Industry structures shape both the opportunities for conscientious con-sumption to occur and the consequences of rule-making projects at thepoint of production To start some industries are more likely than others to

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become targets of activism which is typically the catalyst for rule-makingand conscientious consumption projects

Lead 1047297rms in global value chains especially when they are large and have

salient corporate reputations make aractive targets for social movements(Bartley and Child 1048626104862410486251048628) Industries that lack powerful and well-known brands tend to aract less scrutiny For instance the manufacturing of bricksespecially in developing countries is oen a highly polluting and exploit-ative industry But because there are not well-known global brands in thisindustry it has received lile international aention In other cases activistshave highlighted a problem but without powerful and recognizable brands

to link this to rule-making projects have not emerged e production ofcheap costume jewelry is rife with exploitation as shown in the documentary Mardi Gras Made in China but this has not become a site of extensive rulemaking and conscientious consumerism In some circumstances the exis-tence of large high-pro1047297le retailers can compensate for a more fragmentedor poorly known set of manufacturers Anti-GMO activists for instancehave pressured manufacturers like Monsanto by going through large retailerslike Marks amp Spencer (Schurman and Munro 1048626104862410486241048633) Our analysis of global

food distribution (in chapter 1048628) is consistent with this observation but italso suggests that the locus of consumer and activist pressure depends onthe speci1047297c product

When activists do press lead 1047297rms to make their supply chains fairer ormore sustainable the consequences seem to depend in part on the structureof that supply chain If suppliers can easily 1047297nd alternative buyers who are notdemanding changes991252that is if there are few suppliers and many buyers991252

they will have lile incentive to comply with a particular lead 1047297rmrsquos rulesGoing further by many accounts when lead 1047297rms have a great deal of powerover ldquocaptiverdquo suppliers they should be able to demand that those suppliersmake improvements (Mayer and Gereffi 1048626104862410486251048624) On the other hand someresearch has questioned whether this power is truly effective or whether itmerely spurs a game in which suppliers pretend to be making improvements(and lead 1047297rms nod in approval) (Locke Amengual and Mangla 1048626104862410486241048633) Wesuspect that the power of lead 1047297rms does make a difference but that moresigni1047297cant changes are possible when lead 1047297rms and suppliers are mutuallydependent and work together over long stretches of time (Our analysis ofthe apparel industry in chapter 1048629 though suggests that long-term collabora-tion is rare) In addition when global value chains are fairly simple in their

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structure without too many intermediaries this should make it easier forstandards to ldquotravelrdquo through them ere is a conundrum here howeversince it is oen in industries with a high degree of subcontracting (such as

apparel) that global standards are in the highest demand If global industries were dominated by vertically integrated 1047297rms rather than dispersed supplychains the world of conscientious consumerism would look quite differentFurthermore sometimes the lack of action by large lead 1047297rms can leave aspace for activists and entrepreneurs to carve out a small market niche basedon fairness or sustainability is is how fair tradendashcerti1047297ed coffee beganand some new projects appear to be emerging in electronics (Fairphone as

discussed in chapter 983094) and apparel (the Alta Gracia factory as discussed inchapter 1048629) Aer looking more closely at our four industries991252timber foodapparelfootwear and electronics991252we return to questions about industrystructure in the bookrsquos conclusion

Industry structures also maer for consumers As we show in the nextchapter opportunities to engage in conscientious consumption are just asimportant as motivations to do so and these opportunities depend in parton the structure of the retail sector in a particular country Generally we sug-

gest that having larger retailers will facilitate consumer purchases of eco- andsocial-labeled products In part this is simply because larger retailers offer a

wider array of choices overall991252that is different versions of the same prod-uct991252while smaller retailers offer fewer choices To be sure small stores canspecialize in ldquoalternativerdquo products and large stores can fail to carry themBut given the trend toward ldquomainstreamingrdquo of alternatives (see Jaffee 1048626104862410486251048626)large retailers have become key points of sale for eco- and social-labeled prod-

ucts Furthermore oligopoly in the retail sector991252the dominance of a smallnumber of large companies991252also seems to magnify the power of activiststo influence the market As Rachel Schurman and William Munro (1048626104862410486241048633)found the existence of a small number of large food retailer chains in the UKallowed the anti-GMO movement to flourish there while it foundered amidthe larger number of supermarket chains in the United States

Constituencies and Standards

Global standards for fairness and sustainability may sound universal butthey spring from the priorities of particular individuals and groups A cru-cial step in understanding these standards is to examine the founders of

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initiatives that make rules audit compliance and certify products as fair orsustainable Some such initiatives such as fair trade certi1047297cation originatedlargely with NGOs or others outside of the industry Others such as the

Electronics Industry Citizenship Coalition and the Sustainable ForestryInitiative were founded almost exclusively by industry associations or othergroups of companies oen in response to the actions of NGOs In betweenare a number of initiatives developed by coalitions of NGOs and companiesfrom the Forest Stewardship Council to Social Accountability InternationalFounders are not everything NGO-initiated programs can become watereddown as they are mainstreamed and industry-initiated programs oen

evolve into formally independent organizations Most programs seek cred-ibility by calling themselves ldquomulti-stakeholderrdquo initiatives We maintainhowever that founding constituencies leave deep imprints on the content ofstandards and on the distribution of power within rule-making initiativesRules can get ratcheted up or down over time but these are usually marginalrevisions to a core approach Furthermore even when initiatives becomeformally independent from the constituencies that created them informalties revolving doors and 1047297nancial contributions oen persist

Generally we expect that industry-initiated programs will have standardsthat depart in relatively small ways from the normal practices of the indus-try Companies may want to improve labor conditions or environmentalperformance of their suppliers but they will be loath to push so far as todisrupt production or force a major change in their sourcing practices As aresult the greater the influence of companies in the founding of an initiativethe more likely it is to use either a ldquobest in classrdquo approach or a ldquocontinuous

improvementrdquo approach In the 1047297rst companies are recognized (throughcerti1047297cation or other endorsement) for demonstrating that they are aboveaverage in their industry is oen skirts the issue of whether they meeta stringent de1047297nition of a 1047297xed standard As Sco Nova (1048626104862410486251048625) has noted aldquobest in classrdquo model is like grading on a curve even if average performanceis quite low e second approach allows companies to start with a relativelylax standard and encourage gradual improvement over time852019

When industry outsiders have power in the initial design standard-seinginitiatives should look somewhat different First their standards are likely todepart more substantially from normal practices in the industry to a greateror lesser degree depending on the power of these outsiders Second these

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initiatives are more likely though certainly not guaranteed to endorse analternative model of production rather than to just reward the best in class orpush for continuous improvement Fair trade certi1047297cation and its emphasis

on democratically managed producer cooperatives (as described in chap-ter 1048628) is the clearest example of this ird and because of this initiativesspawned by outsiders are likely to either remain small or face dilemmas ofmainstreaming as they grow If they seek a large market presence ldquoalterna-tiverdquo programs will inevitably become more dependent on large companiese result may be a watering down of standards although as the case of theFSC shows (in chapter 1048627) this can be counteracted to some degree

For most products there are multiple competing aempts to de1047297ne fair-ness and sustainability For instance there are several ways of certifying thefairness and sustainability of coffee or of assessing the labor conditions ofapparel companies852020 Usually this competition reflects the struggle betweencompanies and NGOs Some scholars believe that such competition dooms

voluntary initiatives since it confuses consumers and lets companies choosetheir own standards (Seidman 1048626104862410486241048631) Others believe that it strengthens gov-ernance by spurring a ldquoratcheting uprdquo of expectations (Sabel OrsquoRourke and

Fung 1048626104862410486241048624) Our analysis of four global industries suggests that different setsof standards can oen coexist not exactly peacefully but with moderateinteraction or in different market niches Competition is inevitable but itseems to neither doom nor guarantee meaningful standards for fairness andsustainability It must be noted that initiatives that began with high bars991252namely Fair Trade and the FSC991252have not been pushed out of the market

by their competitors

Localized Globalisms and Globalized Localisms

Specifying links between ldquothe globalrdquo and ldquothe localrdquo has proven difficultand scholars have oen fallen prey to two types of conceptual dangers Firstin focusing on the global diffusion of a given idea or norm some have por-trayed domestic seings as lile more than passive receivers of a global proj-ect e language of domestic seings as ldquoreceptor sitesrdquo for global models(Frank Hironaka and Schofer 1048626104862410486241048624) is one example of this Pinpointingthis problem researchers are increasingly focusing on how local actors ap-propriate and ldquoindigenizerdquo global models to make them useful or meaningful

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(Halliday and Carruthers 1048626104862410486241048633 Merry 104862610486241048624983094) Second scholars of globaliza-tion oen equate the global with universalism (and oen progress) and thelocal with particularism (and oen backwardness) In so doing scholars

uncritically accept the most dominant model as ldquothe globalrdquo and obscure thepower that was exercised to establish its dominance

To deal with these problems we adopt Bonaventura de Santosrsquos language ofldquoglobalized localismsrdquo and ldquo localized globalismsrdquo (Santos 104862610486241048624983094 Santos andRodriacuteguez Garavito 1048626104862410486241048629) e 1047297rst refers to a process in which a particularis-tic set of ideas and practices becomes a dominant global norm Santos (104862610486241048624983094)provides examples such as ldquothe transformation of the English language into

a lingua franca the globalization of American fast food or popular music orthe worldwide adoption of the same laws of intellectual ownership patentsor telecommunications aggressively promoted by the USArdquo (10486271048633983094) For ourpurpose the key issue is how particular understandings of rights rules andenforcement have become institutionalized as global norms Concretely thenotion of a ldquoglobalized localismrdquo sensitizes us to processes by which particu-lar sets of reformers (NGOs companies or others) have turned their projectsinto ldquoglobalrdquo standards for fairness and sustainability Our point is not to

join the chorus that argues that ldquoWesternrdquo standards are being illegitimatelyforced on people and companies elsewhere ere have long been calls fordecent work and responsible natural resource management in many differ-ent parts of the world But the global standards supported by conscientiousconsumers in North A merica and Europe embody particular approaches tothese issues

e second concept ldquolocalized globalismrdquo refers to the incorporation of

these global models into local routines and expectations e concept sen-sitizes us to the work involved in turning global standards for fairness andsustainability into a concrete practice in a factory forest or farm in someparticular location As we have noted scholars too oen portray these sites asempty spaces We believe it is preferable to start from the opposite premisethat sites of implementation are crowded with different actors and agendasonly some of which are likely to line up with global standard-seing initia-tives Some elements of global standards are easily incorporated into localpractices while others are 1047297ercely resisted But a recognition of localizedglobalisms also has methodological implications It is rare for researchersto actually study these locations in detail It is easier to conduct distant and

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decontextualized studies of CSR or to focus only on the creation of standardsrather than their local implementation Our analyses of the global timberagricultural apparel and electronics industries include aention to speci1047297c

locations from the sugarcane farms of Paraguay to the electronics factoriesof Malaysia

Te Puzzle of Rules Rule Making and the Persistence of Unruliness

One can beer understand conscientious consumption and production proj-ects by recognizing what Tim Bartley (1048626104862410486251048628a) has called the ldquopuzzle of rulesrdquo

in the global economy simply put global capitalism can be ldquounrulyrdquo but italso generates many rule-making projects

e expansion of global markets has facilitated a number of rule-makingprojects from the standardization of accounting procedures to the rules forfairness and sustainability discussed in this book e volume of rule making

by both public and private actors has increased over the past three decadesMany scholars have pointed to these trends as evidence that global capitalismis not manic or ungovernable as it was initially framed Marie-Laure Djelic

and Kerstin Sahlin-Andersson (104862610486241048624983094) argue that ldquothe proliferation of regu-latory activities actors networks or constellations leads to an explosion ofrules and to the profound re-ordering of our worldrdquo (1048625) and they see globalcapitalism as ldquomarked by more991252not less991252rule-making activityrdquo (10486271048631983094)

On the other hand the explosion of rule making has oen been gearedtoward the expansion of markets rather than their restriction and in manyrespects global capitalism has remained unruly In many industries invest-

ment and orders can and do move quickly across locations oen under-mining aempts to impose rules Even more socially controlled European

varieties of capitalism have had their foundations chipped away (Streeck1048626104862410486241048633) Furthermore for all of the efforts of NGOs to build rules for fairnesssustainability and human rights many corners of global industries remainlargely unscrutinized and unaffected by these rule-making projects

As our case studies illustrate even as standards for fairness and sustain-ability have risen to prominence global industries have remained volatileand exploitative Certi1047297cation of sustainable forestry rose to prominencefrom 1048625104863310486331048629 to 1048626104862410486251048624 but so did illegal logging and deforestation worsenedin many places Te global apparel industry has come to be governed by

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numerous codes of conduct and factory monitoring initiatives but it hasalso continued to move quickly from one location to another in search oflow wages and more docile workers e rapid and inconsistent pace of the

global electronics industry has undermined aempts to improve workingconditions while rapidly changing agricultural markets have threatened thelivelihoods of many smallholder farmers

e puzzle of rules can be solved through an analysis of neoliberalism (seeBartley 1048626104862410486251048628a) but it also provokes a simple conclusion about the prospects forglobal fairness and sustainability global industries oen have contradictorytendencies so we should not expect either complete ldquogreenwashrdquoldquofairwashrdquo

or serious transformation Fair trade certi1047297cation has not transformed thelogic of commodity trade but it has improved conditions for some farmersin some circumstances FSC certi1047297cation has not made the timber trade sus-tainable but it has supported improvements in some forests As we developthese 1047297ndings (in part 1048626 of the book) we hope to speak not only to scholars ofconscientious consumerism but also to citizens and consumers themselvesConsumers oen want to feel like their purchases are ldquocleanrdquo of exploitation

but this is unrealistic We believe it would be more promising if consumers

shied from a deterministic to a probabilistic approach conscientious con-sumption may increase onersquos probability of contributing to improvementsand decrease the probability of contributing to the most extreme forms ofexploitation Tis does not answer the question of how large those prob-abilities are (which surely varies by product and label) or the question of howsigni1047297cant those improvements can be But only if consumers shi from anall-or-nothing view of ldquocleanrdquo versus ldquodirtyrdquo production (that is sustainable

versus destructive fair versus exploitative) can they come to an accurateunderstanding of what their purchases can and cannot achieve

983127 983144 983137983156 983116983145 983141 983155 983105 983144 983141 983137 983140

Part 1048625 of this book focuses on dynamics and dilemmas of conscientious con-sumerism In chapter 1048625 we look at why some American and European con-sumers are more likely than others to practice conscientious consumptionUsing survey data on thousands of individual consumers our quantitativeanalyses focus on factors that shape two forms of conscientious consump-tion boycoing and ldquobuycoingrdquo991252that is preferring a product for some po-

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litical or ethical reason Some paerns are related to consumersrsquo beliefs andthe extent to which they can afford to be choosy But individual differencesare only a small part of the story Where consumers are has a great deal to do

with whether they engage in conscientious consumption or not We thereforeconnect the individual survey responses with measures that capture nationaleconomic political and cultural contexts Overall this initial portrait showsthat conscientious consumption is widespread but far from universal withkey differences rooted not only in individual characteristics but in differentstructures of consumption as well

Having sketched some general paerns we delve deeper into the meanings

and implications of conscientious consumerism in chapter 1048626 Our analyses inchapter 1048625 are based on what consumers say they do but there are reasons todoubt that consumers will follow through on what they say or that what theysay truly captures the social meaning of their actions Yet we show that thereis evidence of consumers being wil ling to pay for eco-labels and social labelsConsumers are most likely to do so when their ldquoethicalrdquo choices also servetheir self-interest such as saving on energy costs or eating safer healthierfoods But even for those forms of conscientious consumption that have no

short-term direct bene1047297t for consumers there is mounting evidence thatsome consumers will pay more For labeling enthusiasts this is a good thingBut the ldquoone dollar one voterdquo logic of conscientious consumerism and thestatus-symbol character of some ldquoethicalrdquo products are potentially danger-ous in that they can exacerbate social economic and political inequalitiesamong consumers Moreover there is a danger that conscientious consumer-ism can displace other forms of political engagement promoting individual

consumerism at the expense of democratic citizenship and collective socialmovements Working through these debates we argue that conscientiousconsumerism as an ideology is regressive and counterproductive but speci1047297cpractices of conscientious consumption can sometimes be consistent withother forms of political engagement

Of course the real test of conscientious consumption comes at the pointof production To what extent do voluntary standards forged in response toconsumer concern make a difference ldquoon the groundrdquo in global industries

We tackle this question in part 1048626 of the book by looking at the global produc-tion of four types of products991252(1048625) wood and paper products (1048626) food (espe-cially the agri-food industry) (1048627) apparel and footwear and (1048628) electronics

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Each of these case studies is rooted in the interviews that we have conducted with local actors and other 1047297ne-grained information on the organization ofproduction ese chapters apply the framework sketched above (and a com-

mon organizational template) to allow for comparative insightsChapter 1048627 looks at the rise of forest certi1047297cation and its effects in the global

timber industry Like fair trade the FSC is one of the oldest and most es-tablished certi1047297cation and labeling initiatives It was founded more thantwenty years ago and it spurred a number of imitators and competitors Yetit is not well known among conscientious consumers and its impacts have

been far less than originally intended We trace the rise of forest certi1047297cation

with particular aention to the founders and constituents of the FSC andhow they leveraged the structure of the forest products industry to ldquomake amarketrdquo for certi1047297ed wood and paper Yet applying sustainability standardsto the production of some wood and paper products has barely influencedglobal deforestation A closer look at FSC certi1047297cation in the tropical forestsof Indonesia illustrates both the contradictions of certifying in a shiing andcontentious context and the limited ability of forest certi1047297cation to influencethe main drivers of deforestation

Next in chapter 1048628 we turn to agricultural production and the fairness andsustainability projects that have emerged in this seing Consumers aacha variety of meanings to food and the politics of food consumption has ex-ploded in the past decade In addition to sketching the structure of agri-foodproduction and consumption in general we focus on two types of rule-mak-ing projects fair trade certi1047297cation and an increasingly popular ldquocommod-ity roundtablerdquo approach Looking more closely at two crops991252sugar and

soy991252in one country Paraguay we are able to illustrate the consequences ofdifferent models of certi1047297cation and the crucial role of local context Globalfood politics are being layered onto preexisting institutional arrangementsand it is largely these institutional arrangements that determine whether cer-ti1047297cation is meaningful or not For instance fair trade certi1047297cation seems tomaer most when smallholder farmers are already organized into democrati-cally effective cooperatives or when local organizing al lows them to upgradetheir production capacities over time e contingent effects of conscientiousconsumption come into focus in this chapter

Chapter 1048629 considers how the rise of anti-sweatshop activism in the early1048625104863310486331048624s led to various aempts to monitor and improve working conditions inapparel and footwear factories A rough indication of how these initiatives

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have fared is provided by the occurrence of factory 1047297res in 1048626104862410486251048624ndash1048626104862410486251048627 and thedeath of more than eleven hundred garment workers in the 1048626104862410486251048627 collapse ofthe Rana Plaza building in Bangladesh Our chapter examines the constitu-

encies behind different factory auditing and certi1047297cation initiatives the waysstandards were implemented and the reasons why their effects have beenminimal e structure of apparel and footwear production in many wayscreated the demand for codes of conduct but the structure and the mobilityof the industry have undermined meaningful improvements Looking moreclosely at factories in China we show how aempts to certify particularfactories have fallen short In recent years several new projects to provide

ethical apparel have emerged but there remain few credible alternatives inthis industry

Finally chapter 983094 takes us into the fast-paced world of the electronics in-dustry where companies produce new models of smartphones laptops andother devices at breakneck speed Yet recently this industry has become afocus of aention for the exploitation of production workers especially aera series of worker suicides (and later strikes) at Foxconn factories in Chinaand mounting scrutiny of Foxconnrsquos buyer Apple Electronics brands have

also been accused of using ldquoconflict mineralsrdquo in the production of smart-phones e electronics industry is populated by well-capitalized companiesthat at times have demonstrated good intentions to make the labor processsafer and more humane Yet the industry has struggled to make improve-ments and 1047297nd tenable solutions We argue that the solution to this puzzlelies in the architecture of production and to a large extent ultimately in theorganization of electronics consumption is is a case in which conscien-

tious consumerism has been slow to develop and unreflective consumerismhas been a powerful constraint on signi1047297cant improvement Using detaileddata on factories producing for Hewle-Packard we show how the industrycontinues to demand extraordinarily ldquoflexiblerdquo labor markets and excessive

working hours in its factories in Southeast Asia We have tried to provide a sense of the complexity of these cases and set-

tings while still drawing out clear implications Along the way readers shouldget a clearer sense of the structure and operation of global value chains the

varied geographies of production and the circumscribed consequences ofeco-labels and social labels In a concluding chapter we compare our foursets of products and consider what has been learned

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kets have remained largely national in scope especially when it comes toissues of fairness and sustainability e World Trade Organization (WTO)has endorsed protections for intellectual property rights but it has le only

narrow spaces for governments to protect workers and environments and ithas refused to address labor rights directly Bilateral and multilateral tradeagreements sometimes include labor and environmental standards but theseare limited in scope and enforceability International organizations suchas the United Nations and the International Labor Organization promoteconventions for governments to adopt but these organizations rarely haveany power to demand enforcement National governments are constrained

in part by a global economy in which 1047297rms and investors can move from one jurisdiction to another but perhaps even more by ideological commitmentsto neoliberal globalization and the rules of the WTO (Evans 1048625104863310486331048631 Rodrik1048626104862410486251048625) As we argue it is a mistake to think that governments are powerless orirrelevant in the face of globalization but there is no doubt that the dearthof binding international regulation of production conditions has led many tolook to the private sector as a way of enforcing standards NGOs for instancehave oen turned to voluntary standards and conscientious consumption as

second-best alternatives to intergovernmental systems of regulationNeoliberalism can be credited not only with helping to hollow out the state

but also with promoting an individualization of responsibility In a processthat theorists have called ldquoresponsibilizationrdquo individuals are treated as hav-ing the duty and capacity to take responsibility for things that should rightly

be seen as the result of social structures is can be seen for instance in at-tempts to reform welfare states to make welfare recipients take responsibility

for their own fates (Rose 1048626104862410486241048624) e moralization of markets has also been aresponsibilization process in which individual consumers are told they havethe duty991252and the ability991252to solve the worldrsquos social problems throughtheir purchases While some scholars use the language of responsibilizationto dismiss conscientious consumption as misguided we do not see this asthe most appropriate response We recognize that individual consumers are

being asked to take responsibility for problems that would oen be beerserved by more collective and robust solutions including revitalized statesand labor unions But it is at least possible that responsibility-taking by con-sumers could help to support more durable solutions in the future especially

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if governments NGOs and consumers themselves have a clearer under-standing of what is and is not being affected by conscientious consumptionand production initiatives

INGOs and ransnational Advocacy Networks

Since the end of World War II NGOs have become key actors in nationalinternational and transnational governance By the turn of the twenty-1047297rstcentury NGOs were carrying out most of the tasks of governing complex so-cieties delivering development assistance mediating social conflicts seing

standards for business developing expert knowledge and reconstructingsocieties aer natural and social disasters By some accounts the proliferationof NGOs and their incorporation into development and governance projectsamounts to an associational revolution that ldquomay constitute as signi1047297cant asocial and political development of the laer twentieth century as the rise ofthe nation state was of the nineteenth centuryrdquo (Edwards and Hulme 104862510486331048633983094 1048626)

International NGOs (INGOs) such as Greenpeace Oxfam or HumanRights Watch have mobilized aention to a variety of global problems from

climate change to new forms of bonded labor ey have garnered mediaaention to these problems and have pushed governments and intergovern-mental organizations to take action In addition the growth of transnationalnetworks of advocates and experts has sometimes allowed domestic activiststo gain leverage over their governments In what Margaret Keck and KathrynSikkink (1048625104863310486331048632) dubbed the ldquoboomerang effectrdquo domestic activists can reachpast indifferent or hostile domestic governments and appeal to transnational

advocacy networks that in turn exert pressure on those governmentsSince the 1048625104863310486331048624s INGOs have increasingly sought to put pressure on trans-

national corporations and restructure markets not just state policies eyhave led efforts to build product certi1047297cation initiatives from the ForestStewardship Council to the Marine Stewardship Council and they havecoordinated ldquomarket campaignsrdquo to convince large retailers to support theseinitiatives In addition the traditional boomerang effect has been supple-mented with what Naomi Klein (1048625104863310486331048633) called the ldquobrand boomerangrdquo in

which grassroots labor or environmental activists call on their internationalallies to put pressure on a well-known company that is operating in (or buy-

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ing from) that location rough these processes INGOs have become im-portant architects advocates and watchdogs of conscientious consumptionand production projects

e rise of INGOs does raise conundrums however especially about therelationship between professional advocates based in Amsterdam or Wash-ington DC and grassroots activists in developing countries To some extentINGOs have become sensitive to these power disparities and local NGOshave become savvy about working with foreign partners But the power ofINGOs to organize transnational campaigns aract media aention andshame global companies does carry the danger that more locally oriented

strategies or those directed to domestic governments are being neglected(Seidman 1048626104862410486241048631)

Standards for Markets and Markets for Standards

Without the supply chain revolution neoliberal globalization and thegrowth of transnational advocacy networks it is hard to imagine the rise ofconscientious consumption and global standards for fairness and sustain-

ability Yet just because initiatives for auditing certifying or reporting onsustainability or fairness have emerged that does not mean they will haveintegrity or impact Typically conscientious consumption and productionprojects are organized as private voluntary initiatives ey aempt to setstandards for markets but they also exist within markets Like all voluntaryprograms they depend on participation from companies and there can oen

be a trade-off between the stringency of standards and the number of partici-

pants (Potoski and Prakash 1048626104862410486241048633) All voluntary initiatives are structurallydependent on their corporate participants so one should take the languageof independent ldquothird-partyrdquo initiatives with a grain of salt Furthermore asprivate initiatives they have no monopoly on standards for a particular topic(as a government would have) is means competing standards initiativescan easily emerge For some observers the private voluntary character ofthese initiatives is reason enough to give up on them (eg Seidman 1048626104862410486241048631)

while for neoliberal advocates of market-based solutions these same featuresmake such initiatives especially aractive As we argue below our approachseeks to unpack variation in the organization of these initiatives and the

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contexts in which they operate At the same time as our case studies showthere are certainly limits on what private voluntary initiatives have beenable to accomplish

983124983144983154 983141983141 983110983154983137 983149983141983155 983137983150 983140 983124983144983141983145983154 983123983144983151983154983156983139983151983149983145983150 983143983155

Given the rise of conscientious consumerism and the growth of standards forglobal industries scholars and advocates are racing to promote simple framesfor making sense of them In this section we discuss three frames that areoen invoked Each captures a slice of something important but each ends

up obscuring as much as it illuminates or more

Te Empowered Sovereign Consumer

Scholars and advocates oen adopt a celebratory tone in discussing consci-entious consumerism ey argue that consumers are being empowered toldquovote with their dollarsrdquo and that these small changes in the habits of affluentconsumers can change or even ldquosaverdquo the world As Ruth Stokes (1048626104862410486251048627) writes

in the Ecologist magazine ldquoI believe that changing the way we shop991252voting with our money991252can help to change the world Companies respond tothe habits of shoppers We all have consumer power we just have to makesure we use it wiselyrdquo If consumers have been manipulated by companiesin the past they are increasingly being empowered by new sources of infor-mation argues Dara OrsquoRourke (1048626104862410486251048625) eorists of ldquopolitical consumerismrdquohave argued that this mode of political expression is especially empowering

for individuals who are alienated from formal politics such as young peopleand women (Michelei 1048626104862410486241048627) Furthermore as companies compete for thesupport of conscientious consumers and the coveted ldquolifestyles of health andsustainabilityrdquo (LOHAS) niche (Emerich 1048626104862410486251048625) many observers argue thatthey will become transparent responsible corporate citizens (Porter andKramer 104862610486241048624983094 Smith 1048625104863310486331048624 Zadek Pruzan and Evans 1048625104863310486331048631)

Such celebrations oen rest on an idealized framing of consumer agency991252that is the ability and willingness of the ldquosovereign citizen-consumerrdquo to bethe prime mover of social change (Jacobsen and Dulsrud 1048626104862410486241048631) e ldquosover-eign consumerrdquo is an old concept that is intended to suggest that consumertastes are the driver of all economic activity As scholars have observed the

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growth of conscientious consumption the sovereign consumer has becomethe sovereign citizen-consumer or what Roberta Sassatelli (1048626104862410486241048631) dubbedthe waking of the ldquosleepy giant of the sovereign citizen-consumerrdquo (104862510486321048632) So-

cial theorist Ulrich Beck perhaps the most prominent theorist of consump-tion as a form of politics argues that ldquocitizens discover the act of shoppingas one in which they can always cast their ballot991252on a world scale no lessrdquo(qtd in Sassatelli 1048626104862410486241048631 104862510486321048632) Michele Michelei (1048626104862410486241048627) takes the provocationeven further

Conflicts over what and where to consume are now central for understanding the func-tioning of affluent Western societies is can even mean that consumers participating

in boycos can for instance be likened to resistance 1047297ghters Yet unlike resistance orrevolutionary conflicts of the past citizen-consumers tend to direct their aention towardthe market rather than state actors (1048625983094ndash10486251048631)

Even if one gets past the hyperbole treating consumer tastes as king orqueen is problematic in several respects First consumersrsquo aitudes turn outto be only one ingredient in the construction of conscientious consumptionmarkets As we show in this book the opportunities for conscientious con-sumption are not distributed evenly across individuals or across countries

Social inequality and differences in market structures mean the social con-text of consumption is just as important as individual aitudes Consumertastes may make a difference but it is difficult to see them as a true primemover

Second it is naive to assume that a change in consumer tastes translatesdirectly into a change in the production processes of global industries AsMargaret Willis and Juliet Schor (1048626104862410486251048626) argue many accounts of consci-

entious consumerism take a ldquonaiumlve aggregationistrdquo approach to marketsassuming that if a large enough number of consumers is interested in al-ternative products the market will simply change to deliver them A quitedifferent story is told by research on industries technologies and organiza-tions over time Production processes are oen ldquolocked inrdquo by a system ofinterrelated technologies and expectations making them difficult to changePaul David (1048625104863310486321048629) famously illustrated this by considering the persistence ofthe inefficient QWERTY keyboard on typewriters and computers Even ifproduction practices are not strongly locked in companies like all organi-zations rarely abandon their core routines and technologies (Hannan andFreeman 1048625104863310486321048633) Perhaps the biggest problem is that those who celebrate the

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transformative power of new consumer tastes assume that industry practicesare changing but they almost never actually investigate this assumption edisconnect between theories of conscientious consumerism and empirical

research on industry practices is stark and it is one thing that we hope toremedy with this book

Finally by celebrating the empowered conscientious politicized con-sumer one obscures the ways that unreflective consumer choices influencelabor and environmental conditions in global industries As much as someconsumers are becoming more conscientious about some of their choicesespecially when it comes to food and drinks (eg organic produce fair trade

coffee) much consumer activity is routine and habitual and some of theethics of consumption are opaque to all but the most commied individu-als Conscientious consumers might be careful to recycle avoid disposableplastic water boles and buy organic vegetables but then eat beef withoutthinking of its massive natural resource demands and the contributions ofcale production to global warming As environmentalists have pointedout encouraging consumers to make their purchases more environmentallyfriendly carries a risk of legitimating overconsumption in affluent markets

which is the foundation of many forms of environmental degradation (Mani-ates and Meyer 1048626104862410486251048624) e issue may not be just the amount of consumption

but its pace as well As will become clear later in this book the rise of ldquofastfashionrdquo and ldquofast electronicsrdquo991252that is the rapid churning through fashion-able styles of clothing and different models of smartphones991252appears to bea root cause of labor exploitation in the apparel and electronics industries

GreenwashFairwash

While some have celebrated conscientious consumerism others have dis-missed voluntary standards eco-labeling and social labeling as ldquogreenwashrdquoor ldquofairwashrdquo As Sharon Beder (1048626104862410486241048625) puts it ldquoTe aempt to provide alsquogreenrsquo and caring image for a corporation is a public relations strategy aimedat promising reform and heading off demands for more substantial and fun-damental changes and government interventionrdquo (104862610486291048627) Claims about fair

and sustainable production in this view simply provide cover to companiesthat are engaged in fundamentally unfair and unsustainable activities ecodes of conduct sustainability reports and information disclosures that are

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highlighted in celebratory accounts of transparency may actually be formsof ldquodisinformationrdquo that obscure companiesrsquo actual practices

e term ldquogreenwashrdquo took off among environmentalists in the late 1048625104863310486321048624s

as a description of advertising campaigns that portrayed companies as pro-tectors of the environment (Beers and Capellaro 1048625104863310486331048625) Greenpeace arguedthat transnational corporations like Shell DuPont and Mitsubishi had ldquoem-

braced the environment as their cause and co-opted its terminologyrdquo even while contributing massively to environmental degradation (Greenpeace1048625104863310486331048626 1048626) e analogue for corporate claims about incomes livelihoods and

justice991252ldquofairwashingrdquo991252entered the lexicon later in the wake of the fair

trade movement As fair trade certi1047297cation was becoming ldquomainstreamedrdquoand imitated scholars and activists began worrying that fairwashing wason the horizon (Conroy 1048626104862410486241048631 Lyon and Moberg 1048626104862410486251048624) Observers have alsocriticized the images produced in the name of ldquocorporate social responsibil-ityrdquo arguing that these are ldquomerely a public relations game lulling us intoa false sense of securityrdquo (Doane 1048626104862410486241048629 10486261048633) Common to all these diagnosesis the sense that most assurances one 1047297nds on a product are nothing morethan public relations efforts

e greenwashfairwash critique captures two key features of conscien-tious consumption and global standards First when faced with criticismcompanies would prefer to be able to improve their images without alteringpro1047297table practices A public relations campaign is typically the 1047297rst line ofdefense Companies may also hire outside organizations991252auditors consul-tants and sometimes NGOs991252to lend some credibility to their campaignsey may also fund seemingly independent standard-seing initiatives that

can endorse their corporate social responsibility programs or label theirproducts As we will see this is how the US timber industryrsquos SustainableForestry Initiative got its start and it helps to account for the role of appareland footwear brands in the Fair Labor Association One must always takeassurances of sustainability and fairness with a grain of salt e dosage ofsalt depends in part on whether claims come from companies themselvesinitiatives that they control or more independent initiatives (If initiativesdepend on the voluntary participation of companies they can never be fully independent but there are gradations) In our analyses of standards (in part1048626 of this book) we are aentive to who has created a particular initiativehow it is funded and how dependent on companies it is Second there is

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nearly always some hypocrisy present when companies take up greening orfairness initiatives Simply because one product or one aspect of a companyrsquosproduction has earned some credentials does not mean that the companyrsquos

operations overall can be considered green or fair As David Vogel (1048626104862410486241048629)has argued we oen yearn for simple pronouncements of ldquogoodrdquo and ldquobadrdquocompanies But companies like people are complex multifaceted and oencontradictory One part of a company may be developing green productionprocesses while another part lobbies against environmental regulation

On the other hand we see simple distinctions between greenwashfair- wash and ldquotruerdquo reform as a poor match for the current state of global indus-

tries and labeling projects Eco-labeling and social labeling may once have been the domain of public relations personnel but they have become theirown specialized world in which credibility depends on ldquomulti-stakeholderrepresentationrdquo and extensive amounts of accreditation auditing and veri1047297-cation Companies might prefer to respond to criticism with public relationscampaigns but they are oen pushed by activists and investors to go furtherand achieve some kind of external assurance For instance if confronted bylabor rights abuses apparel and footwear companies no longer simply hold

up a code of conduct instead they refer to sophisticated factory monitoringprograms external certi1047297cations and ldquocapacity-buildingrdquo projects (Locke1048626104862410486251048627) Rather than simply co-opting the language of environmentalism manyretailers have been pushed to sell products that are independently certi1047297ed(Conroy 1048626104862410486241048631) Furthermore the world of voluntary certi1047297cation has be-come increasingly formalized For instance to judge compliance with thestandards of the FSC an auditing organization (eg Scienti1047297c Certi1047297cation

Systems SmartWood or the Soil Association) must be accredited by a sepa-rate oversight body (Accreditation Services International) Furthermore theFSC belongs to an umbrella organization991252the ISEAL (International Socialand Environmental Accreditation and Labeling) Alliance991252which de1047297nes

best practices for credible certi1047297cation initiatives To be sure all of this cer-ti1047297cation of the certi1047297ers of the certi1047297ers (and beyond) is not guaranteed to

bring about meaningful improvement Indeed we describe cases where thisformalization has been counterproductive and where seemingly credible ini-tiatives have failed spectacularly But it does mean there is more ldquocheckingrdquothan there is simple ldquowashingrdquo As Peter Dauvergne and Jane Lister (1048626104862410486251048626)put it ldquoCorporate sustainability goals include measurable targets are

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audited by independent groups and are integrated into the core business [through] life-cycle assessment supply chain tracing eco-certi1047297cation andsustainability reportingrdquo (10486271048632) We concur with them that all of this measure-

ment and reporting oen skirts the root causes of problems but one cannotseriously assess conscientious consumption without investigating this activ-ity If the world were as simple as it was when the ldquogreenwashrdquo frame was 1047297rstcoined a book like this would not be necessary

Most importantly the greenwashfairwash frame leaves a key questionunanswered if a claim is not just greenwashfairwash991252in other words if itis backed by stringent standards and credible veri1047297cation processes991252then

what is it It would be tempting to assume that the converse of greenwashfairwash is something like ldquoreal sustainabilityfairnessrdquo on the ground But asour case studies show it is possible to have stringent standards and credibleassessment but still not generate much reform of global industries Our goalis to provide some tools for making sense of these complex (and common)intermediate scenarios

Importing Standards into Empty Spaces

Another problematic frame concerns the implementation of global standardsincluding those supported by conscientious consumerism It is tempting tosee global standards as introducing new rules into otherwise empty spacesFor instance one might think of labor codes of conduct as introducing laborrights into factories that would otherwise be completely unregulated andchaotic Or one might think of global sustainability standards as introducing

environmental norms into seings where businesses would otherwise be freeto pollute with impunity As Alison Brysk puts it global rule-making proj-ects oen ldquoconcern areas previously ungoverned or even unknownrdquo (Brysk1048626104862410486241048629 104862510486261048624) Indeed scholars and practitioners oen portray private rules as1047297lling a ldquoregulatory voidrdquo as they are put into practice especially in devel-oping countries (Sabel OrsquoRourke and Fung 1048626104862410486241048624) For some developingcountries are so lacking in the rule of law as to constitute ldquoareas of limitedstatehoodrdquo in which private rules must serve as a substitute for public author-

ity (Boumlrzel and Risse 1048626104862410486251048624) Sociologists in the ldquoworld societyrdquo school startfrom different assumptions but nevertheless argue that global norms aboutenvironmental protection child labor and human rights are imported into

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developing countries as novel concepts that are completely alien to the locals(Meyer et al 1048625104863310486331048631)

e problem with this approach is not only as Gay Seidman (1048626104862410486241048631) argues

that ldquostateless regulationrdquo usually lacks enforcement power A more funda-mental problem is that this frame obscures the institutional arrangementsthat are in place in developing countries Developing countries are not emptyanonymous uniform places ey are populated with different business sys-tems cultures of production and political institutions What may look fromafar like a relatively empty space turns out on closer inspection to have adense set of preexisting relationships organizations and rules ese local

circumstances can recon1047297gure global rules in myriad ways (Halliday andCarruthers 1048626104862410486241048633 Merry 104862610486241048624983094) For instance in chapter 1048628 we look at fair tradecerti1047297cation and its consequences in Paraguay a place where earlier ways oforganizing agricultural operations set the stage for fair trade projects andshaped their results Fair trade standards were not simply imported to thisseing they were layered onto an existing set of institutions In fact a thickerldquolayeringrdquo of rules with varying consequences has been a common result ofglobal standards (Bartley 1048626104862410486251048625) An ldquoempty spacesrdquo assumption also obscures

ongoing political struggles at the point of production As we will see INGOsand conscientious consumers are far from the only actors concerned withlabor rights sustainability or the fair distribution of resources For instancerecent years have seen a rising tide of strikes in China and mobilization ofgarment workers in Cambodia and Bangladesh (Alam 1048626104862410486251048627 Dara and Wil-lemyns 1048626104862410486251048628 Friedman 1048626104862410486251048627) e land rights of indigenous people in Braziland Indonesia are a concern not only of backers of global sustainable forestry

standards but also of burgeoning movements of indigenous people them-selves (Gerber 1048626104862410486251048625) Social movements in developing countries may struggleto influence powerful global industries but they cannot simply be ignored

When it comes to governmental regulation it is true that developingcountries oen lack the resources and administrative capacities to effec-tively regulate production processes as do many governments in affluentcountries Moreover the logic of global production in some ways gives themdisincentives to do so aggressively implementing regulations may cause in-

vestors991252and orders from brands and retailers991252to flee the country and therules of the WTO make some forms of regulation untenable But ldquodevelopingcountriesrdquo are diverse In nearly all parts of the world there are laws relatedto labor the environment and the rights of citizens Scholars are beginning

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to 1047297nd increased enforcement of these laws in some surprising places fromrevitalized state labor inspection in the export processing zones of the Do-minican Republic (Schrank 1048626104862410486251048627) to aggressive environmental regulators in

Brazil and China (Coslovsky 1048626104862410486251048625 McAllister Van Rooij and Kagan 1048626104862410486251048624)In other instances law can be repressive991252restricting the rights of workers orindigenous communities for instance (Lee 1048626104862410486241048631 Li 1048626104862410486251048624) Again the influ-ences of local structures can vary but one should not assume a blank slate

983105 983122983151983157983143983144 983111983157983145983140983141 983156983151 983125983150 983152983137983139983147983145983150983143 983107983151983150983155983139983145983141 983150983156983145983151983157983155983107983151983150983155983157983149983152983156983145983151983150 983137983150983140 983120983154983151983140983157983139983156983145983151983150 983120983154983151983146983141983139983156983155

How then can one make sense of projects to promote conscientious con-sumption and fair or sustainable production e 1047297rst step is simply to acceptthat there is a great deal of variation ere is variation across individualsand locations in conscientious consumer behavior ere is variation acrossproducts and labeling initiatives in the ldquoon the groundrdquo implications of globalstandards ere is variation across industries (and even within them) in sys-tems of production and these intersect with national (and even subnational)

differences in industry organization To understand whether conscientiousconsumption and fairsustainable production projects can contribute tomeaningful alternatives we must look closely at these industrial and politi-cal contexts A second starting point is to accept that the influence of globalstandards for fairsustainable production is typically highly circumscribedor contingent on other factors As will become clear even the most stringentstandards and most credible initiatives do not transform global industries

ey sometimes influence certain parts of an industry but even this cannotautomatically be assumed

To unpack conscientious consumption initiatives and the global standardsthey endorse we bring four factors to the foreground (1048625) structures of pro-duction and consumption (1048626) the constituencies of standards (1048627) global-local linkages and (1048628) the coexistence of rule making and unruliness

Structures of Production and Consumption

Industry structures shape both the opportunities for conscientious con-sumption to occur and the consequences of rule-making projects at thepoint of production To start some industries are more likely than others to

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become targets of activism which is typically the catalyst for rule-makingand conscientious consumption projects

Lead 1047297rms in global value chains especially when they are large and have

salient corporate reputations make aractive targets for social movements(Bartley and Child 1048626104862410486251048628) Industries that lack powerful and well-known brands tend to aract less scrutiny For instance the manufacturing of bricksespecially in developing countries is oen a highly polluting and exploit-ative industry But because there are not well-known global brands in thisindustry it has received lile international aention In other cases activistshave highlighted a problem but without powerful and recognizable brands

to link this to rule-making projects have not emerged e production ofcheap costume jewelry is rife with exploitation as shown in the documentary Mardi Gras Made in China but this has not become a site of extensive rulemaking and conscientious consumerism In some circumstances the exis-tence of large high-pro1047297le retailers can compensate for a more fragmentedor poorly known set of manufacturers Anti-GMO activists for instancehave pressured manufacturers like Monsanto by going through large retailerslike Marks amp Spencer (Schurman and Munro 1048626104862410486241048633) Our analysis of global

food distribution (in chapter 1048628) is consistent with this observation but italso suggests that the locus of consumer and activist pressure depends onthe speci1047297c product

When activists do press lead 1047297rms to make their supply chains fairer ormore sustainable the consequences seem to depend in part on the structureof that supply chain If suppliers can easily 1047297nd alternative buyers who are notdemanding changes991252that is if there are few suppliers and many buyers991252

they will have lile incentive to comply with a particular lead 1047297rmrsquos rulesGoing further by many accounts when lead 1047297rms have a great deal of powerover ldquocaptiverdquo suppliers they should be able to demand that those suppliersmake improvements (Mayer and Gereffi 1048626104862410486251048624) On the other hand someresearch has questioned whether this power is truly effective or whether itmerely spurs a game in which suppliers pretend to be making improvements(and lead 1047297rms nod in approval) (Locke Amengual and Mangla 1048626104862410486241048633) Wesuspect that the power of lead 1047297rms does make a difference but that moresigni1047297cant changes are possible when lead 1047297rms and suppliers are mutuallydependent and work together over long stretches of time (Our analysis ofthe apparel industry in chapter 1048629 though suggests that long-term collabora-tion is rare) In addition when global value chains are fairly simple in their

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structure without too many intermediaries this should make it easier forstandards to ldquotravelrdquo through them ere is a conundrum here howeversince it is oen in industries with a high degree of subcontracting (such as

apparel) that global standards are in the highest demand If global industries were dominated by vertically integrated 1047297rms rather than dispersed supplychains the world of conscientious consumerism would look quite differentFurthermore sometimes the lack of action by large lead 1047297rms can leave aspace for activists and entrepreneurs to carve out a small market niche basedon fairness or sustainability is is how fair tradendashcerti1047297ed coffee beganand some new projects appear to be emerging in electronics (Fairphone as

discussed in chapter 983094) and apparel (the Alta Gracia factory as discussed inchapter 1048629) Aer looking more closely at our four industries991252timber foodapparelfootwear and electronics991252we return to questions about industrystructure in the bookrsquos conclusion

Industry structures also maer for consumers As we show in the nextchapter opportunities to engage in conscientious consumption are just asimportant as motivations to do so and these opportunities depend in parton the structure of the retail sector in a particular country Generally we sug-

gest that having larger retailers will facilitate consumer purchases of eco- andsocial-labeled products In part this is simply because larger retailers offer a

wider array of choices overall991252that is different versions of the same prod-uct991252while smaller retailers offer fewer choices To be sure small stores canspecialize in ldquoalternativerdquo products and large stores can fail to carry themBut given the trend toward ldquomainstreamingrdquo of alternatives (see Jaffee 1048626104862410486251048626)large retailers have become key points of sale for eco- and social-labeled prod-

ucts Furthermore oligopoly in the retail sector991252the dominance of a smallnumber of large companies991252also seems to magnify the power of activiststo influence the market As Rachel Schurman and William Munro (1048626104862410486241048633)found the existence of a small number of large food retailer chains in the UKallowed the anti-GMO movement to flourish there while it foundered amidthe larger number of supermarket chains in the United States

Constituencies and Standards

Global standards for fairness and sustainability may sound universal butthey spring from the priorities of particular individuals and groups A cru-cial step in understanding these standards is to examine the founders of

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initiatives that make rules audit compliance and certify products as fair orsustainable Some such initiatives such as fair trade certi1047297cation originatedlargely with NGOs or others outside of the industry Others such as the

Electronics Industry Citizenship Coalition and the Sustainable ForestryInitiative were founded almost exclusively by industry associations or othergroups of companies oen in response to the actions of NGOs In betweenare a number of initiatives developed by coalitions of NGOs and companiesfrom the Forest Stewardship Council to Social Accountability InternationalFounders are not everything NGO-initiated programs can become watereddown as they are mainstreamed and industry-initiated programs oen

evolve into formally independent organizations Most programs seek cred-ibility by calling themselves ldquomulti-stakeholderrdquo initiatives We maintainhowever that founding constituencies leave deep imprints on the content ofstandards and on the distribution of power within rule-making initiativesRules can get ratcheted up or down over time but these are usually marginalrevisions to a core approach Furthermore even when initiatives becomeformally independent from the constituencies that created them informalties revolving doors and 1047297nancial contributions oen persist

Generally we expect that industry-initiated programs will have standardsthat depart in relatively small ways from the normal practices of the indus-try Companies may want to improve labor conditions or environmentalperformance of their suppliers but they will be loath to push so far as todisrupt production or force a major change in their sourcing practices As aresult the greater the influence of companies in the founding of an initiativethe more likely it is to use either a ldquobest in classrdquo approach or a ldquocontinuous

improvementrdquo approach In the 1047297rst companies are recognized (throughcerti1047297cation or other endorsement) for demonstrating that they are aboveaverage in their industry is oen skirts the issue of whether they meeta stringent de1047297nition of a 1047297xed standard As Sco Nova (1048626104862410486251048625) has noted aldquobest in classrdquo model is like grading on a curve even if average performanceis quite low e second approach allows companies to start with a relativelylax standard and encourage gradual improvement over time852019

When industry outsiders have power in the initial design standard-seinginitiatives should look somewhat different First their standards are likely todepart more substantially from normal practices in the industry to a greateror lesser degree depending on the power of these outsiders Second these

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initiatives are more likely though certainly not guaranteed to endorse analternative model of production rather than to just reward the best in class orpush for continuous improvement Fair trade certi1047297cation and its emphasis

on democratically managed producer cooperatives (as described in chap-ter 1048628) is the clearest example of this ird and because of this initiativesspawned by outsiders are likely to either remain small or face dilemmas ofmainstreaming as they grow If they seek a large market presence ldquoalterna-tiverdquo programs will inevitably become more dependent on large companiese result may be a watering down of standards although as the case of theFSC shows (in chapter 1048627) this can be counteracted to some degree

For most products there are multiple competing aempts to de1047297ne fair-ness and sustainability For instance there are several ways of certifying thefairness and sustainability of coffee or of assessing the labor conditions ofapparel companies852020 Usually this competition reflects the struggle betweencompanies and NGOs Some scholars believe that such competition dooms

voluntary initiatives since it confuses consumers and lets companies choosetheir own standards (Seidman 1048626104862410486241048631) Others believe that it strengthens gov-ernance by spurring a ldquoratcheting uprdquo of expectations (Sabel OrsquoRourke and

Fung 1048626104862410486241048624) Our analysis of four global industries suggests that different setsof standards can oen coexist not exactly peacefully but with moderateinteraction or in different market niches Competition is inevitable but itseems to neither doom nor guarantee meaningful standards for fairness andsustainability It must be noted that initiatives that began with high bars991252namely Fair Trade and the FSC991252have not been pushed out of the market

by their competitors

Localized Globalisms and Globalized Localisms

Specifying links between ldquothe globalrdquo and ldquothe localrdquo has proven difficultand scholars have oen fallen prey to two types of conceptual dangers Firstin focusing on the global diffusion of a given idea or norm some have por-trayed domestic seings as lile more than passive receivers of a global proj-ect e language of domestic seings as ldquoreceptor sitesrdquo for global models(Frank Hironaka and Schofer 1048626104862410486241048624) is one example of this Pinpointingthis problem researchers are increasingly focusing on how local actors ap-propriate and ldquoindigenizerdquo global models to make them useful or meaningful

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(Halliday and Carruthers 1048626104862410486241048633 Merry 104862610486241048624983094) Second scholars of globaliza-tion oen equate the global with universalism (and oen progress) and thelocal with particularism (and oen backwardness) In so doing scholars

uncritically accept the most dominant model as ldquothe globalrdquo and obscure thepower that was exercised to establish its dominance

To deal with these problems we adopt Bonaventura de Santosrsquos language ofldquoglobalized localismsrdquo and ldquo localized globalismsrdquo (Santos 104862610486241048624983094 Santos andRodriacuteguez Garavito 1048626104862410486241048629) e 1047297rst refers to a process in which a particularis-tic set of ideas and practices becomes a dominant global norm Santos (104862610486241048624983094)provides examples such as ldquothe transformation of the English language into

a lingua franca the globalization of American fast food or popular music orthe worldwide adoption of the same laws of intellectual ownership patentsor telecommunications aggressively promoted by the USArdquo (10486271048633983094) For ourpurpose the key issue is how particular understandings of rights rules andenforcement have become institutionalized as global norms Concretely thenotion of a ldquoglobalized localismrdquo sensitizes us to processes by which particu-lar sets of reformers (NGOs companies or others) have turned their projectsinto ldquoglobalrdquo standards for fairness and sustainability Our point is not to

join the chorus that argues that ldquoWesternrdquo standards are being illegitimatelyforced on people and companies elsewhere ere have long been calls fordecent work and responsible natural resource management in many differ-ent parts of the world But the global standards supported by conscientiousconsumers in North A merica and Europe embody particular approaches tothese issues

e second concept ldquolocalized globalismrdquo refers to the incorporation of

these global models into local routines and expectations e concept sen-sitizes us to the work involved in turning global standards for fairness andsustainability into a concrete practice in a factory forest or farm in someparticular location As we have noted scholars too oen portray these sites asempty spaces We believe it is preferable to start from the opposite premisethat sites of implementation are crowded with different actors and agendasonly some of which are likely to line up with global standard-seing initia-tives Some elements of global standards are easily incorporated into localpractices while others are 1047297ercely resisted But a recognition of localizedglobalisms also has methodological implications It is rare for researchersto actually study these locations in detail It is easier to conduct distant and

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decontextualized studies of CSR or to focus only on the creation of standardsrather than their local implementation Our analyses of the global timberagricultural apparel and electronics industries include aention to speci1047297c

locations from the sugarcane farms of Paraguay to the electronics factoriesof Malaysia

Te Puzzle of Rules Rule Making and the Persistence of Unruliness

One can beer understand conscientious consumption and production proj-ects by recognizing what Tim Bartley (1048626104862410486251048628a) has called the ldquopuzzle of rulesrdquo

in the global economy simply put global capitalism can be ldquounrulyrdquo but italso generates many rule-making projects

e expansion of global markets has facilitated a number of rule-makingprojects from the standardization of accounting procedures to the rules forfairness and sustainability discussed in this book e volume of rule making

by both public and private actors has increased over the past three decadesMany scholars have pointed to these trends as evidence that global capitalismis not manic or ungovernable as it was initially framed Marie-Laure Djelic

and Kerstin Sahlin-Andersson (104862610486241048624983094) argue that ldquothe proliferation of regu-latory activities actors networks or constellations leads to an explosion ofrules and to the profound re-ordering of our worldrdquo (1048625) and they see globalcapitalism as ldquomarked by more991252not less991252rule-making activityrdquo (10486271048631983094)

On the other hand the explosion of rule making has oen been gearedtoward the expansion of markets rather than their restriction and in manyrespects global capitalism has remained unruly In many industries invest-

ment and orders can and do move quickly across locations oen under-mining aempts to impose rules Even more socially controlled European

varieties of capitalism have had their foundations chipped away (Streeck1048626104862410486241048633) Furthermore for all of the efforts of NGOs to build rules for fairnesssustainability and human rights many corners of global industries remainlargely unscrutinized and unaffected by these rule-making projects

As our case studies illustrate even as standards for fairness and sustain-ability have risen to prominence global industries have remained volatileand exploitative Certi1047297cation of sustainable forestry rose to prominencefrom 1048625104863310486331048629 to 1048626104862410486251048624 but so did illegal logging and deforestation worsenedin many places Te global apparel industry has come to be governed by

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numerous codes of conduct and factory monitoring initiatives but it hasalso continued to move quickly from one location to another in search oflow wages and more docile workers e rapid and inconsistent pace of the

global electronics industry has undermined aempts to improve workingconditions while rapidly changing agricultural markets have threatened thelivelihoods of many smallholder farmers

e puzzle of rules can be solved through an analysis of neoliberalism (seeBartley 1048626104862410486251048628a) but it also provokes a simple conclusion about the prospects forglobal fairness and sustainability global industries oen have contradictorytendencies so we should not expect either complete ldquogreenwashrdquoldquofairwashrdquo

or serious transformation Fair trade certi1047297cation has not transformed thelogic of commodity trade but it has improved conditions for some farmersin some circumstances FSC certi1047297cation has not made the timber trade sus-tainable but it has supported improvements in some forests As we developthese 1047297ndings (in part 1048626 of the book) we hope to speak not only to scholars ofconscientious consumerism but also to citizens and consumers themselvesConsumers oen want to feel like their purchases are ldquocleanrdquo of exploitation

but this is unrealistic We believe it would be more promising if consumers

shied from a deterministic to a probabilistic approach conscientious con-sumption may increase onersquos probability of contributing to improvementsand decrease the probability of contributing to the most extreme forms ofexploitation Tis does not answer the question of how large those prob-abilities are (which surely varies by product and label) or the question of howsigni1047297cant those improvements can be But only if consumers shi from anall-or-nothing view of ldquocleanrdquo versus ldquodirtyrdquo production (that is sustainable

versus destructive fair versus exploitative) can they come to an accurateunderstanding of what their purchases can and cannot achieve

983127 983144 983137983156 983116983145 983141 983155 983105 983144 983141 983137 983140

Part 1048625 of this book focuses on dynamics and dilemmas of conscientious con-sumerism In chapter 1048625 we look at why some American and European con-sumers are more likely than others to practice conscientious consumptionUsing survey data on thousands of individual consumers our quantitativeanalyses focus on factors that shape two forms of conscientious consump-tion boycoing and ldquobuycoingrdquo991252that is preferring a product for some po-

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litical or ethical reason Some paerns are related to consumersrsquo beliefs andthe extent to which they can afford to be choosy But individual differencesare only a small part of the story Where consumers are has a great deal to do

with whether they engage in conscientious consumption or not We thereforeconnect the individual survey responses with measures that capture nationaleconomic political and cultural contexts Overall this initial portrait showsthat conscientious consumption is widespread but far from universal withkey differences rooted not only in individual characteristics but in differentstructures of consumption as well

Having sketched some general paerns we delve deeper into the meanings

and implications of conscientious consumerism in chapter 1048626 Our analyses inchapter 1048625 are based on what consumers say they do but there are reasons todoubt that consumers will follow through on what they say or that what theysay truly captures the social meaning of their actions Yet we show that thereis evidence of consumers being wil ling to pay for eco-labels and social labelsConsumers are most likely to do so when their ldquoethicalrdquo choices also servetheir self-interest such as saving on energy costs or eating safer healthierfoods But even for those forms of conscientious consumption that have no

short-term direct bene1047297t for consumers there is mounting evidence thatsome consumers will pay more For labeling enthusiasts this is a good thingBut the ldquoone dollar one voterdquo logic of conscientious consumerism and thestatus-symbol character of some ldquoethicalrdquo products are potentially danger-ous in that they can exacerbate social economic and political inequalitiesamong consumers Moreover there is a danger that conscientious consumer-ism can displace other forms of political engagement promoting individual

consumerism at the expense of democratic citizenship and collective socialmovements Working through these debates we argue that conscientiousconsumerism as an ideology is regressive and counterproductive but speci1047297cpractices of conscientious consumption can sometimes be consistent withother forms of political engagement

Of course the real test of conscientious consumption comes at the pointof production To what extent do voluntary standards forged in response toconsumer concern make a difference ldquoon the groundrdquo in global industries

We tackle this question in part 1048626 of the book by looking at the global produc-tion of four types of products991252(1048625) wood and paper products (1048626) food (espe-cially the agri-food industry) (1048627) apparel and footwear and (1048628) electronics

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Each of these case studies is rooted in the interviews that we have conducted with local actors and other 1047297ne-grained information on the organization ofproduction ese chapters apply the framework sketched above (and a com-

mon organizational template) to allow for comparative insightsChapter 1048627 looks at the rise of forest certi1047297cation and its effects in the global

timber industry Like fair trade the FSC is one of the oldest and most es-tablished certi1047297cation and labeling initiatives It was founded more thantwenty years ago and it spurred a number of imitators and competitors Yetit is not well known among conscientious consumers and its impacts have

been far less than originally intended We trace the rise of forest certi1047297cation

with particular aention to the founders and constituents of the FSC andhow they leveraged the structure of the forest products industry to ldquomake amarketrdquo for certi1047297ed wood and paper Yet applying sustainability standardsto the production of some wood and paper products has barely influencedglobal deforestation A closer look at FSC certi1047297cation in the tropical forestsof Indonesia illustrates both the contradictions of certifying in a shiing andcontentious context and the limited ability of forest certi1047297cation to influencethe main drivers of deforestation

Next in chapter 1048628 we turn to agricultural production and the fairness andsustainability projects that have emerged in this seing Consumers aacha variety of meanings to food and the politics of food consumption has ex-ploded in the past decade In addition to sketching the structure of agri-foodproduction and consumption in general we focus on two types of rule-mak-ing projects fair trade certi1047297cation and an increasingly popular ldquocommod-ity roundtablerdquo approach Looking more closely at two crops991252sugar and

soy991252in one country Paraguay we are able to illustrate the consequences ofdifferent models of certi1047297cation and the crucial role of local context Globalfood politics are being layered onto preexisting institutional arrangementsand it is largely these institutional arrangements that determine whether cer-ti1047297cation is meaningful or not For instance fair trade certi1047297cation seems tomaer most when smallholder farmers are already organized into democrati-cally effective cooperatives or when local organizing al lows them to upgradetheir production capacities over time e contingent effects of conscientiousconsumption come into focus in this chapter

Chapter 1048629 considers how the rise of anti-sweatshop activism in the early1048625104863310486331048624s led to various aempts to monitor and improve working conditions inapparel and footwear factories A rough indication of how these initiatives

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have fared is provided by the occurrence of factory 1047297res in 1048626104862410486251048624ndash1048626104862410486251048627 and thedeath of more than eleven hundred garment workers in the 1048626104862410486251048627 collapse ofthe Rana Plaza building in Bangladesh Our chapter examines the constitu-

encies behind different factory auditing and certi1047297cation initiatives the waysstandards were implemented and the reasons why their effects have beenminimal e structure of apparel and footwear production in many wayscreated the demand for codes of conduct but the structure and the mobilityof the industry have undermined meaningful improvements Looking moreclosely at factories in China we show how aempts to certify particularfactories have fallen short In recent years several new projects to provide

ethical apparel have emerged but there remain few credible alternatives inthis industry

Finally chapter 983094 takes us into the fast-paced world of the electronics in-dustry where companies produce new models of smartphones laptops andother devices at breakneck speed Yet recently this industry has become afocus of aention for the exploitation of production workers especially aera series of worker suicides (and later strikes) at Foxconn factories in Chinaand mounting scrutiny of Foxconnrsquos buyer Apple Electronics brands have

also been accused of using ldquoconflict mineralsrdquo in the production of smart-phones e electronics industry is populated by well-capitalized companiesthat at times have demonstrated good intentions to make the labor processsafer and more humane Yet the industry has struggled to make improve-ments and 1047297nd tenable solutions We argue that the solution to this puzzlelies in the architecture of production and to a large extent ultimately in theorganization of electronics consumption is is a case in which conscien-

tious consumerism has been slow to develop and unreflective consumerismhas been a powerful constraint on signi1047297cant improvement Using detaileddata on factories producing for Hewle-Packard we show how the industrycontinues to demand extraordinarily ldquoflexiblerdquo labor markets and excessive

working hours in its factories in Southeast Asia We have tried to provide a sense of the complexity of these cases and set-

tings while still drawing out clear implications Along the way readers shouldget a clearer sense of the structure and operation of global value chains the

varied geographies of production and the circumscribed consequences ofeco-labels and social labels In a concluding chapter we compare our foursets of products and consider what has been learned

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if governments NGOs and consumers themselves have a clearer under-standing of what is and is not being affected by conscientious consumptionand production initiatives

INGOs and ransnational Advocacy Networks

Since the end of World War II NGOs have become key actors in nationalinternational and transnational governance By the turn of the twenty-1047297rstcentury NGOs were carrying out most of the tasks of governing complex so-cieties delivering development assistance mediating social conflicts seing

standards for business developing expert knowledge and reconstructingsocieties aer natural and social disasters By some accounts the proliferationof NGOs and their incorporation into development and governance projectsamounts to an associational revolution that ldquomay constitute as signi1047297cant asocial and political development of the laer twentieth century as the rise ofthe nation state was of the nineteenth centuryrdquo (Edwards and Hulme 104862510486331048633983094 1048626)

International NGOs (INGOs) such as Greenpeace Oxfam or HumanRights Watch have mobilized aention to a variety of global problems from

climate change to new forms of bonded labor ey have garnered mediaaention to these problems and have pushed governments and intergovern-mental organizations to take action In addition the growth of transnationalnetworks of advocates and experts has sometimes allowed domestic activiststo gain leverage over their governments In what Margaret Keck and KathrynSikkink (1048625104863310486331048632) dubbed the ldquoboomerang effectrdquo domestic activists can reachpast indifferent or hostile domestic governments and appeal to transnational

advocacy networks that in turn exert pressure on those governmentsSince the 1048625104863310486331048624s INGOs have increasingly sought to put pressure on trans-

national corporations and restructure markets not just state policies eyhave led efforts to build product certi1047297cation initiatives from the ForestStewardship Council to the Marine Stewardship Council and they havecoordinated ldquomarket campaignsrdquo to convince large retailers to support theseinitiatives In addition the traditional boomerang effect has been supple-mented with what Naomi Klein (1048625104863310486331048633) called the ldquobrand boomerangrdquo in

which grassroots labor or environmental activists call on their internationalallies to put pressure on a well-known company that is operating in (or buy-

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ing from) that location rough these processes INGOs have become im-portant architects advocates and watchdogs of conscientious consumptionand production projects

e rise of INGOs does raise conundrums however especially about therelationship between professional advocates based in Amsterdam or Wash-ington DC and grassroots activists in developing countries To some extentINGOs have become sensitive to these power disparities and local NGOshave become savvy about working with foreign partners But the power ofINGOs to organize transnational campaigns aract media aention andshame global companies does carry the danger that more locally oriented

strategies or those directed to domestic governments are being neglected(Seidman 1048626104862410486241048631)

Standards for Markets and Markets for Standards

Without the supply chain revolution neoliberal globalization and thegrowth of transnational advocacy networks it is hard to imagine the rise ofconscientious consumption and global standards for fairness and sustain-

ability Yet just because initiatives for auditing certifying or reporting onsustainability or fairness have emerged that does not mean they will haveintegrity or impact Typically conscientious consumption and productionprojects are organized as private voluntary initiatives ey aempt to setstandards for markets but they also exist within markets Like all voluntaryprograms they depend on participation from companies and there can oen

be a trade-off between the stringency of standards and the number of partici-

pants (Potoski and Prakash 1048626104862410486241048633) All voluntary initiatives are structurallydependent on their corporate participants so one should take the languageof independent ldquothird-partyrdquo initiatives with a grain of salt Furthermore asprivate initiatives they have no monopoly on standards for a particular topic(as a government would have) is means competing standards initiativescan easily emerge For some observers the private voluntary character ofthese initiatives is reason enough to give up on them (eg Seidman 1048626104862410486241048631)

while for neoliberal advocates of market-based solutions these same featuresmake such initiatives especially aractive As we argue below our approachseeks to unpack variation in the organization of these initiatives and the

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contexts in which they operate At the same time as our case studies showthere are certainly limits on what private voluntary initiatives have beenable to accomplish

983124983144983154 983141983141 983110983154983137 983149983141983155 983137983150 983140 983124983144983141983145983154 983123983144983151983154983156983139983151983149983145983150 983143983155

Given the rise of conscientious consumerism and the growth of standards forglobal industries scholars and advocates are racing to promote simple framesfor making sense of them In this section we discuss three frames that areoen invoked Each captures a slice of something important but each ends

up obscuring as much as it illuminates or more

Te Empowered Sovereign Consumer

Scholars and advocates oen adopt a celebratory tone in discussing consci-entious consumerism ey argue that consumers are being empowered toldquovote with their dollarsrdquo and that these small changes in the habits of affluentconsumers can change or even ldquosaverdquo the world As Ruth Stokes (1048626104862410486251048627) writes

in the Ecologist magazine ldquoI believe that changing the way we shop991252voting with our money991252can help to change the world Companies respond tothe habits of shoppers We all have consumer power we just have to makesure we use it wiselyrdquo If consumers have been manipulated by companiesin the past they are increasingly being empowered by new sources of infor-mation argues Dara OrsquoRourke (1048626104862410486251048625) eorists of ldquopolitical consumerismrdquohave argued that this mode of political expression is especially empowering

for individuals who are alienated from formal politics such as young peopleand women (Michelei 1048626104862410486241048627) Furthermore as companies compete for thesupport of conscientious consumers and the coveted ldquolifestyles of health andsustainabilityrdquo (LOHAS) niche (Emerich 1048626104862410486251048625) many observers argue thatthey will become transparent responsible corporate citizens (Porter andKramer 104862610486241048624983094 Smith 1048625104863310486331048624 Zadek Pruzan and Evans 1048625104863310486331048631)

Such celebrations oen rest on an idealized framing of consumer agency991252that is the ability and willingness of the ldquosovereign citizen-consumerrdquo to bethe prime mover of social change (Jacobsen and Dulsrud 1048626104862410486241048631) e ldquosover-eign consumerrdquo is an old concept that is intended to suggest that consumertastes are the driver of all economic activity As scholars have observed the

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growth of conscientious consumption the sovereign consumer has becomethe sovereign citizen-consumer or what Roberta Sassatelli (1048626104862410486241048631) dubbedthe waking of the ldquosleepy giant of the sovereign citizen-consumerrdquo (104862510486321048632) So-

cial theorist Ulrich Beck perhaps the most prominent theorist of consump-tion as a form of politics argues that ldquocitizens discover the act of shoppingas one in which they can always cast their ballot991252on a world scale no lessrdquo(qtd in Sassatelli 1048626104862410486241048631 104862510486321048632) Michele Michelei (1048626104862410486241048627) takes the provocationeven further

Conflicts over what and where to consume are now central for understanding the func-tioning of affluent Western societies is can even mean that consumers participating

in boycos can for instance be likened to resistance 1047297ghters Yet unlike resistance orrevolutionary conflicts of the past citizen-consumers tend to direct their aention towardthe market rather than state actors (1048625983094ndash10486251048631)

Even if one gets past the hyperbole treating consumer tastes as king orqueen is problematic in several respects First consumersrsquo aitudes turn outto be only one ingredient in the construction of conscientious consumptionmarkets As we show in this book the opportunities for conscientious con-sumption are not distributed evenly across individuals or across countries

Social inequality and differences in market structures mean the social con-text of consumption is just as important as individual aitudes Consumertastes may make a difference but it is difficult to see them as a true primemover

Second it is naive to assume that a change in consumer tastes translatesdirectly into a change in the production processes of global industries AsMargaret Willis and Juliet Schor (1048626104862410486251048626) argue many accounts of consci-

entious consumerism take a ldquonaiumlve aggregationistrdquo approach to marketsassuming that if a large enough number of consumers is interested in al-ternative products the market will simply change to deliver them A quitedifferent story is told by research on industries technologies and organiza-tions over time Production processes are oen ldquolocked inrdquo by a system ofinterrelated technologies and expectations making them difficult to changePaul David (1048625104863310486321048629) famously illustrated this by considering the persistence ofthe inefficient QWERTY keyboard on typewriters and computers Even ifproduction practices are not strongly locked in companies like all organi-zations rarely abandon their core routines and technologies (Hannan andFreeman 1048625104863310486321048633) Perhaps the biggest problem is that those who celebrate the

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transformative power of new consumer tastes assume that industry practicesare changing but they almost never actually investigate this assumption edisconnect between theories of conscientious consumerism and empirical

research on industry practices is stark and it is one thing that we hope toremedy with this book

Finally by celebrating the empowered conscientious politicized con-sumer one obscures the ways that unreflective consumer choices influencelabor and environmental conditions in global industries As much as someconsumers are becoming more conscientious about some of their choicesespecially when it comes to food and drinks (eg organic produce fair trade

coffee) much consumer activity is routine and habitual and some of theethics of consumption are opaque to all but the most commied individu-als Conscientious consumers might be careful to recycle avoid disposableplastic water boles and buy organic vegetables but then eat beef withoutthinking of its massive natural resource demands and the contributions ofcale production to global warming As environmentalists have pointedout encouraging consumers to make their purchases more environmentallyfriendly carries a risk of legitimating overconsumption in affluent markets

which is the foundation of many forms of environmental degradation (Mani-ates and Meyer 1048626104862410486251048624) e issue may not be just the amount of consumption

but its pace as well As will become clear later in this book the rise of ldquofastfashionrdquo and ldquofast electronicsrdquo991252that is the rapid churning through fashion-able styles of clothing and different models of smartphones991252appears to bea root cause of labor exploitation in the apparel and electronics industries

GreenwashFairwash

While some have celebrated conscientious consumerism others have dis-missed voluntary standards eco-labeling and social labeling as ldquogreenwashrdquoor ldquofairwashrdquo As Sharon Beder (1048626104862410486241048625) puts it ldquoTe aempt to provide alsquogreenrsquo and caring image for a corporation is a public relations strategy aimedat promising reform and heading off demands for more substantial and fun-damental changes and government interventionrdquo (104862610486291048627) Claims about fair

and sustainable production in this view simply provide cover to companiesthat are engaged in fundamentally unfair and unsustainable activities ecodes of conduct sustainability reports and information disclosures that are

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highlighted in celebratory accounts of transparency may actually be formsof ldquodisinformationrdquo that obscure companiesrsquo actual practices

e term ldquogreenwashrdquo took off among environmentalists in the late 1048625104863310486321048624s

as a description of advertising campaigns that portrayed companies as pro-tectors of the environment (Beers and Capellaro 1048625104863310486331048625) Greenpeace arguedthat transnational corporations like Shell DuPont and Mitsubishi had ldquoem-

braced the environment as their cause and co-opted its terminologyrdquo even while contributing massively to environmental degradation (Greenpeace1048625104863310486331048626 1048626) e analogue for corporate claims about incomes livelihoods and

justice991252ldquofairwashingrdquo991252entered the lexicon later in the wake of the fair

trade movement As fair trade certi1047297cation was becoming ldquomainstreamedrdquoand imitated scholars and activists began worrying that fairwashing wason the horizon (Conroy 1048626104862410486241048631 Lyon and Moberg 1048626104862410486251048624) Observers have alsocriticized the images produced in the name of ldquocorporate social responsibil-ityrdquo arguing that these are ldquomerely a public relations game lulling us intoa false sense of securityrdquo (Doane 1048626104862410486241048629 10486261048633) Common to all these diagnosesis the sense that most assurances one 1047297nds on a product are nothing morethan public relations efforts

e greenwashfairwash critique captures two key features of conscien-tious consumption and global standards First when faced with criticismcompanies would prefer to be able to improve their images without alteringpro1047297table practices A public relations campaign is typically the 1047297rst line ofdefense Companies may also hire outside organizations991252auditors consul-tants and sometimes NGOs991252to lend some credibility to their campaignsey may also fund seemingly independent standard-seing initiatives that

can endorse their corporate social responsibility programs or label theirproducts As we will see this is how the US timber industryrsquos SustainableForestry Initiative got its start and it helps to account for the role of appareland footwear brands in the Fair Labor Association One must always takeassurances of sustainability and fairness with a grain of salt e dosage ofsalt depends in part on whether claims come from companies themselvesinitiatives that they control or more independent initiatives (If initiativesdepend on the voluntary participation of companies they can never be fully independent but there are gradations) In our analyses of standards (in part1048626 of this book) we are aentive to who has created a particular initiativehow it is funded and how dependent on companies it is Second there is

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nearly always some hypocrisy present when companies take up greening orfairness initiatives Simply because one product or one aspect of a companyrsquosproduction has earned some credentials does not mean that the companyrsquos

operations overall can be considered green or fair As David Vogel (1048626104862410486241048629)has argued we oen yearn for simple pronouncements of ldquogoodrdquo and ldquobadrdquocompanies But companies like people are complex multifaceted and oencontradictory One part of a company may be developing green productionprocesses while another part lobbies against environmental regulation

On the other hand we see simple distinctions between greenwashfair- wash and ldquotruerdquo reform as a poor match for the current state of global indus-

tries and labeling projects Eco-labeling and social labeling may once have been the domain of public relations personnel but they have become theirown specialized world in which credibility depends on ldquomulti-stakeholderrepresentationrdquo and extensive amounts of accreditation auditing and veri1047297-cation Companies might prefer to respond to criticism with public relationscampaigns but they are oen pushed by activists and investors to go furtherand achieve some kind of external assurance For instance if confronted bylabor rights abuses apparel and footwear companies no longer simply hold

up a code of conduct instead they refer to sophisticated factory monitoringprograms external certi1047297cations and ldquocapacity-buildingrdquo projects (Locke1048626104862410486251048627) Rather than simply co-opting the language of environmentalism manyretailers have been pushed to sell products that are independently certi1047297ed(Conroy 1048626104862410486241048631) Furthermore the world of voluntary certi1047297cation has be-come increasingly formalized For instance to judge compliance with thestandards of the FSC an auditing organization (eg Scienti1047297c Certi1047297cation

Systems SmartWood or the Soil Association) must be accredited by a sepa-rate oversight body (Accreditation Services International) Furthermore theFSC belongs to an umbrella organization991252the ISEAL (International Socialand Environmental Accreditation and Labeling) Alliance991252which de1047297nes

best practices for credible certi1047297cation initiatives To be sure all of this cer-ti1047297cation of the certi1047297ers of the certi1047297ers (and beyond) is not guaranteed to

bring about meaningful improvement Indeed we describe cases where thisformalization has been counterproductive and where seemingly credible ini-tiatives have failed spectacularly But it does mean there is more ldquocheckingrdquothan there is simple ldquowashingrdquo As Peter Dauvergne and Jane Lister (1048626104862410486251048626)put it ldquoCorporate sustainability goals include measurable targets are

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audited by independent groups and are integrated into the core business [through] life-cycle assessment supply chain tracing eco-certi1047297cation andsustainability reportingrdquo (10486271048632) We concur with them that all of this measure-

ment and reporting oen skirts the root causes of problems but one cannotseriously assess conscientious consumption without investigating this activ-ity If the world were as simple as it was when the ldquogreenwashrdquo frame was 1047297rstcoined a book like this would not be necessary

Most importantly the greenwashfairwash frame leaves a key questionunanswered if a claim is not just greenwashfairwash991252in other words if itis backed by stringent standards and credible veri1047297cation processes991252then

what is it It would be tempting to assume that the converse of greenwashfairwash is something like ldquoreal sustainabilityfairnessrdquo on the ground But asour case studies show it is possible to have stringent standards and credibleassessment but still not generate much reform of global industries Our goalis to provide some tools for making sense of these complex (and common)intermediate scenarios

Importing Standards into Empty Spaces

Another problematic frame concerns the implementation of global standardsincluding those supported by conscientious consumerism It is tempting tosee global standards as introducing new rules into otherwise empty spacesFor instance one might think of labor codes of conduct as introducing laborrights into factories that would otherwise be completely unregulated andchaotic Or one might think of global sustainability standards as introducing

environmental norms into seings where businesses would otherwise be freeto pollute with impunity As Alison Brysk puts it global rule-making proj-ects oen ldquoconcern areas previously ungoverned or even unknownrdquo (Brysk1048626104862410486241048629 104862510486261048624) Indeed scholars and practitioners oen portray private rules as1047297lling a ldquoregulatory voidrdquo as they are put into practice especially in devel-oping countries (Sabel OrsquoRourke and Fung 1048626104862410486241048624) For some developingcountries are so lacking in the rule of law as to constitute ldquoareas of limitedstatehoodrdquo in which private rules must serve as a substitute for public author-

ity (Boumlrzel and Risse 1048626104862410486251048624) Sociologists in the ldquoworld societyrdquo school startfrom different assumptions but nevertheless argue that global norms aboutenvironmental protection child labor and human rights are imported into

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developing countries as novel concepts that are completely alien to the locals(Meyer et al 1048625104863310486331048631)

e problem with this approach is not only as Gay Seidman (1048626104862410486241048631) argues

that ldquostateless regulationrdquo usually lacks enforcement power A more funda-mental problem is that this frame obscures the institutional arrangementsthat are in place in developing countries Developing countries are not emptyanonymous uniform places ey are populated with different business sys-tems cultures of production and political institutions What may look fromafar like a relatively empty space turns out on closer inspection to have adense set of preexisting relationships organizations and rules ese local

circumstances can recon1047297gure global rules in myriad ways (Halliday andCarruthers 1048626104862410486241048633 Merry 104862610486241048624983094) For instance in chapter 1048628 we look at fair tradecerti1047297cation and its consequences in Paraguay a place where earlier ways oforganizing agricultural operations set the stage for fair trade projects andshaped their results Fair trade standards were not simply imported to thisseing they were layered onto an existing set of institutions In fact a thickerldquolayeringrdquo of rules with varying consequences has been a common result ofglobal standards (Bartley 1048626104862410486251048625) An ldquoempty spacesrdquo assumption also obscures

ongoing political struggles at the point of production As we will see INGOsand conscientious consumers are far from the only actors concerned withlabor rights sustainability or the fair distribution of resources For instancerecent years have seen a rising tide of strikes in China and mobilization ofgarment workers in Cambodia and Bangladesh (Alam 1048626104862410486251048627 Dara and Wil-lemyns 1048626104862410486251048628 Friedman 1048626104862410486251048627) e land rights of indigenous people in Braziland Indonesia are a concern not only of backers of global sustainable forestry

standards but also of burgeoning movements of indigenous people them-selves (Gerber 1048626104862410486251048625) Social movements in developing countries may struggleto influence powerful global industries but they cannot simply be ignored

When it comes to governmental regulation it is true that developingcountries oen lack the resources and administrative capacities to effec-tively regulate production processes as do many governments in affluentcountries Moreover the logic of global production in some ways gives themdisincentives to do so aggressively implementing regulations may cause in-

vestors991252and orders from brands and retailers991252to flee the country and therules of the WTO make some forms of regulation untenable But ldquodevelopingcountriesrdquo are diverse In nearly all parts of the world there are laws relatedto labor the environment and the rights of citizens Scholars are beginning

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to 1047297nd increased enforcement of these laws in some surprising places fromrevitalized state labor inspection in the export processing zones of the Do-minican Republic (Schrank 1048626104862410486251048627) to aggressive environmental regulators in

Brazil and China (Coslovsky 1048626104862410486251048625 McAllister Van Rooij and Kagan 1048626104862410486251048624)In other instances law can be repressive991252restricting the rights of workers orindigenous communities for instance (Lee 1048626104862410486241048631 Li 1048626104862410486251048624) Again the influ-ences of local structures can vary but one should not assume a blank slate

983105 983122983151983157983143983144 983111983157983145983140983141 983156983151 983125983150 983152983137983139983147983145983150983143 983107983151983150983155983139983145983141 983150983156983145983151983157983155983107983151983150983155983157983149983152983156983145983151983150 983137983150983140 983120983154983151983140983157983139983156983145983151983150 983120983154983151983146983141983139983156983155

How then can one make sense of projects to promote conscientious con-sumption and fair or sustainable production e 1047297rst step is simply to acceptthat there is a great deal of variation ere is variation across individualsand locations in conscientious consumer behavior ere is variation acrossproducts and labeling initiatives in the ldquoon the groundrdquo implications of globalstandards ere is variation across industries (and even within them) in sys-tems of production and these intersect with national (and even subnational)

differences in industry organization To understand whether conscientiousconsumption and fairsustainable production projects can contribute tomeaningful alternatives we must look closely at these industrial and politi-cal contexts A second starting point is to accept that the influence of globalstandards for fairsustainable production is typically highly circumscribedor contingent on other factors As will become clear even the most stringentstandards and most credible initiatives do not transform global industries

ey sometimes influence certain parts of an industry but even this cannotautomatically be assumed

To unpack conscientious consumption initiatives and the global standardsthey endorse we bring four factors to the foreground (1048625) structures of pro-duction and consumption (1048626) the constituencies of standards (1048627) global-local linkages and (1048628) the coexistence of rule making and unruliness

Structures of Production and Consumption

Industry structures shape both the opportunities for conscientious con-sumption to occur and the consequences of rule-making projects at thepoint of production To start some industries are more likely than others to

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become targets of activism which is typically the catalyst for rule-makingand conscientious consumption projects

Lead 1047297rms in global value chains especially when they are large and have

salient corporate reputations make aractive targets for social movements(Bartley and Child 1048626104862410486251048628) Industries that lack powerful and well-known brands tend to aract less scrutiny For instance the manufacturing of bricksespecially in developing countries is oen a highly polluting and exploit-ative industry But because there are not well-known global brands in thisindustry it has received lile international aention In other cases activistshave highlighted a problem but without powerful and recognizable brands

to link this to rule-making projects have not emerged e production ofcheap costume jewelry is rife with exploitation as shown in the documentary Mardi Gras Made in China but this has not become a site of extensive rulemaking and conscientious consumerism In some circumstances the exis-tence of large high-pro1047297le retailers can compensate for a more fragmentedor poorly known set of manufacturers Anti-GMO activists for instancehave pressured manufacturers like Monsanto by going through large retailerslike Marks amp Spencer (Schurman and Munro 1048626104862410486241048633) Our analysis of global

food distribution (in chapter 1048628) is consistent with this observation but italso suggests that the locus of consumer and activist pressure depends onthe speci1047297c product

When activists do press lead 1047297rms to make their supply chains fairer ormore sustainable the consequences seem to depend in part on the structureof that supply chain If suppliers can easily 1047297nd alternative buyers who are notdemanding changes991252that is if there are few suppliers and many buyers991252

they will have lile incentive to comply with a particular lead 1047297rmrsquos rulesGoing further by many accounts when lead 1047297rms have a great deal of powerover ldquocaptiverdquo suppliers they should be able to demand that those suppliersmake improvements (Mayer and Gereffi 1048626104862410486251048624) On the other hand someresearch has questioned whether this power is truly effective or whether itmerely spurs a game in which suppliers pretend to be making improvements(and lead 1047297rms nod in approval) (Locke Amengual and Mangla 1048626104862410486241048633) Wesuspect that the power of lead 1047297rms does make a difference but that moresigni1047297cant changes are possible when lead 1047297rms and suppliers are mutuallydependent and work together over long stretches of time (Our analysis ofthe apparel industry in chapter 1048629 though suggests that long-term collabora-tion is rare) In addition when global value chains are fairly simple in their

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structure without too many intermediaries this should make it easier forstandards to ldquotravelrdquo through them ere is a conundrum here howeversince it is oen in industries with a high degree of subcontracting (such as

apparel) that global standards are in the highest demand If global industries were dominated by vertically integrated 1047297rms rather than dispersed supplychains the world of conscientious consumerism would look quite differentFurthermore sometimes the lack of action by large lead 1047297rms can leave aspace for activists and entrepreneurs to carve out a small market niche basedon fairness or sustainability is is how fair tradendashcerti1047297ed coffee beganand some new projects appear to be emerging in electronics (Fairphone as

discussed in chapter 983094) and apparel (the Alta Gracia factory as discussed inchapter 1048629) Aer looking more closely at our four industries991252timber foodapparelfootwear and electronics991252we return to questions about industrystructure in the bookrsquos conclusion

Industry structures also maer for consumers As we show in the nextchapter opportunities to engage in conscientious consumption are just asimportant as motivations to do so and these opportunities depend in parton the structure of the retail sector in a particular country Generally we sug-

gest that having larger retailers will facilitate consumer purchases of eco- andsocial-labeled products In part this is simply because larger retailers offer a

wider array of choices overall991252that is different versions of the same prod-uct991252while smaller retailers offer fewer choices To be sure small stores canspecialize in ldquoalternativerdquo products and large stores can fail to carry themBut given the trend toward ldquomainstreamingrdquo of alternatives (see Jaffee 1048626104862410486251048626)large retailers have become key points of sale for eco- and social-labeled prod-

ucts Furthermore oligopoly in the retail sector991252the dominance of a smallnumber of large companies991252also seems to magnify the power of activiststo influence the market As Rachel Schurman and William Munro (1048626104862410486241048633)found the existence of a small number of large food retailer chains in the UKallowed the anti-GMO movement to flourish there while it foundered amidthe larger number of supermarket chains in the United States

Constituencies and Standards

Global standards for fairness and sustainability may sound universal butthey spring from the priorities of particular individuals and groups A cru-cial step in understanding these standards is to examine the founders of

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initiatives that make rules audit compliance and certify products as fair orsustainable Some such initiatives such as fair trade certi1047297cation originatedlargely with NGOs or others outside of the industry Others such as the

Electronics Industry Citizenship Coalition and the Sustainable ForestryInitiative were founded almost exclusively by industry associations or othergroups of companies oen in response to the actions of NGOs In betweenare a number of initiatives developed by coalitions of NGOs and companiesfrom the Forest Stewardship Council to Social Accountability InternationalFounders are not everything NGO-initiated programs can become watereddown as they are mainstreamed and industry-initiated programs oen

evolve into formally independent organizations Most programs seek cred-ibility by calling themselves ldquomulti-stakeholderrdquo initiatives We maintainhowever that founding constituencies leave deep imprints on the content ofstandards and on the distribution of power within rule-making initiativesRules can get ratcheted up or down over time but these are usually marginalrevisions to a core approach Furthermore even when initiatives becomeformally independent from the constituencies that created them informalties revolving doors and 1047297nancial contributions oen persist

Generally we expect that industry-initiated programs will have standardsthat depart in relatively small ways from the normal practices of the indus-try Companies may want to improve labor conditions or environmentalperformance of their suppliers but they will be loath to push so far as todisrupt production or force a major change in their sourcing practices As aresult the greater the influence of companies in the founding of an initiativethe more likely it is to use either a ldquobest in classrdquo approach or a ldquocontinuous

improvementrdquo approach In the 1047297rst companies are recognized (throughcerti1047297cation or other endorsement) for demonstrating that they are aboveaverage in their industry is oen skirts the issue of whether they meeta stringent de1047297nition of a 1047297xed standard As Sco Nova (1048626104862410486251048625) has noted aldquobest in classrdquo model is like grading on a curve even if average performanceis quite low e second approach allows companies to start with a relativelylax standard and encourage gradual improvement over time852019

When industry outsiders have power in the initial design standard-seinginitiatives should look somewhat different First their standards are likely todepart more substantially from normal practices in the industry to a greateror lesser degree depending on the power of these outsiders Second these

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initiatives are more likely though certainly not guaranteed to endorse analternative model of production rather than to just reward the best in class orpush for continuous improvement Fair trade certi1047297cation and its emphasis

on democratically managed producer cooperatives (as described in chap-ter 1048628) is the clearest example of this ird and because of this initiativesspawned by outsiders are likely to either remain small or face dilemmas ofmainstreaming as they grow If they seek a large market presence ldquoalterna-tiverdquo programs will inevitably become more dependent on large companiese result may be a watering down of standards although as the case of theFSC shows (in chapter 1048627) this can be counteracted to some degree

For most products there are multiple competing aempts to de1047297ne fair-ness and sustainability For instance there are several ways of certifying thefairness and sustainability of coffee or of assessing the labor conditions ofapparel companies852020 Usually this competition reflects the struggle betweencompanies and NGOs Some scholars believe that such competition dooms

voluntary initiatives since it confuses consumers and lets companies choosetheir own standards (Seidman 1048626104862410486241048631) Others believe that it strengthens gov-ernance by spurring a ldquoratcheting uprdquo of expectations (Sabel OrsquoRourke and

Fung 1048626104862410486241048624) Our analysis of four global industries suggests that different setsof standards can oen coexist not exactly peacefully but with moderateinteraction or in different market niches Competition is inevitable but itseems to neither doom nor guarantee meaningful standards for fairness andsustainability It must be noted that initiatives that began with high bars991252namely Fair Trade and the FSC991252have not been pushed out of the market

by their competitors

Localized Globalisms and Globalized Localisms

Specifying links between ldquothe globalrdquo and ldquothe localrdquo has proven difficultand scholars have oen fallen prey to two types of conceptual dangers Firstin focusing on the global diffusion of a given idea or norm some have por-trayed domestic seings as lile more than passive receivers of a global proj-ect e language of domestic seings as ldquoreceptor sitesrdquo for global models(Frank Hironaka and Schofer 1048626104862410486241048624) is one example of this Pinpointingthis problem researchers are increasingly focusing on how local actors ap-propriate and ldquoindigenizerdquo global models to make them useful or meaningful

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(Halliday and Carruthers 1048626104862410486241048633 Merry 104862610486241048624983094) Second scholars of globaliza-tion oen equate the global with universalism (and oen progress) and thelocal with particularism (and oen backwardness) In so doing scholars

uncritically accept the most dominant model as ldquothe globalrdquo and obscure thepower that was exercised to establish its dominance

To deal with these problems we adopt Bonaventura de Santosrsquos language ofldquoglobalized localismsrdquo and ldquo localized globalismsrdquo (Santos 104862610486241048624983094 Santos andRodriacuteguez Garavito 1048626104862410486241048629) e 1047297rst refers to a process in which a particularis-tic set of ideas and practices becomes a dominant global norm Santos (104862610486241048624983094)provides examples such as ldquothe transformation of the English language into

a lingua franca the globalization of American fast food or popular music orthe worldwide adoption of the same laws of intellectual ownership patentsor telecommunications aggressively promoted by the USArdquo (10486271048633983094) For ourpurpose the key issue is how particular understandings of rights rules andenforcement have become institutionalized as global norms Concretely thenotion of a ldquoglobalized localismrdquo sensitizes us to processes by which particu-lar sets of reformers (NGOs companies or others) have turned their projectsinto ldquoglobalrdquo standards for fairness and sustainability Our point is not to

join the chorus that argues that ldquoWesternrdquo standards are being illegitimatelyforced on people and companies elsewhere ere have long been calls fordecent work and responsible natural resource management in many differ-ent parts of the world But the global standards supported by conscientiousconsumers in North A merica and Europe embody particular approaches tothese issues

e second concept ldquolocalized globalismrdquo refers to the incorporation of

these global models into local routines and expectations e concept sen-sitizes us to the work involved in turning global standards for fairness andsustainability into a concrete practice in a factory forest or farm in someparticular location As we have noted scholars too oen portray these sites asempty spaces We believe it is preferable to start from the opposite premisethat sites of implementation are crowded with different actors and agendasonly some of which are likely to line up with global standard-seing initia-tives Some elements of global standards are easily incorporated into localpractices while others are 1047297ercely resisted But a recognition of localizedglobalisms also has methodological implications It is rare for researchersto actually study these locations in detail It is easier to conduct distant and

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decontextualized studies of CSR or to focus only on the creation of standardsrather than their local implementation Our analyses of the global timberagricultural apparel and electronics industries include aention to speci1047297c

locations from the sugarcane farms of Paraguay to the electronics factoriesof Malaysia

Te Puzzle of Rules Rule Making and the Persistence of Unruliness

One can beer understand conscientious consumption and production proj-ects by recognizing what Tim Bartley (1048626104862410486251048628a) has called the ldquopuzzle of rulesrdquo

in the global economy simply put global capitalism can be ldquounrulyrdquo but italso generates many rule-making projects

e expansion of global markets has facilitated a number of rule-makingprojects from the standardization of accounting procedures to the rules forfairness and sustainability discussed in this book e volume of rule making

by both public and private actors has increased over the past three decadesMany scholars have pointed to these trends as evidence that global capitalismis not manic or ungovernable as it was initially framed Marie-Laure Djelic

and Kerstin Sahlin-Andersson (104862610486241048624983094) argue that ldquothe proliferation of regu-latory activities actors networks or constellations leads to an explosion ofrules and to the profound re-ordering of our worldrdquo (1048625) and they see globalcapitalism as ldquomarked by more991252not less991252rule-making activityrdquo (10486271048631983094)

On the other hand the explosion of rule making has oen been gearedtoward the expansion of markets rather than their restriction and in manyrespects global capitalism has remained unruly In many industries invest-

ment and orders can and do move quickly across locations oen under-mining aempts to impose rules Even more socially controlled European

varieties of capitalism have had their foundations chipped away (Streeck1048626104862410486241048633) Furthermore for all of the efforts of NGOs to build rules for fairnesssustainability and human rights many corners of global industries remainlargely unscrutinized and unaffected by these rule-making projects

As our case studies illustrate even as standards for fairness and sustain-ability have risen to prominence global industries have remained volatileand exploitative Certi1047297cation of sustainable forestry rose to prominencefrom 1048625104863310486331048629 to 1048626104862410486251048624 but so did illegal logging and deforestation worsenedin many places Te global apparel industry has come to be governed by

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numerous codes of conduct and factory monitoring initiatives but it hasalso continued to move quickly from one location to another in search oflow wages and more docile workers e rapid and inconsistent pace of the

global electronics industry has undermined aempts to improve workingconditions while rapidly changing agricultural markets have threatened thelivelihoods of many smallholder farmers

e puzzle of rules can be solved through an analysis of neoliberalism (seeBartley 1048626104862410486251048628a) but it also provokes a simple conclusion about the prospects forglobal fairness and sustainability global industries oen have contradictorytendencies so we should not expect either complete ldquogreenwashrdquoldquofairwashrdquo

or serious transformation Fair trade certi1047297cation has not transformed thelogic of commodity trade but it has improved conditions for some farmersin some circumstances FSC certi1047297cation has not made the timber trade sus-tainable but it has supported improvements in some forests As we developthese 1047297ndings (in part 1048626 of the book) we hope to speak not only to scholars ofconscientious consumerism but also to citizens and consumers themselvesConsumers oen want to feel like their purchases are ldquocleanrdquo of exploitation

but this is unrealistic We believe it would be more promising if consumers

shied from a deterministic to a probabilistic approach conscientious con-sumption may increase onersquos probability of contributing to improvementsand decrease the probability of contributing to the most extreme forms ofexploitation Tis does not answer the question of how large those prob-abilities are (which surely varies by product and label) or the question of howsigni1047297cant those improvements can be But only if consumers shi from anall-or-nothing view of ldquocleanrdquo versus ldquodirtyrdquo production (that is sustainable

versus destructive fair versus exploitative) can they come to an accurateunderstanding of what their purchases can and cannot achieve

983127 983144 983137983156 983116983145 983141 983155 983105 983144 983141 983137 983140

Part 1048625 of this book focuses on dynamics and dilemmas of conscientious con-sumerism In chapter 1048625 we look at why some American and European con-sumers are more likely than others to practice conscientious consumptionUsing survey data on thousands of individual consumers our quantitativeanalyses focus on factors that shape two forms of conscientious consump-tion boycoing and ldquobuycoingrdquo991252that is preferring a product for some po-

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litical or ethical reason Some paerns are related to consumersrsquo beliefs andthe extent to which they can afford to be choosy But individual differencesare only a small part of the story Where consumers are has a great deal to do

with whether they engage in conscientious consumption or not We thereforeconnect the individual survey responses with measures that capture nationaleconomic political and cultural contexts Overall this initial portrait showsthat conscientious consumption is widespread but far from universal withkey differences rooted not only in individual characteristics but in differentstructures of consumption as well

Having sketched some general paerns we delve deeper into the meanings

and implications of conscientious consumerism in chapter 1048626 Our analyses inchapter 1048625 are based on what consumers say they do but there are reasons todoubt that consumers will follow through on what they say or that what theysay truly captures the social meaning of their actions Yet we show that thereis evidence of consumers being wil ling to pay for eco-labels and social labelsConsumers are most likely to do so when their ldquoethicalrdquo choices also servetheir self-interest such as saving on energy costs or eating safer healthierfoods But even for those forms of conscientious consumption that have no

short-term direct bene1047297t for consumers there is mounting evidence thatsome consumers will pay more For labeling enthusiasts this is a good thingBut the ldquoone dollar one voterdquo logic of conscientious consumerism and thestatus-symbol character of some ldquoethicalrdquo products are potentially danger-ous in that they can exacerbate social economic and political inequalitiesamong consumers Moreover there is a danger that conscientious consumer-ism can displace other forms of political engagement promoting individual

consumerism at the expense of democratic citizenship and collective socialmovements Working through these debates we argue that conscientiousconsumerism as an ideology is regressive and counterproductive but speci1047297cpractices of conscientious consumption can sometimes be consistent withother forms of political engagement

Of course the real test of conscientious consumption comes at the pointof production To what extent do voluntary standards forged in response toconsumer concern make a difference ldquoon the groundrdquo in global industries

We tackle this question in part 1048626 of the book by looking at the global produc-tion of four types of products991252(1048625) wood and paper products (1048626) food (espe-cially the agri-food industry) (1048627) apparel and footwear and (1048628) electronics

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Each of these case studies is rooted in the interviews that we have conducted with local actors and other 1047297ne-grained information on the organization ofproduction ese chapters apply the framework sketched above (and a com-

mon organizational template) to allow for comparative insightsChapter 1048627 looks at the rise of forest certi1047297cation and its effects in the global

timber industry Like fair trade the FSC is one of the oldest and most es-tablished certi1047297cation and labeling initiatives It was founded more thantwenty years ago and it spurred a number of imitators and competitors Yetit is not well known among conscientious consumers and its impacts have

been far less than originally intended We trace the rise of forest certi1047297cation

with particular aention to the founders and constituents of the FSC andhow they leveraged the structure of the forest products industry to ldquomake amarketrdquo for certi1047297ed wood and paper Yet applying sustainability standardsto the production of some wood and paper products has barely influencedglobal deforestation A closer look at FSC certi1047297cation in the tropical forestsof Indonesia illustrates both the contradictions of certifying in a shiing andcontentious context and the limited ability of forest certi1047297cation to influencethe main drivers of deforestation

Next in chapter 1048628 we turn to agricultural production and the fairness andsustainability projects that have emerged in this seing Consumers aacha variety of meanings to food and the politics of food consumption has ex-ploded in the past decade In addition to sketching the structure of agri-foodproduction and consumption in general we focus on two types of rule-mak-ing projects fair trade certi1047297cation and an increasingly popular ldquocommod-ity roundtablerdquo approach Looking more closely at two crops991252sugar and

soy991252in one country Paraguay we are able to illustrate the consequences ofdifferent models of certi1047297cation and the crucial role of local context Globalfood politics are being layered onto preexisting institutional arrangementsand it is largely these institutional arrangements that determine whether cer-ti1047297cation is meaningful or not For instance fair trade certi1047297cation seems tomaer most when smallholder farmers are already organized into democrati-cally effective cooperatives or when local organizing al lows them to upgradetheir production capacities over time e contingent effects of conscientiousconsumption come into focus in this chapter

Chapter 1048629 considers how the rise of anti-sweatshop activism in the early1048625104863310486331048624s led to various aempts to monitor and improve working conditions inapparel and footwear factories A rough indication of how these initiatives

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have fared is provided by the occurrence of factory 1047297res in 1048626104862410486251048624ndash1048626104862410486251048627 and thedeath of more than eleven hundred garment workers in the 1048626104862410486251048627 collapse ofthe Rana Plaza building in Bangladesh Our chapter examines the constitu-

encies behind different factory auditing and certi1047297cation initiatives the waysstandards were implemented and the reasons why their effects have beenminimal e structure of apparel and footwear production in many wayscreated the demand for codes of conduct but the structure and the mobilityof the industry have undermined meaningful improvements Looking moreclosely at factories in China we show how aempts to certify particularfactories have fallen short In recent years several new projects to provide

ethical apparel have emerged but there remain few credible alternatives inthis industry

Finally chapter 983094 takes us into the fast-paced world of the electronics in-dustry where companies produce new models of smartphones laptops andother devices at breakneck speed Yet recently this industry has become afocus of aention for the exploitation of production workers especially aera series of worker suicides (and later strikes) at Foxconn factories in Chinaand mounting scrutiny of Foxconnrsquos buyer Apple Electronics brands have

also been accused of using ldquoconflict mineralsrdquo in the production of smart-phones e electronics industry is populated by well-capitalized companiesthat at times have demonstrated good intentions to make the labor processsafer and more humane Yet the industry has struggled to make improve-ments and 1047297nd tenable solutions We argue that the solution to this puzzlelies in the architecture of production and to a large extent ultimately in theorganization of electronics consumption is is a case in which conscien-

tious consumerism has been slow to develop and unreflective consumerismhas been a powerful constraint on signi1047297cant improvement Using detaileddata on factories producing for Hewle-Packard we show how the industrycontinues to demand extraordinarily ldquoflexiblerdquo labor markets and excessive

working hours in its factories in Southeast Asia We have tried to provide a sense of the complexity of these cases and set-

tings while still drawing out clear implications Along the way readers shouldget a clearer sense of the structure and operation of global value chains the

varied geographies of production and the circumscribed consequences ofeco-labels and social labels In a concluding chapter we compare our foursets of products and consider what has been learned

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ing from) that location rough these processes INGOs have become im-portant architects advocates and watchdogs of conscientious consumptionand production projects

e rise of INGOs does raise conundrums however especially about therelationship between professional advocates based in Amsterdam or Wash-ington DC and grassroots activists in developing countries To some extentINGOs have become sensitive to these power disparities and local NGOshave become savvy about working with foreign partners But the power ofINGOs to organize transnational campaigns aract media aention andshame global companies does carry the danger that more locally oriented

strategies or those directed to domestic governments are being neglected(Seidman 1048626104862410486241048631)

Standards for Markets and Markets for Standards

Without the supply chain revolution neoliberal globalization and thegrowth of transnational advocacy networks it is hard to imagine the rise ofconscientious consumption and global standards for fairness and sustain-

ability Yet just because initiatives for auditing certifying or reporting onsustainability or fairness have emerged that does not mean they will haveintegrity or impact Typically conscientious consumption and productionprojects are organized as private voluntary initiatives ey aempt to setstandards for markets but they also exist within markets Like all voluntaryprograms they depend on participation from companies and there can oen

be a trade-off between the stringency of standards and the number of partici-

pants (Potoski and Prakash 1048626104862410486241048633) All voluntary initiatives are structurallydependent on their corporate participants so one should take the languageof independent ldquothird-partyrdquo initiatives with a grain of salt Furthermore asprivate initiatives they have no monopoly on standards for a particular topic(as a government would have) is means competing standards initiativescan easily emerge For some observers the private voluntary character ofthese initiatives is reason enough to give up on them (eg Seidman 1048626104862410486241048631)

while for neoliberal advocates of market-based solutions these same featuresmake such initiatives especially aractive As we argue below our approachseeks to unpack variation in the organization of these initiatives and the

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contexts in which they operate At the same time as our case studies showthere are certainly limits on what private voluntary initiatives have beenable to accomplish

983124983144983154 983141983141 983110983154983137 983149983141983155 983137983150 983140 983124983144983141983145983154 983123983144983151983154983156983139983151983149983145983150 983143983155

Given the rise of conscientious consumerism and the growth of standards forglobal industries scholars and advocates are racing to promote simple framesfor making sense of them In this section we discuss three frames that areoen invoked Each captures a slice of something important but each ends

up obscuring as much as it illuminates or more

Te Empowered Sovereign Consumer

Scholars and advocates oen adopt a celebratory tone in discussing consci-entious consumerism ey argue that consumers are being empowered toldquovote with their dollarsrdquo and that these small changes in the habits of affluentconsumers can change or even ldquosaverdquo the world As Ruth Stokes (1048626104862410486251048627) writes

in the Ecologist magazine ldquoI believe that changing the way we shop991252voting with our money991252can help to change the world Companies respond tothe habits of shoppers We all have consumer power we just have to makesure we use it wiselyrdquo If consumers have been manipulated by companiesin the past they are increasingly being empowered by new sources of infor-mation argues Dara OrsquoRourke (1048626104862410486251048625) eorists of ldquopolitical consumerismrdquohave argued that this mode of political expression is especially empowering

for individuals who are alienated from formal politics such as young peopleand women (Michelei 1048626104862410486241048627) Furthermore as companies compete for thesupport of conscientious consumers and the coveted ldquolifestyles of health andsustainabilityrdquo (LOHAS) niche (Emerich 1048626104862410486251048625) many observers argue thatthey will become transparent responsible corporate citizens (Porter andKramer 104862610486241048624983094 Smith 1048625104863310486331048624 Zadek Pruzan and Evans 1048625104863310486331048631)

Such celebrations oen rest on an idealized framing of consumer agency991252that is the ability and willingness of the ldquosovereign citizen-consumerrdquo to bethe prime mover of social change (Jacobsen and Dulsrud 1048626104862410486241048631) e ldquosover-eign consumerrdquo is an old concept that is intended to suggest that consumertastes are the driver of all economic activity As scholars have observed the

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growth of conscientious consumption the sovereign consumer has becomethe sovereign citizen-consumer or what Roberta Sassatelli (1048626104862410486241048631) dubbedthe waking of the ldquosleepy giant of the sovereign citizen-consumerrdquo (104862510486321048632) So-

cial theorist Ulrich Beck perhaps the most prominent theorist of consump-tion as a form of politics argues that ldquocitizens discover the act of shoppingas one in which they can always cast their ballot991252on a world scale no lessrdquo(qtd in Sassatelli 1048626104862410486241048631 104862510486321048632) Michele Michelei (1048626104862410486241048627) takes the provocationeven further

Conflicts over what and where to consume are now central for understanding the func-tioning of affluent Western societies is can even mean that consumers participating

in boycos can for instance be likened to resistance 1047297ghters Yet unlike resistance orrevolutionary conflicts of the past citizen-consumers tend to direct their aention towardthe market rather than state actors (1048625983094ndash10486251048631)

Even if one gets past the hyperbole treating consumer tastes as king orqueen is problematic in several respects First consumersrsquo aitudes turn outto be only one ingredient in the construction of conscientious consumptionmarkets As we show in this book the opportunities for conscientious con-sumption are not distributed evenly across individuals or across countries

Social inequality and differences in market structures mean the social con-text of consumption is just as important as individual aitudes Consumertastes may make a difference but it is difficult to see them as a true primemover

Second it is naive to assume that a change in consumer tastes translatesdirectly into a change in the production processes of global industries AsMargaret Willis and Juliet Schor (1048626104862410486251048626) argue many accounts of consci-

entious consumerism take a ldquonaiumlve aggregationistrdquo approach to marketsassuming that if a large enough number of consumers is interested in al-ternative products the market will simply change to deliver them A quitedifferent story is told by research on industries technologies and organiza-tions over time Production processes are oen ldquolocked inrdquo by a system ofinterrelated technologies and expectations making them difficult to changePaul David (1048625104863310486321048629) famously illustrated this by considering the persistence ofthe inefficient QWERTY keyboard on typewriters and computers Even ifproduction practices are not strongly locked in companies like all organi-zations rarely abandon their core routines and technologies (Hannan andFreeman 1048625104863310486321048633) Perhaps the biggest problem is that those who celebrate the

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transformative power of new consumer tastes assume that industry practicesare changing but they almost never actually investigate this assumption edisconnect between theories of conscientious consumerism and empirical

research on industry practices is stark and it is one thing that we hope toremedy with this book

Finally by celebrating the empowered conscientious politicized con-sumer one obscures the ways that unreflective consumer choices influencelabor and environmental conditions in global industries As much as someconsumers are becoming more conscientious about some of their choicesespecially when it comes to food and drinks (eg organic produce fair trade

coffee) much consumer activity is routine and habitual and some of theethics of consumption are opaque to all but the most commied individu-als Conscientious consumers might be careful to recycle avoid disposableplastic water boles and buy organic vegetables but then eat beef withoutthinking of its massive natural resource demands and the contributions ofcale production to global warming As environmentalists have pointedout encouraging consumers to make their purchases more environmentallyfriendly carries a risk of legitimating overconsumption in affluent markets

which is the foundation of many forms of environmental degradation (Mani-ates and Meyer 1048626104862410486251048624) e issue may not be just the amount of consumption

but its pace as well As will become clear later in this book the rise of ldquofastfashionrdquo and ldquofast electronicsrdquo991252that is the rapid churning through fashion-able styles of clothing and different models of smartphones991252appears to bea root cause of labor exploitation in the apparel and electronics industries

GreenwashFairwash

While some have celebrated conscientious consumerism others have dis-missed voluntary standards eco-labeling and social labeling as ldquogreenwashrdquoor ldquofairwashrdquo As Sharon Beder (1048626104862410486241048625) puts it ldquoTe aempt to provide alsquogreenrsquo and caring image for a corporation is a public relations strategy aimedat promising reform and heading off demands for more substantial and fun-damental changes and government interventionrdquo (104862610486291048627) Claims about fair

and sustainable production in this view simply provide cover to companiesthat are engaged in fundamentally unfair and unsustainable activities ecodes of conduct sustainability reports and information disclosures that are

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highlighted in celebratory accounts of transparency may actually be formsof ldquodisinformationrdquo that obscure companiesrsquo actual practices

e term ldquogreenwashrdquo took off among environmentalists in the late 1048625104863310486321048624s

as a description of advertising campaigns that portrayed companies as pro-tectors of the environment (Beers and Capellaro 1048625104863310486331048625) Greenpeace arguedthat transnational corporations like Shell DuPont and Mitsubishi had ldquoem-

braced the environment as their cause and co-opted its terminologyrdquo even while contributing massively to environmental degradation (Greenpeace1048625104863310486331048626 1048626) e analogue for corporate claims about incomes livelihoods and

justice991252ldquofairwashingrdquo991252entered the lexicon later in the wake of the fair

trade movement As fair trade certi1047297cation was becoming ldquomainstreamedrdquoand imitated scholars and activists began worrying that fairwashing wason the horizon (Conroy 1048626104862410486241048631 Lyon and Moberg 1048626104862410486251048624) Observers have alsocriticized the images produced in the name of ldquocorporate social responsibil-ityrdquo arguing that these are ldquomerely a public relations game lulling us intoa false sense of securityrdquo (Doane 1048626104862410486241048629 10486261048633) Common to all these diagnosesis the sense that most assurances one 1047297nds on a product are nothing morethan public relations efforts

e greenwashfairwash critique captures two key features of conscien-tious consumption and global standards First when faced with criticismcompanies would prefer to be able to improve their images without alteringpro1047297table practices A public relations campaign is typically the 1047297rst line ofdefense Companies may also hire outside organizations991252auditors consul-tants and sometimes NGOs991252to lend some credibility to their campaignsey may also fund seemingly independent standard-seing initiatives that

can endorse their corporate social responsibility programs or label theirproducts As we will see this is how the US timber industryrsquos SustainableForestry Initiative got its start and it helps to account for the role of appareland footwear brands in the Fair Labor Association One must always takeassurances of sustainability and fairness with a grain of salt e dosage ofsalt depends in part on whether claims come from companies themselvesinitiatives that they control or more independent initiatives (If initiativesdepend on the voluntary participation of companies they can never be fully independent but there are gradations) In our analyses of standards (in part1048626 of this book) we are aentive to who has created a particular initiativehow it is funded and how dependent on companies it is Second there is

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nearly always some hypocrisy present when companies take up greening orfairness initiatives Simply because one product or one aspect of a companyrsquosproduction has earned some credentials does not mean that the companyrsquos

operations overall can be considered green or fair As David Vogel (1048626104862410486241048629)has argued we oen yearn for simple pronouncements of ldquogoodrdquo and ldquobadrdquocompanies But companies like people are complex multifaceted and oencontradictory One part of a company may be developing green productionprocesses while another part lobbies against environmental regulation

On the other hand we see simple distinctions between greenwashfair- wash and ldquotruerdquo reform as a poor match for the current state of global indus-

tries and labeling projects Eco-labeling and social labeling may once have been the domain of public relations personnel but they have become theirown specialized world in which credibility depends on ldquomulti-stakeholderrepresentationrdquo and extensive amounts of accreditation auditing and veri1047297-cation Companies might prefer to respond to criticism with public relationscampaigns but they are oen pushed by activists and investors to go furtherand achieve some kind of external assurance For instance if confronted bylabor rights abuses apparel and footwear companies no longer simply hold

up a code of conduct instead they refer to sophisticated factory monitoringprograms external certi1047297cations and ldquocapacity-buildingrdquo projects (Locke1048626104862410486251048627) Rather than simply co-opting the language of environmentalism manyretailers have been pushed to sell products that are independently certi1047297ed(Conroy 1048626104862410486241048631) Furthermore the world of voluntary certi1047297cation has be-come increasingly formalized For instance to judge compliance with thestandards of the FSC an auditing organization (eg Scienti1047297c Certi1047297cation

Systems SmartWood or the Soil Association) must be accredited by a sepa-rate oversight body (Accreditation Services International) Furthermore theFSC belongs to an umbrella organization991252the ISEAL (International Socialand Environmental Accreditation and Labeling) Alliance991252which de1047297nes

best practices for credible certi1047297cation initiatives To be sure all of this cer-ti1047297cation of the certi1047297ers of the certi1047297ers (and beyond) is not guaranteed to

bring about meaningful improvement Indeed we describe cases where thisformalization has been counterproductive and where seemingly credible ini-tiatives have failed spectacularly But it does mean there is more ldquocheckingrdquothan there is simple ldquowashingrdquo As Peter Dauvergne and Jane Lister (1048626104862410486251048626)put it ldquoCorporate sustainability goals include measurable targets are

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audited by independent groups and are integrated into the core business [through] life-cycle assessment supply chain tracing eco-certi1047297cation andsustainability reportingrdquo (10486271048632) We concur with them that all of this measure-

ment and reporting oen skirts the root causes of problems but one cannotseriously assess conscientious consumption without investigating this activ-ity If the world were as simple as it was when the ldquogreenwashrdquo frame was 1047297rstcoined a book like this would not be necessary

Most importantly the greenwashfairwash frame leaves a key questionunanswered if a claim is not just greenwashfairwash991252in other words if itis backed by stringent standards and credible veri1047297cation processes991252then

what is it It would be tempting to assume that the converse of greenwashfairwash is something like ldquoreal sustainabilityfairnessrdquo on the ground But asour case studies show it is possible to have stringent standards and credibleassessment but still not generate much reform of global industries Our goalis to provide some tools for making sense of these complex (and common)intermediate scenarios

Importing Standards into Empty Spaces

Another problematic frame concerns the implementation of global standardsincluding those supported by conscientious consumerism It is tempting tosee global standards as introducing new rules into otherwise empty spacesFor instance one might think of labor codes of conduct as introducing laborrights into factories that would otherwise be completely unregulated andchaotic Or one might think of global sustainability standards as introducing

environmental norms into seings where businesses would otherwise be freeto pollute with impunity As Alison Brysk puts it global rule-making proj-ects oen ldquoconcern areas previously ungoverned or even unknownrdquo (Brysk1048626104862410486241048629 104862510486261048624) Indeed scholars and practitioners oen portray private rules as1047297lling a ldquoregulatory voidrdquo as they are put into practice especially in devel-oping countries (Sabel OrsquoRourke and Fung 1048626104862410486241048624) For some developingcountries are so lacking in the rule of law as to constitute ldquoareas of limitedstatehoodrdquo in which private rules must serve as a substitute for public author-

ity (Boumlrzel and Risse 1048626104862410486251048624) Sociologists in the ldquoworld societyrdquo school startfrom different assumptions but nevertheless argue that global norms aboutenvironmental protection child labor and human rights are imported into

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developing countries as novel concepts that are completely alien to the locals(Meyer et al 1048625104863310486331048631)

e problem with this approach is not only as Gay Seidman (1048626104862410486241048631) argues

that ldquostateless regulationrdquo usually lacks enforcement power A more funda-mental problem is that this frame obscures the institutional arrangementsthat are in place in developing countries Developing countries are not emptyanonymous uniform places ey are populated with different business sys-tems cultures of production and political institutions What may look fromafar like a relatively empty space turns out on closer inspection to have adense set of preexisting relationships organizations and rules ese local

circumstances can recon1047297gure global rules in myriad ways (Halliday andCarruthers 1048626104862410486241048633 Merry 104862610486241048624983094) For instance in chapter 1048628 we look at fair tradecerti1047297cation and its consequences in Paraguay a place where earlier ways oforganizing agricultural operations set the stage for fair trade projects andshaped their results Fair trade standards were not simply imported to thisseing they were layered onto an existing set of institutions In fact a thickerldquolayeringrdquo of rules with varying consequences has been a common result ofglobal standards (Bartley 1048626104862410486251048625) An ldquoempty spacesrdquo assumption also obscures

ongoing political struggles at the point of production As we will see INGOsand conscientious consumers are far from the only actors concerned withlabor rights sustainability or the fair distribution of resources For instancerecent years have seen a rising tide of strikes in China and mobilization ofgarment workers in Cambodia and Bangladesh (Alam 1048626104862410486251048627 Dara and Wil-lemyns 1048626104862410486251048628 Friedman 1048626104862410486251048627) e land rights of indigenous people in Braziland Indonesia are a concern not only of backers of global sustainable forestry

standards but also of burgeoning movements of indigenous people them-selves (Gerber 1048626104862410486251048625) Social movements in developing countries may struggleto influence powerful global industries but they cannot simply be ignored

When it comes to governmental regulation it is true that developingcountries oen lack the resources and administrative capacities to effec-tively regulate production processes as do many governments in affluentcountries Moreover the logic of global production in some ways gives themdisincentives to do so aggressively implementing regulations may cause in-

vestors991252and orders from brands and retailers991252to flee the country and therules of the WTO make some forms of regulation untenable But ldquodevelopingcountriesrdquo are diverse In nearly all parts of the world there are laws relatedto labor the environment and the rights of citizens Scholars are beginning

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to 1047297nd increased enforcement of these laws in some surprising places fromrevitalized state labor inspection in the export processing zones of the Do-minican Republic (Schrank 1048626104862410486251048627) to aggressive environmental regulators in

Brazil and China (Coslovsky 1048626104862410486251048625 McAllister Van Rooij and Kagan 1048626104862410486251048624)In other instances law can be repressive991252restricting the rights of workers orindigenous communities for instance (Lee 1048626104862410486241048631 Li 1048626104862410486251048624) Again the influ-ences of local structures can vary but one should not assume a blank slate

983105 983122983151983157983143983144 983111983157983145983140983141 983156983151 983125983150 983152983137983139983147983145983150983143 983107983151983150983155983139983145983141 983150983156983145983151983157983155983107983151983150983155983157983149983152983156983145983151983150 983137983150983140 983120983154983151983140983157983139983156983145983151983150 983120983154983151983146983141983139983156983155

How then can one make sense of projects to promote conscientious con-sumption and fair or sustainable production e 1047297rst step is simply to acceptthat there is a great deal of variation ere is variation across individualsand locations in conscientious consumer behavior ere is variation acrossproducts and labeling initiatives in the ldquoon the groundrdquo implications of globalstandards ere is variation across industries (and even within them) in sys-tems of production and these intersect with national (and even subnational)

differences in industry organization To understand whether conscientiousconsumption and fairsustainable production projects can contribute tomeaningful alternatives we must look closely at these industrial and politi-cal contexts A second starting point is to accept that the influence of globalstandards for fairsustainable production is typically highly circumscribedor contingent on other factors As will become clear even the most stringentstandards and most credible initiatives do not transform global industries

ey sometimes influence certain parts of an industry but even this cannotautomatically be assumed

To unpack conscientious consumption initiatives and the global standardsthey endorse we bring four factors to the foreground (1048625) structures of pro-duction and consumption (1048626) the constituencies of standards (1048627) global-local linkages and (1048628) the coexistence of rule making and unruliness

Structures of Production and Consumption

Industry structures shape both the opportunities for conscientious con-sumption to occur and the consequences of rule-making projects at thepoint of production To start some industries are more likely than others to

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become targets of activism which is typically the catalyst for rule-makingand conscientious consumption projects

Lead 1047297rms in global value chains especially when they are large and have

salient corporate reputations make aractive targets for social movements(Bartley and Child 1048626104862410486251048628) Industries that lack powerful and well-known brands tend to aract less scrutiny For instance the manufacturing of bricksespecially in developing countries is oen a highly polluting and exploit-ative industry But because there are not well-known global brands in thisindustry it has received lile international aention In other cases activistshave highlighted a problem but without powerful and recognizable brands

to link this to rule-making projects have not emerged e production ofcheap costume jewelry is rife with exploitation as shown in the documentary Mardi Gras Made in China but this has not become a site of extensive rulemaking and conscientious consumerism In some circumstances the exis-tence of large high-pro1047297le retailers can compensate for a more fragmentedor poorly known set of manufacturers Anti-GMO activists for instancehave pressured manufacturers like Monsanto by going through large retailerslike Marks amp Spencer (Schurman and Munro 1048626104862410486241048633) Our analysis of global

food distribution (in chapter 1048628) is consistent with this observation but italso suggests that the locus of consumer and activist pressure depends onthe speci1047297c product

When activists do press lead 1047297rms to make their supply chains fairer ormore sustainable the consequences seem to depend in part on the structureof that supply chain If suppliers can easily 1047297nd alternative buyers who are notdemanding changes991252that is if there are few suppliers and many buyers991252

they will have lile incentive to comply with a particular lead 1047297rmrsquos rulesGoing further by many accounts when lead 1047297rms have a great deal of powerover ldquocaptiverdquo suppliers they should be able to demand that those suppliersmake improvements (Mayer and Gereffi 1048626104862410486251048624) On the other hand someresearch has questioned whether this power is truly effective or whether itmerely spurs a game in which suppliers pretend to be making improvements(and lead 1047297rms nod in approval) (Locke Amengual and Mangla 1048626104862410486241048633) Wesuspect that the power of lead 1047297rms does make a difference but that moresigni1047297cant changes are possible when lead 1047297rms and suppliers are mutuallydependent and work together over long stretches of time (Our analysis ofthe apparel industry in chapter 1048629 though suggests that long-term collabora-tion is rare) In addition when global value chains are fairly simple in their

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structure without too many intermediaries this should make it easier forstandards to ldquotravelrdquo through them ere is a conundrum here howeversince it is oen in industries with a high degree of subcontracting (such as

apparel) that global standards are in the highest demand If global industries were dominated by vertically integrated 1047297rms rather than dispersed supplychains the world of conscientious consumerism would look quite differentFurthermore sometimes the lack of action by large lead 1047297rms can leave aspace for activists and entrepreneurs to carve out a small market niche basedon fairness or sustainability is is how fair tradendashcerti1047297ed coffee beganand some new projects appear to be emerging in electronics (Fairphone as

discussed in chapter 983094) and apparel (the Alta Gracia factory as discussed inchapter 1048629) Aer looking more closely at our four industries991252timber foodapparelfootwear and electronics991252we return to questions about industrystructure in the bookrsquos conclusion

Industry structures also maer for consumers As we show in the nextchapter opportunities to engage in conscientious consumption are just asimportant as motivations to do so and these opportunities depend in parton the structure of the retail sector in a particular country Generally we sug-

gest that having larger retailers will facilitate consumer purchases of eco- andsocial-labeled products In part this is simply because larger retailers offer a

wider array of choices overall991252that is different versions of the same prod-uct991252while smaller retailers offer fewer choices To be sure small stores canspecialize in ldquoalternativerdquo products and large stores can fail to carry themBut given the trend toward ldquomainstreamingrdquo of alternatives (see Jaffee 1048626104862410486251048626)large retailers have become key points of sale for eco- and social-labeled prod-

ucts Furthermore oligopoly in the retail sector991252the dominance of a smallnumber of large companies991252also seems to magnify the power of activiststo influence the market As Rachel Schurman and William Munro (1048626104862410486241048633)found the existence of a small number of large food retailer chains in the UKallowed the anti-GMO movement to flourish there while it foundered amidthe larger number of supermarket chains in the United States

Constituencies and Standards

Global standards for fairness and sustainability may sound universal butthey spring from the priorities of particular individuals and groups A cru-cial step in understanding these standards is to examine the founders of

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initiatives that make rules audit compliance and certify products as fair orsustainable Some such initiatives such as fair trade certi1047297cation originatedlargely with NGOs or others outside of the industry Others such as the

Electronics Industry Citizenship Coalition and the Sustainable ForestryInitiative were founded almost exclusively by industry associations or othergroups of companies oen in response to the actions of NGOs In betweenare a number of initiatives developed by coalitions of NGOs and companiesfrom the Forest Stewardship Council to Social Accountability InternationalFounders are not everything NGO-initiated programs can become watereddown as they are mainstreamed and industry-initiated programs oen

evolve into formally independent organizations Most programs seek cred-ibility by calling themselves ldquomulti-stakeholderrdquo initiatives We maintainhowever that founding constituencies leave deep imprints on the content ofstandards and on the distribution of power within rule-making initiativesRules can get ratcheted up or down over time but these are usually marginalrevisions to a core approach Furthermore even when initiatives becomeformally independent from the constituencies that created them informalties revolving doors and 1047297nancial contributions oen persist

Generally we expect that industry-initiated programs will have standardsthat depart in relatively small ways from the normal practices of the indus-try Companies may want to improve labor conditions or environmentalperformance of their suppliers but they will be loath to push so far as todisrupt production or force a major change in their sourcing practices As aresult the greater the influence of companies in the founding of an initiativethe more likely it is to use either a ldquobest in classrdquo approach or a ldquocontinuous

improvementrdquo approach In the 1047297rst companies are recognized (throughcerti1047297cation or other endorsement) for demonstrating that they are aboveaverage in their industry is oen skirts the issue of whether they meeta stringent de1047297nition of a 1047297xed standard As Sco Nova (1048626104862410486251048625) has noted aldquobest in classrdquo model is like grading on a curve even if average performanceis quite low e second approach allows companies to start with a relativelylax standard and encourage gradual improvement over time852019

When industry outsiders have power in the initial design standard-seinginitiatives should look somewhat different First their standards are likely todepart more substantially from normal practices in the industry to a greateror lesser degree depending on the power of these outsiders Second these

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initiatives are more likely though certainly not guaranteed to endorse analternative model of production rather than to just reward the best in class orpush for continuous improvement Fair trade certi1047297cation and its emphasis

on democratically managed producer cooperatives (as described in chap-ter 1048628) is the clearest example of this ird and because of this initiativesspawned by outsiders are likely to either remain small or face dilemmas ofmainstreaming as they grow If they seek a large market presence ldquoalterna-tiverdquo programs will inevitably become more dependent on large companiese result may be a watering down of standards although as the case of theFSC shows (in chapter 1048627) this can be counteracted to some degree

For most products there are multiple competing aempts to de1047297ne fair-ness and sustainability For instance there are several ways of certifying thefairness and sustainability of coffee or of assessing the labor conditions ofapparel companies852020 Usually this competition reflects the struggle betweencompanies and NGOs Some scholars believe that such competition dooms

voluntary initiatives since it confuses consumers and lets companies choosetheir own standards (Seidman 1048626104862410486241048631) Others believe that it strengthens gov-ernance by spurring a ldquoratcheting uprdquo of expectations (Sabel OrsquoRourke and

Fung 1048626104862410486241048624) Our analysis of four global industries suggests that different setsof standards can oen coexist not exactly peacefully but with moderateinteraction or in different market niches Competition is inevitable but itseems to neither doom nor guarantee meaningful standards for fairness andsustainability It must be noted that initiatives that began with high bars991252namely Fair Trade and the FSC991252have not been pushed out of the market

by their competitors

Localized Globalisms and Globalized Localisms

Specifying links between ldquothe globalrdquo and ldquothe localrdquo has proven difficultand scholars have oen fallen prey to two types of conceptual dangers Firstin focusing on the global diffusion of a given idea or norm some have por-trayed domestic seings as lile more than passive receivers of a global proj-ect e language of domestic seings as ldquoreceptor sitesrdquo for global models(Frank Hironaka and Schofer 1048626104862410486241048624) is one example of this Pinpointingthis problem researchers are increasingly focusing on how local actors ap-propriate and ldquoindigenizerdquo global models to make them useful or meaningful

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(Halliday and Carruthers 1048626104862410486241048633 Merry 104862610486241048624983094) Second scholars of globaliza-tion oen equate the global with universalism (and oen progress) and thelocal with particularism (and oen backwardness) In so doing scholars

uncritically accept the most dominant model as ldquothe globalrdquo and obscure thepower that was exercised to establish its dominance

To deal with these problems we adopt Bonaventura de Santosrsquos language ofldquoglobalized localismsrdquo and ldquo localized globalismsrdquo (Santos 104862610486241048624983094 Santos andRodriacuteguez Garavito 1048626104862410486241048629) e 1047297rst refers to a process in which a particularis-tic set of ideas and practices becomes a dominant global norm Santos (104862610486241048624983094)provides examples such as ldquothe transformation of the English language into

a lingua franca the globalization of American fast food or popular music orthe worldwide adoption of the same laws of intellectual ownership patentsor telecommunications aggressively promoted by the USArdquo (10486271048633983094) For ourpurpose the key issue is how particular understandings of rights rules andenforcement have become institutionalized as global norms Concretely thenotion of a ldquoglobalized localismrdquo sensitizes us to processes by which particu-lar sets of reformers (NGOs companies or others) have turned their projectsinto ldquoglobalrdquo standards for fairness and sustainability Our point is not to

join the chorus that argues that ldquoWesternrdquo standards are being illegitimatelyforced on people and companies elsewhere ere have long been calls fordecent work and responsible natural resource management in many differ-ent parts of the world But the global standards supported by conscientiousconsumers in North A merica and Europe embody particular approaches tothese issues

e second concept ldquolocalized globalismrdquo refers to the incorporation of

these global models into local routines and expectations e concept sen-sitizes us to the work involved in turning global standards for fairness andsustainability into a concrete practice in a factory forest or farm in someparticular location As we have noted scholars too oen portray these sites asempty spaces We believe it is preferable to start from the opposite premisethat sites of implementation are crowded with different actors and agendasonly some of which are likely to line up with global standard-seing initia-tives Some elements of global standards are easily incorporated into localpractices while others are 1047297ercely resisted But a recognition of localizedglobalisms also has methodological implications It is rare for researchersto actually study these locations in detail It is easier to conduct distant and

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decontextualized studies of CSR or to focus only on the creation of standardsrather than their local implementation Our analyses of the global timberagricultural apparel and electronics industries include aention to speci1047297c

locations from the sugarcane farms of Paraguay to the electronics factoriesof Malaysia

Te Puzzle of Rules Rule Making and the Persistence of Unruliness

One can beer understand conscientious consumption and production proj-ects by recognizing what Tim Bartley (1048626104862410486251048628a) has called the ldquopuzzle of rulesrdquo

in the global economy simply put global capitalism can be ldquounrulyrdquo but italso generates many rule-making projects

e expansion of global markets has facilitated a number of rule-makingprojects from the standardization of accounting procedures to the rules forfairness and sustainability discussed in this book e volume of rule making

by both public and private actors has increased over the past three decadesMany scholars have pointed to these trends as evidence that global capitalismis not manic or ungovernable as it was initially framed Marie-Laure Djelic

and Kerstin Sahlin-Andersson (104862610486241048624983094) argue that ldquothe proliferation of regu-latory activities actors networks or constellations leads to an explosion ofrules and to the profound re-ordering of our worldrdquo (1048625) and they see globalcapitalism as ldquomarked by more991252not less991252rule-making activityrdquo (10486271048631983094)

On the other hand the explosion of rule making has oen been gearedtoward the expansion of markets rather than their restriction and in manyrespects global capitalism has remained unruly In many industries invest-

ment and orders can and do move quickly across locations oen under-mining aempts to impose rules Even more socially controlled European

varieties of capitalism have had their foundations chipped away (Streeck1048626104862410486241048633) Furthermore for all of the efforts of NGOs to build rules for fairnesssustainability and human rights many corners of global industries remainlargely unscrutinized and unaffected by these rule-making projects

As our case studies illustrate even as standards for fairness and sustain-ability have risen to prominence global industries have remained volatileand exploitative Certi1047297cation of sustainable forestry rose to prominencefrom 1048625104863310486331048629 to 1048626104862410486251048624 but so did illegal logging and deforestation worsenedin many places Te global apparel industry has come to be governed by

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numerous codes of conduct and factory monitoring initiatives but it hasalso continued to move quickly from one location to another in search oflow wages and more docile workers e rapid and inconsistent pace of the

global electronics industry has undermined aempts to improve workingconditions while rapidly changing agricultural markets have threatened thelivelihoods of many smallholder farmers

e puzzle of rules can be solved through an analysis of neoliberalism (seeBartley 1048626104862410486251048628a) but it also provokes a simple conclusion about the prospects forglobal fairness and sustainability global industries oen have contradictorytendencies so we should not expect either complete ldquogreenwashrdquoldquofairwashrdquo

or serious transformation Fair trade certi1047297cation has not transformed thelogic of commodity trade but it has improved conditions for some farmersin some circumstances FSC certi1047297cation has not made the timber trade sus-tainable but it has supported improvements in some forests As we developthese 1047297ndings (in part 1048626 of the book) we hope to speak not only to scholars ofconscientious consumerism but also to citizens and consumers themselvesConsumers oen want to feel like their purchases are ldquocleanrdquo of exploitation

but this is unrealistic We believe it would be more promising if consumers

shied from a deterministic to a probabilistic approach conscientious con-sumption may increase onersquos probability of contributing to improvementsand decrease the probability of contributing to the most extreme forms ofexploitation Tis does not answer the question of how large those prob-abilities are (which surely varies by product and label) or the question of howsigni1047297cant those improvements can be But only if consumers shi from anall-or-nothing view of ldquocleanrdquo versus ldquodirtyrdquo production (that is sustainable

versus destructive fair versus exploitative) can they come to an accurateunderstanding of what their purchases can and cannot achieve

983127 983144 983137983156 983116983145 983141 983155 983105 983144 983141 983137 983140

Part 1048625 of this book focuses on dynamics and dilemmas of conscientious con-sumerism In chapter 1048625 we look at why some American and European con-sumers are more likely than others to practice conscientious consumptionUsing survey data on thousands of individual consumers our quantitativeanalyses focus on factors that shape two forms of conscientious consump-tion boycoing and ldquobuycoingrdquo991252that is preferring a product for some po-

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litical or ethical reason Some paerns are related to consumersrsquo beliefs andthe extent to which they can afford to be choosy But individual differencesare only a small part of the story Where consumers are has a great deal to do

with whether they engage in conscientious consumption or not We thereforeconnect the individual survey responses with measures that capture nationaleconomic political and cultural contexts Overall this initial portrait showsthat conscientious consumption is widespread but far from universal withkey differences rooted not only in individual characteristics but in differentstructures of consumption as well

Having sketched some general paerns we delve deeper into the meanings

and implications of conscientious consumerism in chapter 1048626 Our analyses inchapter 1048625 are based on what consumers say they do but there are reasons todoubt that consumers will follow through on what they say or that what theysay truly captures the social meaning of their actions Yet we show that thereis evidence of consumers being wil ling to pay for eco-labels and social labelsConsumers are most likely to do so when their ldquoethicalrdquo choices also servetheir self-interest such as saving on energy costs or eating safer healthierfoods But even for those forms of conscientious consumption that have no

short-term direct bene1047297t for consumers there is mounting evidence thatsome consumers will pay more For labeling enthusiasts this is a good thingBut the ldquoone dollar one voterdquo logic of conscientious consumerism and thestatus-symbol character of some ldquoethicalrdquo products are potentially danger-ous in that they can exacerbate social economic and political inequalitiesamong consumers Moreover there is a danger that conscientious consumer-ism can displace other forms of political engagement promoting individual

consumerism at the expense of democratic citizenship and collective socialmovements Working through these debates we argue that conscientiousconsumerism as an ideology is regressive and counterproductive but speci1047297cpractices of conscientious consumption can sometimes be consistent withother forms of political engagement

Of course the real test of conscientious consumption comes at the pointof production To what extent do voluntary standards forged in response toconsumer concern make a difference ldquoon the groundrdquo in global industries

We tackle this question in part 1048626 of the book by looking at the global produc-tion of four types of products991252(1048625) wood and paper products (1048626) food (espe-cially the agri-food industry) (1048627) apparel and footwear and (1048628) electronics

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Each of these case studies is rooted in the interviews that we have conducted with local actors and other 1047297ne-grained information on the organization ofproduction ese chapters apply the framework sketched above (and a com-

mon organizational template) to allow for comparative insightsChapter 1048627 looks at the rise of forest certi1047297cation and its effects in the global

timber industry Like fair trade the FSC is one of the oldest and most es-tablished certi1047297cation and labeling initiatives It was founded more thantwenty years ago and it spurred a number of imitators and competitors Yetit is not well known among conscientious consumers and its impacts have

been far less than originally intended We trace the rise of forest certi1047297cation

with particular aention to the founders and constituents of the FSC andhow they leveraged the structure of the forest products industry to ldquomake amarketrdquo for certi1047297ed wood and paper Yet applying sustainability standardsto the production of some wood and paper products has barely influencedglobal deforestation A closer look at FSC certi1047297cation in the tropical forestsof Indonesia illustrates both the contradictions of certifying in a shiing andcontentious context and the limited ability of forest certi1047297cation to influencethe main drivers of deforestation

Next in chapter 1048628 we turn to agricultural production and the fairness andsustainability projects that have emerged in this seing Consumers aacha variety of meanings to food and the politics of food consumption has ex-ploded in the past decade In addition to sketching the structure of agri-foodproduction and consumption in general we focus on two types of rule-mak-ing projects fair trade certi1047297cation and an increasingly popular ldquocommod-ity roundtablerdquo approach Looking more closely at two crops991252sugar and

soy991252in one country Paraguay we are able to illustrate the consequences ofdifferent models of certi1047297cation and the crucial role of local context Globalfood politics are being layered onto preexisting institutional arrangementsand it is largely these institutional arrangements that determine whether cer-ti1047297cation is meaningful or not For instance fair trade certi1047297cation seems tomaer most when smallholder farmers are already organized into democrati-cally effective cooperatives or when local organizing al lows them to upgradetheir production capacities over time e contingent effects of conscientiousconsumption come into focus in this chapter

Chapter 1048629 considers how the rise of anti-sweatshop activism in the early1048625104863310486331048624s led to various aempts to monitor and improve working conditions inapparel and footwear factories A rough indication of how these initiatives

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have fared is provided by the occurrence of factory 1047297res in 1048626104862410486251048624ndash1048626104862410486251048627 and thedeath of more than eleven hundred garment workers in the 1048626104862410486251048627 collapse ofthe Rana Plaza building in Bangladesh Our chapter examines the constitu-

encies behind different factory auditing and certi1047297cation initiatives the waysstandards were implemented and the reasons why their effects have beenminimal e structure of apparel and footwear production in many wayscreated the demand for codes of conduct but the structure and the mobilityof the industry have undermined meaningful improvements Looking moreclosely at factories in China we show how aempts to certify particularfactories have fallen short In recent years several new projects to provide

ethical apparel have emerged but there remain few credible alternatives inthis industry

Finally chapter 983094 takes us into the fast-paced world of the electronics in-dustry where companies produce new models of smartphones laptops andother devices at breakneck speed Yet recently this industry has become afocus of aention for the exploitation of production workers especially aera series of worker suicides (and later strikes) at Foxconn factories in Chinaand mounting scrutiny of Foxconnrsquos buyer Apple Electronics brands have

also been accused of using ldquoconflict mineralsrdquo in the production of smart-phones e electronics industry is populated by well-capitalized companiesthat at times have demonstrated good intentions to make the labor processsafer and more humane Yet the industry has struggled to make improve-ments and 1047297nd tenable solutions We argue that the solution to this puzzlelies in the architecture of production and to a large extent ultimately in theorganization of electronics consumption is is a case in which conscien-

tious consumerism has been slow to develop and unreflective consumerismhas been a powerful constraint on signi1047297cant improvement Using detaileddata on factories producing for Hewle-Packard we show how the industrycontinues to demand extraordinarily ldquoflexiblerdquo labor markets and excessive

working hours in its factories in Southeast Asia We have tried to provide a sense of the complexity of these cases and set-

tings while still drawing out clear implications Along the way readers shouldget a clearer sense of the structure and operation of global value chains the

varied geographies of production and the circumscribed consequences ofeco-labels and social labels In a concluding chapter we compare our foursets of products and consider what has been learned

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contexts in which they operate At the same time as our case studies showthere are certainly limits on what private voluntary initiatives have beenable to accomplish

983124983144983154 983141983141 983110983154983137 983149983141983155 983137983150 983140 983124983144983141983145983154 983123983144983151983154983156983139983151983149983145983150 983143983155

Given the rise of conscientious consumerism and the growth of standards forglobal industries scholars and advocates are racing to promote simple framesfor making sense of them In this section we discuss three frames that areoen invoked Each captures a slice of something important but each ends

up obscuring as much as it illuminates or more

Te Empowered Sovereign Consumer

Scholars and advocates oen adopt a celebratory tone in discussing consci-entious consumerism ey argue that consumers are being empowered toldquovote with their dollarsrdquo and that these small changes in the habits of affluentconsumers can change or even ldquosaverdquo the world As Ruth Stokes (1048626104862410486251048627) writes

in the Ecologist magazine ldquoI believe that changing the way we shop991252voting with our money991252can help to change the world Companies respond tothe habits of shoppers We all have consumer power we just have to makesure we use it wiselyrdquo If consumers have been manipulated by companiesin the past they are increasingly being empowered by new sources of infor-mation argues Dara OrsquoRourke (1048626104862410486251048625) eorists of ldquopolitical consumerismrdquohave argued that this mode of political expression is especially empowering

for individuals who are alienated from formal politics such as young peopleand women (Michelei 1048626104862410486241048627) Furthermore as companies compete for thesupport of conscientious consumers and the coveted ldquolifestyles of health andsustainabilityrdquo (LOHAS) niche (Emerich 1048626104862410486251048625) many observers argue thatthey will become transparent responsible corporate citizens (Porter andKramer 104862610486241048624983094 Smith 1048625104863310486331048624 Zadek Pruzan and Evans 1048625104863310486331048631)

Such celebrations oen rest on an idealized framing of consumer agency991252that is the ability and willingness of the ldquosovereign citizen-consumerrdquo to bethe prime mover of social change (Jacobsen and Dulsrud 1048626104862410486241048631) e ldquosover-eign consumerrdquo is an old concept that is intended to suggest that consumertastes are the driver of all economic activity As scholars have observed the

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growth of conscientious consumption the sovereign consumer has becomethe sovereign citizen-consumer or what Roberta Sassatelli (1048626104862410486241048631) dubbedthe waking of the ldquosleepy giant of the sovereign citizen-consumerrdquo (104862510486321048632) So-

cial theorist Ulrich Beck perhaps the most prominent theorist of consump-tion as a form of politics argues that ldquocitizens discover the act of shoppingas one in which they can always cast their ballot991252on a world scale no lessrdquo(qtd in Sassatelli 1048626104862410486241048631 104862510486321048632) Michele Michelei (1048626104862410486241048627) takes the provocationeven further

Conflicts over what and where to consume are now central for understanding the func-tioning of affluent Western societies is can even mean that consumers participating

in boycos can for instance be likened to resistance 1047297ghters Yet unlike resistance orrevolutionary conflicts of the past citizen-consumers tend to direct their aention towardthe market rather than state actors (1048625983094ndash10486251048631)

Even if one gets past the hyperbole treating consumer tastes as king orqueen is problematic in several respects First consumersrsquo aitudes turn outto be only one ingredient in the construction of conscientious consumptionmarkets As we show in this book the opportunities for conscientious con-sumption are not distributed evenly across individuals or across countries

Social inequality and differences in market structures mean the social con-text of consumption is just as important as individual aitudes Consumertastes may make a difference but it is difficult to see them as a true primemover

Second it is naive to assume that a change in consumer tastes translatesdirectly into a change in the production processes of global industries AsMargaret Willis and Juliet Schor (1048626104862410486251048626) argue many accounts of consci-

entious consumerism take a ldquonaiumlve aggregationistrdquo approach to marketsassuming that if a large enough number of consumers is interested in al-ternative products the market will simply change to deliver them A quitedifferent story is told by research on industries technologies and organiza-tions over time Production processes are oen ldquolocked inrdquo by a system ofinterrelated technologies and expectations making them difficult to changePaul David (1048625104863310486321048629) famously illustrated this by considering the persistence ofthe inefficient QWERTY keyboard on typewriters and computers Even ifproduction practices are not strongly locked in companies like all organi-zations rarely abandon their core routines and technologies (Hannan andFreeman 1048625104863310486321048633) Perhaps the biggest problem is that those who celebrate the

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transformative power of new consumer tastes assume that industry practicesare changing but they almost never actually investigate this assumption edisconnect between theories of conscientious consumerism and empirical

research on industry practices is stark and it is one thing that we hope toremedy with this book

Finally by celebrating the empowered conscientious politicized con-sumer one obscures the ways that unreflective consumer choices influencelabor and environmental conditions in global industries As much as someconsumers are becoming more conscientious about some of their choicesespecially when it comes to food and drinks (eg organic produce fair trade

coffee) much consumer activity is routine and habitual and some of theethics of consumption are opaque to all but the most commied individu-als Conscientious consumers might be careful to recycle avoid disposableplastic water boles and buy organic vegetables but then eat beef withoutthinking of its massive natural resource demands and the contributions ofcale production to global warming As environmentalists have pointedout encouraging consumers to make their purchases more environmentallyfriendly carries a risk of legitimating overconsumption in affluent markets

which is the foundation of many forms of environmental degradation (Mani-ates and Meyer 1048626104862410486251048624) e issue may not be just the amount of consumption

but its pace as well As will become clear later in this book the rise of ldquofastfashionrdquo and ldquofast electronicsrdquo991252that is the rapid churning through fashion-able styles of clothing and different models of smartphones991252appears to bea root cause of labor exploitation in the apparel and electronics industries

GreenwashFairwash

While some have celebrated conscientious consumerism others have dis-missed voluntary standards eco-labeling and social labeling as ldquogreenwashrdquoor ldquofairwashrdquo As Sharon Beder (1048626104862410486241048625) puts it ldquoTe aempt to provide alsquogreenrsquo and caring image for a corporation is a public relations strategy aimedat promising reform and heading off demands for more substantial and fun-damental changes and government interventionrdquo (104862610486291048627) Claims about fair

and sustainable production in this view simply provide cover to companiesthat are engaged in fundamentally unfair and unsustainable activities ecodes of conduct sustainability reports and information disclosures that are

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highlighted in celebratory accounts of transparency may actually be formsof ldquodisinformationrdquo that obscure companiesrsquo actual practices

e term ldquogreenwashrdquo took off among environmentalists in the late 1048625104863310486321048624s

as a description of advertising campaigns that portrayed companies as pro-tectors of the environment (Beers and Capellaro 1048625104863310486331048625) Greenpeace arguedthat transnational corporations like Shell DuPont and Mitsubishi had ldquoem-

braced the environment as their cause and co-opted its terminologyrdquo even while contributing massively to environmental degradation (Greenpeace1048625104863310486331048626 1048626) e analogue for corporate claims about incomes livelihoods and

justice991252ldquofairwashingrdquo991252entered the lexicon later in the wake of the fair

trade movement As fair trade certi1047297cation was becoming ldquomainstreamedrdquoand imitated scholars and activists began worrying that fairwashing wason the horizon (Conroy 1048626104862410486241048631 Lyon and Moberg 1048626104862410486251048624) Observers have alsocriticized the images produced in the name of ldquocorporate social responsibil-ityrdquo arguing that these are ldquomerely a public relations game lulling us intoa false sense of securityrdquo (Doane 1048626104862410486241048629 10486261048633) Common to all these diagnosesis the sense that most assurances one 1047297nds on a product are nothing morethan public relations efforts

e greenwashfairwash critique captures two key features of conscien-tious consumption and global standards First when faced with criticismcompanies would prefer to be able to improve their images without alteringpro1047297table practices A public relations campaign is typically the 1047297rst line ofdefense Companies may also hire outside organizations991252auditors consul-tants and sometimes NGOs991252to lend some credibility to their campaignsey may also fund seemingly independent standard-seing initiatives that

can endorse their corporate social responsibility programs or label theirproducts As we will see this is how the US timber industryrsquos SustainableForestry Initiative got its start and it helps to account for the role of appareland footwear brands in the Fair Labor Association One must always takeassurances of sustainability and fairness with a grain of salt e dosage ofsalt depends in part on whether claims come from companies themselvesinitiatives that they control or more independent initiatives (If initiativesdepend on the voluntary participation of companies they can never be fully independent but there are gradations) In our analyses of standards (in part1048626 of this book) we are aentive to who has created a particular initiativehow it is funded and how dependent on companies it is Second there is

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nearly always some hypocrisy present when companies take up greening orfairness initiatives Simply because one product or one aspect of a companyrsquosproduction has earned some credentials does not mean that the companyrsquos

operations overall can be considered green or fair As David Vogel (1048626104862410486241048629)has argued we oen yearn for simple pronouncements of ldquogoodrdquo and ldquobadrdquocompanies But companies like people are complex multifaceted and oencontradictory One part of a company may be developing green productionprocesses while another part lobbies against environmental regulation

On the other hand we see simple distinctions between greenwashfair- wash and ldquotruerdquo reform as a poor match for the current state of global indus-

tries and labeling projects Eco-labeling and social labeling may once have been the domain of public relations personnel but they have become theirown specialized world in which credibility depends on ldquomulti-stakeholderrepresentationrdquo and extensive amounts of accreditation auditing and veri1047297-cation Companies might prefer to respond to criticism with public relationscampaigns but they are oen pushed by activists and investors to go furtherand achieve some kind of external assurance For instance if confronted bylabor rights abuses apparel and footwear companies no longer simply hold

up a code of conduct instead they refer to sophisticated factory monitoringprograms external certi1047297cations and ldquocapacity-buildingrdquo projects (Locke1048626104862410486251048627) Rather than simply co-opting the language of environmentalism manyretailers have been pushed to sell products that are independently certi1047297ed(Conroy 1048626104862410486241048631) Furthermore the world of voluntary certi1047297cation has be-come increasingly formalized For instance to judge compliance with thestandards of the FSC an auditing organization (eg Scienti1047297c Certi1047297cation

Systems SmartWood or the Soil Association) must be accredited by a sepa-rate oversight body (Accreditation Services International) Furthermore theFSC belongs to an umbrella organization991252the ISEAL (International Socialand Environmental Accreditation and Labeling) Alliance991252which de1047297nes

best practices for credible certi1047297cation initiatives To be sure all of this cer-ti1047297cation of the certi1047297ers of the certi1047297ers (and beyond) is not guaranteed to

bring about meaningful improvement Indeed we describe cases where thisformalization has been counterproductive and where seemingly credible ini-tiatives have failed spectacularly But it does mean there is more ldquocheckingrdquothan there is simple ldquowashingrdquo As Peter Dauvergne and Jane Lister (1048626104862410486251048626)put it ldquoCorporate sustainability goals include measurable targets are

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audited by independent groups and are integrated into the core business [through] life-cycle assessment supply chain tracing eco-certi1047297cation andsustainability reportingrdquo (10486271048632) We concur with them that all of this measure-

ment and reporting oen skirts the root causes of problems but one cannotseriously assess conscientious consumption without investigating this activ-ity If the world were as simple as it was when the ldquogreenwashrdquo frame was 1047297rstcoined a book like this would not be necessary

Most importantly the greenwashfairwash frame leaves a key questionunanswered if a claim is not just greenwashfairwash991252in other words if itis backed by stringent standards and credible veri1047297cation processes991252then

what is it It would be tempting to assume that the converse of greenwashfairwash is something like ldquoreal sustainabilityfairnessrdquo on the ground But asour case studies show it is possible to have stringent standards and credibleassessment but still not generate much reform of global industries Our goalis to provide some tools for making sense of these complex (and common)intermediate scenarios

Importing Standards into Empty Spaces

Another problematic frame concerns the implementation of global standardsincluding those supported by conscientious consumerism It is tempting tosee global standards as introducing new rules into otherwise empty spacesFor instance one might think of labor codes of conduct as introducing laborrights into factories that would otherwise be completely unregulated andchaotic Or one might think of global sustainability standards as introducing

environmental norms into seings where businesses would otherwise be freeto pollute with impunity As Alison Brysk puts it global rule-making proj-ects oen ldquoconcern areas previously ungoverned or even unknownrdquo (Brysk1048626104862410486241048629 104862510486261048624) Indeed scholars and practitioners oen portray private rules as1047297lling a ldquoregulatory voidrdquo as they are put into practice especially in devel-oping countries (Sabel OrsquoRourke and Fung 1048626104862410486241048624) For some developingcountries are so lacking in the rule of law as to constitute ldquoareas of limitedstatehoodrdquo in which private rules must serve as a substitute for public author-

ity (Boumlrzel and Risse 1048626104862410486251048624) Sociologists in the ldquoworld societyrdquo school startfrom different assumptions but nevertheless argue that global norms aboutenvironmental protection child labor and human rights are imported into

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developing countries as novel concepts that are completely alien to the locals(Meyer et al 1048625104863310486331048631)

e problem with this approach is not only as Gay Seidman (1048626104862410486241048631) argues

that ldquostateless regulationrdquo usually lacks enforcement power A more funda-mental problem is that this frame obscures the institutional arrangementsthat are in place in developing countries Developing countries are not emptyanonymous uniform places ey are populated with different business sys-tems cultures of production and political institutions What may look fromafar like a relatively empty space turns out on closer inspection to have adense set of preexisting relationships organizations and rules ese local

circumstances can recon1047297gure global rules in myriad ways (Halliday andCarruthers 1048626104862410486241048633 Merry 104862610486241048624983094) For instance in chapter 1048628 we look at fair tradecerti1047297cation and its consequences in Paraguay a place where earlier ways oforganizing agricultural operations set the stage for fair trade projects andshaped their results Fair trade standards were not simply imported to thisseing they were layered onto an existing set of institutions In fact a thickerldquolayeringrdquo of rules with varying consequences has been a common result ofglobal standards (Bartley 1048626104862410486251048625) An ldquoempty spacesrdquo assumption also obscures

ongoing political struggles at the point of production As we will see INGOsand conscientious consumers are far from the only actors concerned withlabor rights sustainability or the fair distribution of resources For instancerecent years have seen a rising tide of strikes in China and mobilization ofgarment workers in Cambodia and Bangladesh (Alam 1048626104862410486251048627 Dara and Wil-lemyns 1048626104862410486251048628 Friedman 1048626104862410486251048627) e land rights of indigenous people in Braziland Indonesia are a concern not only of backers of global sustainable forestry

standards but also of burgeoning movements of indigenous people them-selves (Gerber 1048626104862410486251048625) Social movements in developing countries may struggleto influence powerful global industries but they cannot simply be ignored

When it comes to governmental regulation it is true that developingcountries oen lack the resources and administrative capacities to effec-tively regulate production processes as do many governments in affluentcountries Moreover the logic of global production in some ways gives themdisincentives to do so aggressively implementing regulations may cause in-

vestors991252and orders from brands and retailers991252to flee the country and therules of the WTO make some forms of regulation untenable But ldquodevelopingcountriesrdquo are diverse In nearly all parts of the world there are laws relatedto labor the environment and the rights of citizens Scholars are beginning

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to 1047297nd increased enforcement of these laws in some surprising places fromrevitalized state labor inspection in the export processing zones of the Do-minican Republic (Schrank 1048626104862410486251048627) to aggressive environmental regulators in

Brazil and China (Coslovsky 1048626104862410486251048625 McAllister Van Rooij and Kagan 1048626104862410486251048624)In other instances law can be repressive991252restricting the rights of workers orindigenous communities for instance (Lee 1048626104862410486241048631 Li 1048626104862410486251048624) Again the influ-ences of local structures can vary but one should not assume a blank slate

983105 983122983151983157983143983144 983111983157983145983140983141 983156983151 983125983150 983152983137983139983147983145983150983143 983107983151983150983155983139983145983141 983150983156983145983151983157983155983107983151983150983155983157983149983152983156983145983151983150 983137983150983140 983120983154983151983140983157983139983156983145983151983150 983120983154983151983146983141983139983156983155

How then can one make sense of projects to promote conscientious con-sumption and fair or sustainable production e 1047297rst step is simply to acceptthat there is a great deal of variation ere is variation across individualsand locations in conscientious consumer behavior ere is variation acrossproducts and labeling initiatives in the ldquoon the groundrdquo implications of globalstandards ere is variation across industries (and even within them) in sys-tems of production and these intersect with national (and even subnational)

differences in industry organization To understand whether conscientiousconsumption and fairsustainable production projects can contribute tomeaningful alternatives we must look closely at these industrial and politi-cal contexts A second starting point is to accept that the influence of globalstandards for fairsustainable production is typically highly circumscribedor contingent on other factors As will become clear even the most stringentstandards and most credible initiatives do not transform global industries

ey sometimes influence certain parts of an industry but even this cannotautomatically be assumed

To unpack conscientious consumption initiatives and the global standardsthey endorse we bring four factors to the foreground (1048625) structures of pro-duction and consumption (1048626) the constituencies of standards (1048627) global-local linkages and (1048628) the coexistence of rule making and unruliness

Structures of Production and Consumption

Industry structures shape both the opportunities for conscientious con-sumption to occur and the consequences of rule-making projects at thepoint of production To start some industries are more likely than others to

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become targets of activism which is typically the catalyst for rule-makingand conscientious consumption projects

Lead 1047297rms in global value chains especially when they are large and have

salient corporate reputations make aractive targets for social movements(Bartley and Child 1048626104862410486251048628) Industries that lack powerful and well-known brands tend to aract less scrutiny For instance the manufacturing of bricksespecially in developing countries is oen a highly polluting and exploit-ative industry But because there are not well-known global brands in thisindustry it has received lile international aention In other cases activistshave highlighted a problem but without powerful and recognizable brands

to link this to rule-making projects have not emerged e production ofcheap costume jewelry is rife with exploitation as shown in the documentary Mardi Gras Made in China but this has not become a site of extensive rulemaking and conscientious consumerism In some circumstances the exis-tence of large high-pro1047297le retailers can compensate for a more fragmentedor poorly known set of manufacturers Anti-GMO activists for instancehave pressured manufacturers like Monsanto by going through large retailerslike Marks amp Spencer (Schurman and Munro 1048626104862410486241048633) Our analysis of global

food distribution (in chapter 1048628) is consistent with this observation but italso suggests that the locus of consumer and activist pressure depends onthe speci1047297c product

When activists do press lead 1047297rms to make their supply chains fairer ormore sustainable the consequences seem to depend in part on the structureof that supply chain If suppliers can easily 1047297nd alternative buyers who are notdemanding changes991252that is if there are few suppliers and many buyers991252

they will have lile incentive to comply with a particular lead 1047297rmrsquos rulesGoing further by many accounts when lead 1047297rms have a great deal of powerover ldquocaptiverdquo suppliers they should be able to demand that those suppliersmake improvements (Mayer and Gereffi 1048626104862410486251048624) On the other hand someresearch has questioned whether this power is truly effective or whether itmerely spurs a game in which suppliers pretend to be making improvements(and lead 1047297rms nod in approval) (Locke Amengual and Mangla 1048626104862410486241048633) Wesuspect that the power of lead 1047297rms does make a difference but that moresigni1047297cant changes are possible when lead 1047297rms and suppliers are mutuallydependent and work together over long stretches of time (Our analysis ofthe apparel industry in chapter 1048629 though suggests that long-term collabora-tion is rare) In addition when global value chains are fairly simple in their

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structure without too many intermediaries this should make it easier forstandards to ldquotravelrdquo through them ere is a conundrum here howeversince it is oen in industries with a high degree of subcontracting (such as

apparel) that global standards are in the highest demand If global industries were dominated by vertically integrated 1047297rms rather than dispersed supplychains the world of conscientious consumerism would look quite differentFurthermore sometimes the lack of action by large lead 1047297rms can leave aspace for activists and entrepreneurs to carve out a small market niche basedon fairness or sustainability is is how fair tradendashcerti1047297ed coffee beganand some new projects appear to be emerging in electronics (Fairphone as

discussed in chapter 983094) and apparel (the Alta Gracia factory as discussed inchapter 1048629) Aer looking more closely at our four industries991252timber foodapparelfootwear and electronics991252we return to questions about industrystructure in the bookrsquos conclusion

Industry structures also maer for consumers As we show in the nextchapter opportunities to engage in conscientious consumption are just asimportant as motivations to do so and these opportunities depend in parton the structure of the retail sector in a particular country Generally we sug-

gest that having larger retailers will facilitate consumer purchases of eco- andsocial-labeled products In part this is simply because larger retailers offer a

wider array of choices overall991252that is different versions of the same prod-uct991252while smaller retailers offer fewer choices To be sure small stores canspecialize in ldquoalternativerdquo products and large stores can fail to carry themBut given the trend toward ldquomainstreamingrdquo of alternatives (see Jaffee 1048626104862410486251048626)large retailers have become key points of sale for eco- and social-labeled prod-

ucts Furthermore oligopoly in the retail sector991252the dominance of a smallnumber of large companies991252also seems to magnify the power of activiststo influence the market As Rachel Schurman and William Munro (1048626104862410486241048633)found the existence of a small number of large food retailer chains in the UKallowed the anti-GMO movement to flourish there while it foundered amidthe larger number of supermarket chains in the United States

Constituencies and Standards

Global standards for fairness and sustainability may sound universal butthey spring from the priorities of particular individuals and groups A cru-cial step in understanding these standards is to examine the founders of

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initiatives that make rules audit compliance and certify products as fair orsustainable Some such initiatives such as fair trade certi1047297cation originatedlargely with NGOs or others outside of the industry Others such as the

Electronics Industry Citizenship Coalition and the Sustainable ForestryInitiative were founded almost exclusively by industry associations or othergroups of companies oen in response to the actions of NGOs In betweenare a number of initiatives developed by coalitions of NGOs and companiesfrom the Forest Stewardship Council to Social Accountability InternationalFounders are not everything NGO-initiated programs can become watereddown as they are mainstreamed and industry-initiated programs oen

evolve into formally independent organizations Most programs seek cred-ibility by calling themselves ldquomulti-stakeholderrdquo initiatives We maintainhowever that founding constituencies leave deep imprints on the content ofstandards and on the distribution of power within rule-making initiativesRules can get ratcheted up or down over time but these are usually marginalrevisions to a core approach Furthermore even when initiatives becomeformally independent from the constituencies that created them informalties revolving doors and 1047297nancial contributions oen persist

Generally we expect that industry-initiated programs will have standardsthat depart in relatively small ways from the normal practices of the indus-try Companies may want to improve labor conditions or environmentalperformance of their suppliers but they will be loath to push so far as todisrupt production or force a major change in their sourcing practices As aresult the greater the influence of companies in the founding of an initiativethe more likely it is to use either a ldquobest in classrdquo approach or a ldquocontinuous

improvementrdquo approach In the 1047297rst companies are recognized (throughcerti1047297cation or other endorsement) for demonstrating that they are aboveaverage in their industry is oen skirts the issue of whether they meeta stringent de1047297nition of a 1047297xed standard As Sco Nova (1048626104862410486251048625) has noted aldquobest in classrdquo model is like grading on a curve even if average performanceis quite low e second approach allows companies to start with a relativelylax standard and encourage gradual improvement over time852019

When industry outsiders have power in the initial design standard-seinginitiatives should look somewhat different First their standards are likely todepart more substantially from normal practices in the industry to a greateror lesser degree depending on the power of these outsiders Second these

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initiatives are more likely though certainly not guaranteed to endorse analternative model of production rather than to just reward the best in class orpush for continuous improvement Fair trade certi1047297cation and its emphasis

on democratically managed producer cooperatives (as described in chap-ter 1048628) is the clearest example of this ird and because of this initiativesspawned by outsiders are likely to either remain small or face dilemmas ofmainstreaming as they grow If they seek a large market presence ldquoalterna-tiverdquo programs will inevitably become more dependent on large companiese result may be a watering down of standards although as the case of theFSC shows (in chapter 1048627) this can be counteracted to some degree

For most products there are multiple competing aempts to de1047297ne fair-ness and sustainability For instance there are several ways of certifying thefairness and sustainability of coffee or of assessing the labor conditions ofapparel companies852020 Usually this competition reflects the struggle betweencompanies and NGOs Some scholars believe that such competition dooms

voluntary initiatives since it confuses consumers and lets companies choosetheir own standards (Seidman 1048626104862410486241048631) Others believe that it strengthens gov-ernance by spurring a ldquoratcheting uprdquo of expectations (Sabel OrsquoRourke and

Fung 1048626104862410486241048624) Our analysis of four global industries suggests that different setsof standards can oen coexist not exactly peacefully but with moderateinteraction or in different market niches Competition is inevitable but itseems to neither doom nor guarantee meaningful standards for fairness andsustainability It must be noted that initiatives that began with high bars991252namely Fair Trade and the FSC991252have not been pushed out of the market

by their competitors

Localized Globalisms and Globalized Localisms

Specifying links between ldquothe globalrdquo and ldquothe localrdquo has proven difficultand scholars have oen fallen prey to two types of conceptual dangers Firstin focusing on the global diffusion of a given idea or norm some have por-trayed domestic seings as lile more than passive receivers of a global proj-ect e language of domestic seings as ldquoreceptor sitesrdquo for global models(Frank Hironaka and Schofer 1048626104862410486241048624) is one example of this Pinpointingthis problem researchers are increasingly focusing on how local actors ap-propriate and ldquoindigenizerdquo global models to make them useful or meaningful

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(Halliday and Carruthers 1048626104862410486241048633 Merry 104862610486241048624983094) Second scholars of globaliza-tion oen equate the global with universalism (and oen progress) and thelocal with particularism (and oen backwardness) In so doing scholars

uncritically accept the most dominant model as ldquothe globalrdquo and obscure thepower that was exercised to establish its dominance

To deal with these problems we adopt Bonaventura de Santosrsquos language ofldquoglobalized localismsrdquo and ldquo localized globalismsrdquo (Santos 104862610486241048624983094 Santos andRodriacuteguez Garavito 1048626104862410486241048629) e 1047297rst refers to a process in which a particularis-tic set of ideas and practices becomes a dominant global norm Santos (104862610486241048624983094)provides examples such as ldquothe transformation of the English language into

a lingua franca the globalization of American fast food or popular music orthe worldwide adoption of the same laws of intellectual ownership patentsor telecommunications aggressively promoted by the USArdquo (10486271048633983094) For ourpurpose the key issue is how particular understandings of rights rules andenforcement have become institutionalized as global norms Concretely thenotion of a ldquoglobalized localismrdquo sensitizes us to processes by which particu-lar sets of reformers (NGOs companies or others) have turned their projectsinto ldquoglobalrdquo standards for fairness and sustainability Our point is not to

join the chorus that argues that ldquoWesternrdquo standards are being illegitimatelyforced on people and companies elsewhere ere have long been calls fordecent work and responsible natural resource management in many differ-ent parts of the world But the global standards supported by conscientiousconsumers in North A merica and Europe embody particular approaches tothese issues

e second concept ldquolocalized globalismrdquo refers to the incorporation of

these global models into local routines and expectations e concept sen-sitizes us to the work involved in turning global standards for fairness andsustainability into a concrete practice in a factory forest or farm in someparticular location As we have noted scholars too oen portray these sites asempty spaces We believe it is preferable to start from the opposite premisethat sites of implementation are crowded with different actors and agendasonly some of which are likely to line up with global standard-seing initia-tives Some elements of global standards are easily incorporated into localpractices while others are 1047297ercely resisted But a recognition of localizedglobalisms also has methodological implications It is rare for researchersto actually study these locations in detail It is easier to conduct distant and

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decontextualized studies of CSR or to focus only on the creation of standardsrather than their local implementation Our analyses of the global timberagricultural apparel and electronics industries include aention to speci1047297c

locations from the sugarcane farms of Paraguay to the electronics factoriesof Malaysia

Te Puzzle of Rules Rule Making and the Persistence of Unruliness

One can beer understand conscientious consumption and production proj-ects by recognizing what Tim Bartley (1048626104862410486251048628a) has called the ldquopuzzle of rulesrdquo

in the global economy simply put global capitalism can be ldquounrulyrdquo but italso generates many rule-making projects

e expansion of global markets has facilitated a number of rule-makingprojects from the standardization of accounting procedures to the rules forfairness and sustainability discussed in this book e volume of rule making

by both public and private actors has increased over the past three decadesMany scholars have pointed to these trends as evidence that global capitalismis not manic or ungovernable as it was initially framed Marie-Laure Djelic

and Kerstin Sahlin-Andersson (104862610486241048624983094) argue that ldquothe proliferation of regu-latory activities actors networks or constellations leads to an explosion ofrules and to the profound re-ordering of our worldrdquo (1048625) and they see globalcapitalism as ldquomarked by more991252not less991252rule-making activityrdquo (10486271048631983094)

On the other hand the explosion of rule making has oen been gearedtoward the expansion of markets rather than their restriction and in manyrespects global capitalism has remained unruly In many industries invest-

ment and orders can and do move quickly across locations oen under-mining aempts to impose rules Even more socially controlled European

varieties of capitalism have had their foundations chipped away (Streeck1048626104862410486241048633) Furthermore for all of the efforts of NGOs to build rules for fairnesssustainability and human rights many corners of global industries remainlargely unscrutinized and unaffected by these rule-making projects

As our case studies illustrate even as standards for fairness and sustain-ability have risen to prominence global industries have remained volatileand exploitative Certi1047297cation of sustainable forestry rose to prominencefrom 1048625104863310486331048629 to 1048626104862410486251048624 but so did illegal logging and deforestation worsenedin many places Te global apparel industry has come to be governed by

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numerous codes of conduct and factory monitoring initiatives but it hasalso continued to move quickly from one location to another in search oflow wages and more docile workers e rapid and inconsistent pace of the

global electronics industry has undermined aempts to improve workingconditions while rapidly changing agricultural markets have threatened thelivelihoods of many smallholder farmers

e puzzle of rules can be solved through an analysis of neoliberalism (seeBartley 1048626104862410486251048628a) but it also provokes a simple conclusion about the prospects forglobal fairness and sustainability global industries oen have contradictorytendencies so we should not expect either complete ldquogreenwashrdquoldquofairwashrdquo

or serious transformation Fair trade certi1047297cation has not transformed thelogic of commodity trade but it has improved conditions for some farmersin some circumstances FSC certi1047297cation has not made the timber trade sus-tainable but it has supported improvements in some forests As we developthese 1047297ndings (in part 1048626 of the book) we hope to speak not only to scholars ofconscientious consumerism but also to citizens and consumers themselvesConsumers oen want to feel like their purchases are ldquocleanrdquo of exploitation

but this is unrealistic We believe it would be more promising if consumers

shied from a deterministic to a probabilistic approach conscientious con-sumption may increase onersquos probability of contributing to improvementsand decrease the probability of contributing to the most extreme forms ofexploitation Tis does not answer the question of how large those prob-abilities are (which surely varies by product and label) or the question of howsigni1047297cant those improvements can be But only if consumers shi from anall-or-nothing view of ldquocleanrdquo versus ldquodirtyrdquo production (that is sustainable

versus destructive fair versus exploitative) can they come to an accurateunderstanding of what their purchases can and cannot achieve

983127 983144 983137983156 983116983145 983141 983155 983105 983144 983141 983137 983140

Part 1048625 of this book focuses on dynamics and dilemmas of conscientious con-sumerism In chapter 1048625 we look at why some American and European con-sumers are more likely than others to practice conscientious consumptionUsing survey data on thousands of individual consumers our quantitativeanalyses focus on factors that shape two forms of conscientious consump-tion boycoing and ldquobuycoingrdquo991252that is preferring a product for some po-

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litical or ethical reason Some paerns are related to consumersrsquo beliefs andthe extent to which they can afford to be choosy But individual differencesare only a small part of the story Where consumers are has a great deal to do

with whether they engage in conscientious consumption or not We thereforeconnect the individual survey responses with measures that capture nationaleconomic political and cultural contexts Overall this initial portrait showsthat conscientious consumption is widespread but far from universal withkey differences rooted not only in individual characteristics but in differentstructures of consumption as well

Having sketched some general paerns we delve deeper into the meanings

and implications of conscientious consumerism in chapter 1048626 Our analyses inchapter 1048625 are based on what consumers say they do but there are reasons todoubt that consumers will follow through on what they say or that what theysay truly captures the social meaning of their actions Yet we show that thereis evidence of consumers being wil ling to pay for eco-labels and social labelsConsumers are most likely to do so when their ldquoethicalrdquo choices also servetheir self-interest such as saving on energy costs or eating safer healthierfoods But even for those forms of conscientious consumption that have no

short-term direct bene1047297t for consumers there is mounting evidence thatsome consumers will pay more For labeling enthusiasts this is a good thingBut the ldquoone dollar one voterdquo logic of conscientious consumerism and thestatus-symbol character of some ldquoethicalrdquo products are potentially danger-ous in that they can exacerbate social economic and political inequalitiesamong consumers Moreover there is a danger that conscientious consumer-ism can displace other forms of political engagement promoting individual

consumerism at the expense of democratic citizenship and collective socialmovements Working through these debates we argue that conscientiousconsumerism as an ideology is regressive and counterproductive but speci1047297cpractices of conscientious consumption can sometimes be consistent withother forms of political engagement

Of course the real test of conscientious consumption comes at the pointof production To what extent do voluntary standards forged in response toconsumer concern make a difference ldquoon the groundrdquo in global industries

We tackle this question in part 1048626 of the book by looking at the global produc-tion of four types of products991252(1048625) wood and paper products (1048626) food (espe-cially the agri-food industry) (1048627) apparel and footwear and (1048628) electronics

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Each of these case studies is rooted in the interviews that we have conducted with local actors and other 1047297ne-grained information on the organization ofproduction ese chapters apply the framework sketched above (and a com-

mon organizational template) to allow for comparative insightsChapter 1048627 looks at the rise of forest certi1047297cation and its effects in the global

timber industry Like fair trade the FSC is one of the oldest and most es-tablished certi1047297cation and labeling initiatives It was founded more thantwenty years ago and it spurred a number of imitators and competitors Yetit is not well known among conscientious consumers and its impacts have

been far less than originally intended We trace the rise of forest certi1047297cation

with particular aention to the founders and constituents of the FSC andhow they leveraged the structure of the forest products industry to ldquomake amarketrdquo for certi1047297ed wood and paper Yet applying sustainability standardsto the production of some wood and paper products has barely influencedglobal deforestation A closer look at FSC certi1047297cation in the tropical forestsof Indonesia illustrates both the contradictions of certifying in a shiing andcontentious context and the limited ability of forest certi1047297cation to influencethe main drivers of deforestation

Next in chapter 1048628 we turn to agricultural production and the fairness andsustainability projects that have emerged in this seing Consumers aacha variety of meanings to food and the politics of food consumption has ex-ploded in the past decade In addition to sketching the structure of agri-foodproduction and consumption in general we focus on two types of rule-mak-ing projects fair trade certi1047297cation and an increasingly popular ldquocommod-ity roundtablerdquo approach Looking more closely at two crops991252sugar and

soy991252in one country Paraguay we are able to illustrate the consequences ofdifferent models of certi1047297cation and the crucial role of local context Globalfood politics are being layered onto preexisting institutional arrangementsand it is largely these institutional arrangements that determine whether cer-ti1047297cation is meaningful or not For instance fair trade certi1047297cation seems tomaer most when smallholder farmers are already organized into democrati-cally effective cooperatives or when local organizing al lows them to upgradetheir production capacities over time e contingent effects of conscientiousconsumption come into focus in this chapter

Chapter 1048629 considers how the rise of anti-sweatshop activism in the early1048625104863310486331048624s led to various aempts to monitor and improve working conditions inapparel and footwear factories A rough indication of how these initiatives

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have fared is provided by the occurrence of factory 1047297res in 1048626104862410486251048624ndash1048626104862410486251048627 and thedeath of more than eleven hundred garment workers in the 1048626104862410486251048627 collapse ofthe Rana Plaza building in Bangladesh Our chapter examines the constitu-

encies behind different factory auditing and certi1047297cation initiatives the waysstandards were implemented and the reasons why their effects have beenminimal e structure of apparel and footwear production in many wayscreated the demand for codes of conduct but the structure and the mobilityof the industry have undermined meaningful improvements Looking moreclosely at factories in China we show how aempts to certify particularfactories have fallen short In recent years several new projects to provide

ethical apparel have emerged but there remain few credible alternatives inthis industry

Finally chapter 983094 takes us into the fast-paced world of the electronics in-dustry where companies produce new models of smartphones laptops andother devices at breakneck speed Yet recently this industry has become afocus of aention for the exploitation of production workers especially aera series of worker suicides (and later strikes) at Foxconn factories in Chinaand mounting scrutiny of Foxconnrsquos buyer Apple Electronics brands have

also been accused of using ldquoconflict mineralsrdquo in the production of smart-phones e electronics industry is populated by well-capitalized companiesthat at times have demonstrated good intentions to make the labor processsafer and more humane Yet the industry has struggled to make improve-ments and 1047297nd tenable solutions We argue that the solution to this puzzlelies in the architecture of production and to a large extent ultimately in theorganization of electronics consumption is is a case in which conscien-

tious consumerism has been slow to develop and unreflective consumerismhas been a powerful constraint on signi1047297cant improvement Using detaileddata on factories producing for Hewle-Packard we show how the industrycontinues to demand extraordinarily ldquoflexiblerdquo labor markets and excessive

working hours in its factories in Southeast Asia We have tried to provide a sense of the complexity of these cases and set-

tings while still drawing out clear implications Along the way readers shouldget a clearer sense of the structure and operation of global value chains the

varied geographies of production and the circumscribed consequences ofeco-labels and social labels In a concluding chapter we compare our foursets of products and consider what has been learned

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growth of conscientious consumption the sovereign consumer has becomethe sovereign citizen-consumer or what Roberta Sassatelli (1048626104862410486241048631) dubbedthe waking of the ldquosleepy giant of the sovereign citizen-consumerrdquo (104862510486321048632) So-

cial theorist Ulrich Beck perhaps the most prominent theorist of consump-tion as a form of politics argues that ldquocitizens discover the act of shoppingas one in which they can always cast their ballot991252on a world scale no lessrdquo(qtd in Sassatelli 1048626104862410486241048631 104862510486321048632) Michele Michelei (1048626104862410486241048627) takes the provocationeven further

Conflicts over what and where to consume are now central for understanding the func-tioning of affluent Western societies is can even mean that consumers participating

in boycos can for instance be likened to resistance 1047297ghters Yet unlike resistance orrevolutionary conflicts of the past citizen-consumers tend to direct their aention towardthe market rather than state actors (1048625983094ndash10486251048631)

Even if one gets past the hyperbole treating consumer tastes as king orqueen is problematic in several respects First consumersrsquo aitudes turn outto be only one ingredient in the construction of conscientious consumptionmarkets As we show in this book the opportunities for conscientious con-sumption are not distributed evenly across individuals or across countries

Social inequality and differences in market structures mean the social con-text of consumption is just as important as individual aitudes Consumertastes may make a difference but it is difficult to see them as a true primemover

Second it is naive to assume that a change in consumer tastes translatesdirectly into a change in the production processes of global industries AsMargaret Willis and Juliet Schor (1048626104862410486251048626) argue many accounts of consci-

entious consumerism take a ldquonaiumlve aggregationistrdquo approach to marketsassuming that if a large enough number of consumers is interested in al-ternative products the market will simply change to deliver them A quitedifferent story is told by research on industries technologies and organiza-tions over time Production processes are oen ldquolocked inrdquo by a system ofinterrelated technologies and expectations making them difficult to changePaul David (1048625104863310486321048629) famously illustrated this by considering the persistence ofthe inefficient QWERTY keyboard on typewriters and computers Even ifproduction practices are not strongly locked in companies like all organi-zations rarely abandon their core routines and technologies (Hannan andFreeman 1048625104863310486321048633) Perhaps the biggest problem is that those who celebrate the

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transformative power of new consumer tastes assume that industry practicesare changing but they almost never actually investigate this assumption edisconnect between theories of conscientious consumerism and empirical

research on industry practices is stark and it is one thing that we hope toremedy with this book

Finally by celebrating the empowered conscientious politicized con-sumer one obscures the ways that unreflective consumer choices influencelabor and environmental conditions in global industries As much as someconsumers are becoming more conscientious about some of their choicesespecially when it comes to food and drinks (eg organic produce fair trade

coffee) much consumer activity is routine and habitual and some of theethics of consumption are opaque to all but the most commied individu-als Conscientious consumers might be careful to recycle avoid disposableplastic water boles and buy organic vegetables but then eat beef withoutthinking of its massive natural resource demands and the contributions ofcale production to global warming As environmentalists have pointedout encouraging consumers to make their purchases more environmentallyfriendly carries a risk of legitimating overconsumption in affluent markets

which is the foundation of many forms of environmental degradation (Mani-ates and Meyer 1048626104862410486251048624) e issue may not be just the amount of consumption

but its pace as well As will become clear later in this book the rise of ldquofastfashionrdquo and ldquofast electronicsrdquo991252that is the rapid churning through fashion-able styles of clothing and different models of smartphones991252appears to bea root cause of labor exploitation in the apparel and electronics industries

GreenwashFairwash

While some have celebrated conscientious consumerism others have dis-missed voluntary standards eco-labeling and social labeling as ldquogreenwashrdquoor ldquofairwashrdquo As Sharon Beder (1048626104862410486241048625) puts it ldquoTe aempt to provide alsquogreenrsquo and caring image for a corporation is a public relations strategy aimedat promising reform and heading off demands for more substantial and fun-damental changes and government interventionrdquo (104862610486291048627) Claims about fair

and sustainable production in this view simply provide cover to companiesthat are engaged in fundamentally unfair and unsustainable activities ecodes of conduct sustainability reports and information disclosures that are

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highlighted in celebratory accounts of transparency may actually be formsof ldquodisinformationrdquo that obscure companiesrsquo actual practices

e term ldquogreenwashrdquo took off among environmentalists in the late 1048625104863310486321048624s

as a description of advertising campaigns that portrayed companies as pro-tectors of the environment (Beers and Capellaro 1048625104863310486331048625) Greenpeace arguedthat transnational corporations like Shell DuPont and Mitsubishi had ldquoem-

braced the environment as their cause and co-opted its terminologyrdquo even while contributing massively to environmental degradation (Greenpeace1048625104863310486331048626 1048626) e analogue for corporate claims about incomes livelihoods and

justice991252ldquofairwashingrdquo991252entered the lexicon later in the wake of the fair

trade movement As fair trade certi1047297cation was becoming ldquomainstreamedrdquoand imitated scholars and activists began worrying that fairwashing wason the horizon (Conroy 1048626104862410486241048631 Lyon and Moberg 1048626104862410486251048624) Observers have alsocriticized the images produced in the name of ldquocorporate social responsibil-ityrdquo arguing that these are ldquomerely a public relations game lulling us intoa false sense of securityrdquo (Doane 1048626104862410486241048629 10486261048633) Common to all these diagnosesis the sense that most assurances one 1047297nds on a product are nothing morethan public relations efforts

e greenwashfairwash critique captures two key features of conscien-tious consumption and global standards First when faced with criticismcompanies would prefer to be able to improve their images without alteringpro1047297table practices A public relations campaign is typically the 1047297rst line ofdefense Companies may also hire outside organizations991252auditors consul-tants and sometimes NGOs991252to lend some credibility to their campaignsey may also fund seemingly independent standard-seing initiatives that

can endorse their corporate social responsibility programs or label theirproducts As we will see this is how the US timber industryrsquos SustainableForestry Initiative got its start and it helps to account for the role of appareland footwear brands in the Fair Labor Association One must always takeassurances of sustainability and fairness with a grain of salt e dosage ofsalt depends in part on whether claims come from companies themselvesinitiatives that they control or more independent initiatives (If initiativesdepend on the voluntary participation of companies they can never be fully independent but there are gradations) In our analyses of standards (in part1048626 of this book) we are aentive to who has created a particular initiativehow it is funded and how dependent on companies it is Second there is

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nearly always some hypocrisy present when companies take up greening orfairness initiatives Simply because one product or one aspect of a companyrsquosproduction has earned some credentials does not mean that the companyrsquos

operations overall can be considered green or fair As David Vogel (1048626104862410486241048629)has argued we oen yearn for simple pronouncements of ldquogoodrdquo and ldquobadrdquocompanies But companies like people are complex multifaceted and oencontradictory One part of a company may be developing green productionprocesses while another part lobbies against environmental regulation

On the other hand we see simple distinctions between greenwashfair- wash and ldquotruerdquo reform as a poor match for the current state of global indus-

tries and labeling projects Eco-labeling and social labeling may once have been the domain of public relations personnel but they have become theirown specialized world in which credibility depends on ldquomulti-stakeholderrepresentationrdquo and extensive amounts of accreditation auditing and veri1047297-cation Companies might prefer to respond to criticism with public relationscampaigns but they are oen pushed by activists and investors to go furtherand achieve some kind of external assurance For instance if confronted bylabor rights abuses apparel and footwear companies no longer simply hold

up a code of conduct instead they refer to sophisticated factory monitoringprograms external certi1047297cations and ldquocapacity-buildingrdquo projects (Locke1048626104862410486251048627) Rather than simply co-opting the language of environmentalism manyretailers have been pushed to sell products that are independently certi1047297ed(Conroy 1048626104862410486241048631) Furthermore the world of voluntary certi1047297cation has be-come increasingly formalized For instance to judge compliance with thestandards of the FSC an auditing organization (eg Scienti1047297c Certi1047297cation

Systems SmartWood or the Soil Association) must be accredited by a sepa-rate oversight body (Accreditation Services International) Furthermore theFSC belongs to an umbrella organization991252the ISEAL (International Socialand Environmental Accreditation and Labeling) Alliance991252which de1047297nes

best practices for credible certi1047297cation initiatives To be sure all of this cer-ti1047297cation of the certi1047297ers of the certi1047297ers (and beyond) is not guaranteed to

bring about meaningful improvement Indeed we describe cases where thisformalization has been counterproductive and where seemingly credible ini-tiatives have failed spectacularly But it does mean there is more ldquocheckingrdquothan there is simple ldquowashingrdquo As Peter Dauvergne and Jane Lister (1048626104862410486251048626)put it ldquoCorporate sustainability goals include measurable targets are

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audited by independent groups and are integrated into the core business [through] life-cycle assessment supply chain tracing eco-certi1047297cation andsustainability reportingrdquo (10486271048632) We concur with them that all of this measure-

ment and reporting oen skirts the root causes of problems but one cannotseriously assess conscientious consumption without investigating this activ-ity If the world were as simple as it was when the ldquogreenwashrdquo frame was 1047297rstcoined a book like this would not be necessary

Most importantly the greenwashfairwash frame leaves a key questionunanswered if a claim is not just greenwashfairwash991252in other words if itis backed by stringent standards and credible veri1047297cation processes991252then

what is it It would be tempting to assume that the converse of greenwashfairwash is something like ldquoreal sustainabilityfairnessrdquo on the ground But asour case studies show it is possible to have stringent standards and credibleassessment but still not generate much reform of global industries Our goalis to provide some tools for making sense of these complex (and common)intermediate scenarios

Importing Standards into Empty Spaces

Another problematic frame concerns the implementation of global standardsincluding those supported by conscientious consumerism It is tempting tosee global standards as introducing new rules into otherwise empty spacesFor instance one might think of labor codes of conduct as introducing laborrights into factories that would otherwise be completely unregulated andchaotic Or one might think of global sustainability standards as introducing

environmental norms into seings where businesses would otherwise be freeto pollute with impunity As Alison Brysk puts it global rule-making proj-ects oen ldquoconcern areas previously ungoverned or even unknownrdquo (Brysk1048626104862410486241048629 104862510486261048624) Indeed scholars and practitioners oen portray private rules as1047297lling a ldquoregulatory voidrdquo as they are put into practice especially in devel-oping countries (Sabel OrsquoRourke and Fung 1048626104862410486241048624) For some developingcountries are so lacking in the rule of law as to constitute ldquoareas of limitedstatehoodrdquo in which private rules must serve as a substitute for public author-

ity (Boumlrzel and Risse 1048626104862410486251048624) Sociologists in the ldquoworld societyrdquo school startfrom different assumptions but nevertheless argue that global norms aboutenvironmental protection child labor and human rights are imported into

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developing countries as novel concepts that are completely alien to the locals(Meyer et al 1048625104863310486331048631)

e problem with this approach is not only as Gay Seidman (1048626104862410486241048631) argues

that ldquostateless regulationrdquo usually lacks enforcement power A more funda-mental problem is that this frame obscures the institutional arrangementsthat are in place in developing countries Developing countries are not emptyanonymous uniform places ey are populated with different business sys-tems cultures of production and political institutions What may look fromafar like a relatively empty space turns out on closer inspection to have adense set of preexisting relationships organizations and rules ese local

circumstances can recon1047297gure global rules in myriad ways (Halliday andCarruthers 1048626104862410486241048633 Merry 104862610486241048624983094) For instance in chapter 1048628 we look at fair tradecerti1047297cation and its consequences in Paraguay a place where earlier ways oforganizing agricultural operations set the stage for fair trade projects andshaped their results Fair trade standards were not simply imported to thisseing they were layered onto an existing set of institutions In fact a thickerldquolayeringrdquo of rules with varying consequences has been a common result ofglobal standards (Bartley 1048626104862410486251048625) An ldquoempty spacesrdquo assumption also obscures

ongoing political struggles at the point of production As we will see INGOsand conscientious consumers are far from the only actors concerned withlabor rights sustainability or the fair distribution of resources For instancerecent years have seen a rising tide of strikes in China and mobilization ofgarment workers in Cambodia and Bangladesh (Alam 1048626104862410486251048627 Dara and Wil-lemyns 1048626104862410486251048628 Friedman 1048626104862410486251048627) e land rights of indigenous people in Braziland Indonesia are a concern not only of backers of global sustainable forestry

standards but also of burgeoning movements of indigenous people them-selves (Gerber 1048626104862410486251048625) Social movements in developing countries may struggleto influence powerful global industries but they cannot simply be ignored

When it comes to governmental regulation it is true that developingcountries oen lack the resources and administrative capacities to effec-tively regulate production processes as do many governments in affluentcountries Moreover the logic of global production in some ways gives themdisincentives to do so aggressively implementing regulations may cause in-

vestors991252and orders from brands and retailers991252to flee the country and therules of the WTO make some forms of regulation untenable But ldquodevelopingcountriesrdquo are diverse In nearly all parts of the world there are laws relatedto labor the environment and the rights of citizens Scholars are beginning

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to 1047297nd increased enforcement of these laws in some surprising places fromrevitalized state labor inspection in the export processing zones of the Do-minican Republic (Schrank 1048626104862410486251048627) to aggressive environmental regulators in

Brazil and China (Coslovsky 1048626104862410486251048625 McAllister Van Rooij and Kagan 1048626104862410486251048624)In other instances law can be repressive991252restricting the rights of workers orindigenous communities for instance (Lee 1048626104862410486241048631 Li 1048626104862410486251048624) Again the influ-ences of local structures can vary but one should not assume a blank slate

983105 983122983151983157983143983144 983111983157983145983140983141 983156983151 983125983150 983152983137983139983147983145983150983143 983107983151983150983155983139983145983141 983150983156983145983151983157983155983107983151983150983155983157983149983152983156983145983151983150 983137983150983140 983120983154983151983140983157983139983156983145983151983150 983120983154983151983146983141983139983156983155

How then can one make sense of projects to promote conscientious con-sumption and fair or sustainable production e 1047297rst step is simply to acceptthat there is a great deal of variation ere is variation across individualsand locations in conscientious consumer behavior ere is variation acrossproducts and labeling initiatives in the ldquoon the groundrdquo implications of globalstandards ere is variation across industries (and even within them) in sys-tems of production and these intersect with national (and even subnational)

differences in industry organization To understand whether conscientiousconsumption and fairsustainable production projects can contribute tomeaningful alternatives we must look closely at these industrial and politi-cal contexts A second starting point is to accept that the influence of globalstandards for fairsustainable production is typically highly circumscribedor contingent on other factors As will become clear even the most stringentstandards and most credible initiatives do not transform global industries

ey sometimes influence certain parts of an industry but even this cannotautomatically be assumed

To unpack conscientious consumption initiatives and the global standardsthey endorse we bring four factors to the foreground (1048625) structures of pro-duction and consumption (1048626) the constituencies of standards (1048627) global-local linkages and (1048628) the coexistence of rule making and unruliness

Structures of Production and Consumption

Industry structures shape both the opportunities for conscientious con-sumption to occur and the consequences of rule-making projects at thepoint of production To start some industries are more likely than others to

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become targets of activism which is typically the catalyst for rule-makingand conscientious consumption projects

Lead 1047297rms in global value chains especially when they are large and have

salient corporate reputations make aractive targets for social movements(Bartley and Child 1048626104862410486251048628) Industries that lack powerful and well-known brands tend to aract less scrutiny For instance the manufacturing of bricksespecially in developing countries is oen a highly polluting and exploit-ative industry But because there are not well-known global brands in thisindustry it has received lile international aention In other cases activistshave highlighted a problem but without powerful and recognizable brands

to link this to rule-making projects have not emerged e production ofcheap costume jewelry is rife with exploitation as shown in the documentary Mardi Gras Made in China but this has not become a site of extensive rulemaking and conscientious consumerism In some circumstances the exis-tence of large high-pro1047297le retailers can compensate for a more fragmentedor poorly known set of manufacturers Anti-GMO activists for instancehave pressured manufacturers like Monsanto by going through large retailerslike Marks amp Spencer (Schurman and Munro 1048626104862410486241048633) Our analysis of global

food distribution (in chapter 1048628) is consistent with this observation but italso suggests that the locus of consumer and activist pressure depends onthe speci1047297c product

When activists do press lead 1047297rms to make their supply chains fairer ormore sustainable the consequences seem to depend in part on the structureof that supply chain If suppliers can easily 1047297nd alternative buyers who are notdemanding changes991252that is if there are few suppliers and many buyers991252

they will have lile incentive to comply with a particular lead 1047297rmrsquos rulesGoing further by many accounts when lead 1047297rms have a great deal of powerover ldquocaptiverdquo suppliers they should be able to demand that those suppliersmake improvements (Mayer and Gereffi 1048626104862410486251048624) On the other hand someresearch has questioned whether this power is truly effective or whether itmerely spurs a game in which suppliers pretend to be making improvements(and lead 1047297rms nod in approval) (Locke Amengual and Mangla 1048626104862410486241048633) Wesuspect that the power of lead 1047297rms does make a difference but that moresigni1047297cant changes are possible when lead 1047297rms and suppliers are mutuallydependent and work together over long stretches of time (Our analysis ofthe apparel industry in chapter 1048629 though suggests that long-term collabora-tion is rare) In addition when global value chains are fairly simple in their

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structure without too many intermediaries this should make it easier forstandards to ldquotravelrdquo through them ere is a conundrum here howeversince it is oen in industries with a high degree of subcontracting (such as

apparel) that global standards are in the highest demand If global industries were dominated by vertically integrated 1047297rms rather than dispersed supplychains the world of conscientious consumerism would look quite differentFurthermore sometimes the lack of action by large lead 1047297rms can leave aspace for activists and entrepreneurs to carve out a small market niche basedon fairness or sustainability is is how fair tradendashcerti1047297ed coffee beganand some new projects appear to be emerging in electronics (Fairphone as

discussed in chapter 983094) and apparel (the Alta Gracia factory as discussed inchapter 1048629) Aer looking more closely at our four industries991252timber foodapparelfootwear and electronics991252we return to questions about industrystructure in the bookrsquos conclusion

Industry structures also maer for consumers As we show in the nextchapter opportunities to engage in conscientious consumption are just asimportant as motivations to do so and these opportunities depend in parton the structure of the retail sector in a particular country Generally we sug-

gest that having larger retailers will facilitate consumer purchases of eco- andsocial-labeled products In part this is simply because larger retailers offer a

wider array of choices overall991252that is different versions of the same prod-uct991252while smaller retailers offer fewer choices To be sure small stores canspecialize in ldquoalternativerdquo products and large stores can fail to carry themBut given the trend toward ldquomainstreamingrdquo of alternatives (see Jaffee 1048626104862410486251048626)large retailers have become key points of sale for eco- and social-labeled prod-

ucts Furthermore oligopoly in the retail sector991252the dominance of a smallnumber of large companies991252also seems to magnify the power of activiststo influence the market As Rachel Schurman and William Munro (1048626104862410486241048633)found the existence of a small number of large food retailer chains in the UKallowed the anti-GMO movement to flourish there while it foundered amidthe larger number of supermarket chains in the United States

Constituencies and Standards

Global standards for fairness and sustainability may sound universal butthey spring from the priorities of particular individuals and groups A cru-cial step in understanding these standards is to examine the founders of

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initiatives that make rules audit compliance and certify products as fair orsustainable Some such initiatives such as fair trade certi1047297cation originatedlargely with NGOs or others outside of the industry Others such as the

Electronics Industry Citizenship Coalition and the Sustainable ForestryInitiative were founded almost exclusively by industry associations or othergroups of companies oen in response to the actions of NGOs In betweenare a number of initiatives developed by coalitions of NGOs and companiesfrom the Forest Stewardship Council to Social Accountability InternationalFounders are not everything NGO-initiated programs can become watereddown as they are mainstreamed and industry-initiated programs oen

evolve into formally independent organizations Most programs seek cred-ibility by calling themselves ldquomulti-stakeholderrdquo initiatives We maintainhowever that founding constituencies leave deep imprints on the content ofstandards and on the distribution of power within rule-making initiativesRules can get ratcheted up or down over time but these are usually marginalrevisions to a core approach Furthermore even when initiatives becomeformally independent from the constituencies that created them informalties revolving doors and 1047297nancial contributions oen persist

Generally we expect that industry-initiated programs will have standardsthat depart in relatively small ways from the normal practices of the indus-try Companies may want to improve labor conditions or environmentalperformance of their suppliers but they will be loath to push so far as todisrupt production or force a major change in their sourcing practices As aresult the greater the influence of companies in the founding of an initiativethe more likely it is to use either a ldquobest in classrdquo approach or a ldquocontinuous

improvementrdquo approach In the 1047297rst companies are recognized (throughcerti1047297cation or other endorsement) for demonstrating that they are aboveaverage in their industry is oen skirts the issue of whether they meeta stringent de1047297nition of a 1047297xed standard As Sco Nova (1048626104862410486251048625) has noted aldquobest in classrdquo model is like grading on a curve even if average performanceis quite low e second approach allows companies to start with a relativelylax standard and encourage gradual improvement over time852019

When industry outsiders have power in the initial design standard-seinginitiatives should look somewhat different First their standards are likely todepart more substantially from normal practices in the industry to a greateror lesser degree depending on the power of these outsiders Second these

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initiatives are more likely though certainly not guaranteed to endorse analternative model of production rather than to just reward the best in class orpush for continuous improvement Fair trade certi1047297cation and its emphasis

on democratically managed producer cooperatives (as described in chap-ter 1048628) is the clearest example of this ird and because of this initiativesspawned by outsiders are likely to either remain small or face dilemmas ofmainstreaming as they grow If they seek a large market presence ldquoalterna-tiverdquo programs will inevitably become more dependent on large companiese result may be a watering down of standards although as the case of theFSC shows (in chapter 1048627) this can be counteracted to some degree

For most products there are multiple competing aempts to de1047297ne fair-ness and sustainability For instance there are several ways of certifying thefairness and sustainability of coffee or of assessing the labor conditions ofapparel companies852020 Usually this competition reflects the struggle betweencompanies and NGOs Some scholars believe that such competition dooms

voluntary initiatives since it confuses consumers and lets companies choosetheir own standards (Seidman 1048626104862410486241048631) Others believe that it strengthens gov-ernance by spurring a ldquoratcheting uprdquo of expectations (Sabel OrsquoRourke and

Fung 1048626104862410486241048624) Our analysis of four global industries suggests that different setsof standards can oen coexist not exactly peacefully but with moderateinteraction or in different market niches Competition is inevitable but itseems to neither doom nor guarantee meaningful standards for fairness andsustainability It must be noted that initiatives that began with high bars991252namely Fair Trade and the FSC991252have not been pushed out of the market

by their competitors

Localized Globalisms and Globalized Localisms

Specifying links between ldquothe globalrdquo and ldquothe localrdquo has proven difficultand scholars have oen fallen prey to two types of conceptual dangers Firstin focusing on the global diffusion of a given idea or norm some have por-trayed domestic seings as lile more than passive receivers of a global proj-ect e language of domestic seings as ldquoreceptor sitesrdquo for global models(Frank Hironaka and Schofer 1048626104862410486241048624) is one example of this Pinpointingthis problem researchers are increasingly focusing on how local actors ap-propriate and ldquoindigenizerdquo global models to make them useful or meaningful

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(Halliday and Carruthers 1048626104862410486241048633 Merry 104862610486241048624983094) Second scholars of globaliza-tion oen equate the global with universalism (and oen progress) and thelocal with particularism (and oen backwardness) In so doing scholars

uncritically accept the most dominant model as ldquothe globalrdquo and obscure thepower that was exercised to establish its dominance

To deal with these problems we adopt Bonaventura de Santosrsquos language ofldquoglobalized localismsrdquo and ldquo localized globalismsrdquo (Santos 104862610486241048624983094 Santos andRodriacuteguez Garavito 1048626104862410486241048629) e 1047297rst refers to a process in which a particularis-tic set of ideas and practices becomes a dominant global norm Santos (104862610486241048624983094)provides examples such as ldquothe transformation of the English language into

a lingua franca the globalization of American fast food or popular music orthe worldwide adoption of the same laws of intellectual ownership patentsor telecommunications aggressively promoted by the USArdquo (10486271048633983094) For ourpurpose the key issue is how particular understandings of rights rules andenforcement have become institutionalized as global norms Concretely thenotion of a ldquoglobalized localismrdquo sensitizes us to processes by which particu-lar sets of reformers (NGOs companies or others) have turned their projectsinto ldquoglobalrdquo standards for fairness and sustainability Our point is not to

join the chorus that argues that ldquoWesternrdquo standards are being illegitimatelyforced on people and companies elsewhere ere have long been calls fordecent work and responsible natural resource management in many differ-ent parts of the world But the global standards supported by conscientiousconsumers in North A merica and Europe embody particular approaches tothese issues

e second concept ldquolocalized globalismrdquo refers to the incorporation of

these global models into local routines and expectations e concept sen-sitizes us to the work involved in turning global standards for fairness andsustainability into a concrete practice in a factory forest or farm in someparticular location As we have noted scholars too oen portray these sites asempty spaces We believe it is preferable to start from the opposite premisethat sites of implementation are crowded with different actors and agendasonly some of which are likely to line up with global standard-seing initia-tives Some elements of global standards are easily incorporated into localpractices while others are 1047297ercely resisted But a recognition of localizedglobalisms also has methodological implications It is rare for researchersto actually study these locations in detail It is easier to conduct distant and

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decontextualized studies of CSR or to focus only on the creation of standardsrather than their local implementation Our analyses of the global timberagricultural apparel and electronics industries include aention to speci1047297c

locations from the sugarcane farms of Paraguay to the electronics factoriesof Malaysia

Te Puzzle of Rules Rule Making and the Persistence of Unruliness

One can beer understand conscientious consumption and production proj-ects by recognizing what Tim Bartley (1048626104862410486251048628a) has called the ldquopuzzle of rulesrdquo

in the global economy simply put global capitalism can be ldquounrulyrdquo but italso generates many rule-making projects

e expansion of global markets has facilitated a number of rule-makingprojects from the standardization of accounting procedures to the rules forfairness and sustainability discussed in this book e volume of rule making

by both public and private actors has increased over the past three decadesMany scholars have pointed to these trends as evidence that global capitalismis not manic or ungovernable as it was initially framed Marie-Laure Djelic

and Kerstin Sahlin-Andersson (104862610486241048624983094) argue that ldquothe proliferation of regu-latory activities actors networks or constellations leads to an explosion ofrules and to the profound re-ordering of our worldrdquo (1048625) and they see globalcapitalism as ldquomarked by more991252not less991252rule-making activityrdquo (10486271048631983094)

On the other hand the explosion of rule making has oen been gearedtoward the expansion of markets rather than their restriction and in manyrespects global capitalism has remained unruly In many industries invest-

ment and orders can and do move quickly across locations oen under-mining aempts to impose rules Even more socially controlled European

varieties of capitalism have had their foundations chipped away (Streeck1048626104862410486241048633) Furthermore for all of the efforts of NGOs to build rules for fairnesssustainability and human rights many corners of global industries remainlargely unscrutinized and unaffected by these rule-making projects

As our case studies illustrate even as standards for fairness and sustain-ability have risen to prominence global industries have remained volatileand exploitative Certi1047297cation of sustainable forestry rose to prominencefrom 1048625104863310486331048629 to 1048626104862410486251048624 but so did illegal logging and deforestation worsenedin many places Te global apparel industry has come to be governed by

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numerous codes of conduct and factory monitoring initiatives but it hasalso continued to move quickly from one location to another in search oflow wages and more docile workers e rapid and inconsistent pace of the

global electronics industry has undermined aempts to improve workingconditions while rapidly changing agricultural markets have threatened thelivelihoods of many smallholder farmers

e puzzle of rules can be solved through an analysis of neoliberalism (seeBartley 1048626104862410486251048628a) but it also provokes a simple conclusion about the prospects forglobal fairness and sustainability global industries oen have contradictorytendencies so we should not expect either complete ldquogreenwashrdquoldquofairwashrdquo

or serious transformation Fair trade certi1047297cation has not transformed thelogic of commodity trade but it has improved conditions for some farmersin some circumstances FSC certi1047297cation has not made the timber trade sus-tainable but it has supported improvements in some forests As we developthese 1047297ndings (in part 1048626 of the book) we hope to speak not only to scholars ofconscientious consumerism but also to citizens and consumers themselvesConsumers oen want to feel like their purchases are ldquocleanrdquo of exploitation

but this is unrealistic We believe it would be more promising if consumers

shied from a deterministic to a probabilistic approach conscientious con-sumption may increase onersquos probability of contributing to improvementsand decrease the probability of contributing to the most extreme forms ofexploitation Tis does not answer the question of how large those prob-abilities are (which surely varies by product and label) or the question of howsigni1047297cant those improvements can be But only if consumers shi from anall-or-nothing view of ldquocleanrdquo versus ldquodirtyrdquo production (that is sustainable

versus destructive fair versus exploitative) can they come to an accurateunderstanding of what their purchases can and cannot achieve

983127 983144 983137983156 983116983145 983141 983155 983105 983144 983141 983137 983140

Part 1048625 of this book focuses on dynamics and dilemmas of conscientious con-sumerism In chapter 1048625 we look at why some American and European con-sumers are more likely than others to practice conscientious consumptionUsing survey data on thousands of individual consumers our quantitativeanalyses focus on factors that shape two forms of conscientious consump-tion boycoing and ldquobuycoingrdquo991252that is preferring a product for some po-

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10486271048625983113983150983156983154983151983140983157983139983156983145983151983150

litical or ethical reason Some paerns are related to consumersrsquo beliefs andthe extent to which they can afford to be choosy But individual differencesare only a small part of the story Where consumers are has a great deal to do

with whether they engage in conscientious consumption or not We thereforeconnect the individual survey responses with measures that capture nationaleconomic political and cultural contexts Overall this initial portrait showsthat conscientious consumption is widespread but far from universal withkey differences rooted not only in individual characteristics but in differentstructures of consumption as well

Having sketched some general paerns we delve deeper into the meanings

and implications of conscientious consumerism in chapter 1048626 Our analyses inchapter 1048625 are based on what consumers say they do but there are reasons todoubt that consumers will follow through on what they say or that what theysay truly captures the social meaning of their actions Yet we show that thereis evidence of consumers being wil ling to pay for eco-labels and social labelsConsumers are most likely to do so when their ldquoethicalrdquo choices also servetheir self-interest such as saving on energy costs or eating safer healthierfoods But even for those forms of conscientious consumption that have no

short-term direct bene1047297t for consumers there is mounting evidence thatsome consumers will pay more For labeling enthusiasts this is a good thingBut the ldquoone dollar one voterdquo logic of conscientious consumerism and thestatus-symbol character of some ldquoethicalrdquo products are potentially danger-ous in that they can exacerbate social economic and political inequalitiesamong consumers Moreover there is a danger that conscientious consumer-ism can displace other forms of political engagement promoting individual

consumerism at the expense of democratic citizenship and collective socialmovements Working through these debates we argue that conscientiousconsumerism as an ideology is regressive and counterproductive but speci1047297cpractices of conscientious consumption can sometimes be consistent withother forms of political engagement

Of course the real test of conscientious consumption comes at the pointof production To what extent do voluntary standards forged in response toconsumer concern make a difference ldquoon the groundrdquo in global industries

We tackle this question in part 1048626 of the book by looking at the global produc-tion of four types of products991252(1048625) wood and paper products (1048626) food (espe-cially the agri-food industry) (1048627) apparel and footwear and (1048628) electronics

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Each of these case studies is rooted in the interviews that we have conducted with local actors and other 1047297ne-grained information on the organization ofproduction ese chapters apply the framework sketched above (and a com-

mon organizational template) to allow for comparative insightsChapter 1048627 looks at the rise of forest certi1047297cation and its effects in the global

timber industry Like fair trade the FSC is one of the oldest and most es-tablished certi1047297cation and labeling initiatives It was founded more thantwenty years ago and it spurred a number of imitators and competitors Yetit is not well known among conscientious consumers and its impacts have

been far less than originally intended We trace the rise of forest certi1047297cation

with particular aention to the founders and constituents of the FSC andhow they leveraged the structure of the forest products industry to ldquomake amarketrdquo for certi1047297ed wood and paper Yet applying sustainability standardsto the production of some wood and paper products has barely influencedglobal deforestation A closer look at FSC certi1047297cation in the tropical forestsof Indonesia illustrates both the contradictions of certifying in a shiing andcontentious context and the limited ability of forest certi1047297cation to influencethe main drivers of deforestation

Next in chapter 1048628 we turn to agricultural production and the fairness andsustainability projects that have emerged in this seing Consumers aacha variety of meanings to food and the politics of food consumption has ex-ploded in the past decade In addition to sketching the structure of agri-foodproduction and consumption in general we focus on two types of rule-mak-ing projects fair trade certi1047297cation and an increasingly popular ldquocommod-ity roundtablerdquo approach Looking more closely at two crops991252sugar and

soy991252in one country Paraguay we are able to illustrate the consequences ofdifferent models of certi1047297cation and the crucial role of local context Globalfood politics are being layered onto preexisting institutional arrangementsand it is largely these institutional arrangements that determine whether cer-ti1047297cation is meaningful or not For instance fair trade certi1047297cation seems tomaer most when smallholder farmers are already organized into democrati-cally effective cooperatives or when local organizing al lows them to upgradetheir production capacities over time e contingent effects of conscientiousconsumption come into focus in this chapter

Chapter 1048629 considers how the rise of anti-sweatshop activism in the early1048625104863310486331048624s led to various aempts to monitor and improve working conditions inapparel and footwear factories A rough indication of how these initiatives

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have fared is provided by the occurrence of factory 1047297res in 1048626104862410486251048624ndash1048626104862410486251048627 and thedeath of more than eleven hundred garment workers in the 1048626104862410486251048627 collapse ofthe Rana Plaza building in Bangladesh Our chapter examines the constitu-

encies behind different factory auditing and certi1047297cation initiatives the waysstandards were implemented and the reasons why their effects have beenminimal e structure of apparel and footwear production in many wayscreated the demand for codes of conduct but the structure and the mobilityof the industry have undermined meaningful improvements Looking moreclosely at factories in China we show how aempts to certify particularfactories have fallen short In recent years several new projects to provide

ethical apparel have emerged but there remain few credible alternatives inthis industry

Finally chapter 983094 takes us into the fast-paced world of the electronics in-dustry where companies produce new models of smartphones laptops andother devices at breakneck speed Yet recently this industry has become afocus of aention for the exploitation of production workers especially aera series of worker suicides (and later strikes) at Foxconn factories in Chinaand mounting scrutiny of Foxconnrsquos buyer Apple Electronics brands have

also been accused of using ldquoconflict mineralsrdquo in the production of smart-phones e electronics industry is populated by well-capitalized companiesthat at times have demonstrated good intentions to make the labor processsafer and more humane Yet the industry has struggled to make improve-ments and 1047297nd tenable solutions We argue that the solution to this puzzlelies in the architecture of production and to a large extent ultimately in theorganization of electronics consumption is is a case in which conscien-

tious consumerism has been slow to develop and unreflective consumerismhas been a powerful constraint on signi1047297cant improvement Using detaileddata on factories producing for Hewle-Packard we show how the industrycontinues to demand extraordinarily ldquoflexiblerdquo labor markets and excessive

working hours in its factories in Southeast Asia We have tried to provide a sense of the complexity of these cases and set-

tings while still drawing out clear implications Along the way readers shouldget a clearer sense of the structure and operation of global value chains the

varied geographies of production and the circumscribed consequences ofeco-labels and social labels In a concluding chapter we compare our foursets of products and consider what has been learned

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transformative power of new consumer tastes assume that industry practicesare changing but they almost never actually investigate this assumption edisconnect between theories of conscientious consumerism and empirical

research on industry practices is stark and it is one thing that we hope toremedy with this book

Finally by celebrating the empowered conscientious politicized con-sumer one obscures the ways that unreflective consumer choices influencelabor and environmental conditions in global industries As much as someconsumers are becoming more conscientious about some of their choicesespecially when it comes to food and drinks (eg organic produce fair trade

coffee) much consumer activity is routine and habitual and some of theethics of consumption are opaque to all but the most commied individu-als Conscientious consumers might be careful to recycle avoid disposableplastic water boles and buy organic vegetables but then eat beef withoutthinking of its massive natural resource demands and the contributions ofcale production to global warming As environmentalists have pointedout encouraging consumers to make their purchases more environmentallyfriendly carries a risk of legitimating overconsumption in affluent markets

which is the foundation of many forms of environmental degradation (Mani-ates and Meyer 1048626104862410486251048624) e issue may not be just the amount of consumption

but its pace as well As will become clear later in this book the rise of ldquofastfashionrdquo and ldquofast electronicsrdquo991252that is the rapid churning through fashion-able styles of clothing and different models of smartphones991252appears to bea root cause of labor exploitation in the apparel and electronics industries

GreenwashFairwash

While some have celebrated conscientious consumerism others have dis-missed voluntary standards eco-labeling and social labeling as ldquogreenwashrdquoor ldquofairwashrdquo As Sharon Beder (1048626104862410486241048625) puts it ldquoTe aempt to provide alsquogreenrsquo and caring image for a corporation is a public relations strategy aimedat promising reform and heading off demands for more substantial and fun-damental changes and government interventionrdquo (104862610486291048627) Claims about fair

and sustainable production in this view simply provide cover to companiesthat are engaged in fundamentally unfair and unsustainable activities ecodes of conduct sustainability reports and information disclosures that are

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highlighted in celebratory accounts of transparency may actually be formsof ldquodisinformationrdquo that obscure companiesrsquo actual practices

e term ldquogreenwashrdquo took off among environmentalists in the late 1048625104863310486321048624s

as a description of advertising campaigns that portrayed companies as pro-tectors of the environment (Beers and Capellaro 1048625104863310486331048625) Greenpeace arguedthat transnational corporations like Shell DuPont and Mitsubishi had ldquoem-

braced the environment as their cause and co-opted its terminologyrdquo even while contributing massively to environmental degradation (Greenpeace1048625104863310486331048626 1048626) e analogue for corporate claims about incomes livelihoods and

justice991252ldquofairwashingrdquo991252entered the lexicon later in the wake of the fair

trade movement As fair trade certi1047297cation was becoming ldquomainstreamedrdquoand imitated scholars and activists began worrying that fairwashing wason the horizon (Conroy 1048626104862410486241048631 Lyon and Moberg 1048626104862410486251048624) Observers have alsocriticized the images produced in the name of ldquocorporate social responsibil-ityrdquo arguing that these are ldquomerely a public relations game lulling us intoa false sense of securityrdquo (Doane 1048626104862410486241048629 10486261048633) Common to all these diagnosesis the sense that most assurances one 1047297nds on a product are nothing morethan public relations efforts

e greenwashfairwash critique captures two key features of conscien-tious consumption and global standards First when faced with criticismcompanies would prefer to be able to improve their images without alteringpro1047297table practices A public relations campaign is typically the 1047297rst line ofdefense Companies may also hire outside organizations991252auditors consul-tants and sometimes NGOs991252to lend some credibility to their campaignsey may also fund seemingly independent standard-seing initiatives that

can endorse their corporate social responsibility programs or label theirproducts As we will see this is how the US timber industryrsquos SustainableForestry Initiative got its start and it helps to account for the role of appareland footwear brands in the Fair Labor Association One must always takeassurances of sustainability and fairness with a grain of salt e dosage ofsalt depends in part on whether claims come from companies themselvesinitiatives that they control or more independent initiatives (If initiativesdepend on the voluntary participation of companies they can never be fully independent but there are gradations) In our analyses of standards (in part1048626 of this book) we are aentive to who has created a particular initiativehow it is funded and how dependent on companies it is Second there is

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nearly always some hypocrisy present when companies take up greening orfairness initiatives Simply because one product or one aspect of a companyrsquosproduction has earned some credentials does not mean that the companyrsquos

operations overall can be considered green or fair As David Vogel (1048626104862410486241048629)has argued we oen yearn for simple pronouncements of ldquogoodrdquo and ldquobadrdquocompanies But companies like people are complex multifaceted and oencontradictory One part of a company may be developing green productionprocesses while another part lobbies against environmental regulation

On the other hand we see simple distinctions between greenwashfair- wash and ldquotruerdquo reform as a poor match for the current state of global indus-

tries and labeling projects Eco-labeling and social labeling may once have been the domain of public relations personnel but they have become theirown specialized world in which credibility depends on ldquomulti-stakeholderrepresentationrdquo and extensive amounts of accreditation auditing and veri1047297-cation Companies might prefer to respond to criticism with public relationscampaigns but they are oen pushed by activists and investors to go furtherand achieve some kind of external assurance For instance if confronted bylabor rights abuses apparel and footwear companies no longer simply hold

up a code of conduct instead they refer to sophisticated factory monitoringprograms external certi1047297cations and ldquocapacity-buildingrdquo projects (Locke1048626104862410486251048627) Rather than simply co-opting the language of environmentalism manyretailers have been pushed to sell products that are independently certi1047297ed(Conroy 1048626104862410486241048631) Furthermore the world of voluntary certi1047297cation has be-come increasingly formalized For instance to judge compliance with thestandards of the FSC an auditing organization (eg Scienti1047297c Certi1047297cation

Systems SmartWood or the Soil Association) must be accredited by a sepa-rate oversight body (Accreditation Services International) Furthermore theFSC belongs to an umbrella organization991252the ISEAL (International Socialand Environmental Accreditation and Labeling) Alliance991252which de1047297nes

best practices for credible certi1047297cation initiatives To be sure all of this cer-ti1047297cation of the certi1047297ers of the certi1047297ers (and beyond) is not guaranteed to

bring about meaningful improvement Indeed we describe cases where thisformalization has been counterproductive and where seemingly credible ini-tiatives have failed spectacularly But it does mean there is more ldquocheckingrdquothan there is simple ldquowashingrdquo As Peter Dauvergne and Jane Lister (1048626104862410486251048626)put it ldquoCorporate sustainability goals include measurable targets are

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audited by independent groups and are integrated into the core business [through] life-cycle assessment supply chain tracing eco-certi1047297cation andsustainability reportingrdquo (10486271048632) We concur with them that all of this measure-

ment and reporting oen skirts the root causes of problems but one cannotseriously assess conscientious consumption without investigating this activ-ity If the world were as simple as it was when the ldquogreenwashrdquo frame was 1047297rstcoined a book like this would not be necessary

Most importantly the greenwashfairwash frame leaves a key questionunanswered if a claim is not just greenwashfairwash991252in other words if itis backed by stringent standards and credible veri1047297cation processes991252then

what is it It would be tempting to assume that the converse of greenwashfairwash is something like ldquoreal sustainabilityfairnessrdquo on the ground But asour case studies show it is possible to have stringent standards and credibleassessment but still not generate much reform of global industries Our goalis to provide some tools for making sense of these complex (and common)intermediate scenarios

Importing Standards into Empty Spaces

Another problematic frame concerns the implementation of global standardsincluding those supported by conscientious consumerism It is tempting tosee global standards as introducing new rules into otherwise empty spacesFor instance one might think of labor codes of conduct as introducing laborrights into factories that would otherwise be completely unregulated andchaotic Or one might think of global sustainability standards as introducing

environmental norms into seings where businesses would otherwise be freeto pollute with impunity As Alison Brysk puts it global rule-making proj-ects oen ldquoconcern areas previously ungoverned or even unknownrdquo (Brysk1048626104862410486241048629 104862510486261048624) Indeed scholars and practitioners oen portray private rules as1047297lling a ldquoregulatory voidrdquo as they are put into practice especially in devel-oping countries (Sabel OrsquoRourke and Fung 1048626104862410486241048624) For some developingcountries are so lacking in the rule of law as to constitute ldquoareas of limitedstatehoodrdquo in which private rules must serve as a substitute for public author-

ity (Boumlrzel and Risse 1048626104862410486251048624) Sociologists in the ldquoworld societyrdquo school startfrom different assumptions but nevertheless argue that global norms aboutenvironmental protection child labor and human rights are imported into

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developing countries as novel concepts that are completely alien to the locals(Meyer et al 1048625104863310486331048631)

e problem with this approach is not only as Gay Seidman (1048626104862410486241048631) argues

that ldquostateless regulationrdquo usually lacks enforcement power A more funda-mental problem is that this frame obscures the institutional arrangementsthat are in place in developing countries Developing countries are not emptyanonymous uniform places ey are populated with different business sys-tems cultures of production and political institutions What may look fromafar like a relatively empty space turns out on closer inspection to have adense set of preexisting relationships organizations and rules ese local

circumstances can recon1047297gure global rules in myriad ways (Halliday andCarruthers 1048626104862410486241048633 Merry 104862610486241048624983094) For instance in chapter 1048628 we look at fair tradecerti1047297cation and its consequences in Paraguay a place where earlier ways oforganizing agricultural operations set the stage for fair trade projects andshaped their results Fair trade standards were not simply imported to thisseing they were layered onto an existing set of institutions In fact a thickerldquolayeringrdquo of rules with varying consequences has been a common result ofglobal standards (Bartley 1048626104862410486251048625) An ldquoempty spacesrdquo assumption also obscures

ongoing political struggles at the point of production As we will see INGOsand conscientious consumers are far from the only actors concerned withlabor rights sustainability or the fair distribution of resources For instancerecent years have seen a rising tide of strikes in China and mobilization ofgarment workers in Cambodia and Bangladesh (Alam 1048626104862410486251048627 Dara and Wil-lemyns 1048626104862410486251048628 Friedman 1048626104862410486251048627) e land rights of indigenous people in Braziland Indonesia are a concern not only of backers of global sustainable forestry

standards but also of burgeoning movements of indigenous people them-selves (Gerber 1048626104862410486251048625) Social movements in developing countries may struggleto influence powerful global industries but they cannot simply be ignored

When it comes to governmental regulation it is true that developingcountries oen lack the resources and administrative capacities to effec-tively regulate production processes as do many governments in affluentcountries Moreover the logic of global production in some ways gives themdisincentives to do so aggressively implementing regulations may cause in-

vestors991252and orders from brands and retailers991252to flee the country and therules of the WTO make some forms of regulation untenable But ldquodevelopingcountriesrdquo are diverse In nearly all parts of the world there are laws relatedto labor the environment and the rights of citizens Scholars are beginning

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to 1047297nd increased enforcement of these laws in some surprising places fromrevitalized state labor inspection in the export processing zones of the Do-minican Republic (Schrank 1048626104862410486251048627) to aggressive environmental regulators in

Brazil and China (Coslovsky 1048626104862410486251048625 McAllister Van Rooij and Kagan 1048626104862410486251048624)In other instances law can be repressive991252restricting the rights of workers orindigenous communities for instance (Lee 1048626104862410486241048631 Li 1048626104862410486251048624) Again the influ-ences of local structures can vary but one should not assume a blank slate

983105 983122983151983157983143983144 983111983157983145983140983141 983156983151 983125983150 983152983137983139983147983145983150983143 983107983151983150983155983139983145983141 983150983156983145983151983157983155983107983151983150983155983157983149983152983156983145983151983150 983137983150983140 983120983154983151983140983157983139983156983145983151983150 983120983154983151983146983141983139983156983155

How then can one make sense of projects to promote conscientious con-sumption and fair or sustainable production e 1047297rst step is simply to acceptthat there is a great deal of variation ere is variation across individualsand locations in conscientious consumer behavior ere is variation acrossproducts and labeling initiatives in the ldquoon the groundrdquo implications of globalstandards ere is variation across industries (and even within them) in sys-tems of production and these intersect with national (and even subnational)

differences in industry organization To understand whether conscientiousconsumption and fairsustainable production projects can contribute tomeaningful alternatives we must look closely at these industrial and politi-cal contexts A second starting point is to accept that the influence of globalstandards for fairsustainable production is typically highly circumscribedor contingent on other factors As will become clear even the most stringentstandards and most credible initiatives do not transform global industries

ey sometimes influence certain parts of an industry but even this cannotautomatically be assumed

To unpack conscientious consumption initiatives and the global standardsthey endorse we bring four factors to the foreground (1048625) structures of pro-duction and consumption (1048626) the constituencies of standards (1048627) global-local linkages and (1048628) the coexistence of rule making and unruliness

Structures of Production and Consumption

Industry structures shape both the opportunities for conscientious con-sumption to occur and the consequences of rule-making projects at thepoint of production To start some industries are more likely than others to

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become targets of activism which is typically the catalyst for rule-makingand conscientious consumption projects

Lead 1047297rms in global value chains especially when they are large and have

salient corporate reputations make aractive targets for social movements(Bartley and Child 1048626104862410486251048628) Industries that lack powerful and well-known brands tend to aract less scrutiny For instance the manufacturing of bricksespecially in developing countries is oen a highly polluting and exploit-ative industry But because there are not well-known global brands in thisindustry it has received lile international aention In other cases activistshave highlighted a problem but without powerful and recognizable brands

to link this to rule-making projects have not emerged e production ofcheap costume jewelry is rife with exploitation as shown in the documentary Mardi Gras Made in China but this has not become a site of extensive rulemaking and conscientious consumerism In some circumstances the exis-tence of large high-pro1047297le retailers can compensate for a more fragmentedor poorly known set of manufacturers Anti-GMO activists for instancehave pressured manufacturers like Monsanto by going through large retailerslike Marks amp Spencer (Schurman and Munro 1048626104862410486241048633) Our analysis of global

food distribution (in chapter 1048628) is consistent with this observation but italso suggests that the locus of consumer and activist pressure depends onthe speci1047297c product

When activists do press lead 1047297rms to make their supply chains fairer ormore sustainable the consequences seem to depend in part on the structureof that supply chain If suppliers can easily 1047297nd alternative buyers who are notdemanding changes991252that is if there are few suppliers and many buyers991252

they will have lile incentive to comply with a particular lead 1047297rmrsquos rulesGoing further by many accounts when lead 1047297rms have a great deal of powerover ldquocaptiverdquo suppliers they should be able to demand that those suppliersmake improvements (Mayer and Gereffi 1048626104862410486251048624) On the other hand someresearch has questioned whether this power is truly effective or whether itmerely spurs a game in which suppliers pretend to be making improvements(and lead 1047297rms nod in approval) (Locke Amengual and Mangla 1048626104862410486241048633) Wesuspect that the power of lead 1047297rms does make a difference but that moresigni1047297cant changes are possible when lead 1047297rms and suppliers are mutuallydependent and work together over long stretches of time (Our analysis ofthe apparel industry in chapter 1048629 though suggests that long-term collabora-tion is rare) In addition when global value chains are fairly simple in their

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structure without too many intermediaries this should make it easier forstandards to ldquotravelrdquo through them ere is a conundrum here howeversince it is oen in industries with a high degree of subcontracting (such as

apparel) that global standards are in the highest demand If global industries were dominated by vertically integrated 1047297rms rather than dispersed supplychains the world of conscientious consumerism would look quite differentFurthermore sometimes the lack of action by large lead 1047297rms can leave aspace for activists and entrepreneurs to carve out a small market niche basedon fairness or sustainability is is how fair tradendashcerti1047297ed coffee beganand some new projects appear to be emerging in electronics (Fairphone as

discussed in chapter 983094) and apparel (the Alta Gracia factory as discussed inchapter 1048629) Aer looking more closely at our four industries991252timber foodapparelfootwear and electronics991252we return to questions about industrystructure in the bookrsquos conclusion

Industry structures also maer for consumers As we show in the nextchapter opportunities to engage in conscientious consumption are just asimportant as motivations to do so and these opportunities depend in parton the structure of the retail sector in a particular country Generally we sug-

gest that having larger retailers will facilitate consumer purchases of eco- andsocial-labeled products In part this is simply because larger retailers offer a

wider array of choices overall991252that is different versions of the same prod-uct991252while smaller retailers offer fewer choices To be sure small stores canspecialize in ldquoalternativerdquo products and large stores can fail to carry themBut given the trend toward ldquomainstreamingrdquo of alternatives (see Jaffee 1048626104862410486251048626)large retailers have become key points of sale for eco- and social-labeled prod-

ucts Furthermore oligopoly in the retail sector991252the dominance of a smallnumber of large companies991252also seems to magnify the power of activiststo influence the market As Rachel Schurman and William Munro (1048626104862410486241048633)found the existence of a small number of large food retailer chains in the UKallowed the anti-GMO movement to flourish there while it foundered amidthe larger number of supermarket chains in the United States

Constituencies and Standards

Global standards for fairness and sustainability may sound universal butthey spring from the priorities of particular individuals and groups A cru-cial step in understanding these standards is to examine the founders of

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initiatives that make rules audit compliance and certify products as fair orsustainable Some such initiatives such as fair trade certi1047297cation originatedlargely with NGOs or others outside of the industry Others such as the

Electronics Industry Citizenship Coalition and the Sustainable ForestryInitiative were founded almost exclusively by industry associations or othergroups of companies oen in response to the actions of NGOs In betweenare a number of initiatives developed by coalitions of NGOs and companiesfrom the Forest Stewardship Council to Social Accountability InternationalFounders are not everything NGO-initiated programs can become watereddown as they are mainstreamed and industry-initiated programs oen

evolve into formally independent organizations Most programs seek cred-ibility by calling themselves ldquomulti-stakeholderrdquo initiatives We maintainhowever that founding constituencies leave deep imprints on the content ofstandards and on the distribution of power within rule-making initiativesRules can get ratcheted up or down over time but these are usually marginalrevisions to a core approach Furthermore even when initiatives becomeformally independent from the constituencies that created them informalties revolving doors and 1047297nancial contributions oen persist

Generally we expect that industry-initiated programs will have standardsthat depart in relatively small ways from the normal practices of the indus-try Companies may want to improve labor conditions or environmentalperformance of their suppliers but they will be loath to push so far as todisrupt production or force a major change in their sourcing practices As aresult the greater the influence of companies in the founding of an initiativethe more likely it is to use either a ldquobest in classrdquo approach or a ldquocontinuous

improvementrdquo approach In the 1047297rst companies are recognized (throughcerti1047297cation or other endorsement) for demonstrating that they are aboveaverage in their industry is oen skirts the issue of whether they meeta stringent de1047297nition of a 1047297xed standard As Sco Nova (1048626104862410486251048625) has noted aldquobest in classrdquo model is like grading on a curve even if average performanceis quite low e second approach allows companies to start with a relativelylax standard and encourage gradual improvement over time852019

When industry outsiders have power in the initial design standard-seinginitiatives should look somewhat different First their standards are likely todepart more substantially from normal practices in the industry to a greateror lesser degree depending on the power of these outsiders Second these

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initiatives are more likely though certainly not guaranteed to endorse analternative model of production rather than to just reward the best in class orpush for continuous improvement Fair trade certi1047297cation and its emphasis

on democratically managed producer cooperatives (as described in chap-ter 1048628) is the clearest example of this ird and because of this initiativesspawned by outsiders are likely to either remain small or face dilemmas ofmainstreaming as they grow If they seek a large market presence ldquoalterna-tiverdquo programs will inevitably become more dependent on large companiese result may be a watering down of standards although as the case of theFSC shows (in chapter 1048627) this can be counteracted to some degree

For most products there are multiple competing aempts to de1047297ne fair-ness and sustainability For instance there are several ways of certifying thefairness and sustainability of coffee or of assessing the labor conditions ofapparel companies852020 Usually this competition reflects the struggle betweencompanies and NGOs Some scholars believe that such competition dooms

voluntary initiatives since it confuses consumers and lets companies choosetheir own standards (Seidman 1048626104862410486241048631) Others believe that it strengthens gov-ernance by spurring a ldquoratcheting uprdquo of expectations (Sabel OrsquoRourke and

Fung 1048626104862410486241048624) Our analysis of four global industries suggests that different setsof standards can oen coexist not exactly peacefully but with moderateinteraction or in different market niches Competition is inevitable but itseems to neither doom nor guarantee meaningful standards for fairness andsustainability It must be noted that initiatives that began with high bars991252namely Fair Trade and the FSC991252have not been pushed out of the market

by their competitors

Localized Globalisms and Globalized Localisms

Specifying links between ldquothe globalrdquo and ldquothe localrdquo has proven difficultand scholars have oen fallen prey to two types of conceptual dangers Firstin focusing on the global diffusion of a given idea or norm some have por-trayed domestic seings as lile more than passive receivers of a global proj-ect e language of domestic seings as ldquoreceptor sitesrdquo for global models(Frank Hironaka and Schofer 1048626104862410486241048624) is one example of this Pinpointingthis problem researchers are increasingly focusing on how local actors ap-propriate and ldquoindigenizerdquo global models to make them useful or meaningful

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(Halliday and Carruthers 1048626104862410486241048633 Merry 104862610486241048624983094) Second scholars of globaliza-tion oen equate the global with universalism (and oen progress) and thelocal with particularism (and oen backwardness) In so doing scholars

uncritically accept the most dominant model as ldquothe globalrdquo and obscure thepower that was exercised to establish its dominance

To deal with these problems we adopt Bonaventura de Santosrsquos language ofldquoglobalized localismsrdquo and ldquo localized globalismsrdquo (Santos 104862610486241048624983094 Santos andRodriacuteguez Garavito 1048626104862410486241048629) e 1047297rst refers to a process in which a particularis-tic set of ideas and practices becomes a dominant global norm Santos (104862610486241048624983094)provides examples such as ldquothe transformation of the English language into

a lingua franca the globalization of American fast food or popular music orthe worldwide adoption of the same laws of intellectual ownership patentsor telecommunications aggressively promoted by the USArdquo (10486271048633983094) For ourpurpose the key issue is how particular understandings of rights rules andenforcement have become institutionalized as global norms Concretely thenotion of a ldquoglobalized localismrdquo sensitizes us to processes by which particu-lar sets of reformers (NGOs companies or others) have turned their projectsinto ldquoglobalrdquo standards for fairness and sustainability Our point is not to

join the chorus that argues that ldquoWesternrdquo standards are being illegitimatelyforced on people and companies elsewhere ere have long been calls fordecent work and responsible natural resource management in many differ-ent parts of the world But the global standards supported by conscientiousconsumers in North A merica and Europe embody particular approaches tothese issues

e second concept ldquolocalized globalismrdquo refers to the incorporation of

these global models into local routines and expectations e concept sen-sitizes us to the work involved in turning global standards for fairness andsustainability into a concrete practice in a factory forest or farm in someparticular location As we have noted scholars too oen portray these sites asempty spaces We believe it is preferable to start from the opposite premisethat sites of implementation are crowded with different actors and agendasonly some of which are likely to line up with global standard-seing initia-tives Some elements of global standards are easily incorporated into localpractices while others are 1047297ercely resisted But a recognition of localizedglobalisms also has methodological implications It is rare for researchersto actually study these locations in detail It is easier to conduct distant and

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decontextualized studies of CSR or to focus only on the creation of standardsrather than their local implementation Our analyses of the global timberagricultural apparel and electronics industries include aention to speci1047297c

locations from the sugarcane farms of Paraguay to the electronics factoriesof Malaysia

Te Puzzle of Rules Rule Making and the Persistence of Unruliness

One can beer understand conscientious consumption and production proj-ects by recognizing what Tim Bartley (1048626104862410486251048628a) has called the ldquopuzzle of rulesrdquo

in the global economy simply put global capitalism can be ldquounrulyrdquo but italso generates many rule-making projects

e expansion of global markets has facilitated a number of rule-makingprojects from the standardization of accounting procedures to the rules forfairness and sustainability discussed in this book e volume of rule making

by both public and private actors has increased over the past three decadesMany scholars have pointed to these trends as evidence that global capitalismis not manic or ungovernable as it was initially framed Marie-Laure Djelic

and Kerstin Sahlin-Andersson (104862610486241048624983094) argue that ldquothe proliferation of regu-latory activities actors networks or constellations leads to an explosion ofrules and to the profound re-ordering of our worldrdquo (1048625) and they see globalcapitalism as ldquomarked by more991252not less991252rule-making activityrdquo (10486271048631983094)

On the other hand the explosion of rule making has oen been gearedtoward the expansion of markets rather than their restriction and in manyrespects global capitalism has remained unruly In many industries invest-

ment and orders can and do move quickly across locations oen under-mining aempts to impose rules Even more socially controlled European

varieties of capitalism have had their foundations chipped away (Streeck1048626104862410486241048633) Furthermore for all of the efforts of NGOs to build rules for fairnesssustainability and human rights many corners of global industries remainlargely unscrutinized and unaffected by these rule-making projects

As our case studies illustrate even as standards for fairness and sustain-ability have risen to prominence global industries have remained volatileand exploitative Certi1047297cation of sustainable forestry rose to prominencefrom 1048625104863310486331048629 to 1048626104862410486251048624 but so did illegal logging and deforestation worsenedin many places Te global apparel industry has come to be governed by

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numerous codes of conduct and factory monitoring initiatives but it hasalso continued to move quickly from one location to another in search oflow wages and more docile workers e rapid and inconsistent pace of the

global electronics industry has undermined aempts to improve workingconditions while rapidly changing agricultural markets have threatened thelivelihoods of many smallholder farmers

e puzzle of rules can be solved through an analysis of neoliberalism (seeBartley 1048626104862410486251048628a) but it also provokes a simple conclusion about the prospects forglobal fairness and sustainability global industries oen have contradictorytendencies so we should not expect either complete ldquogreenwashrdquoldquofairwashrdquo

or serious transformation Fair trade certi1047297cation has not transformed thelogic of commodity trade but it has improved conditions for some farmersin some circumstances FSC certi1047297cation has not made the timber trade sus-tainable but it has supported improvements in some forests As we developthese 1047297ndings (in part 1048626 of the book) we hope to speak not only to scholars ofconscientious consumerism but also to citizens and consumers themselvesConsumers oen want to feel like their purchases are ldquocleanrdquo of exploitation

but this is unrealistic We believe it would be more promising if consumers

shied from a deterministic to a probabilistic approach conscientious con-sumption may increase onersquos probability of contributing to improvementsand decrease the probability of contributing to the most extreme forms ofexploitation Tis does not answer the question of how large those prob-abilities are (which surely varies by product and label) or the question of howsigni1047297cant those improvements can be But only if consumers shi from anall-or-nothing view of ldquocleanrdquo versus ldquodirtyrdquo production (that is sustainable

versus destructive fair versus exploitative) can they come to an accurateunderstanding of what their purchases can and cannot achieve

983127 983144 983137983156 983116983145 983141 983155 983105 983144 983141 983137 983140

Part 1048625 of this book focuses on dynamics and dilemmas of conscientious con-sumerism In chapter 1048625 we look at why some American and European con-sumers are more likely than others to practice conscientious consumptionUsing survey data on thousands of individual consumers our quantitativeanalyses focus on factors that shape two forms of conscientious consump-tion boycoing and ldquobuycoingrdquo991252that is preferring a product for some po-

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litical or ethical reason Some paerns are related to consumersrsquo beliefs andthe extent to which they can afford to be choosy But individual differencesare only a small part of the story Where consumers are has a great deal to do

with whether they engage in conscientious consumption or not We thereforeconnect the individual survey responses with measures that capture nationaleconomic political and cultural contexts Overall this initial portrait showsthat conscientious consumption is widespread but far from universal withkey differences rooted not only in individual characteristics but in differentstructures of consumption as well

Having sketched some general paerns we delve deeper into the meanings

and implications of conscientious consumerism in chapter 1048626 Our analyses inchapter 1048625 are based on what consumers say they do but there are reasons todoubt that consumers will follow through on what they say or that what theysay truly captures the social meaning of their actions Yet we show that thereis evidence of consumers being wil ling to pay for eco-labels and social labelsConsumers are most likely to do so when their ldquoethicalrdquo choices also servetheir self-interest such as saving on energy costs or eating safer healthierfoods But even for those forms of conscientious consumption that have no

short-term direct bene1047297t for consumers there is mounting evidence thatsome consumers will pay more For labeling enthusiasts this is a good thingBut the ldquoone dollar one voterdquo logic of conscientious consumerism and thestatus-symbol character of some ldquoethicalrdquo products are potentially danger-ous in that they can exacerbate social economic and political inequalitiesamong consumers Moreover there is a danger that conscientious consumer-ism can displace other forms of political engagement promoting individual

consumerism at the expense of democratic citizenship and collective socialmovements Working through these debates we argue that conscientiousconsumerism as an ideology is regressive and counterproductive but speci1047297cpractices of conscientious consumption can sometimes be consistent withother forms of political engagement

Of course the real test of conscientious consumption comes at the pointof production To what extent do voluntary standards forged in response toconsumer concern make a difference ldquoon the groundrdquo in global industries

We tackle this question in part 1048626 of the book by looking at the global produc-tion of four types of products991252(1048625) wood and paper products (1048626) food (espe-cially the agri-food industry) (1048627) apparel and footwear and (1048628) electronics

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Each of these case studies is rooted in the interviews that we have conducted with local actors and other 1047297ne-grained information on the organization ofproduction ese chapters apply the framework sketched above (and a com-

mon organizational template) to allow for comparative insightsChapter 1048627 looks at the rise of forest certi1047297cation and its effects in the global

timber industry Like fair trade the FSC is one of the oldest and most es-tablished certi1047297cation and labeling initiatives It was founded more thantwenty years ago and it spurred a number of imitators and competitors Yetit is not well known among conscientious consumers and its impacts have

been far less than originally intended We trace the rise of forest certi1047297cation

with particular aention to the founders and constituents of the FSC andhow they leveraged the structure of the forest products industry to ldquomake amarketrdquo for certi1047297ed wood and paper Yet applying sustainability standardsto the production of some wood and paper products has barely influencedglobal deforestation A closer look at FSC certi1047297cation in the tropical forestsof Indonesia illustrates both the contradictions of certifying in a shiing andcontentious context and the limited ability of forest certi1047297cation to influencethe main drivers of deforestation

Next in chapter 1048628 we turn to agricultural production and the fairness andsustainability projects that have emerged in this seing Consumers aacha variety of meanings to food and the politics of food consumption has ex-ploded in the past decade In addition to sketching the structure of agri-foodproduction and consumption in general we focus on two types of rule-mak-ing projects fair trade certi1047297cation and an increasingly popular ldquocommod-ity roundtablerdquo approach Looking more closely at two crops991252sugar and

soy991252in one country Paraguay we are able to illustrate the consequences ofdifferent models of certi1047297cation and the crucial role of local context Globalfood politics are being layered onto preexisting institutional arrangementsand it is largely these institutional arrangements that determine whether cer-ti1047297cation is meaningful or not For instance fair trade certi1047297cation seems tomaer most when smallholder farmers are already organized into democrati-cally effective cooperatives or when local organizing al lows them to upgradetheir production capacities over time e contingent effects of conscientiousconsumption come into focus in this chapter

Chapter 1048629 considers how the rise of anti-sweatshop activism in the early1048625104863310486331048624s led to various aempts to monitor and improve working conditions inapparel and footwear factories A rough indication of how these initiatives

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have fared is provided by the occurrence of factory 1047297res in 1048626104862410486251048624ndash1048626104862410486251048627 and thedeath of more than eleven hundred garment workers in the 1048626104862410486251048627 collapse ofthe Rana Plaza building in Bangladesh Our chapter examines the constitu-

encies behind different factory auditing and certi1047297cation initiatives the waysstandards were implemented and the reasons why their effects have beenminimal e structure of apparel and footwear production in many wayscreated the demand for codes of conduct but the structure and the mobilityof the industry have undermined meaningful improvements Looking moreclosely at factories in China we show how aempts to certify particularfactories have fallen short In recent years several new projects to provide

ethical apparel have emerged but there remain few credible alternatives inthis industry

Finally chapter 983094 takes us into the fast-paced world of the electronics in-dustry where companies produce new models of smartphones laptops andother devices at breakneck speed Yet recently this industry has become afocus of aention for the exploitation of production workers especially aera series of worker suicides (and later strikes) at Foxconn factories in Chinaand mounting scrutiny of Foxconnrsquos buyer Apple Electronics brands have

also been accused of using ldquoconflict mineralsrdquo in the production of smart-phones e electronics industry is populated by well-capitalized companiesthat at times have demonstrated good intentions to make the labor processsafer and more humane Yet the industry has struggled to make improve-ments and 1047297nd tenable solutions We argue that the solution to this puzzlelies in the architecture of production and to a large extent ultimately in theorganization of electronics consumption is is a case in which conscien-

tious consumerism has been slow to develop and unreflective consumerismhas been a powerful constraint on signi1047297cant improvement Using detaileddata on factories producing for Hewle-Packard we show how the industrycontinues to demand extraordinarily ldquoflexiblerdquo labor markets and excessive

working hours in its factories in Southeast Asia We have tried to provide a sense of the complexity of these cases and set-

tings while still drawing out clear implications Along the way readers shouldget a clearer sense of the structure and operation of global value chains the

varied geographies of production and the circumscribed consequences ofeco-labels and social labels In a concluding chapter we compare our foursets of products and consider what has been learned

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highlighted in celebratory accounts of transparency may actually be formsof ldquodisinformationrdquo that obscure companiesrsquo actual practices

e term ldquogreenwashrdquo took off among environmentalists in the late 1048625104863310486321048624s

as a description of advertising campaigns that portrayed companies as pro-tectors of the environment (Beers and Capellaro 1048625104863310486331048625) Greenpeace arguedthat transnational corporations like Shell DuPont and Mitsubishi had ldquoem-

braced the environment as their cause and co-opted its terminologyrdquo even while contributing massively to environmental degradation (Greenpeace1048625104863310486331048626 1048626) e analogue for corporate claims about incomes livelihoods and

justice991252ldquofairwashingrdquo991252entered the lexicon later in the wake of the fair

trade movement As fair trade certi1047297cation was becoming ldquomainstreamedrdquoand imitated scholars and activists began worrying that fairwashing wason the horizon (Conroy 1048626104862410486241048631 Lyon and Moberg 1048626104862410486251048624) Observers have alsocriticized the images produced in the name of ldquocorporate social responsibil-ityrdquo arguing that these are ldquomerely a public relations game lulling us intoa false sense of securityrdquo (Doane 1048626104862410486241048629 10486261048633) Common to all these diagnosesis the sense that most assurances one 1047297nds on a product are nothing morethan public relations efforts

e greenwashfairwash critique captures two key features of conscien-tious consumption and global standards First when faced with criticismcompanies would prefer to be able to improve their images without alteringpro1047297table practices A public relations campaign is typically the 1047297rst line ofdefense Companies may also hire outside organizations991252auditors consul-tants and sometimes NGOs991252to lend some credibility to their campaignsey may also fund seemingly independent standard-seing initiatives that

can endorse their corporate social responsibility programs or label theirproducts As we will see this is how the US timber industryrsquos SustainableForestry Initiative got its start and it helps to account for the role of appareland footwear brands in the Fair Labor Association One must always takeassurances of sustainability and fairness with a grain of salt e dosage ofsalt depends in part on whether claims come from companies themselvesinitiatives that they control or more independent initiatives (If initiativesdepend on the voluntary participation of companies they can never be fully independent but there are gradations) In our analyses of standards (in part1048626 of this book) we are aentive to who has created a particular initiativehow it is funded and how dependent on companies it is Second there is

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nearly always some hypocrisy present when companies take up greening orfairness initiatives Simply because one product or one aspect of a companyrsquosproduction has earned some credentials does not mean that the companyrsquos

operations overall can be considered green or fair As David Vogel (1048626104862410486241048629)has argued we oen yearn for simple pronouncements of ldquogoodrdquo and ldquobadrdquocompanies But companies like people are complex multifaceted and oencontradictory One part of a company may be developing green productionprocesses while another part lobbies against environmental regulation

On the other hand we see simple distinctions between greenwashfair- wash and ldquotruerdquo reform as a poor match for the current state of global indus-

tries and labeling projects Eco-labeling and social labeling may once have been the domain of public relations personnel but they have become theirown specialized world in which credibility depends on ldquomulti-stakeholderrepresentationrdquo and extensive amounts of accreditation auditing and veri1047297-cation Companies might prefer to respond to criticism with public relationscampaigns but they are oen pushed by activists and investors to go furtherand achieve some kind of external assurance For instance if confronted bylabor rights abuses apparel and footwear companies no longer simply hold

up a code of conduct instead they refer to sophisticated factory monitoringprograms external certi1047297cations and ldquocapacity-buildingrdquo projects (Locke1048626104862410486251048627) Rather than simply co-opting the language of environmentalism manyretailers have been pushed to sell products that are independently certi1047297ed(Conroy 1048626104862410486241048631) Furthermore the world of voluntary certi1047297cation has be-come increasingly formalized For instance to judge compliance with thestandards of the FSC an auditing organization (eg Scienti1047297c Certi1047297cation

Systems SmartWood or the Soil Association) must be accredited by a sepa-rate oversight body (Accreditation Services International) Furthermore theFSC belongs to an umbrella organization991252the ISEAL (International Socialand Environmental Accreditation and Labeling) Alliance991252which de1047297nes

best practices for credible certi1047297cation initiatives To be sure all of this cer-ti1047297cation of the certi1047297ers of the certi1047297ers (and beyond) is not guaranteed to

bring about meaningful improvement Indeed we describe cases where thisformalization has been counterproductive and where seemingly credible ini-tiatives have failed spectacularly But it does mean there is more ldquocheckingrdquothan there is simple ldquowashingrdquo As Peter Dauvergne and Jane Lister (1048626104862410486251048626)put it ldquoCorporate sustainability goals include measurable targets are

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audited by independent groups and are integrated into the core business [through] life-cycle assessment supply chain tracing eco-certi1047297cation andsustainability reportingrdquo (10486271048632) We concur with them that all of this measure-

ment and reporting oen skirts the root causes of problems but one cannotseriously assess conscientious consumption without investigating this activ-ity If the world were as simple as it was when the ldquogreenwashrdquo frame was 1047297rstcoined a book like this would not be necessary

Most importantly the greenwashfairwash frame leaves a key questionunanswered if a claim is not just greenwashfairwash991252in other words if itis backed by stringent standards and credible veri1047297cation processes991252then

what is it It would be tempting to assume that the converse of greenwashfairwash is something like ldquoreal sustainabilityfairnessrdquo on the ground But asour case studies show it is possible to have stringent standards and credibleassessment but still not generate much reform of global industries Our goalis to provide some tools for making sense of these complex (and common)intermediate scenarios

Importing Standards into Empty Spaces

Another problematic frame concerns the implementation of global standardsincluding those supported by conscientious consumerism It is tempting tosee global standards as introducing new rules into otherwise empty spacesFor instance one might think of labor codes of conduct as introducing laborrights into factories that would otherwise be completely unregulated andchaotic Or one might think of global sustainability standards as introducing

environmental norms into seings where businesses would otherwise be freeto pollute with impunity As Alison Brysk puts it global rule-making proj-ects oen ldquoconcern areas previously ungoverned or even unknownrdquo (Brysk1048626104862410486241048629 104862510486261048624) Indeed scholars and practitioners oen portray private rules as1047297lling a ldquoregulatory voidrdquo as they are put into practice especially in devel-oping countries (Sabel OrsquoRourke and Fung 1048626104862410486241048624) For some developingcountries are so lacking in the rule of law as to constitute ldquoareas of limitedstatehoodrdquo in which private rules must serve as a substitute for public author-

ity (Boumlrzel and Risse 1048626104862410486251048624) Sociologists in the ldquoworld societyrdquo school startfrom different assumptions but nevertheless argue that global norms aboutenvironmental protection child labor and human rights are imported into

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developing countries as novel concepts that are completely alien to the locals(Meyer et al 1048625104863310486331048631)

e problem with this approach is not only as Gay Seidman (1048626104862410486241048631) argues

that ldquostateless regulationrdquo usually lacks enforcement power A more funda-mental problem is that this frame obscures the institutional arrangementsthat are in place in developing countries Developing countries are not emptyanonymous uniform places ey are populated with different business sys-tems cultures of production and political institutions What may look fromafar like a relatively empty space turns out on closer inspection to have adense set of preexisting relationships organizations and rules ese local

circumstances can recon1047297gure global rules in myriad ways (Halliday andCarruthers 1048626104862410486241048633 Merry 104862610486241048624983094) For instance in chapter 1048628 we look at fair tradecerti1047297cation and its consequences in Paraguay a place where earlier ways oforganizing agricultural operations set the stage for fair trade projects andshaped their results Fair trade standards were not simply imported to thisseing they were layered onto an existing set of institutions In fact a thickerldquolayeringrdquo of rules with varying consequences has been a common result ofglobal standards (Bartley 1048626104862410486251048625) An ldquoempty spacesrdquo assumption also obscures

ongoing political struggles at the point of production As we will see INGOsand conscientious consumers are far from the only actors concerned withlabor rights sustainability or the fair distribution of resources For instancerecent years have seen a rising tide of strikes in China and mobilization ofgarment workers in Cambodia and Bangladesh (Alam 1048626104862410486251048627 Dara and Wil-lemyns 1048626104862410486251048628 Friedman 1048626104862410486251048627) e land rights of indigenous people in Braziland Indonesia are a concern not only of backers of global sustainable forestry

standards but also of burgeoning movements of indigenous people them-selves (Gerber 1048626104862410486251048625) Social movements in developing countries may struggleto influence powerful global industries but they cannot simply be ignored

When it comes to governmental regulation it is true that developingcountries oen lack the resources and administrative capacities to effec-tively regulate production processes as do many governments in affluentcountries Moreover the logic of global production in some ways gives themdisincentives to do so aggressively implementing regulations may cause in-

vestors991252and orders from brands and retailers991252to flee the country and therules of the WTO make some forms of regulation untenable But ldquodevelopingcountriesrdquo are diverse In nearly all parts of the world there are laws relatedto labor the environment and the rights of citizens Scholars are beginning

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to 1047297nd increased enforcement of these laws in some surprising places fromrevitalized state labor inspection in the export processing zones of the Do-minican Republic (Schrank 1048626104862410486251048627) to aggressive environmental regulators in

Brazil and China (Coslovsky 1048626104862410486251048625 McAllister Van Rooij and Kagan 1048626104862410486251048624)In other instances law can be repressive991252restricting the rights of workers orindigenous communities for instance (Lee 1048626104862410486241048631 Li 1048626104862410486251048624) Again the influ-ences of local structures can vary but one should not assume a blank slate

983105 983122983151983157983143983144 983111983157983145983140983141 983156983151 983125983150 983152983137983139983147983145983150983143 983107983151983150983155983139983145983141 983150983156983145983151983157983155983107983151983150983155983157983149983152983156983145983151983150 983137983150983140 983120983154983151983140983157983139983156983145983151983150 983120983154983151983146983141983139983156983155

How then can one make sense of projects to promote conscientious con-sumption and fair or sustainable production e 1047297rst step is simply to acceptthat there is a great deal of variation ere is variation across individualsand locations in conscientious consumer behavior ere is variation acrossproducts and labeling initiatives in the ldquoon the groundrdquo implications of globalstandards ere is variation across industries (and even within them) in sys-tems of production and these intersect with national (and even subnational)

differences in industry organization To understand whether conscientiousconsumption and fairsustainable production projects can contribute tomeaningful alternatives we must look closely at these industrial and politi-cal contexts A second starting point is to accept that the influence of globalstandards for fairsustainable production is typically highly circumscribedor contingent on other factors As will become clear even the most stringentstandards and most credible initiatives do not transform global industries

ey sometimes influence certain parts of an industry but even this cannotautomatically be assumed

To unpack conscientious consumption initiatives and the global standardsthey endorse we bring four factors to the foreground (1048625) structures of pro-duction and consumption (1048626) the constituencies of standards (1048627) global-local linkages and (1048628) the coexistence of rule making and unruliness

Structures of Production and Consumption

Industry structures shape both the opportunities for conscientious con-sumption to occur and the consequences of rule-making projects at thepoint of production To start some industries are more likely than others to

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become targets of activism which is typically the catalyst for rule-makingand conscientious consumption projects

Lead 1047297rms in global value chains especially when they are large and have

salient corporate reputations make aractive targets for social movements(Bartley and Child 1048626104862410486251048628) Industries that lack powerful and well-known brands tend to aract less scrutiny For instance the manufacturing of bricksespecially in developing countries is oen a highly polluting and exploit-ative industry But because there are not well-known global brands in thisindustry it has received lile international aention In other cases activistshave highlighted a problem but without powerful and recognizable brands

to link this to rule-making projects have not emerged e production ofcheap costume jewelry is rife with exploitation as shown in the documentary Mardi Gras Made in China but this has not become a site of extensive rulemaking and conscientious consumerism In some circumstances the exis-tence of large high-pro1047297le retailers can compensate for a more fragmentedor poorly known set of manufacturers Anti-GMO activists for instancehave pressured manufacturers like Monsanto by going through large retailerslike Marks amp Spencer (Schurman and Munro 1048626104862410486241048633) Our analysis of global

food distribution (in chapter 1048628) is consistent with this observation but italso suggests that the locus of consumer and activist pressure depends onthe speci1047297c product

When activists do press lead 1047297rms to make their supply chains fairer ormore sustainable the consequences seem to depend in part on the structureof that supply chain If suppliers can easily 1047297nd alternative buyers who are notdemanding changes991252that is if there are few suppliers and many buyers991252

they will have lile incentive to comply with a particular lead 1047297rmrsquos rulesGoing further by many accounts when lead 1047297rms have a great deal of powerover ldquocaptiverdquo suppliers they should be able to demand that those suppliersmake improvements (Mayer and Gereffi 1048626104862410486251048624) On the other hand someresearch has questioned whether this power is truly effective or whether itmerely spurs a game in which suppliers pretend to be making improvements(and lead 1047297rms nod in approval) (Locke Amengual and Mangla 1048626104862410486241048633) Wesuspect that the power of lead 1047297rms does make a difference but that moresigni1047297cant changes are possible when lead 1047297rms and suppliers are mutuallydependent and work together over long stretches of time (Our analysis ofthe apparel industry in chapter 1048629 though suggests that long-term collabora-tion is rare) In addition when global value chains are fairly simple in their

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structure without too many intermediaries this should make it easier forstandards to ldquotravelrdquo through them ere is a conundrum here howeversince it is oen in industries with a high degree of subcontracting (such as

apparel) that global standards are in the highest demand If global industries were dominated by vertically integrated 1047297rms rather than dispersed supplychains the world of conscientious consumerism would look quite differentFurthermore sometimes the lack of action by large lead 1047297rms can leave aspace for activists and entrepreneurs to carve out a small market niche basedon fairness or sustainability is is how fair tradendashcerti1047297ed coffee beganand some new projects appear to be emerging in electronics (Fairphone as

discussed in chapter 983094) and apparel (the Alta Gracia factory as discussed inchapter 1048629) Aer looking more closely at our four industries991252timber foodapparelfootwear and electronics991252we return to questions about industrystructure in the bookrsquos conclusion

Industry structures also maer for consumers As we show in the nextchapter opportunities to engage in conscientious consumption are just asimportant as motivations to do so and these opportunities depend in parton the structure of the retail sector in a particular country Generally we sug-

gest that having larger retailers will facilitate consumer purchases of eco- andsocial-labeled products In part this is simply because larger retailers offer a

wider array of choices overall991252that is different versions of the same prod-uct991252while smaller retailers offer fewer choices To be sure small stores canspecialize in ldquoalternativerdquo products and large stores can fail to carry themBut given the trend toward ldquomainstreamingrdquo of alternatives (see Jaffee 1048626104862410486251048626)large retailers have become key points of sale for eco- and social-labeled prod-

ucts Furthermore oligopoly in the retail sector991252the dominance of a smallnumber of large companies991252also seems to magnify the power of activiststo influence the market As Rachel Schurman and William Munro (1048626104862410486241048633)found the existence of a small number of large food retailer chains in the UKallowed the anti-GMO movement to flourish there while it foundered amidthe larger number of supermarket chains in the United States

Constituencies and Standards

Global standards for fairness and sustainability may sound universal butthey spring from the priorities of particular individuals and groups A cru-cial step in understanding these standards is to examine the founders of

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initiatives that make rules audit compliance and certify products as fair orsustainable Some such initiatives such as fair trade certi1047297cation originatedlargely with NGOs or others outside of the industry Others such as the

Electronics Industry Citizenship Coalition and the Sustainable ForestryInitiative were founded almost exclusively by industry associations or othergroups of companies oen in response to the actions of NGOs In betweenare a number of initiatives developed by coalitions of NGOs and companiesfrom the Forest Stewardship Council to Social Accountability InternationalFounders are not everything NGO-initiated programs can become watereddown as they are mainstreamed and industry-initiated programs oen

evolve into formally independent organizations Most programs seek cred-ibility by calling themselves ldquomulti-stakeholderrdquo initiatives We maintainhowever that founding constituencies leave deep imprints on the content ofstandards and on the distribution of power within rule-making initiativesRules can get ratcheted up or down over time but these are usually marginalrevisions to a core approach Furthermore even when initiatives becomeformally independent from the constituencies that created them informalties revolving doors and 1047297nancial contributions oen persist

Generally we expect that industry-initiated programs will have standardsthat depart in relatively small ways from the normal practices of the indus-try Companies may want to improve labor conditions or environmentalperformance of their suppliers but they will be loath to push so far as todisrupt production or force a major change in their sourcing practices As aresult the greater the influence of companies in the founding of an initiativethe more likely it is to use either a ldquobest in classrdquo approach or a ldquocontinuous

improvementrdquo approach In the 1047297rst companies are recognized (throughcerti1047297cation or other endorsement) for demonstrating that they are aboveaverage in their industry is oen skirts the issue of whether they meeta stringent de1047297nition of a 1047297xed standard As Sco Nova (1048626104862410486251048625) has noted aldquobest in classrdquo model is like grading on a curve even if average performanceis quite low e second approach allows companies to start with a relativelylax standard and encourage gradual improvement over time852019

When industry outsiders have power in the initial design standard-seinginitiatives should look somewhat different First their standards are likely todepart more substantially from normal practices in the industry to a greateror lesser degree depending on the power of these outsiders Second these

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initiatives are more likely though certainly not guaranteed to endorse analternative model of production rather than to just reward the best in class orpush for continuous improvement Fair trade certi1047297cation and its emphasis

on democratically managed producer cooperatives (as described in chap-ter 1048628) is the clearest example of this ird and because of this initiativesspawned by outsiders are likely to either remain small or face dilemmas ofmainstreaming as they grow If they seek a large market presence ldquoalterna-tiverdquo programs will inevitably become more dependent on large companiese result may be a watering down of standards although as the case of theFSC shows (in chapter 1048627) this can be counteracted to some degree

For most products there are multiple competing aempts to de1047297ne fair-ness and sustainability For instance there are several ways of certifying thefairness and sustainability of coffee or of assessing the labor conditions ofapparel companies852020 Usually this competition reflects the struggle betweencompanies and NGOs Some scholars believe that such competition dooms

voluntary initiatives since it confuses consumers and lets companies choosetheir own standards (Seidman 1048626104862410486241048631) Others believe that it strengthens gov-ernance by spurring a ldquoratcheting uprdquo of expectations (Sabel OrsquoRourke and

Fung 1048626104862410486241048624) Our analysis of four global industries suggests that different setsof standards can oen coexist not exactly peacefully but with moderateinteraction or in different market niches Competition is inevitable but itseems to neither doom nor guarantee meaningful standards for fairness andsustainability It must be noted that initiatives that began with high bars991252namely Fair Trade and the FSC991252have not been pushed out of the market

by their competitors

Localized Globalisms and Globalized Localisms

Specifying links between ldquothe globalrdquo and ldquothe localrdquo has proven difficultand scholars have oen fallen prey to two types of conceptual dangers Firstin focusing on the global diffusion of a given idea or norm some have por-trayed domestic seings as lile more than passive receivers of a global proj-ect e language of domestic seings as ldquoreceptor sitesrdquo for global models(Frank Hironaka and Schofer 1048626104862410486241048624) is one example of this Pinpointingthis problem researchers are increasingly focusing on how local actors ap-propriate and ldquoindigenizerdquo global models to make them useful or meaningful

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(Halliday and Carruthers 1048626104862410486241048633 Merry 104862610486241048624983094) Second scholars of globaliza-tion oen equate the global with universalism (and oen progress) and thelocal with particularism (and oen backwardness) In so doing scholars

uncritically accept the most dominant model as ldquothe globalrdquo and obscure thepower that was exercised to establish its dominance

To deal with these problems we adopt Bonaventura de Santosrsquos language ofldquoglobalized localismsrdquo and ldquo localized globalismsrdquo (Santos 104862610486241048624983094 Santos andRodriacuteguez Garavito 1048626104862410486241048629) e 1047297rst refers to a process in which a particularis-tic set of ideas and practices becomes a dominant global norm Santos (104862610486241048624983094)provides examples such as ldquothe transformation of the English language into

a lingua franca the globalization of American fast food or popular music orthe worldwide adoption of the same laws of intellectual ownership patentsor telecommunications aggressively promoted by the USArdquo (10486271048633983094) For ourpurpose the key issue is how particular understandings of rights rules andenforcement have become institutionalized as global norms Concretely thenotion of a ldquoglobalized localismrdquo sensitizes us to processes by which particu-lar sets of reformers (NGOs companies or others) have turned their projectsinto ldquoglobalrdquo standards for fairness and sustainability Our point is not to

join the chorus that argues that ldquoWesternrdquo standards are being illegitimatelyforced on people and companies elsewhere ere have long been calls fordecent work and responsible natural resource management in many differ-ent parts of the world But the global standards supported by conscientiousconsumers in North A merica and Europe embody particular approaches tothese issues

e second concept ldquolocalized globalismrdquo refers to the incorporation of

these global models into local routines and expectations e concept sen-sitizes us to the work involved in turning global standards for fairness andsustainability into a concrete practice in a factory forest or farm in someparticular location As we have noted scholars too oen portray these sites asempty spaces We believe it is preferable to start from the opposite premisethat sites of implementation are crowded with different actors and agendasonly some of which are likely to line up with global standard-seing initia-tives Some elements of global standards are easily incorporated into localpractices while others are 1047297ercely resisted But a recognition of localizedglobalisms also has methodological implications It is rare for researchersto actually study these locations in detail It is easier to conduct distant and

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decontextualized studies of CSR or to focus only on the creation of standardsrather than their local implementation Our analyses of the global timberagricultural apparel and electronics industries include aention to speci1047297c

locations from the sugarcane farms of Paraguay to the electronics factoriesof Malaysia

Te Puzzle of Rules Rule Making and the Persistence of Unruliness

One can beer understand conscientious consumption and production proj-ects by recognizing what Tim Bartley (1048626104862410486251048628a) has called the ldquopuzzle of rulesrdquo

in the global economy simply put global capitalism can be ldquounrulyrdquo but italso generates many rule-making projects

e expansion of global markets has facilitated a number of rule-makingprojects from the standardization of accounting procedures to the rules forfairness and sustainability discussed in this book e volume of rule making

by both public and private actors has increased over the past three decadesMany scholars have pointed to these trends as evidence that global capitalismis not manic or ungovernable as it was initially framed Marie-Laure Djelic

and Kerstin Sahlin-Andersson (104862610486241048624983094) argue that ldquothe proliferation of regu-latory activities actors networks or constellations leads to an explosion ofrules and to the profound re-ordering of our worldrdquo (1048625) and they see globalcapitalism as ldquomarked by more991252not less991252rule-making activityrdquo (10486271048631983094)

On the other hand the explosion of rule making has oen been gearedtoward the expansion of markets rather than their restriction and in manyrespects global capitalism has remained unruly In many industries invest-

ment and orders can and do move quickly across locations oen under-mining aempts to impose rules Even more socially controlled European

varieties of capitalism have had their foundations chipped away (Streeck1048626104862410486241048633) Furthermore for all of the efforts of NGOs to build rules for fairnesssustainability and human rights many corners of global industries remainlargely unscrutinized and unaffected by these rule-making projects

As our case studies illustrate even as standards for fairness and sustain-ability have risen to prominence global industries have remained volatileand exploitative Certi1047297cation of sustainable forestry rose to prominencefrom 1048625104863310486331048629 to 1048626104862410486251048624 but so did illegal logging and deforestation worsenedin many places Te global apparel industry has come to be governed by

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numerous codes of conduct and factory monitoring initiatives but it hasalso continued to move quickly from one location to another in search oflow wages and more docile workers e rapid and inconsistent pace of the

global electronics industry has undermined aempts to improve workingconditions while rapidly changing agricultural markets have threatened thelivelihoods of many smallholder farmers

e puzzle of rules can be solved through an analysis of neoliberalism (seeBartley 1048626104862410486251048628a) but it also provokes a simple conclusion about the prospects forglobal fairness and sustainability global industries oen have contradictorytendencies so we should not expect either complete ldquogreenwashrdquoldquofairwashrdquo

or serious transformation Fair trade certi1047297cation has not transformed thelogic of commodity trade but it has improved conditions for some farmersin some circumstances FSC certi1047297cation has not made the timber trade sus-tainable but it has supported improvements in some forests As we developthese 1047297ndings (in part 1048626 of the book) we hope to speak not only to scholars ofconscientious consumerism but also to citizens and consumers themselvesConsumers oen want to feel like their purchases are ldquocleanrdquo of exploitation

but this is unrealistic We believe it would be more promising if consumers

shied from a deterministic to a probabilistic approach conscientious con-sumption may increase onersquos probability of contributing to improvementsand decrease the probability of contributing to the most extreme forms ofexploitation Tis does not answer the question of how large those prob-abilities are (which surely varies by product and label) or the question of howsigni1047297cant those improvements can be But only if consumers shi from anall-or-nothing view of ldquocleanrdquo versus ldquodirtyrdquo production (that is sustainable

versus destructive fair versus exploitative) can they come to an accurateunderstanding of what their purchases can and cannot achieve

983127 983144 983137983156 983116983145 983141 983155 983105 983144 983141 983137 983140

Part 1048625 of this book focuses on dynamics and dilemmas of conscientious con-sumerism In chapter 1048625 we look at why some American and European con-sumers are more likely than others to practice conscientious consumptionUsing survey data on thousands of individual consumers our quantitativeanalyses focus on factors that shape two forms of conscientious consump-tion boycoing and ldquobuycoingrdquo991252that is preferring a product for some po-

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litical or ethical reason Some paerns are related to consumersrsquo beliefs andthe extent to which they can afford to be choosy But individual differencesare only a small part of the story Where consumers are has a great deal to do

with whether they engage in conscientious consumption or not We thereforeconnect the individual survey responses with measures that capture nationaleconomic political and cultural contexts Overall this initial portrait showsthat conscientious consumption is widespread but far from universal withkey differences rooted not only in individual characteristics but in differentstructures of consumption as well

Having sketched some general paerns we delve deeper into the meanings

and implications of conscientious consumerism in chapter 1048626 Our analyses inchapter 1048625 are based on what consumers say they do but there are reasons todoubt that consumers will follow through on what they say or that what theysay truly captures the social meaning of their actions Yet we show that thereis evidence of consumers being wil ling to pay for eco-labels and social labelsConsumers are most likely to do so when their ldquoethicalrdquo choices also servetheir self-interest such as saving on energy costs or eating safer healthierfoods But even for those forms of conscientious consumption that have no

short-term direct bene1047297t for consumers there is mounting evidence thatsome consumers will pay more For labeling enthusiasts this is a good thingBut the ldquoone dollar one voterdquo logic of conscientious consumerism and thestatus-symbol character of some ldquoethicalrdquo products are potentially danger-ous in that they can exacerbate social economic and political inequalitiesamong consumers Moreover there is a danger that conscientious consumer-ism can displace other forms of political engagement promoting individual

consumerism at the expense of democratic citizenship and collective socialmovements Working through these debates we argue that conscientiousconsumerism as an ideology is regressive and counterproductive but speci1047297cpractices of conscientious consumption can sometimes be consistent withother forms of political engagement

Of course the real test of conscientious consumption comes at the pointof production To what extent do voluntary standards forged in response toconsumer concern make a difference ldquoon the groundrdquo in global industries

We tackle this question in part 1048626 of the book by looking at the global produc-tion of four types of products991252(1048625) wood and paper products (1048626) food (espe-cially the agri-food industry) (1048627) apparel and footwear and (1048628) electronics

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Each of these case studies is rooted in the interviews that we have conducted with local actors and other 1047297ne-grained information on the organization ofproduction ese chapters apply the framework sketched above (and a com-

mon organizational template) to allow for comparative insightsChapter 1048627 looks at the rise of forest certi1047297cation and its effects in the global

timber industry Like fair trade the FSC is one of the oldest and most es-tablished certi1047297cation and labeling initiatives It was founded more thantwenty years ago and it spurred a number of imitators and competitors Yetit is not well known among conscientious consumers and its impacts have

been far less than originally intended We trace the rise of forest certi1047297cation

with particular aention to the founders and constituents of the FSC andhow they leveraged the structure of the forest products industry to ldquomake amarketrdquo for certi1047297ed wood and paper Yet applying sustainability standardsto the production of some wood and paper products has barely influencedglobal deforestation A closer look at FSC certi1047297cation in the tropical forestsof Indonesia illustrates both the contradictions of certifying in a shiing andcontentious context and the limited ability of forest certi1047297cation to influencethe main drivers of deforestation

Next in chapter 1048628 we turn to agricultural production and the fairness andsustainability projects that have emerged in this seing Consumers aacha variety of meanings to food and the politics of food consumption has ex-ploded in the past decade In addition to sketching the structure of agri-foodproduction and consumption in general we focus on two types of rule-mak-ing projects fair trade certi1047297cation and an increasingly popular ldquocommod-ity roundtablerdquo approach Looking more closely at two crops991252sugar and

soy991252in one country Paraguay we are able to illustrate the consequences ofdifferent models of certi1047297cation and the crucial role of local context Globalfood politics are being layered onto preexisting institutional arrangementsand it is largely these institutional arrangements that determine whether cer-ti1047297cation is meaningful or not For instance fair trade certi1047297cation seems tomaer most when smallholder farmers are already organized into democrati-cally effective cooperatives or when local organizing al lows them to upgradetheir production capacities over time e contingent effects of conscientiousconsumption come into focus in this chapter

Chapter 1048629 considers how the rise of anti-sweatshop activism in the early1048625104863310486331048624s led to various aempts to monitor and improve working conditions inapparel and footwear factories A rough indication of how these initiatives

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have fared is provided by the occurrence of factory 1047297res in 1048626104862410486251048624ndash1048626104862410486251048627 and thedeath of more than eleven hundred garment workers in the 1048626104862410486251048627 collapse ofthe Rana Plaza building in Bangladesh Our chapter examines the constitu-

encies behind different factory auditing and certi1047297cation initiatives the waysstandards were implemented and the reasons why their effects have beenminimal e structure of apparel and footwear production in many wayscreated the demand for codes of conduct but the structure and the mobilityof the industry have undermined meaningful improvements Looking moreclosely at factories in China we show how aempts to certify particularfactories have fallen short In recent years several new projects to provide

ethical apparel have emerged but there remain few credible alternatives inthis industry

Finally chapter 983094 takes us into the fast-paced world of the electronics in-dustry where companies produce new models of smartphones laptops andother devices at breakneck speed Yet recently this industry has become afocus of aention for the exploitation of production workers especially aera series of worker suicides (and later strikes) at Foxconn factories in Chinaand mounting scrutiny of Foxconnrsquos buyer Apple Electronics brands have

also been accused of using ldquoconflict mineralsrdquo in the production of smart-phones e electronics industry is populated by well-capitalized companiesthat at times have demonstrated good intentions to make the labor processsafer and more humane Yet the industry has struggled to make improve-ments and 1047297nd tenable solutions We argue that the solution to this puzzlelies in the architecture of production and to a large extent ultimately in theorganization of electronics consumption is is a case in which conscien-

tious consumerism has been slow to develop and unreflective consumerismhas been a powerful constraint on signi1047297cant improvement Using detaileddata on factories producing for Hewle-Packard we show how the industrycontinues to demand extraordinarily ldquoflexiblerdquo labor markets and excessive

working hours in its factories in Southeast Asia We have tried to provide a sense of the complexity of these cases and set-

tings while still drawing out clear implications Along the way readers shouldget a clearer sense of the structure and operation of global value chains the

varied geographies of production and the circumscribed consequences ofeco-labels and social labels In a concluding chapter we compare our foursets of products and consider what has been learned

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nearly always some hypocrisy present when companies take up greening orfairness initiatives Simply because one product or one aspect of a companyrsquosproduction has earned some credentials does not mean that the companyrsquos

operations overall can be considered green or fair As David Vogel (1048626104862410486241048629)has argued we oen yearn for simple pronouncements of ldquogoodrdquo and ldquobadrdquocompanies But companies like people are complex multifaceted and oencontradictory One part of a company may be developing green productionprocesses while another part lobbies against environmental regulation

On the other hand we see simple distinctions between greenwashfair- wash and ldquotruerdquo reform as a poor match for the current state of global indus-

tries and labeling projects Eco-labeling and social labeling may once have been the domain of public relations personnel but they have become theirown specialized world in which credibility depends on ldquomulti-stakeholderrepresentationrdquo and extensive amounts of accreditation auditing and veri1047297-cation Companies might prefer to respond to criticism with public relationscampaigns but they are oen pushed by activists and investors to go furtherand achieve some kind of external assurance For instance if confronted bylabor rights abuses apparel and footwear companies no longer simply hold

up a code of conduct instead they refer to sophisticated factory monitoringprograms external certi1047297cations and ldquocapacity-buildingrdquo projects (Locke1048626104862410486251048627) Rather than simply co-opting the language of environmentalism manyretailers have been pushed to sell products that are independently certi1047297ed(Conroy 1048626104862410486241048631) Furthermore the world of voluntary certi1047297cation has be-come increasingly formalized For instance to judge compliance with thestandards of the FSC an auditing organization (eg Scienti1047297c Certi1047297cation

Systems SmartWood or the Soil Association) must be accredited by a sepa-rate oversight body (Accreditation Services International) Furthermore theFSC belongs to an umbrella organization991252the ISEAL (International Socialand Environmental Accreditation and Labeling) Alliance991252which de1047297nes

best practices for credible certi1047297cation initiatives To be sure all of this cer-ti1047297cation of the certi1047297ers of the certi1047297ers (and beyond) is not guaranteed to

bring about meaningful improvement Indeed we describe cases where thisformalization has been counterproductive and where seemingly credible ini-tiatives have failed spectacularly But it does mean there is more ldquocheckingrdquothan there is simple ldquowashingrdquo As Peter Dauvergne and Jane Lister (1048626104862410486251048626)put it ldquoCorporate sustainability goals include measurable targets are

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audited by independent groups and are integrated into the core business [through] life-cycle assessment supply chain tracing eco-certi1047297cation andsustainability reportingrdquo (10486271048632) We concur with them that all of this measure-

ment and reporting oen skirts the root causes of problems but one cannotseriously assess conscientious consumption without investigating this activ-ity If the world were as simple as it was when the ldquogreenwashrdquo frame was 1047297rstcoined a book like this would not be necessary

Most importantly the greenwashfairwash frame leaves a key questionunanswered if a claim is not just greenwashfairwash991252in other words if itis backed by stringent standards and credible veri1047297cation processes991252then

what is it It would be tempting to assume that the converse of greenwashfairwash is something like ldquoreal sustainabilityfairnessrdquo on the ground But asour case studies show it is possible to have stringent standards and credibleassessment but still not generate much reform of global industries Our goalis to provide some tools for making sense of these complex (and common)intermediate scenarios

Importing Standards into Empty Spaces

Another problematic frame concerns the implementation of global standardsincluding those supported by conscientious consumerism It is tempting tosee global standards as introducing new rules into otherwise empty spacesFor instance one might think of labor codes of conduct as introducing laborrights into factories that would otherwise be completely unregulated andchaotic Or one might think of global sustainability standards as introducing

environmental norms into seings where businesses would otherwise be freeto pollute with impunity As Alison Brysk puts it global rule-making proj-ects oen ldquoconcern areas previously ungoverned or even unknownrdquo (Brysk1048626104862410486241048629 104862510486261048624) Indeed scholars and practitioners oen portray private rules as1047297lling a ldquoregulatory voidrdquo as they are put into practice especially in devel-oping countries (Sabel OrsquoRourke and Fung 1048626104862410486241048624) For some developingcountries are so lacking in the rule of law as to constitute ldquoareas of limitedstatehoodrdquo in which private rules must serve as a substitute for public author-

ity (Boumlrzel and Risse 1048626104862410486251048624) Sociologists in the ldquoworld societyrdquo school startfrom different assumptions but nevertheless argue that global norms aboutenvironmental protection child labor and human rights are imported into

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developing countries as novel concepts that are completely alien to the locals(Meyer et al 1048625104863310486331048631)

e problem with this approach is not only as Gay Seidman (1048626104862410486241048631) argues

that ldquostateless regulationrdquo usually lacks enforcement power A more funda-mental problem is that this frame obscures the institutional arrangementsthat are in place in developing countries Developing countries are not emptyanonymous uniform places ey are populated with different business sys-tems cultures of production and political institutions What may look fromafar like a relatively empty space turns out on closer inspection to have adense set of preexisting relationships organizations and rules ese local

circumstances can recon1047297gure global rules in myriad ways (Halliday andCarruthers 1048626104862410486241048633 Merry 104862610486241048624983094) For instance in chapter 1048628 we look at fair tradecerti1047297cation and its consequences in Paraguay a place where earlier ways oforganizing agricultural operations set the stage for fair trade projects andshaped their results Fair trade standards were not simply imported to thisseing they were layered onto an existing set of institutions In fact a thickerldquolayeringrdquo of rules with varying consequences has been a common result ofglobal standards (Bartley 1048626104862410486251048625) An ldquoempty spacesrdquo assumption also obscures

ongoing political struggles at the point of production As we will see INGOsand conscientious consumers are far from the only actors concerned withlabor rights sustainability or the fair distribution of resources For instancerecent years have seen a rising tide of strikes in China and mobilization ofgarment workers in Cambodia and Bangladesh (Alam 1048626104862410486251048627 Dara and Wil-lemyns 1048626104862410486251048628 Friedman 1048626104862410486251048627) e land rights of indigenous people in Braziland Indonesia are a concern not only of backers of global sustainable forestry

standards but also of burgeoning movements of indigenous people them-selves (Gerber 1048626104862410486251048625) Social movements in developing countries may struggleto influence powerful global industries but they cannot simply be ignored

When it comes to governmental regulation it is true that developingcountries oen lack the resources and administrative capacities to effec-tively regulate production processes as do many governments in affluentcountries Moreover the logic of global production in some ways gives themdisincentives to do so aggressively implementing regulations may cause in-

vestors991252and orders from brands and retailers991252to flee the country and therules of the WTO make some forms of regulation untenable But ldquodevelopingcountriesrdquo are diverse In nearly all parts of the world there are laws relatedto labor the environment and the rights of citizens Scholars are beginning

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to 1047297nd increased enforcement of these laws in some surprising places fromrevitalized state labor inspection in the export processing zones of the Do-minican Republic (Schrank 1048626104862410486251048627) to aggressive environmental regulators in

Brazil and China (Coslovsky 1048626104862410486251048625 McAllister Van Rooij and Kagan 1048626104862410486251048624)In other instances law can be repressive991252restricting the rights of workers orindigenous communities for instance (Lee 1048626104862410486241048631 Li 1048626104862410486251048624) Again the influ-ences of local structures can vary but one should not assume a blank slate

983105 983122983151983157983143983144 983111983157983145983140983141 983156983151 983125983150 983152983137983139983147983145983150983143 983107983151983150983155983139983145983141 983150983156983145983151983157983155983107983151983150983155983157983149983152983156983145983151983150 983137983150983140 983120983154983151983140983157983139983156983145983151983150 983120983154983151983146983141983139983156983155

How then can one make sense of projects to promote conscientious con-sumption and fair or sustainable production e 1047297rst step is simply to acceptthat there is a great deal of variation ere is variation across individualsand locations in conscientious consumer behavior ere is variation acrossproducts and labeling initiatives in the ldquoon the groundrdquo implications of globalstandards ere is variation across industries (and even within them) in sys-tems of production and these intersect with national (and even subnational)

differences in industry organization To understand whether conscientiousconsumption and fairsustainable production projects can contribute tomeaningful alternatives we must look closely at these industrial and politi-cal contexts A second starting point is to accept that the influence of globalstandards for fairsustainable production is typically highly circumscribedor contingent on other factors As will become clear even the most stringentstandards and most credible initiatives do not transform global industries

ey sometimes influence certain parts of an industry but even this cannotautomatically be assumed

To unpack conscientious consumption initiatives and the global standardsthey endorse we bring four factors to the foreground (1048625) structures of pro-duction and consumption (1048626) the constituencies of standards (1048627) global-local linkages and (1048628) the coexistence of rule making and unruliness

Structures of Production and Consumption

Industry structures shape both the opportunities for conscientious con-sumption to occur and the consequences of rule-making projects at thepoint of production To start some industries are more likely than others to

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become targets of activism which is typically the catalyst for rule-makingand conscientious consumption projects

Lead 1047297rms in global value chains especially when they are large and have

salient corporate reputations make aractive targets for social movements(Bartley and Child 1048626104862410486251048628) Industries that lack powerful and well-known brands tend to aract less scrutiny For instance the manufacturing of bricksespecially in developing countries is oen a highly polluting and exploit-ative industry But because there are not well-known global brands in thisindustry it has received lile international aention In other cases activistshave highlighted a problem but without powerful and recognizable brands

to link this to rule-making projects have not emerged e production ofcheap costume jewelry is rife with exploitation as shown in the documentary Mardi Gras Made in China but this has not become a site of extensive rulemaking and conscientious consumerism In some circumstances the exis-tence of large high-pro1047297le retailers can compensate for a more fragmentedor poorly known set of manufacturers Anti-GMO activists for instancehave pressured manufacturers like Monsanto by going through large retailerslike Marks amp Spencer (Schurman and Munro 1048626104862410486241048633) Our analysis of global

food distribution (in chapter 1048628) is consistent with this observation but italso suggests that the locus of consumer and activist pressure depends onthe speci1047297c product

When activists do press lead 1047297rms to make their supply chains fairer ormore sustainable the consequences seem to depend in part on the structureof that supply chain If suppliers can easily 1047297nd alternative buyers who are notdemanding changes991252that is if there are few suppliers and many buyers991252

they will have lile incentive to comply with a particular lead 1047297rmrsquos rulesGoing further by many accounts when lead 1047297rms have a great deal of powerover ldquocaptiverdquo suppliers they should be able to demand that those suppliersmake improvements (Mayer and Gereffi 1048626104862410486251048624) On the other hand someresearch has questioned whether this power is truly effective or whether itmerely spurs a game in which suppliers pretend to be making improvements(and lead 1047297rms nod in approval) (Locke Amengual and Mangla 1048626104862410486241048633) Wesuspect that the power of lead 1047297rms does make a difference but that moresigni1047297cant changes are possible when lead 1047297rms and suppliers are mutuallydependent and work together over long stretches of time (Our analysis ofthe apparel industry in chapter 1048629 though suggests that long-term collabora-tion is rare) In addition when global value chains are fairly simple in their

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structure without too many intermediaries this should make it easier forstandards to ldquotravelrdquo through them ere is a conundrum here howeversince it is oen in industries with a high degree of subcontracting (such as

apparel) that global standards are in the highest demand If global industries were dominated by vertically integrated 1047297rms rather than dispersed supplychains the world of conscientious consumerism would look quite differentFurthermore sometimes the lack of action by large lead 1047297rms can leave aspace for activists and entrepreneurs to carve out a small market niche basedon fairness or sustainability is is how fair tradendashcerti1047297ed coffee beganand some new projects appear to be emerging in electronics (Fairphone as

discussed in chapter 983094) and apparel (the Alta Gracia factory as discussed inchapter 1048629) Aer looking more closely at our four industries991252timber foodapparelfootwear and electronics991252we return to questions about industrystructure in the bookrsquos conclusion

Industry structures also maer for consumers As we show in the nextchapter opportunities to engage in conscientious consumption are just asimportant as motivations to do so and these opportunities depend in parton the structure of the retail sector in a particular country Generally we sug-

gest that having larger retailers will facilitate consumer purchases of eco- andsocial-labeled products In part this is simply because larger retailers offer a

wider array of choices overall991252that is different versions of the same prod-uct991252while smaller retailers offer fewer choices To be sure small stores canspecialize in ldquoalternativerdquo products and large stores can fail to carry themBut given the trend toward ldquomainstreamingrdquo of alternatives (see Jaffee 1048626104862410486251048626)large retailers have become key points of sale for eco- and social-labeled prod-

ucts Furthermore oligopoly in the retail sector991252the dominance of a smallnumber of large companies991252also seems to magnify the power of activiststo influence the market As Rachel Schurman and William Munro (1048626104862410486241048633)found the existence of a small number of large food retailer chains in the UKallowed the anti-GMO movement to flourish there while it foundered amidthe larger number of supermarket chains in the United States

Constituencies and Standards

Global standards for fairness and sustainability may sound universal butthey spring from the priorities of particular individuals and groups A cru-cial step in understanding these standards is to examine the founders of

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initiatives that make rules audit compliance and certify products as fair orsustainable Some such initiatives such as fair trade certi1047297cation originatedlargely with NGOs or others outside of the industry Others such as the

Electronics Industry Citizenship Coalition and the Sustainable ForestryInitiative were founded almost exclusively by industry associations or othergroups of companies oen in response to the actions of NGOs In betweenare a number of initiatives developed by coalitions of NGOs and companiesfrom the Forest Stewardship Council to Social Accountability InternationalFounders are not everything NGO-initiated programs can become watereddown as they are mainstreamed and industry-initiated programs oen

evolve into formally independent organizations Most programs seek cred-ibility by calling themselves ldquomulti-stakeholderrdquo initiatives We maintainhowever that founding constituencies leave deep imprints on the content ofstandards and on the distribution of power within rule-making initiativesRules can get ratcheted up or down over time but these are usually marginalrevisions to a core approach Furthermore even when initiatives becomeformally independent from the constituencies that created them informalties revolving doors and 1047297nancial contributions oen persist

Generally we expect that industry-initiated programs will have standardsthat depart in relatively small ways from the normal practices of the indus-try Companies may want to improve labor conditions or environmentalperformance of their suppliers but they will be loath to push so far as todisrupt production or force a major change in their sourcing practices As aresult the greater the influence of companies in the founding of an initiativethe more likely it is to use either a ldquobest in classrdquo approach or a ldquocontinuous

improvementrdquo approach In the 1047297rst companies are recognized (throughcerti1047297cation or other endorsement) for demonstrating that they are aboveaverage in their industry is oen skirts the issue of whether they meeta stringent de1047297nition of a 1047297xed standard As Sco Nova (1048626104862410486251048625) has noted aldquobest in classrdquo model is like grading on a curve even if average performanceis quite low e second approach allows companies to start with a relativelylax standard and encourage gradual improvement over time852019

When industry outsiders have power in the initial design standard-seinginitiatives should look somewhat different First their standards are likely todepart more substantially from normal practices in the industry to a greateror lesser degree depending on the power of these outsiders Second these

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initiatives are more likely though certainly not guaranteed to endorse analternative model of production rather than to just reward the best in class orpush for continuous improvement Fair trade certi1047297cation and its emphasis

on democratically managed producer cooperatives (as described in chap-ter 1048628) is the clearest example of this ird and because of this initiativesspawned by outsiders are likely to either remain small or face dilemmas ofmainstreaming as they grow If they seek a large market presence ldquoalterna-tiverdquo programs will inevitably become more dependent on large companiese result may be a watering down of standards although as the case of theFSC shows (in chapter 1048627) this can be counteracted to some degree

For most products there are multiple competing aempts to de1047297ne fair-ness and sustainability For instance there are several ways of certifying thefairness and sustainability of coffee or of assessing the labor conditions ofapparel companies852020 Usually this competition reflects the struggle betweencompanies and NGOs Some scholars believe that such competition dooms

voluntary initiatives since it confuses consumers and lets companies choosetheir own standards (Seidman 1048626104862410486241048631) Others believe that it strengthens gov-ernance by spurring a ldquoratcheting uprdquo of expectations (Sabel OrsquoRourke and

Fung 1048626104862410486241048624) Our analysis of four global industries suggests that different setsof standards can oen coexist not exactly peacefully but with moderateinteraction or in different market niches Competition is inevitable but itseems to neither doom nor guarantee meaningful standards for fairness andsustainability It must be noted that initiatives that began with high bars991252namely Fair Trade and the FSC991252have not been pushed out of the market

by their competitors

Localized Globalisms and Globalized Localisms

Specifying links between ldquothe globalrdquo and ldquothe localrdquo has proven difficultand scholars have oen fallen prey to two types of conceptual dangers Firstin focusing on the global diffusion of a given idea or norm some have por-trayed domestic seings as lile more than passive receivers of a global proj-ect e language of domestic seings as ldquoreceptor sitesrdquo for global models(Frank Hironaka and Schofer 1048626104862410486241048624) is one example of this Pinpointingthis problem researchers are increasingly focusing on how local actors ap-propriate and ldquoindigenizerdquo global models to make them useful or meaningful

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(Halliday and Carruthers 1048626104862410486241048633 Merry 104862610486241048624983094) Second scholars of globaliza-tion oen equate the global with universalism (and oen progress) and thelocal with particularism (and oen backwardness) In so doing scholars

uncritically accept the most dominant model as ldquothe globalrdquo and obscure thepower that was exercised to establish its dominance

To deal with these problems we adopt Bonaventura de Santosrsquos language ofldquoglobalized localismsrdquo and ldquo localized globalismsrdquo (Santos 104862610486241048624983094 Santos andRodriacuteguez Garavito 1048626104862410486241048629) e 1047297rst refers to a process in which a particularis-tic set of ideas and practices becomes a dominant global norm Santos (104862610486241048624983094)provides examples such as ldquothe transformation of the English language into

a lingua franca the globalization of American fast food or popular music orthe worldwide adoption of the same laws of intellectual ownership patentsor telecommunications aggressively promoted by the USArdquo (10486271048633983094) For ourpurpose the key issue is how particular understandings of rights rules andenforcement have become institutionalized as global norms Concretely thenotion of a ldquoglobalized localismrdquo sensitizes us to processes by which particu-lar sets of reformers (NGOs companies or others) have turned their projectsinto ldquoglobalrdquo standards for fairness and sustainability Our point is not to

join the chorus that argues that ldquoWesternrdquo standards are being illegitimatelyforced on people and companies elsewhere ere have long been calls fordecent work and responsible natural resource management in many differ-ent parts of the world But the global standards supported by conscientiousconsumers in North A merica and Europe embody particular approaches tothese issues

e second concept ldquolocalized globalismrdquo refers to the incorporation of

these global models into local routines and expectations e concept sen-sitizes us to the work involved in turning global standards for fairness andsustainability into a concrete practice in a factory forest or farm in someparticular location As we have noted scholars too oen portray these sites asempty spaces We believe it is preferable to start from the opposite premisethat sites of implementation are crowded with different actors and agendasonly some of which are likely to line up with global standard-seing initia-tives Some elements of global standards are easily incorporated into localpractices while others are 1047297ercely resisted But a recognition of localizedglobalisms also has methodological implications It is rare for researchersto actually study these locations in detail It is easier to conduct distant and

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decontextualized studies of CSR or to focus only on the creation of standardsrather than their local implementation Our analyses of the global timberagricultural apparel and electronics industries include aention to speci1047297c

locations from the sugarcane farms of Paraguay to the electronics factoriesof Malaysia

Te Puzzle of Rules Rule Making and the Persistence of Unruliness

One can beer understand conscientious consumption and production proj-ects by recognizing what Tim Bartley (1048626104862410486251048628a) has called the ldquopuzzle of rulesrdquo

in the global economy simply put global capitalism can be ldquounrulyrdquo but italso generates many rule-making projects

e expansion of global markets has facilitated a number of rule-makingprojects from the standardization of accounting procedures to the rules forfairness and sustainability discussed in this book e volume of rule making

by both public and private actors has increased over the past three decadesMany scholars have pointed to these trends as evidence that global capitalismis not manic or ungovernable as it was initially framed Marie-Laure Djelic

and Kerstin Sahlin-Andersson (104862610486241048624983094) argue that ldquothe proliferation of regu-latory activities actors networks or constellations leads to an explosion ofrules and to the profound re-ordering of our worldrdquo (1048625) and they see globalcapitalism as ldquomarked by more991252not less991252rule-making activityrdquo (10486271048631983094)

On the other hand the explosion of rule making has oen been gearedtoward the expansion of markets rather than their restriction and in manyrespects global capitalism has remained unruly In many industries invest-

ment and orders can and do move quickly across locations oen under-mining aempts to impose rules Even more socially controlled European

varieties of capitalism have had their foundations chipped away (Streeck1048626104862410486241048633) Furthermore for all of the efforts of NGOs to build rules for fairnesssustainability and human rights many corners of global industries remainlargely unscrutinized and unaffected by these rule-making projects

As our case studies illustrate even as standards for fairness and sustain-ability have risen to prominence global industries have remained volatileand exploitative Certi1047297cation of sustainable forestry rose to prominencefrom 1048625104863310486331048629 to 1048626104862410486251048624 but so did illegal logging and deforestation worsenedin many places Te global apparel industry has come to be governed by

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numerous codes of conduct and factory monitoring initiatives but it hasalso continued to move quickly from one location to another in search oflow wages and more docile workers e rapid and inconsistent pace of the

global electronics industry has undermined aempts to improve workingconditions while rapidly changing agricultural markets have threatened thelivelihoods of many smallholder farmers

e puzzle of rules can be solved through an analysis of neoliberalism (seeBartley 1048626104862410486251048628a) but it also provokes a simple conclusion about the prospects forglobal fairness and sustainability global industries oen have contradictorytendencies so we should not expect either complete ldquogreenwashrdquoldquofairwashrdquo

or serious transformation Fair trade certi1047297cation has not transformed thelogic of commodity trade but it has improved conditions for some farmersin some circumstances FSC certi1047297cation has not made the timber trade sus-tainable but it has supported improvements in some forests As we developthese 1047297ndings (in part 1048626 of the book) we hope to speak not only to scholars ofconscientious consumerism but also to citizens and consumers themselvesConsumers oen want to feel like their purchases are ldquocleanrdquo of exploitation

but this is unrealistic We believe it would be more promising if consumers

shied from a deterministic to a probabilistic approach conscientious con-sumption may increase onersquos probability of contributing to improvementsand decrease the probability of contributing to the most extreme forms ofexploitation Tis does not answer the question of how large those prob-abilities are (which surely varies by product and label) or the question of howsigni1047297cant those improvements can be But only if consumers shi from anall-or-nothing view of ldquocleanrdquo versus ldquodirtyrdquo production (that is sustainable

versus destructive fair versus exploitative) can they come to an accurateunderstanding of what their purchases can and cannot achieve

983127 983144 983137983156 983116983145 983141 983155 983105 983144 983141 983137 983140

Part 1048625 of this book focuses on dynamics and dilemmas of conscientious con-sumerism In chapter 1048625 we look at why some American and European con-sumers are more likely than others to practice conscientious consumptionUsing survey data on thousands of individual consumers our quantitativeanalyses focus on factors that shape two forms of conscientious consump-tion boycoing and ldquobuycoingrdquo991252that is preferring a product for some po-

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litical or ethical reason Some paerns are related to consumersrsquo beliefs andthe extent to which they can afford to be choosy But individual differencesare only a small part of the story Where consumers are has a great deal to do

with whether they engage in conscientious consumption or not We thereforeconnect the individual survey responses with measures that capture nationaleconomic political and cultural contexts Overall this initial portrait showsthat conscientious consumption is widespread but far from universal withkey differences rooted not only in individual characteristics but in differentstructures of consumption as well

Having sketched some general paerns we delve deeper into the meanings

and implications of conscientious consumerism in chapter 1048626 Our analyses inchapter 1048625 are based on what consumers say they do but there are reasons todoubt that consumers will follow through on what they say or that what theysay truly captures the social meaning of their actions Yet we show that thereis evidence of consumers being wil ling to pay for eco-labels and social labelsConsumers are most likely to do so when their ldquoethicalrdquo choices also servetheir self-interest such as saving on energy costs or eating safer healthierfoods But even for those forms of conscientious consumption that have no

short-term direct bene1047297t for consumers there is mounting evidence thatsome consumers will pay more For labeling enthusiasts this is a good thingBut the ldquoone dollar one voterdquo logic of conscientious consumerism and thestatus-symbol character of some ldquoethicalrdquo products are potentially danger-ous in that they can exacerbate social economic and political inequalitiesamong consumers Moreover there is a danger that conscientious consumer-ism can displace other forms of political engagement promoting individual

consumerism at the expense of democratic citizenship and collective socialmovements Working through these debates we argue that conscientiousconsumerism as an ideology is regressive and counterproductive but speci1047297cpractices of conscientious consumption can sometimes be consistent withother forms of political engagement

Of course the real test of conscientious consumption comes at the pointof production To what extent do voluntary standards forged in response toconsumer concern make a difference ldquoon the groundrdquo in global industries

We tackle this question in part 1048626 of the book by looking at the global produc-tion of four types of products991252(1048625) wood and paper products (1048626) food (espe-cially the agri-food industry) (1048627) apparel and footwear and (1048628) electronics

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Each of these case studies is rooted in the interviews that we have conducted with local actors and other 1047297ne-grained information on the organization ofproduction ese chapters apply the framework sketched above (and a com-

mon organizational template) to allow for comparative insightsChapter 1048627 looks at the rise of forest certi1047297cation and its effects in the global

timber industry Like fair trade the FSC is one of the oldest and most es-tablished certi1047297cation and labeling initiatives It was founded more thantwenty years ago and it spurred a number of imitators and competitors Yetit is not well known among conscientious consumers and its impacts have

been far less than originally intended We trace the rise of forest certi1047297cation

with particular aention to the founders and constituents of the FSC andhow they leveraged the structure of the forest products industry to ldquomake amarketrdquo for certi1047297ed wood and paper Yet applying sustainability standardsto the production of some wood and paper products has barely influencedglobal deforestation A closer look at FSC certi1047297cation in the tropical forestsof Indonesia illustrates both the contradictions of certifying in a shiing andcontentious context and the limited ability of forest certi1047297cation to influencethe main drivers of deforestation

Next in chapter 1048628 we turn to agricultural production and the fairness andsustainability projects that have emerged in this seing Consumers aacha variety of meanings to food and the politics of food consumption has ex-ploded in the past decade In addition to sketching the structure of agri-foodproduction and consumption in general we focus on two types of rule-mak-ing projects fair trade certi1047297cation and an increasingly popular ldquocommod-ity roundtablerdquo approach Looking more closely at two crops991252sugar and

soy991252in one country Paraguay we are able to illustrate the consequences ofdifferent models of certi1047297cation and the crucial role of local context Globalfood politics are being layered onto preexisting institutional arrangementsand it is largely these institutional arrangements that determine whether cer-ti1047297cation is meaningful or not For instance fair trade certi1047297cation seems tomaer most when smallholder farmers are already organized into democrati-cally effective cooperatives or when local organizing al lows them to upgradetheir production capacities over time e contingent effects of conscientiousconsumption come into focus in this chapter

Chapter 1048629 considers how the rise of anti-sweatshop activism in the early1048625104863310486331048624s led to various aempts to monitor and improve working conditions inapparel and footwear factories A rough indication of how these initiatives

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have fared is provided by the occurrence of factory 1047297res in 1048626104862410486251048624ndash1048626104862410486251048627 and thedeath of more than eleven hundred garment workers in the 1048626104862410486251048627 collapse ofthe Rana Plaza building in Bangladesh Our chapter examines the constitu-

encies behind different factory auditing and certi1047297cation initiatives the waysstandards were implemented and the reasons why their effects have beenminimal e structure of apparel and footwear production in many wayscreated the demand for codes of conduct but the structure and the mobilityof the industry have undermined meaningful improvements Looking moreclosely at factories in China we show how aempts to certify particularfactories have fallen short In recent years several new projects to provide

ethical apparel have emerged but there remain few credible alternatives inthis industry

Finally chapter 983094 takes us into the fast-paced world of the electronics in-dustry where companies produce new models of smartphones laptops andother devices at breakneck speed Yet recently this industry has become afocus of aention for the exploitation of production workers especially aera series of worker suicides (and later strikes) at Foxconn factories in Chinaand mounting scrutiny of Foxconnrsquos buyer Apple Electronics brands have

also been accused of using ldquoconflict mineralsrdquo in the production of smart-phones e electronics industry is populated by well-capitalized companiesthat at times have demonstrated good intentions to make the labor processsafer and more humane Yet the industry has struggled to make improve-ments and 1047297nd tenable solutions We argue that the solution to this puzzlelies in the architecture of production and to a large extent ultimately in theorganization of electronics consumption is is a case in which conscien-

tious consumerism has been slow to develop and unreflective consumerismhas been a powerful constraint on signi1047297cant improvement Using detaileddata on factories producing for Hewle-Packard we show how the industrycontinues to demand extraordinarily ldquoflexiblerdquo labor markets and excessive

working hours in its factories in Southeast Asia We have tried to provide a sense of the complexity of these cases and set-

tings while still drawing out clear implications Along the way readers shouldget a clearer sense of the structure and operation of global value chains the

varied geographies of production and the circumscribed consequences ofeco-labels and social labels In a concluding chapter we compare our foursets of products and consider what has been learned

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audited by independent groups and are integrated into the core business [through] life-cycle assessment supply chain tracing eco-certi1047297cation andsustainability reportingrdquo (10486271048632) We concur with them that all of this measure-

ment and reporting oen skirts the root causes of problems but one cannotseriously assess conscientious consumption without investigating this activ-ity If the world were as simple as it was when the ldquogreenwashrdquo frame was 1047297rstcoined a book like this would not be necessary

Most importantly the greenwashfairwash frame leaves a key questionunanswered if a claim is not just greenwashfairwash991252in other words if itis backed by stringent standards and credible veri1047297cation processes991252then

what is it It would be tempting to assume that the converse of greenwashfairwash is something like ldquoreal sustainabilityfairnessrdquo on the ground But asour case studies show it is possible to have stringent standards and credibleassessment but still not generate much reform of global industries Our goalis to provide some tools for making sense of these complex (and common)intermediate scenarios

Importing Standards into Empty Spaces

Another problematic frame concerns the implementation of global standardsincluding those supported by conscientious consumerism It is tempting tosee global standards as introducing new rules into otherwise empty spacesFor instance one might think of labor codes of conduct as introducing laborrights into factories that would otherwise be completely unregulated andchaotic Or one might think of global sustainability standards as introducing

environmental norms into seings where businesses would otherwise be freeto pollute with impunity As Alison Brysk puts it global rule-making proj-ects oen ldquoconcern areas previously ungoverned or even unknownrdquo (Brysk1048626104862410486241048629 104862510486261048624) Indeed scholars and practitioners oen portray private rules as1047297lling a ldquoregulatory voidrdquo as they are put into practice especially in devel-oping countries (Sabel OrsquoRourke and Fung 1048626104862410486241048624) For some developingcountries are so lacking in the rule of law as to constitute ldquoareas of limitedstatehoodrdquo in which private rules must serve as a substitute for public author-

ity (Boumlrzel and Risse 1048626104862410486251048624) Sociologists in the ldquoworld societyrdquo school startfrom different assumptions but nevertheless argue that global norms aboutenvironmental protection child labor and human rights are imported into

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developing countries as novel concepts that are completely alien to the locals(Meyer et al 1048625104863310486331048631)

e problem with this approach is not only as Gay Seidman (1048626104862410486241048631) argues

that ldquostateless regulationrdquo usually lacks enforcement power A more funda-mental problem is that this frame obscures the institutional arrangementsthat are in place in developing countries Developing countries are not emptyanonymous uniform places ey are populated with different business sys-tems cultures of production and political institutions What may look fromafar like a relatively empty space turns out on closer inspection to have adense set of preexisting relationships organizations and rules ese local

circumstances can recon1047297gure global rules in myriad ways (Halliday andCarruthers 1048626104862410486241048633 Merry 104862610486241048624983094) For instance in chapter 1048628 we look at fair tradecerti1047297cation and its consequences in Paraguay a place where earlier ways oforganizing agricultural operations set the stage for fair trade projects andshaped their results Fair trade standards were not simply imported to thisseing they were layered onto an existing set of institutions In fact a thickerldquolayeringrdquo of rules with varying consequences has been a common result ofglobal standards (Bartley 1048626104862410486251048625) An ldquoempty spacesrdquo assumption also obscures

ongoing political struggles at the point of production As we will see INGOsand conscientious consumers are far from the only actors concerned withlabor rights sustainability or the fair distribution of resources For instancerecent years have seen a rising tide of strikes in China and mobilization ofgarment workers in Cambodia and Bangladesh (Alam 1048626104862410486251048627 Dara and Wil-lemyns 1048626104862410486251048628 Friedman 1048626104862410486251048627) e land rights of indigenous people in Braziland Indonesia are a concern not only of backers of global sustainable forestry

standards but also of burgeoning movements of indigenous people them-selves (Gerber 1048626104862410486251048625) Social movements in developing countries may struggleto influence powerful global industries but they cannot simply be ignored

When it comes to governmental regulation it is true that developingcountries oen lack the resources and administrative capacities to effec-tively regulate production processes as do many governments in affluentcountries Moreover the logic of global production in some ways gives themdisincentives to do so aggressively implementing regulations may cause in-

vestors991252and orders from brands and retailers991252to flee the country and therules of the WTO make some forms of regulation untenable But ldquodevelopingcountriesrdquo are diverse In nearly all parts of the world there are laws relatedto labor the environment and the rights of citizens Scholars are beginning

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to 1047297nd increased enforcement of these laws in some surprising places fromrevitalized state labor inspection in the export processing zones of the Do-minican Republic (Schrank 1048626104862410486251048627) to aggressive environmental regulators in

Brazil and China (Coslovsky 1048626104862410486251048625 McAllister Van Rooij and Kagan 1048626104862410486251048624)In other instances law can be repressive991252restricting the rights of workers orindigenous communities for instance (Lee 1048626104862410486241048631 Li 1048626104862410486251048624) Again the influ-ences of local structures can vary but one should not assume a blank slate

983105 983122983151983157983143983144 983111983157983145983140983141 983156983151 983125983150 983152983137983139983147983145983150983143 983107983151983150983155983139983145983141 983150983156983145983151983157983155983107983151983150983155983157983149983152983156983145983151983150 983137983150983140 983120983154983151983140983157983139983156983145983151983150 983120983154983151983146983141983139983156983155

How then can one make sense of projects to promote conscientious con-sumption and fair or sustainable production e 1047297rst step is simply to acceptthat there is a great deal of variation ere is variation across individualsand locations in conscientious consumer behavior ere is variation acrossproducts and labeling initiatives in the ldquoon the groundrdquo implications of globalstandards ere is variation across industries (and even within them) in sys-tems of production and these intersect with national (and even subnational)

differences in industry organization To understand whether conscientiousconsumption and fairsustainable production projects can contribute tomeaningful alternatives we must look closely at these industrial and politi-cal contexts A second starting point is to accept that the influence of globalstandards for fairsustainable production is typically highly circumscribedor contingent on other factors As will become clear even the most stringentstandards and most credible initiatives do not transform global industries

ey sometimes influence certain parts of an industry but even this cannotautomatically be assumed

To unpack conscientious consumption initiatives and the global standardsthey endorse we bring four factors to the foreground (1048625) structures of pro-duction and consumption (1048626) the constituencies of standards (1048627) global-local linkages and (1048628) the coexistence of rule making and unruliness

Structures of Production and Consumption

Industry structures shape both the opportunities for conscientious con-sumption to occur and the consequences of rule-making projects at thepoint of production To start some industries are more likely than others to

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become targets of activism which is typically the catalyst for rule-makingand conscientious consumption projects

Lead 1047297rms in global value chains especially when they are large and have

salient corporate reputations make aractive targets for social movements(Bartley and Child 1048626104862410486251048628) Industries that lack powerful and well-known brands tend to aract less scrutiny For instance the manufacturing of bricksespecially in developing countries is oen a highly polluting and exploit-ative industry But because there are not well-known global brands in thisindustry it has received lile international aention In other cases activistshave highlighted a problem but without powerful and recognizable brands

to link this to rule-making projects have not emerged e production ofcheap costume jewelry is rife with exploitation as shown in the documentary Mardi Gras Made in China but this has not become a site of extensive rulemaking and conscientious consumerism In some circumstances the exis-tence of large high-pro1047297le retailers can compensate for a more fragmentedor poorly known set of manufacturers Anti-GMO activists for instancehave pressured manufacturers like Monsanto by going through large retailerslike Marks amp Spencer (Schurman and Munro 1048626104862410486241048633) Our analysis of global

food distribution (in chapter 1048628) is consistent with this observation but italso suggests that the locus of consumer and activist pressure depends onthe speci1047297c product

When activists do press lead 1047297rms to make their supply chains fairer ormore sustainable the consequences seem to depend in part on the structureof that supply chain If suppliers can easily 1047297nd alternative buyers who are notdemanding changes991252that is if there are few suppliers and many buyers991252

they will have lile incentive to comply with a particular lead 1047297rmrsquos rulesGoing further by many accounts when lead 1047297rms have a great deal of powerover ldquocaptiverdquo suppliers they should be able to demand that those suppliersmake improvements (Mayer and Gereffi 1048626104862410486251048624) On the other hand someresearch has questioned whether this power is truly effective or whether itmerely spurs a game in which suppliers pretend to be making improvements(and lead 1047297rms nod in approval) (Locke Amengual and Mangla 1048626104862410486241048633) Wesuspect that the power of lead 1047297rms does make a difference but that moresigni1047297cant changes are possible when lead 1047297rms and suppliers are mutuallydependent and work together over long stretches of time (Our analysis ofthe apparel industry in chapter 1048629 though suggests that long-term collabora-tion is rare) In addition when global value chains are fairly simple in their

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structure without too many intermediaries this should make it easier forstandards to ldquotravelrdquo through them ere is a conundrum here howeversince it is oen in industries with a high degree of subcontracting (such as

apparel) that global standards are in the highest demand If global industries were dominated by vertically integrated 1047297rms rather than dispersed supplychains the world of conscientious consumerism would look quite differentFurthermore sometimes the lack of action by large lead 1047297rms can leave aspace for activists and entrepreneurs to carve out a small market niche basedon fairness or sustainability is is how fair tradendashcerti1047297ed coffee beganand some new projects appear to be emerging in electronics (Fairphone as

discussed in chapter 983094) and apparel (the Alta Gracia factory as discussed inchapter 1048629) Aer looking more closely at our four industries991252timber foodapparelfootwear and electronics991252we return to questions about industrystructure in the bookrsquos conclusion

Industry structures also maer for consumers As we show in the nextchapter opportunities to engage in conscientious consumption are just asimportant as motivations to do so and these opportunities depend in parton the structure of the retail sector in a particular country Generally we sug-

gest that having larger retailers will facilitate consumer purchases of eco- andsocial-labeled products In part this is simply because larger retailers offer a

wider array of choices overall991252that is different versions of the same prod-uct991252while smaller retailers offer fewer choices To be sure small stores canspecialize in ldquoalternativerdquo products and large stores can fail to carry themBut given the trend toward ldquomainstreamingrdquo of alternatives (see Jaffee 1048626104862410486251048626)large retailers have become key points of sale for eco- and social-labeled prod-

ucts Furthermore oligopoly in the retail sector991252the dominance of a smallnumber of large companies991252also seems to magnify the power of activiststo influence the market As Rachel Schurman and William Munro (1048626104862410486241048633)found the existence of a small number of large food retailer chains in the UKallowed the anti-GMO movement to flourish there while it foundered amidthe larger number of supermarket chains in the United States

Constituencies and Standards

Global standards for fairness and sustainability may sound universal butthey spring from the priorities of particular individuals and groups A cru-cial step in understanding these standards is to examine the founders of

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initiatives that make rules audit compliance and certify products as fair orsustainable Some such initiatives such as fair trade certi1047297cation originatedlargely with NGOs or others outside of the industry Others such as the

Electronics Industry Citizenship Coalition and the Sustainable ForestryInitiative were founded almost exclusively by industry associations or othergroups of companies oen in response to the actions of NGOs In betweenare a number of initiatives developed by coalitions of NGOs and companiesfrom the Forest Stewardship Council to Social Accountability InternationalFounders are not everything NGO-initiated programs can become watereddown as they are mainstreamed and industry-initiated programs oen

evolve into formally independent organizations Most programs seek cred-ibility by calling themselves ldquomulti-stakeholderrdquo initiatives We maintainhowever that founding constituencies leave deep imprints on the content ofstandards and on the distribution of power within rule-making initiativesRules can get ratcheted up or down over time but these are usually marginalrevisions to a core approach Furthermore even when initiatives becomeformally independent from the constituencies that created them informalties revolving doors and 1047297nancial contributions oen persist

Generally we expect that industry-initiated programs will have standardsthat depart in relatively small ways from the normal practices of the indus-try Companies may want to improve labor conditions or environmentalperformance of their suppliers but they will be loath to push so far as todisrupt production or force a major change in their sourcing practices As aresult the greater the influence of companies in the founding of an initiativethe more likely it is to use either a ldquobest in classrdquo approach or a ldquocontinuous

improvementrdquo approach In the 1047297rst companies are recognized (throughcerti1047297cation or other endorsement) for demonstrating that they are aboveaverage in their industry is oen skirts the issue of whether they meeta stringent de1047297nition of a 1047297xed standard As Sco Nova (1048626104862410486251048625) has noted aldquobest in classrdquo model is like grading on a curve even if average performanceis quite low e second approach allows companies to start with a relativelylax standard and encourage gradual improvement over time852019

When industry outsiders have power in the initial design standard-seinginitiatives should look somewhat different First their standards are likely todepart more substantially from normal practices in the industry to a greateror lesser degree depending on the power of these outsiders Second these

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initiatives are more likely though certainly not guaranteed to endorse analternative model of production rather than to just reward the best in class orpush for continuous improvement Fair trade certi1047297cation and its emphasis

on democratically managed producer cooperatives (as described in chap-ter 1048628) is the clearest example of this ird and because of this initiativesspawned by outsiders are likely to either remain small or face dilemmas ofmainstreaming as they grow If they seek a large market presence ldquoalterna-tiverdquo programs will inevitably become more dependent on large companiese result may be a watering down of standards although as the case of theFSC shows (in chapter 1048627) this can be counteracted to some degree

For most products there are multiple competing aempts to de1047297ne fair-ness and sustainability For instance there are several ways of certifying thefairness and sustainability of coffee or of assessing the labor conditions ofapparel companies852020 Usually this competition reflects the struggle betweencompanies and NGOs Some scholars believe that such competition dooms

voluntary initiatives since it confuses consumers and lets companies choosetheir own standards (Seidman 1048626104862410486241048631) Others believe that it strengthens gov-ernance by spurring a ldquoratcheting uprdquo of expectations (Sabel OrsquoRourke and

Fung 1048626104862410486241048624) Our analysis of four global industries suggests that different setsof standards can oen coexist not exactly peacefully but with moderateinteraction or in different market niches Competition is inevitable but itseems to neither doom nor guarantee meaningful standards for fairness andsustainability It must be noted that initiatives that began with high bars991252namely Fair Trade and the FSC991252have not been pushed out of the market

by their competitors

Localized Globalisms and Globalized Localisms

Specifying links between ldquothe globalrdquo and ldquothe localrdquo has proven difficultand scholars have oen fallen prey to two types of conceptual dangers Firstin focusing on the global diffusion of a given idea or norm some have por-trayed domestic seings as lile more than passive receivers of a global proj-ect e language of domestic seings as ldquoreceptor sitesrdquo for global models(Frank Hironaka and Schofer 1048626104862410486241048624) is one example of this Pinpointingthis problem researchers are increasingly focusing on how local actors ap-propriate and ldquoindigenizerdquo global models to make them useful or meaningful

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(Halliday and Carruthers 1048626104862410486241048633 Merry 104862610486241048624983094) Second scholars of globaliza-tion oen equate the global with universalism (and oen progress) and thelocal with particularism (and oen backwardness) In so doing scholars

uncritically accept the most dominant model as ldquothe globalrdquo and obscure thepower that was exercised to establish its dominance

To deal with these problems we adopt Bonaventura de Santosrsquos language ofldquoglobalized localismsrdquo and ldquo localized globalismsrdquo (Santos 104862610486241048624983094 Santos andRodriacuteguez Garavito 1048626104862410486241048629) e 1047297rst refers to a process in which a particularis-tic set of ideas and practices becomes a dominant global norm Santos (104862610486241048624983094)provides examples such as ldquothe transformation of the English language into

a lingua franca the globalization of American fast food or popular music orthe worldwide adoption of the same laws of intellectual ownership patentsor telecommunications aggressively promoted by the USArdquo (10486271048633983094) For ourpurpose the key issue is how particular understandings of rights rules andenforcement have become institutionalized as global norms Concretely thenotion of a ldquoglobalized localismrdquo sensitizes us to processes by which particu-lar sets of reformers (NGOs companies or others) have turned their projectsinto ldquoglobalrdquo standards for fairness and sustainability Our point is not to

join the chorus that argues that ldquoWesternrdquo standards are being illegitimatelyforced on people and companies elsewhere ere have long been calls fordecent work and responsible natural resource management in many differ-ent parts of the world But the global standards supported by conscientiousconsumers in North A merica and Europe embody particular approaches tothese issues

e second concept ldquolocalized globalismrdquo refers to the incorporation of

these global models into local routines and expectations e concept sen-sitizes us to the work involved in turning global standards for fairness andsustainability into a concrete practice in a factory forest or farm in someparticular location As we have noted scholars too oen portray these sites asempty spaces We believe it is preferable to start from the opposite premisethat sites of implementation are crowded with different actors and agendasonly some of which are likely to line up with global standard-seing initia-tives Some elements of global standards are easily incorporated into localpractices while others are 1047297ercely resisted But a recognition of localizedglobalisms also has methodological implications It is rare for researchersto actually study these locations in detail It is easier to conduct distant and

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decontextualized studies of CSR or to focus only on the creation of standardsrather than their local implementation Our analyses of the global timberagricultural apparel and electronics industries include aention to speci1047297c

locations from the sugarcane farms of Paraguay to the electronics factoriesof Malaysia

Te Puzzle of Rules Rule Making and the Persistence of Unruliness

One can beer understand conscientious consumption and production proj-ects by recognizing what Tim Bartley (1048626104862410486251048628a) has called the ldquopuzzle of rulesrdquo

in the global economy simply put global capitalism can be ldquounrulyrdquo but italso generates many rule-making projects

e expansion of global markets has facilitated a number of rule-makingprojects from the standardization of accounting procedures to the rules forfairness and sustainability discussed in this book e volume of rule making

by both public and private actors has increased over the past three decadesMany scholars have pointed to these trends as evidence that global capitalismis not manic or ungovernable as it was initially framed Marie-Laure Djelic

and Kerstin Sahlin-Andersson (104862610486241048624983094) argue that ldquothe proliferation of regu-latory activities actors networks or constellations leads to an explosion ofrules and to the profound re-ordering of our worldrdquo (1048625) and they see globalcapitalism as ldquomarked by more991252not less991252rule-making activityrdquo (10486271048631983094)

On the other hand the explosion of rule making has oen been gearedtoward the expansion of markets rather than their restriction and in manyrespects global capitalism has remained unruly In many industries invest-

ment and orders can and do move quickly across locations oen under-mining aempts to impose rules Even more socially controlled European

varieties of capitalism have had their foundations chipped away (Streeck1048626104862410486241048633) Furthermore for all of the efforts of NGOs to build rules for fairnesssustainability and human rights many corners of global industries remainlargely unscrutinized and unaffected by these rule-making projects

As our case studies illustrate even as standards for fairness and sustain-ability have risen to prominence global industries have remained volatileand exploitative Certi1047297cation of sustainable forestry rose to prominencefrom 1048625104863310486331048629 to 1048626104862410486251048624 but so did illegal logging and deforestation worsenedin many places Te global apparel industry has come to be governed by

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numerous codes of conduct and factory monitoring initiatives but it hasalso continued to move quickly from one location to another in search oflow wages and more docile workers e rapid and inconsistent pace of the

global electronics industry has undermined aempts to improve workingconditions while rapidly changing agricultural markets have threatened thelivelihoods of many smallholder farmers

e puzzle of rules can be solved through an analysis of neoliberalism (seeBartley 1048626104862410486251048628a) but it also provokes a simple conclusion about the prospects forglobal fairness and sustainability global industries oen have contradictorytendencies so we should not expect either complete ldquogreenwashrdquoldquofairwashrdquo

or serious transformation Fair trade certi1047297cation has not transformed thelogic of commodity trade but it has improved conditions for some farmersin some circumstances FSC certi1047297cation has not made the timber trade sus-tainable but it has supported improvements in some forests As we developthese 1047297ndings (in part 1048626 of the book) we hope to speak not only to scholars ofconscientious consumerism but also to citizens and consumers themselvesConsumers oen want to feel like their purchases are ldquocleanrdquo of exploitation

but this is unrealistic We believe it would be more promising if consumers

shied from a deterministic to a probabilistic approach conscientious con-sumption may increase onersquos probability of contributing to improvementsand decrease the probability of contributing to the most extreme forms ofexploitation Tis does not answer the question of how large those prob-abilities are (which surely varies by product and label) or the question of howsigni1047297cant those improvements can be But only if consumers shi from anall-or-nothing view of ldquocleanrdquo versus ldquodirtyrdquo production (that is sustainable

versus destructive fair versus exploitative) can they come to an accurateunderstanding of what their purchases can and cannot achieve

983127 983144 983137983156 983116983145 983141 983155 983105 983144 983141 983137 983140

Part 1048625 of this book focuses on dynamics and dilemmas of conscientious con-sumerism In chapter 1048625 we look at why some American and European con-sumers are more likely than others to practice conscientious consumptionUsing survey data on thousands of individual consumers our quantitativeanalyses focus on factors that shape two forms of conscientious consump-tion boycoing and ldquobuycoingrdquo991252that is preferring a product for some po-

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litical or ethical reason Some paerns are related to consumersrsquo beliefs andthe extent to which they can afford to be choosy But individual differencesare only a small part of the story Where consumers are has a great deal to do

with whether they engage in conscientious consumption or not We thereforeconnect the individual survey responses with measures that capture nationaleconomic political and cultural contexts Overall this initial portrait showsthat conscientious consumption is widespread but far from universal withkey differences rooted not only in individual characteristics but in differentstructures of consumption as well

Having sketched some general paerns we delve deeper into the meanings

and implications of conscientious consumerism in chapter 1048626 Our analyses inchapter 1048625 are based on what consumers say they do but there are reasons todoubt that consumers will follow through on what they say or that what theysay truly captures the social meaning of their actions Yet we show that thereis evidence of consumers being wil ling to pay for eco-labels and social labelsConsumers are most likely to do so when their ldquoethicalrdquo choices also servetheir self-interest such as saving on energy costs or eating safer healthierfoods But even for those forms of conscientious consumption that have no

short-term direct bene1047297t for consumers there is mounting evidence thatsome consumers will pay more For labeling enthusiasts this is a good thingBut the ldquoone dollar one voterdquo logic of conscientious consumerism and thestatus-symbol character of some ldquoethicalrdquo products are potentially danger-ous in that they can exacerbate social economic and political inequalitiesamong consumers Moreover there is a danger that conscientious consumer-ism can displace other forms of political engagement promoting individual

consumerism at the expense of democratic citizenship and collective socialmovements Working through these debates we argue that conscientiousconsumerism as an ideology is regressive and counterproductive but speci1047297cpractices of conscientious consumption can sometimes be consistent withother forms of political engagement

Of course the real test of conscientious consumption comes at the pointof production To what extent do voluntary standards forged in response toconsumer concern make a difference ldquoon the groundrdquo in global industries

We tackle this question in part 1048626 of the book by looking at the global produc-tion of four types of products991252(1048625) wood and paper products (1048626) food (espe-cially the agri-food industry) (1048627) apparel and footwear and (1048628) electronics

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Each of these case studies is rooted in the interviews that we have conducted with local actors and other 1047297ne-grained information on the organization ofproduction ese chapters apply the framework sketched above (and a com-

mon organizational template) to allow for comparative insightsChapter 1048627 looks at the rise of forest certi1047297cation and its effects in the global

timber industry Like fair trade the FSC is one of the oldest and most es-tablished certi1047297cation and labeling initiatives It was founded more thantwenty years ago and it spurred a number of imitators and competitors Yetit is not well known among conscientious consumers and its impacts have

been far less than originally intended We trace the rise of forest certi1047297cation

with particular aention to the founders and constituents of the FSC andhow they leveraged the structure of the forest products industry to ldquomake amarketrdquo for certi1047297ed wood and paper Yet applying sustainability standardsto the production of some wood and paper products has barely influencedglobal deforestation A closer look at FSC certi1047297cation in the tropical forestsof Indonesia illustrates both the contradictions of certifying in a shiing andcontentious context and the limited ability of forest certi1047297cation to influencethe main drivers of deforestation

Next in chapter 1048628 we turn to agricultural production and the fairness andsustainability projects that have emerged in this seing Consumers aacha variety of meanings to food and the politics of food consumption has ex-ploded in the past decade In addition to sketching the structure of agri-foodproduction and consumption in general we focus on two types of rule-mak-ing projects fair trade certi1047297cation and an increasingly popular ldquocommod-ity roundtablerdquo approach Looking more closely at two crops991252sugar and

soy991252in one country Paraguay we are able to illustrate the consequences ofdifferent models of certi1047297cation and the crucial role of local context Globalfood politics are being layered onto preexisting institutional arrangementsand it is largely these institutional arrangements that determine whether cer-ti1047297cation is meaningful or not For instance fair trade certi1047297cation seems tomaer most when smallholder farmers are already organized into democrati-cally effective cooperatives or when local organizing al lows them to upgradetheir production capacities over time e contingent effects of conscientiousconsumption come into focus in this chapter

Chapter 1048629 considers how the rise of anti-sweatshop activism in the early1048625104863310486331048624s led to various aempts to monitor and improve working conditions inapparel and footwear factories A rough indication of how these initiatives

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have fared is provided by the occurrence of factory 1047297res in 1048626104862410486251048624ndash1048626104862410486251048627 and thedeath of more than eleven hundred garment workers in the 1048626104862410486251048627 collapse ofthe Rana Plaza building in Bangladesh Our chapter examines the constitu-

encies behind different factory auditing and certi1047297cation initiatives the waysstandards were implemented and the reasons why their effects have beenminimal e structure of apparel and footwear production in many wayscreated the demand for codes of conduct but the structure and the mobilityof the industry have undermined meaningful improvements Looking moreclosely at factories in China we show how aempts to certify particularfactories have fallen short In recent years several new projects to provide

ethical apparel have emerged but there remain few credible alternatives inthis industry

Finally chapter 983094 takes us into the fast-paced world of the electronics in-dustry where companies produce new models of smartphones laptops andother devices at breakneck speed Yet recently this industry has become afocus of aention for the exploitation of production workers especially aera series of worker suicides (and later strikes) at Foxconn factories in Chinaand mounting scrutiny of Foxconnrsquos buyer Apple Electronics brands have

also been accused of using ldquoconflict mineralsrdquo in the production of smart-phones e electronics industry is populated by well-capitalized companiesthat at times have demonstrated good intentions to make the labor processsafer and more humane Yet the industry has struggled to make improve-ments and 1047297nd tenable solutions We argue that the solution to this puzzlelies in the architecture of production and to a large extent ultimately in theorganization of electronics consumption is is a case in which conscien-

tious consumerism has been slow to develop and unreflective consumerismhas been a powerful constraint on signi1047297cant improvement Using detaileddata on factories producing for Hewle-Packard we show how the industrycontinues to demand extraordinarily ldquoflexiblerdquo labor markets and excessive

working hours in its factories in Southeast Asia We have tried to provide a sense of the complexity of these cases and set-

tings while still drawing out clear implications Along the way readers shouldget a clearer sense of the structure and operation of global value chains the

varied geographies of production and the circumscribed consequences ofeco-labels and social labels In a concluding chapter we compare our foursets of products and consider what has been learned

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developing countries as novel concepts that are completely alien to the locals(Meyer et al 1048625104863310486331048631)

e problem with this approach is not only as Gay Seidman (1048626104862410486241048631) argues

that ldquostateless regulationrdquo usually lacks enforcement power A more funda-mental problem is that this frame obscures the institutional arrangementsthat are in place in developing countries Developing countries are not emptyanonymous uniform places ey are populated with different business sys-tems cultures of production and political institutions What may look fromafar like a relatively empty space turns out on closer inspection to have adense set of preexisting relationships organizations and rules ese local

circumstances can recon1047297gure global rules in myriad ways (Halliday andCarruthers 1048626104862410486241048633 Merry 104862610486241048624983094) For instance in chapter 1048628 we look at fair tradecerti1047297cation and its consequences in Paraguay a place where earlier ways oforganizing agricultural operations set the stage for fair trade projects andshaped their results Fair trade standards were not simply imported to thisseing they were layered onto an existing set of institutions In fact a thickerldquolayeringrdquo of rules with varying consequences has been a common result ofglobal standards (Bartley 1048626104862410486251048625) An ldquoempty spacesrdquo assumption also obscures

ongoing political struggles at the point of production As we will see INGOsand conscientious consumers are far from the only actors concerned withlabor rights sustainability or the fair distribution of resources For instancerecent years have seen a rising tide of strikes in China and mobilization ofgarment workers in Cambodia and Bangladesh (Alam 1048626104862410486251048627 Dara and Wil-lemyns 1048626104862410486251048628 Friedman 1048626104862410486251048627) e land rights of indigenous people in Braziland Indonesia are a concern not only of backers of global sustainable forestry

standards but also of burgeoning movements of indigenous people them-selves (Gerber 1048626104862410486251048625) Social movements in developing countries may struggleto influence powerful global industries but they cannot simply be ignored

When it comes to governmental regulation it is true that developingcountries oen lack the resources and administrative capacities to effec-tively regulate production processes as do many governments in affluentcountries Moreover the logic of global production in some ways gives themdisincentives to do so aggressively implementing regulations may cause in-

vestors991252and orders from brands and retailers991252to flee the country and therules of the WTO make some forms of regulation untenable But ldquodevelopingcountriesrdquo are diverse In nearly all parts of the world there are laws relatedto labor the environment and the rights of citizens Scholars are beginning

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to 1047297nd increased enforcement of these laws in some surprising places fromrevitalized state labor inspection in the export processing zones of the Do-minican Republic (Schrank 1048626104862410486251048627) to aggressive environmental regulators in

Brazil and China (Coslovsky 1048626104862410486251048625 McAllister Van Rooij and Kagan 1048626104862410486251048624)In other instances law can be repressive991252restricting the rights of workers orindigenous communities for instance (Lee 1048626104862410486241048631 Li 1048626104862410486251048624) Again the influ-ences of local structures can vary but one should not assume a blank slate

983105 983122983151983157983143983144 983111983157983145983140983141 983156983151 983125983150 983152983137983139983147983145983150983143 983107983151983150983155983139983145983141 983150983156983145983151983157983155983107983151983150983155983157983149983152983156983145983151983150 983137983150983140 983120983154983151983140983157983139983156983145983151983150 983120983154983151983146983141983139983156983155

How then can one make sense of projects to promote conscientious con-sumption and fair or sustainable production e 1047297rst step is simply to acceptthat there is a great deal of variation ere is variation across individualsand locations in conscientious consumer behavior ere is variation acrossproducts and labeling initiatives in the ldquoon the groundrdquo implications of globalstandards ere is variation across industries (and even within them) in sys-tems of production and these intersect with national (and even subnational)

differences in industry organization To understand whether conscientiousconsumption and fairsustainable production projects can contribute tomeaningful alternatives we must look closely at these industrial and politi-cal contexts A second starting point is to accept that the influence of globalstandards for fairsustainable production is typically highly circumscribedor contingent on other factors As will become clear even the most stringentstandards and most credible initiatives do not transform global industries

ey sometimes influence certain parts of an industry but even this cannotautomatically be assumed

To unpack conscientious consumption initiatives and the global standardsthey endorse we bring four factors to the foreground (1048625) structures of pro-duction and consumption (1048626) the constituencies of standards (1048627) global-local linkages and (1048628) the coexistence of rule making and unruliness

Structures of Production and Consumption

Industry structures shape both the opportunities for conscientious con-sumption to occur and the consequences of rule-making projects at thepoint of production To start some industries are more likely than others to

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become targets of activism which is typically the catalyst for rule-makingand conscientious consumption projects

Lead 1047297rms in global value chains especially when they are large and have

salient corporate reputations make aractive targets for social movements(Bartley and Child 1048626104862410486251048628) Industries that lack powerful and well-known brands tend to aract less scrutiny For instance the manufacturing of bricksespecially in developing countries is oen a highly polluting and exploit-ative industry But because there are not well-known global brands in thisindustry it has received lile international aention In other cases activistshave highlighted a problem but without powerful and recognizable brands

to link this to rule-making projects have not emerged e production ofcheap costume jewelry is rife with exploitation as shown in the documentary Mardi Gras Made in China but this has not become a site of extensive rulemaking and conscientious consumerism In some circumstances the exis-tence of large high-pro1047297le retailers can compensate for a more fragmentedor poorly known set of manufacturers Anti-GMO activists for instancehave pressured manufacturers like Monsanto by going through large retailerslike Marks amp Spencer (Schurman and Munro 1048626104862410486241048633) Our analysis of global

food distribution (in chapter 1048628) is consistent with this observation but italso suggests that the locus of consumer and activist pressure depends onthe speci1047297c product

When activists do press lead 1047297rms to make their supply chains fairer ormore sustainable the consequences seem to depend in part on the structureof that supply chain If suppliers can easily 1047297nd alternative buyers who are notdemanding changes991252that is if there are few suppliers and many buyers991252

they will have lile incentive to comply with a particular lead 1047297rmrsquos rulesGoing further by many accounts when lead 1047297rms have a great deal of powerover ldquocaptiverdquo suppliers they should be able to demand that those suppliersmake improvements (Mayer and Gereffi 1048626104862410486251048624) On the other hand someresearch has questioned whether this power is truly effective or whether itmerely spurs a game in which suppliers pretend to be making improvements(and lead 1047297rms nod in approval) (Locke Amengual and Mangla 1048626104862410486241048633) Wesuspect that the power of lead 1047297rms does make a difference but that moresigni1047297cant changes are possible when lead 1047297rms and suppliers are mutuallydependent and work together over long stretches of time (Our analysis ofthe apparel industry in chapter 1048629 though suggests that long-term collabora-tion is rare) In addition when global value chains are fairly simple in their

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structure without too many intermediaries this should make it easier forstandards to ldquotravelrdquo through them ere is a conundrum here howeversince it is oen in industries with a high degree of subcontracting (such as

apparel) that global standards are in the highest demand If global industries were dominated by vertically integrated 1047297rms rather than dispersed supplychains the world of conscientious consumerism would look quite differentFurthermore sometimes the lack of action by large lead 1047297rms can leave aspace for activists and entrepreneurs to carve out a small market niche basedon fairness or sustainability is is how fair tradendashcerti1047297ed coffee beganand some new projects appear to be emerging in electronics (Fairphone as

discussed in chapter 983094) and apparel (the Alta Gracia factory as discussed inchapter 1048629) Aer looking more closely at our four industries991252timber foodapparelfootwear and electronics991252we return to questions about industrystructure in the bookrsquos conclusion

Industry structures also maer for consumers As we show in the nextchapter opportunities to engage in conscientious consumption are just asimportant as motivations to do so and these opportunities depend in parton the structure of the retail sector in a particular country Generally we sug-

gest that having larger retailers will facilitate consumer purchases of eco- andsocial-labeled products In part this is simply because larger retailers offer a

wider array of choices overall991252that is different versions of the same prod-uct991252while smaller retailers offer fewer choices To be sure small stores canspecialize in ldquoalternativerdquo products and large stores can fail to carry themBut given the trend toward ldquomainstreamingrdquo of alternatives (see Jaffee 1048626104862410486251048626)large retailers have become key points of sale for eco- and social-labeled prod-

ucts Furthermore oligopoly in the retail sector991252the dominance of a smallnumber of large companies991252also seems to magnify the power of activiststo influence the market As Rachel Schurman and William Munro (1048626104862410486241048633)found the existence of a small number of large food retailer chains in the UKallowed the anti-GMO movement to flourish there while it foundered amidthe larger number of supermarket chains in the United States

Constituencies and Standards

Global standards for fairness and sustainability may sound universal butthey spring from the priorities of particular individuals and groups A cru-cial step in understanding these standards is to examine the founders of

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initiatives that make rules audit compliance and certify products as fair orsustainable Some such initiatives such as fair trade certi1047297cation originatedlargely with NGOs or others outside of the industry Others such as the

Electronics Industry Citizenship Coalition and the Sustainable ForestryInitiative were founded almost exclusively by industry associations or othergroups of companies oen in response to the actions of NGOs In betweenare a number of initiatives developed by coalitions of NGOs and companiesfrom the Forest Stewardship Council to Social Accountability InternationalFounders are not everything NGO-initiated programs can become watereddown as they are mainstreamed and industry-initiated programs oen

evolve into formally independent organizations Most programs seek cred-ibility by calling themselves ldquomulti-stakeholderrdquo initiatives We maintainhowever that founding constituencies leave deep imprints on the content ofstandards and on the distribution of power within rule-making initiativesRules can get ratcheted up or down over time but these are usually marginalrevisions to a core approach Furthermore even when initiatives becomeformally independent from the constituencies that created them informalties revolving doors and 1047297nancial contributions oen persist

Generally we expect that industry-initiated programs will have standardsthat depart in relatively small ways from the normal practices of the indus-try Companies may want to improve labor conditions or environmentalperformance of their suppliers but they will be loath to push so far as todisrupt production or force a major change in their sourcing practices As aresult the greater the influence of companies in the founding of an initiativethe more likely it is to use either a ldquobest in classrdquo approach or a ldquocontinuous

improvementrdquo approach In the 1047297rst companies are recognized (throughcerti1047297cation or other endorsement) for demonstrating that they are aboveaverage in their industry is oen skirts the issue of whether they meeta stringent de1047297nition of a 1047297xed standard As Sco Nova (1048626104862410486251048625) has noted aldquobest in classrdquo model is like grading on a curve even if average performanceis quite low e second approach allows companies to start with a relativelylax standard and encourage gradual improvement over time852019

When industry outsiders have power in the initial design standard-seinginitiatives should look somewhat different First their standards are likely todepart more substantially from normal practices in the industry to a greateror lesser degree depending on the power of these outsiders Second these

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initiatives are more likely though certainly not guaranteed to endorse analternative model of production rather than to just reward the best in class orpush for continuous improvement Fair trade certi1047297cation and its emphasis

on democratically managed producer cooperatives (as described in chap-ter 1048628) is the clearest example of this ird and because of this initiativesspawned by outsiders are likely to either remain small or face dilemmas ofmainstreaming as they grow If they seek a large market presence ldquoalterna-tiverdquo programs will inevitably become more dependent on large companiese result may be a watering down of standards although as the case of theFSC shows (in chapter 1048627) this can be counteracted to some degree

For most products there are multiple competing aempts to de1047297ne fair-ness and sustainability For instance there are several ways of certifying thefairness and sustainability of coffee or of assessing the labor conditions ofapparel companies852020 Usually this competition reflects the struggle betweencompanies and NGOs Some scholars believe that such competition dooms

voluntary initiatives since it confuses consumers and lets companies choosetheir own standards (Seidman 1048626104862410486241048631) Others believe that it strengthens gov-ernance by spurring a ldquoratcheting uprdquo of expectations (Sabel OrsquoRourke and

Fung 1048626104862410486241048624) Our analysis of four global industries suggests that different setsof standards can oen coexist not exactly peacefully but with moderateinteraction or in different market niches Competition is inevitable but itseems to neither doom nor guarantee meaningful standards for fairness andsustainability It must be noted that initiatives that began with high bars991252namely Fair Trade and the FSC991252have not been pushed out of the market

by their competitors

Localized Globalisms and Globalized Localisms

Specifying links between ldquothe globalrdquo and ldquothe localrdquo has proven difficultand scholars have oen fallen prey to two types of conceptual dangers Firstin focusing on the global diffusion of a given idea or norm some have por-trayed domestic seings as lile more than passive receivers of a global proj-ect e language of domestic seings as ldquoreceptor sitesrdquo for global models(Frank Hironaka and Schofer 1048626104862410486241048624) is one example of this Pinpointingthis problem researchers are increasingly focusing on how local actors ap-propriate and ldquoindigenizerdquo global models to make them useful or meaningful

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(Halliday and Carruthers 1048626104862410486241048633 Merry 104862610486241048624983094) Second scholars of globaliza-tion oen equate the global with universalism (and oen progress) and thelocal with particularism (and oen backwardness) In so doing scholars

uncritically accept the most dominant model as ldquothe globalrdquo and obscure thepower that was exercised to establish its dominance

To deal with these problems we adopt Bonaventura de Santosrsquos language ofldquoglobalized localismsrdquo and ldquo localized globalismsrdquo (Santos 104862610486241048624983094 Santos andRodriacuteguez Garavito 1048626104862410486241048629) e 1047297rst refers to a process in which a particularis-tic set of ideas and practices becomes a dominant global norm Santos (104862610486241048624983094)provides examples such as ldquothe transformation of the English language into

a lingua franca the globalization of American fast food or popular music orthe worldwide adoption of the same laws of intellectual ownership patentsor telecommunications aggressively promoted by the USArdquo (10486271048633983094) For ourpurpose the key issue is how particular understandings of rights rules andenforcement have become institutionalized as global norms Concretely thenotion of a ldquoglobalized localismrdquo sensitizes us to processes by which particu-lar sets of reformers (NGOs companies or others) have turned their projectsinto ldquoglobalrdquo standards for fairness and sustainability Our point is not to

join the chorus that argues that ldquoWesternrdquo standards are being illegitimatelyforced on people and companies elsewhere ere have long been calls fordecent work and responsible natural resource management in many differ-ent parts of the world But the global standards supported by conscientiousconsumers in North A merica and Europe embody particular approaches tothese issues

e second concept ldquolocalized globalismrdquo refers to the incorporation of

these global models into local routines and expectations e concept sen-sitizes us to the work involved in turning global standards for fairness andsustainability into a concrete practice in a factory forest or farm in someparticular location As we have noted scholars too oen portray these sites asempty spaces We believe it is preferable to start from the opposite premisethat sites of implementation are crowded with different actors and agendasonly some of which are likely to line up with global standard-seing initia-tives Some elements of global standards are easily incorporated into localpractices while others are 1047297ercely resisted But a recognition of localizedglobalisms also has methodological implications It is rare for researchersto actually study these locations in detail It is easier to conduct distant and

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decontextualized studies of CSR or to focus only on the creation of standardsrather than their local implementation Our analyses of the global timberagricultural apparel and electronics industries include aention to speci1047297c

locations from the sugarcane farms of Paraguay to the electronics factoriesof Malaysia

Te Puzzle of Rules Rule Making and the Persistence of Unruliness

One can beer understand conscientious consumption and production proj-ects by recognizing what Tim Bartley (1048626104862410486251048628a) has called the ldquopuzzle of rulesrdquo

in the global economy simply put global capitalism can be ldquounrulyrdquo but italso generates many rule-making projects

e expansion of global markets has facilitated a number of rule-makingprojects from the standardization of accounting procedures to the rules forfairness and sustainability discussed in this book e volume of rule making

by both public and private actors has increased over the past three decadesMany scholars have pointed to these trends as evidence that global capitalismis not manic or ungovernable as it was initially framed Marie-Laure Djelic

and Kerstin Sahlin-Andersson (104862610486241048624983094) argue that ldquothe proliferation of regu-latory activities actors networks or constellations leads to an explosion ofrules and to the profound re-ordering of our worldrdquo (1048625) and they see globalcapitalism as ldquomarked by more991252not less991252rule-making activityrdquo (10486271048631983094)

On the other hand the explosion of rule making has oen been gearedtoward the expansion of markets rather than their restriction and in manyrespects global capitalism has remained unruly In many industries invest-

ment and orders can and do move quickly across locations oen under-mining aempts to impose rules Even more socially controlled European

varieties of capitalism have had their foundations chipped away (Streeck1048626104862410486241048633) Furthermore for all of the efforts of NGOs to build rules for fairnesssustainability and human rights many corners of global industries remainlargely unscrutinized and unaffected by these rule-making projects

As our case studies illustrate even as standards for fairness and sustain-ability have risen to prominence global industries have remained volatileand exploitative Certi1047297cation of sustainable forestry rose to prominencefrom 1048625104863310486331048629 to 1048626104862410486251048624 but so did illegal logging and deforestation worsenedin many places Te global apparel industry has come to be governed by

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numerous codes of conduct and factory monitoring initiatives but it hasalso continued to move quickly from one location to another in search oflow wages and more docile workers e rapid and inconsistent pace of the

global electronics industry has undermined aempts to improve workingconditions while rapidly changing agricultural markets have threatened thelivelihoods of many smallholder farmers

e puzzle of rules can be solved through an analysis of neoliberalism (seeBartley 1048626104862410486251048628a) but it also provokes a simple conclusion about the prospects forglobal fairness and sustainability global industries oen have contradictorytendencies so we should not expect either complete ldquogreenwashrdquoldquofairwashrdquo

or serious transformation Fair trade certi1047297cation has not transformed thelogic of commodity trade but it has improved conditions for some farmersin some circumstances FSC certi1047297cation has not made the timber trade sus-tainable but it has supported improvements in some forests As we developthese 1047297ndings (in part 1048626 of the book) we hope to speak not only to scholars ofconscientious consumerism but also to citizens and consumers themselvesConsumers oen want to feel like their purchases are ldquocleanrdquo of exploitation

but this is unrealistic We believe it would be more promising if consumers

shied from a deterministic to a probabilistic approach conscientious con-sumption may increase onersquos probability of contributing to improvementsand decrease the probability of contributing to the most extreme forms ofexploitation Tis does not answer the question of how large those prob-abilities are (which surely varies by product and label) or the question of howsigni1047297cant those improvements can be But only if consumers shi from anall-or-nothing view of ldquocleanrdquo versus ldquodirtyrdquo production (that is sustainable

versus destructive fair versus exploitative) can they come to an accurateunderstanding of what their purchases can and cannot achieve

983127 983144 983137983156 983116983145 983141 983155 983105 983144 983141 983137 983140

Part 1048625 of this book focuses on dynamics and dilemmas of conscientious con-sumerism In chapter 1048625 we look at why some American and European con-sumers are more likely than others to practice conscientious consumptionUsing survey data on thousands of individual consumers our quantitativeanalyses focus on factors that shape two forms of conscientious consump-tion boycoing and ldquobuycoingrdquo991252that is preferring a product for some po-

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litical or ethical reason Some paerns are related to consumersrsquo beliefs andthe extent to which they can afford to be choosy But individual differencesare only a small part of the story Where consumers are has a great deal to do

with whether they engage in conscientious consumption or not We thereforeconnect the individual survey responses with measures that capture nationaleconomic political and cultural contexts Overall this initial portrait showsthat conscientious consumption is widespread but far from universal withkey differences rooted not only in individual characteristics but in differentstructures of consumption as well

Having sketched some general paerns we delve deeper into the meanings

and implications of conscientious consumerism in chapter 1048626 Our analyses inchapter 1048625 are based on what consumers say they do but there are reasons todoubt that consumers will follow through on what they say or that what theysay truly captures the social meaning of their actions Yet we show that thereis evidence of consumers being wil ling to pay for eco-labels and social labelsConsumers are most likely to do so when their ldquoethicalrdquo choices also servetheir self-interest such as saving on energy costs or eating safer healthierfoods But even for those forms of conscientious consumption that have no

short-term direct bene1047297t for consumers there is mounting evidence thatsome consumers will pay more For labeling enthusiasts this is a good thingBut the ldquoone dollar one voterdquo logic of conscientious consumerism and thestatus-symbol character of some ldquoethicalrdquo products are potentially danger-ous in that they can exacerbate social economic and political inequalitiesamong consumers Moreover there is a danger that conscientious consumer-ism can displace other forms of political engagement promoting individual

consumerism at the expense of democratic citizenship and collective socialmovements Working through these debates we argue that conscientiousconsumerism as an ideology is regressive and counterproductive but speci1047297cpractices of conscientious consumption can sometimes be consistent withother forms of political engagement

Of course the real test of conscientious consumption comes at the pointof production To what extent do voluntary standards forged in response toconsumer concern make a difference ldquoon the groundrdquo in global industries

We tackle this question in part 1048626 of the book by looking at the global produc-tion of four types of products991252(1048625) wood and paper products (1048626) food (espe-cially the agri-food industry) (1048627) apparel and footwear and (1048628) electronics

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Each of these case studies is rooted in the interviews that we have conducted with local actors and other 1047297ne-grained information on the organization ofproduction ese chapters apply the framework sketched above (and a com-

mon organizational template) to allow for comparative insightsChapter 1048627 looks at the rise of forest certi1047297cation and its effects in the global

timber industry Like fair trade the FSC is one of the oldest and most es-tablished certi1047297cation and labeling initiatives It was founded more thantwenty years ago and it spurred a number of imitators and competitors Yetit is not well known among conscientious consumers and its impacts have

been far less than originally intended We trace the rise of forest certi1047297cation

with particular aention to the founders and constituents of the FSC andhow they leveraged the structure of the forest products industry to ldquomake amarketrdquo for certi1047297ed wood and paper Yet applying sustainability standardsto the production of some wood and paper products has barely influencedglobal deforestation A closer look at FSC certi1047297cation in the tropical forestsof Indonesia illustrates both the contradictions of certifying in a shiing andcontentious context and the limited ability of forest certi1047297cation to influencethe main drivers of deforestation

Next in chapter 1048628 we turn to agricultural production and the fairness andsustainability projects that have emerged in this seing Consumers aacha variety of meanings to food and the politics of food consumption has ex-ploded in the past decade In addition to sketching the structure of agri-foodproduction and consumption in general we focus on two types of rule-mak-ing projects fair trade certi1047297cation and an increasingly popular ldquocommod-ity roundtablerdquo approach Looking more closely at two crops991252sugar and

soy991252in one country Paraguay we are able to illustrate the consequences ofdifferent models of certi1047297cation and the crucial role of local context Globalfood politics are being layered onto preexisting institutional arrangementsand it is largely these institutional arrangements that determine whether cer-ti1047297cation is meaningful or not For instance fair trade certi1047297cation seems tomaer most when smallholder farmers are already organized into democrati-cally effective cooperatives or when local organizing al lows them to upgradetheir production capacities over time e contingent effects of conscientiousconsumption come into focus in this chapter

Chapter 1048629 considers how the rise of anti-sweatshop activism in the early1048625104863310486331048624s led to various aempts to monitor and improve working conditions inapparel and footwear factories A rough indication of how these initiatives

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have fared is provided by the occurrence of factory 1047297res in 1048626104862410486251048624ndash1048626104862410486251048627 and thedeath of more than eleven hundred garment workers in the 1048626104862410486251048627 collapse ofthe Rana Plaza building in Bangladesh Our chapter examines the constitu-

encies behind different factory auditing and certi1047297cation initiatives the waysstandards were implemented and the reasons why their effects have beenminimal e structure of apparel and footwear production in many wayscreated the demand for codes of conduct but the structure and the mobilityof the industry have undermined meaningful improvements Looking moreclosely at factories in China we show how aempts to certify particularfactories have fallen short In recent years several new projects to provide

ethical apparel have emerged but there remain few credible alternatives inthis industry

Finally chapter 983094 takes us into the fast-paced world of the electronics in-dustry where companies produce new models of smartphones laptops andother devices at breakneck speed Yet recently this industry has become afocus of aention for the exploitation of production workers especially aera series of worker suicides (and later strikes) at Foxconn factories in Chinaand mounting scrutiny of Foxconnrsquos buyer Apple Electronics brands have

also been accused of using ldquoconflict mineralsrdquo in the production of smart-phones e electronics industry is populated by well-capitalized companiesthat at times have demonstrated good intentions to make the labor processsafer and more humane Yet the industry has struggled to make improve-ments and 1047297nd tenable solutions We argue that the solution to this puzzlelies in the architecture of production and to a large extent ultimately in theorganization of electronics consumption is is a case in which conscien-

tious consumerism has been slow to develop and unreflective consumerismhas been a powerful constraint on signi1047297cant improvement Using detaileddata on factories producing for Hewle-Packard we show how the industrycontinues to demand extraordinarily ldquoflexiblerdquo labor markets and excessive

working hours in its factories in Southeast Asia We have tried to provide a sense of the complexity of these cases and set-

tings while still drawing out clear implications Along the way readers shouldget a clearer sense of the structure and operation of global value chains the

varied geographies of production and the circumscribed consequences ofeco-labels and social labels In a concluding chapter we compare our foursets of products and consider what has been learned

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to 1047297nd increased enforcement of these laws in some surprising places fromrevitalized state labor inspection in the export processing zones of the Do-minican Republic (Schrank 1048626104862410486251048627) to aggressive environmental regulators in

Brazil and China (Coslovsky 1048626104862410486251048625 McAllister Van Rooij and Kagan 1048626104862410486251048624)In other instances law can be repressive991252restricting the rights of workers orindigenous communities for instance (Lee 1048626104862410486241048631 Li 1048626104862410486251048624) Again the influ-ences of local structures can vary but one should not assume a blank slate

983105 983122983151983157983143983144 983111983157983145983140983141 983156983151 983125983150 983152983137983139983147983145983150983143 983107983151983150983155983139983145983141 983150983156983145983151983157983155983107983151983150983155983157983149983152983156983145983151983150 983137983150983140 983120983154983151983140983157983139983156983145983151983150 983120983154983151983146983141983139983156983155

How then can one make sense of projects to promote conscientious con-sumption and fair or sustainable production e 1047297rst step is simply to acceptthat there is a great deal of variation ere is variation across individualsand locations in conscientious consumer behavior ere is variation acrossproducts and labeling initiatives in the ldquoon the groundrdquo implications of globalstandards ere is variation across industries (and even within them) in sys-tems of production and these intersect with national (and even subnational)

differences in industry organization To understand whether conscientiousconsumption and fairsustainable production projects can contribute tomeaningful alternatives we must look closely at these industrial and politi-cal contexts A second starting point is to accept that the influence of globalstandards for fairsustainable production is typically highly circumscribedor contingent on other factors As will become clear even the most stringentstandards and most credible initiatives do not transform global industries

ey sometimes influence certain parts of an industry but even this cannotautomatically be assumed

To unpack conscientious consumption initiatives and the global standardsthey endorse we bring four factors to the foreground (1048625) structures of pro-duction and consumption (1048626) the constituencies of standards (1048627) global-local linkages and (1048628) the coexistence of rule making and unruliness

Structures of Production and Consumption

Industry structures shape both the opportunities for conscientious con-sumption to occur and the consequences of rule-making projects at thepoint of production To start some industries are more likely than others to

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become targets of activism which is typically the catalyst for rule-makingand conscientious consumption projects

Lead 1047297rms in global value chains especially when they are large and have

salient corporate reputations make aractive targets for social movements(Bartley and Child 1048626104862410486251048628) Industries that lack powerful and well-known brands tend to aract less scrutiny For instance the manufacturing of bricksespecially in developing countries is oen a highly polluting and exploit-ative industry But because there are not well-known global brands in thisindustry it has received lile international aention In other cases activistshave highlighted a problem but without powerful and recognizable brands

to link this to rule-making projects have not emerged e production ofcheap costume jewelry is rife with exploitation as shown in the documentary Mardi Gras Made in China but this has not become a site of extensive rulemaking and conscientious consumerism In some circumstances the exis-tence of large high-pro1047297le retailers can compensate for a more fragmentedor poorly known set of manufacturers Anti-GMO activists for instancehave pressured manufacturers like Monsanto by going through large retailerslike Marks amp Spencer (Schurman and Munro 1048626104862410486241048633) Our analysis of global

food distribution (in chapter 1048628) is consistent with this observation but italso suggests that the locus of consumer and activist pressure depends onthe speci1047297c product

When activists do press lead 1047297rms to make their supply chains fairer ormore sustainable the consequences seem to depend in part on the structureof that supply chain If suppliers can easily 1047297nd alternative buyers who are notdemanding changes991252that is if there are few suppliers and many buyers991252

they will have lile incentive to comply with a particular lead 1047297rmrsquos rulesGoing further by many accounts when lead 1047297rms have a great deal of powerover ldquocaptiverdquo suppliers they should be able to demand that those suppliersmake improvements (Mayer and Gereffi 1048626104862410486251048624) On the other hand someresearch has questioned whether this power is truly effective or whether itmerely spurs a game in which suppliers pretend to be making improvements(and lead 1047297rms nod in approval) (Locke Amengual and Mangla 1048626104862410486241048633) Wesuspect that the power of lead 1047297rms does make a difference but that moresigni1047297cant changes are possible when lead 1047297rms and suppliers are mutuallydependent and work together over long stretches of time (Our analysis ofthe apparel industry in chapter 1048629 though suggests that long-term collabora-tion is rare) In addition when global value chains are fairly simple in their

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structure without too many intermediaries this should make it easier forstandards to ldquotravelrdquo through them ere is a conundrum here howeversince it is oen in industries with a high degree of subcontracting (such as

apparel) that global standards are in the highest demand If global industries were dominated by vertically integrated 1047297rms rather than dispersed supplychains the world of conscientious consumerism would look quite differentFurthermore sometimes the lack of action by large lead 1047297rms can leave aspace for activists and entrepreneurs to carve out a small market niche basedon fairness or sustainability is is how fair tradendashcerti1047297ed coffee beganand some new projects appear to be emerging in electronics (Fairphone as

discussed in chapter 983094) and apparel (the Alta Gracia factory as discussed inchapter 1048629) Aer looking more closely at our four industries991252timber foodapparelfootwear and electronics991252we return to questions about industrystructure in the bookrsquos conclusion

Industry structures also maer for consumers As we show in the nextchapter opportunities to engage in conscientious consumption are just asimportant as motivations to do so and these opportunities depend in parton the structure of the retail sector in a particular country Generally we sug-

gest that having larger retailers will facilitate consumer purchases of eco- andsocial-labeled products In part this is simply because larger retailers offer a

wider array of choices overall991252that is different versions of the same prod-uct991252while smaller retailers offer fewer choices To be sure small stores canspecialize in ldquoalternativerdquo products and large stores can fail to carry themBut given the trend toward ldquomainstreamingrdquo of alternatives (see Jaffee 1048626104862410486251048626)large retailers have become key points of sale for eco- and social-labeled prod-

ucts Furthermore oligopoly in the retail sector991252the dominance of a smallnumber of large companies991252also seems to magnify the power of activiststo influence the market As Rachel Schurman and William Munro (1048626104862410486241048633)found the existence of a small number of large food retailer chains in the UKallowed the anti-GMO movement to flourish there while it foundered amidthe larger number of supermarket chains in the United States

Constituencies and Standards

Global standards for fairness and sustainability may sound universal butthey spring from the priorities of particular individuals and groups A cru-cial step in understanding these standards is to examine the founders of

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initiatives that make rules audit compliance and certify products as fair orsustainable Some such initiatives such as fair trade certi1047297cation originatedlargely with NGOs or others outside of the industry Others such as the

Electronics Industry Citizenship Coalition and the Sustainable ForestryInitiative were founded almost exclusively by industry associations or othergroups of companies oen in response to the actions of NGOs In betweenare a number of initiatives developed by coalitions of NGOs and companiesfrom the Forest Stewardship Council to Social Accountability InternationalFounders are not everything NGO-initiated programs can become watereddown as they are mainstreamed and industry-initiated programs oen

evolve into formally independent organizations Most programs seek cred-ibility by calling themselves ldquomulti-stakeholderrdquo initiatives We maintainhowever that founding constituencies leave deep imprints on the content ofstandards and on the distribution of power within rule-making initiativesRules can get ratcheted up or down over time but these are usually marginalrevisions to a core approach Furthermore even when initiatives becomeformally independent from the constituencies that created them informalties revolving doors and 1047297nancial contributions oen persist

Generally we expect that industry-initiated programs will have standardsthat depart in relatively small ways from the normal practices of the indus-try Companies may want to improve labor conditions or environmentalperformance of their suppliers but they will be loath to push so far as todisrupt production or force a major change in their sourcing practices As aresult the greater the influence of companies in the founding of an initiativethe more likely it is to use either a ldquobest in classrdquo approach or a ldquocontinuous

improvementrdquo approach In the 1047297rst companies are recognized (throughcerti1047297cation or other endorsement) for demonstrating that they are aboveaverage in their industry is oen skirts the issue of whether they meeta stringent de1047297nition of a 1047297xed standard As Sco Nova (1048626104862410486251048625) has noted aldquobest in classrdquo model is like grading on a curve even if average performanceis quite low e second approach allows companies to start with a relativelylax standard and encourage gradual improvement over time852019

When industry outsiders have power in the initial design standard-seinginitiatives should look somewhat different First their standards are likely todepart more substantially from normal practices in the industry to a greateror lesser degree depending on the power of these outsiders Second these

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initiatives are more likely though certainly not guaranteed to endorse analternative model of production rather than to just reward the best in class orpush for continuous improvement Fair trade certi1047297cation and its emphasis

on democratically managed producer cooperatives (as described in chap-ter 1048628) is the clearest example of this ird and because of this initiativesspawned by outsiders are likely to either remain small or face dilemmas ofmainstreaming as they grow If they seek a large market presence ldquoalterna-tiverdquo programs will inevitably become more dependent on large companiese result may be a watering down of standards although as the case of theFSC shows (in chapter 1048627) this can be counteracted to some degree

For most products there are multiple competing aempts to de1047297ne fair-ness and sustainability For instance there are several ways of certifying thefairness and sustainability of coffee or of assessing the labor conditions ofapparel companies852020 Usually this competition reflects the struggle betweencompanies and NGOs Some scholars believe that such competition dooms

voluntary initiatives since it confuses consumers and lets companies choosetheir own standards (Seidman 1048626104862410486241048631) Others believe that it strengthens gov-ernance by spurring a ldquoratcheting uprdquo of expectations (Sabel OrsquoRourke and

Fung 1048626104862410486241048624) Our analysis of four global industries suggests that different setsof standards can oen coexist not exactly peacefully but with moderateinteraction or in different market niches Competition is inevitable but itseems to neither doom nor guarantee meaningful standards for fairness andsustainability It must be noted that initiatives that began with high bars991252namely Fair Trade and the FSC991252have not been pushed out of the market

by their competitors

Localized Globalisms and Globalized Localisms

Specifying links between ldquothe globalrdquo and ldquothe localrdquo has proven difficultand scholars have oen fallen prey to two types of conceptual dangers Firstin focusing on the global diffusion of a given idea or norm some have por-trayed domestic seings as lile more than passive receivers of a global proj-ect e language of domestic seings as ldquoreceptor sitesrdquo for global models(Frank Hironaka and Schofer 1048626104862410486241048624) is one example of this Pinpointingthis problem researchers are increasingly focusing on how local actors ap-propriate and ldquoindigenizerdquo global models to make them useful or meaningful

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(Halliday and Carruthers 1048626104862410486241048633 Merry 104862610486241048624983094) Second scholars of globaliza-tion oen equate the global with universalism (and oen progress) and thelocal with particularism (and oen backwardness) In so doing scholars

uncritically accept the most dominant model as ldquothe globalrdquo and obscure thepower that was exercised to establish its dominance

To deal with these problems we adopt Bonaventura de Santosrsquos language ofldquoglobalized localismsrdquo and ldquo localized globalismsrdquo (Santos 104862610486241048624983094 Santos andRodriacuteguez Garavito 1048626104862410486241048629) e 1047297rst refers to a process in which a particularis-tic set of ideas and practices becomes a dominant global norm Santos (104862610486241048624983094)provides examples such as ldquothe transformation of the English language into

a lingua franca the globalization of American fast food or popular music orthe worldwide adoption of the same laws of intellectual ownership patentsor telecommunications aggressively promoted by the USArdquo (10486271048633983094) For ourpurpose the key issue is how particular understandings of rights rules andenforcement have become institutionalized as global norms Concretely thenotion of a ldquoglobalized localismrdquo sensitizes us to processes by which particu-lar sets of reformers (NGOs companies or others) have turned their projectsinto ldquoglobalrdquo standards for fairness and sustainability Our point is not to

join the chorus that argues that ldquoWesternrdquo standards are being illegitimatelyforced on people and companies elsewhere ere have long been calls fordecent work and responsible natural resource management in many differ-ent parts of the world But the global standards supported by conscientiousconsumers in North A merica and Europe embody particular approaches tothese issues

e second concept ldquolocalized globalismrdquo refers to the incorporation of

these global models into local routines and expectations e concept sen-sitizes us to the work involved in turning global standards for fairness andsustainability into a concrete practice in a factory forest or farm in someparticular location As we have noted scholars too oen portray these sites asempty spaces We believe it is preferable to start from the opposite premisethat sites of implementation are crowded with different actors and agendasonly some of which are likely to line up with global standard-seing initia-tives Some elements of global standards are easily incorporated into localpractices while others are 1047297ercely resisted But a recognition of localizedglobalisms also has methodological implications It is rare for researchersto actually study these locations in detail It is easier to conduct distant and

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decontextualized studies of CSR or to focus only on the creation of standardsrather than their local implementation Our analyses of the global timberagricultural apparel and electronics industries include aention to speci1047297c

locations from the sugarcane farms of Paraguay to the electronics factoriesof Malaysia

Te Puzzle of Rules Rule Making and the Persistence of Unruliness

One can beer understand conscientious consumption and production proj-ects by recognizing what Tim Bartley (1048626104862410486251048628a) has called the ldquopuzzle of rulesrdquo

in the global economy simply put global capitalism can be ldquounrulyrdquo but italso generates many rule-making projects

e expansion of global markets has facilitated a number of rule-makingprojects from the standardization of accounting procedures to the rules forfairness and sustainability discussed in this book e volume of rule making

by both public and private actors has increased over the past three decadesMany scholars have pointed to these trends as evidence that global capitalismis not manic or ungovernable as it was initially framed Marie-Laure Djelic

and Kerstin Sahlin-Andersson (104862610486241048624983094) argue that ldquothe proliferation of regu-latory activities actors networks or constellations leads to an explosion ofrules and to the profound re-ordering of our worldrdquo (1048625) and they see globalcapitalism as ldquomarked by more991252not less991252rule-making activityrdquo (10486271048631983094)

On the other hand the explosion of rule making has oen been gearedtoward the expansion of markets rather than their restriction and in manyrespects global capitalism has remained unruly In many industries invest-

ment and orders can and do move quickly across locations oen under-mining aempts to impose rules Even more socially controlled European

varieties of capitalism have had their foundations chipped away (Streeck1048626104862410486241048633) Furthermore for all of the efforts of NGOs to build rules for fairnesssustainability and human rights many corners of global industries remainlargely unscrutinized and unaffected by these rule-making projects

As our case studies illustrate even as standards for fairness and sustain-ability have risen to prominence global industries have remained volatileand exploitative Certi1047297cation of sustainable forestry rose to prominencefrom 1048625104863310486331048629 to 1048626104862410486251048624 but so did illegal logging and deforestation worsenedin many places Te global apparel industry has come to be governed by

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numerous codes of conduct and factory monitoring initiatives but it hasalso continued to move quickly from one location to another in search oflow wages and more docile workers e rapid and inconsistent pace of the

global electronics industry has undermined aempts to improve workingconditions while rapidly changing agricultural markets have threatened thelivelihoods of many smallholder farmers

e puzzle of rules can be solved through an analysis of neoliberalism (seeBartley 1048626104862410486251048628a) but it also provokes a simple conclusion about the prospects forglobal fairness and sustainability global industries oen have contradictorytendencies so we should not expect either complete ldquogreenwashrdquoldquofairwashrdquo

or serious transformation Fair trade certi1047297cation has not transformed thelogic of commodity trade but it has improved conditions for some farmersin some circumstances FSC certi1047297cation has not made the timber trade sus-tainable but it has supported improvements in some forests As we developthese 1047297ndings (in part 1048626 of the book) we hope to speak not only to scholars ofconscientious consumerism but also to citizens and consumers themselvesConsumers oen want to feel like their purchases are ldquocleanrdquo of exploitation

but this is unrealistic We believe it would be more promising if consumers

shied from a deterministic to a probabilistic approach conscientious con-sumption may increase onersquos probability of contributing to improvementsand decrease the probability of contributing to the most extreme forms ofexploitation Tis does not answer the question of how large those prob-abilities are (which surely varies by product and label) or the question of howsigni1047297cant those improvements can be But only if consumers shi from anall-or-nothing view of ldquocleanrdquo versus ldquodirtyrdquo production (that is sustainable

versus destructive fair versus exploitative) can they come to an accurateunderstanding of what their purchases can and cannot achieve

983127 983144 983137983156 983116983145 983141 983155 983105 983144 983141 983137 983140

Part 1048625 of this book focuses on dynamics and dilemmas of conscientious con-sumerism In chapter 1048625 we look at why some American and European con-sumers are more likely than others to practice conscientious consumptionUsing survey data on thousands of individual consumers our quantitativeanalyses focus on factors that shape two forms of conscientious consump-tion boycoing and ldquobuycoingrdquo991252that is preferring a product for some po-

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litical or ethical reason Some paerns are related to consumersrsquo beliefs andthe extent to which they can afford to be choosy But individual differencesare only a small part of the story Where consumers are has a great deal to do

with whether they engage in conscientious consumption or not We thereforeconnect the individual survey responses with measures that capture nationaleconomic political and cultural contexts Overall this initial portrait showsthat conscientious consumption is widespread but far from universal withkey differences rooted not only in individual characteristics but in differentstructures of consumption as well

Having sketched some general paerns we delve deeper into the meanings

and implications of conscientious consumerism in chapter 1048626 Our analyses inchapter 1048625 are based on what consumers say they do but there are reasons todoubt that consumers will follow through on what they say or that what theysay truly captures the social meaning of their actions Yet we show that thereis evidence of consumers being wil ling to pay for eco-labels and social labelsConsumers are most likely to do so when their ldquoethicalrdquo choices also servetheir self-interest such as saving on energy costs or eating safer healthierfoods But even for those forms of conscientious consumption that have no

short-term direct bene1047297t for consumers there is mounting evidence thatsome consumers will pay more For labeling enthusiasts this is a good thingBut the ldquoone dollar one voterdquo logic of conscientious consumerism and thestatus-symbol character of some ldquoethicalrdquo products are potentially danger-ous in that they can exacerbate social economic and political inequalitiesamong consumers Moreover there is a danger that conscientious consumer-ism can displace other forms of political engagement promoting individual

consumerism at the expense of democratic citizenship and collective socialmovements Working through these debates we argue that conscientiousconsumerism as an ideology is regressive and counterproductive but speci1047297cpractices of conscientious consumption can sometimes be consistent withother forms of political engagement

Of course the real test of conscientious consumption comes at the pointof production To what extent do voluntary standards forged in response toconsumer concern make a difference ldquoon the groundrdquo in global industries

We tackle this question in part 1048626 of the book by looking at the global produc-tion of four types of products991252(1048625) wood and paper products (1048626) food (espe-cially the agri-food industry) (1048627) apparel and footwear and (1048628) electronics

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Each of these case studies is rooted in the interviews that we have conducted with local actors and other 1047297ne-grained information on the organization ofproduction ese chapters apply the framework sketched above (and a com-

mon organizational template) to allow for comparative insightsChapter 1048627 looks at the rise of forest certi1047297cation and its effects in the global

timber industry Like fair trade the FSC is one of the oldest and most es-tablished certi1047297cation and labeling initiatives It was founded more thantwenty years ago and it spurred a number of imitators and competitors Yetit is not well known among conscientious consumers and its impacts have

been far less than originally intended We trace the rise of forest certi1047297cation

with particular aention to the founders and constituents of the FSC andhow they leveraged the structure of the forest products industry to ldquomake amarketrdquo for certi1047297ed wood and paper Yet applying sustainability standardsto the production of some wood and paper products has barely influencedglobal deforestation A closer look at FSC certi1047297cation in the tropical forestsof Indonesia illustrates both the contradictions of certifying in a shiing andcontentious context and the limited ability of forest certi1047297cation to influencethe main drivers of deforestation

Next in chapter 1048628 we turn to agricultural production and the fairness andsustainability projects that have emerged in this seing Consumers aacha variety of meanings to food and the politics of food consumption has ex-ploded in the past decade In addition to sketching the structure of agri-foodproduction and consumption in general we focus on two types of rule-mak-ing projects fair trade certi1047297cation and an increasingly popular ldquocommod-ity roundtablerdquo approach Looking more closely at two crops991252sugar and

soy991252in one country Paraguay we are able to illustrate the consequences ofdifferent models of certi1047297cation and the crucial role of local context Globalfood politics are being layered onto preexisting institutional arrangementsand it is largely these institutional arrangements that determine whether cer-ti1047297cation is meaningful or not For instance fair trade certi1047297cation seems tomaer most when smallholder farmers are already organized into democrati-cally effective cooperatives or when local organizing al lows them to upgradetheir production capacities over time e contingent effects of conscientiousconsumption come into focus in this chapter

Chapter 1048629 considers how the rise of anti-sweatshop activism in the early1048625104863310486331048624s led to various aempts to monitor and improve working conditions inapparel and footwear factories A rough indication of how these initiatives

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have fared is provided by the occurrence of factory 1047297res in 1048626104862410486251048624ndash1048626104862410486251048627 and thedeath of more than eleven hundred garment workers in the 1048626104862410486251048627 collapse ofthe Rana Plaza building in Bangladesh Our chapter examines the constitu-

encies behind different factory auditing and certi1047297cation initiatives the waysstandards were implemented and the reasons why their effects have beenminimal e structure of apparel and footwear production in many wayscreated the demand for codes of conduct but the structure and the mobilityof the industry have undermined meaningful improvements Looking moreclosely at factories in China we show how aempts to certify particularfactories have fallen short In recent years several new projects to provide

ethical apparel have emerged but there remain few credible alternatives inthis industry

Finally chapter 983094 takes us into the fast-paced world of the electronics in-dustry where companies produce new models of smartphones laptops andother devices at breakneck speed Yet recently this industry has become afocus of aention for the exploitation of production workers especially aera series of worker suicides (and later strikes) at Foxconn factories in Chinaand mounting scrutiny of Foxconnrsquos buyer Apple Electronics brands have

also been accused of using ldquoconflict mineralsrdquo in the production of smart-phones e electronics industry is populated by well-capitalized companiesthat at times have demonstrated good intentions to make the labor processsafer and more humane Yet the industry has struggled to make improve-ments and 1047297nd tenable solutions We argue that the solution to this puzzlelies in the architecture of production and to a large extent ultimately in theorganization of electronics consumption is is a case in which conscien-

tious consumerism has been slow to develop and unreflective consumerismhas been a powerful constraint on signi1047297cant improvement Using detaileddata on factories producing for Hewle-Packard we show how the industrycontinues to demand extraordinarily ldquoflexiblerdquo labor markets and excessive

working hours in its factories in Southeast Asia We have tried to provide a sense of the complexity of these cases and set-

tings while still drawing out clear implications Along the way readers shouldget a clearer sense of the structure and operation of global value chains the

varied geographies of production and the circumscribed consequences ofeco-labels and social labels In a concluding chapter we compare our foursets of products and consider what has been learned

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become targets of activism which is typically the catalyst for rule-makingand conscientious consumption projects

Lead 1047297rms in global value chains especially when they are large and have

salient corporate reputations make aractive targets for social movements(Bartley and Child 1048626104862410486251048628) Industries that lack powerful and well-known brands tend to aract less scrutiny For instance the manufacturing of bricksespecially in developing countries is oen a highly polluting and exploit-ative industry But because there are not well-known global brands in thisindustry it has received lile international aention In other cases activistshave highlighted a problem but without powerful and recognizable brands

to link this to rule-making projects have not emerged e production ofcheap costume jewelry is rife with exploitation as shown in the documentary Mardi Gras Made in China but this has not become a site of extensive rulemaking and conscientious consumerism In some circumstances the exis-tence of large high-pro1047297le retailers can compensate for a more fragmentedor poorly known set of manufacturers Anti-GMO activists for instancehave pressured manufacturers like Monsanto by going through large retailerslike Marks amp Spencer (Schurman and Munro 1048626104862410486241048633) Our analysis of global

food distribution (in chapter 1048628) is consistent with this observation but italso suggests that the locus of consumer and activist pressure depends onthe speci1047297c product

When activists do press lead 1047297rms to make their supply chains fairer ormore sustainable the consequences seem to depend in part on the structureof that supply chain If suppliers can easily 1047297nd alternative buyers who are notdemanding changes991252that is if there are few suppliers and many buyers991252

they will have lile incentive to comply with a particular lead 1047297rmrsquos rulesGoing further by many accounts when lead 1047297rms have a great deal of powerover ldquocaptiverdquo suppliers they should be able to demand that those suppliersmake improvements (Mayer and Gereffi 1048626104862410486251048624) On the other hand someresearch has questioned whether this power is truly effective or whether itmerely spurs a game in which suppliers pretend to be making improvements(and lead 1047297rms nod in approval) (Locke Amengual and Mangla 1048626104862410486241048633) Wesuspect that the power of lead 1047297rms does make a difference but that moresigni1047297cant changes are possible when lead 1047297rms and suppliers are mutuallydependent and work together over long stretches of time (Our analysis ofthe apparel industry in chapter 1048629 though suggests that long-term collabora-tion is rare) In addition when global value chains are fairly simple in their

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structure without too many intermediaries this should make it easier forstandards to ldquotravelrdquo through them ere is a conundrum here howeversince it is oen in industries with a high degree of subcontracting (such as

apparel) that global standards are in the highest demand If global industries were dominated by vertically integrated 1047297rms rather than dispersed supplychains the world of conscientious consumerism would look quite differentFurthermore sometimes the lack of action by large lead 1047297rms can leave aspace for activists and entrepreneurs to carve out a small market niche basedon fairness or sustainability is is how fair tradendashcerti1047297ed coffee beganand some new projects appear to be emerging in electronics (Fairphone as

discussed in chapter 983094) and apparel (the Alta Gracia factory as discussed inchapter 1048629) Aer looking more closely at our four industries991252timber foodapparelfootwear and electronics991252we return to questions about industrystructure in the bookrsquos conclusion

Industry structures also maer for consumers As we show in the nextchapter opportunities to engage in conscientious consumption are just asimportant as motivations to do so and these opportunities depend in parton the structure of the retail sector in a particular country Generally we sug-

gest that having larger retailers will facilitate consumer purchases of eco- andsocial-labeled products In part this is simply because larger retailers offer a

wider array of choices overall991252that is different versions of the same prod-uct991252while smaller retailers offer fewer choices To be sure small stores canspecialize in ldquoalternativerdquo products and large stores can fail to carry themBut given the trend toward ldquomainstreamingrdquo of alternatives (see Jaffee 1048626104862410486251048626)large retailers have become key points of sale for eco- and social-labeled prod-

ucts Furthermore oligopoly in the retail sector991252the dominance of a smallnumber of large companies991252also seems to magnify the power of activiststo influence the market As Rachel Schurman and William Munro (1048626104862410486241048633)found the existence of a small number of large food retailer chains in the UKallowed the anti-GMO movement to flourish there while it foundered amidthe larger number of supermarket chains in the United States

Constituencies and Standards

Global standards for fairness and sustainability may sound universal butthey spring from the priorities of particular individuals and groups A cru-cial step in understanding these standards is to examine the founders of

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initiatives that make rules audit compliance and certify products as fair orsustainable Some such initiatives such as fair trade certi1047297cation originatedlargely with NGOs or others outside of the industry Others such as the

Electronics Industry Citizenship Coalition and the Sustainable ForestryInitiative were founded almost exclusively by industry associations or othergroups of companies oen in response to the actions of NGOs In betweenare a number of initiatives developed by coalitions of NGOs and companiesfrom the Forest Stewardship Council to Social Accountability InternationalFounders are not everything NGO-initiated programs can become watereddown as they are mainstreamed and industry-initiated programs oen

evolve into formally independent organizations Most programs seek cred-ibility by calling themselves ldquomulti-stakeholderrdquo initiatives We maintainhowever that founding constituencies leave deep imprints on the content ofstandards and on the distribution of power within rule-making initiativesRules can get ratcheted up or down over time but these are usually marginalrevisions to a core approach Furthermore even when initiatives becomeformally independent from the constituencies that created them informalties revolving doors and 1047297nancial contributions oen persist

Generally we expect that industry-initiated programs will have standardsthat depart in relatively small ways from the normal practices of the indus-try Companies may want to improve labor conditions or environmentalperformance of their suppliers but they will be loath to push so far as todisrupt production or force a major change in their sourcing practices As aresult the greater the influence of companies in the founding of an initiativethe more likely it is to use either a ldquobest in classrdquo approach or a ldquocontinuous

improvementrdquo approach In the 1047297rst companies are recognized (throughcerti1047297cation or other endorsement) for demonstrating that they are aboveaverage in their industry is oen skirts the issue of whether they meeta stringent de1047297nition of a 1047297xed standard As Sco Nova (1048626104862410486251048625) has noted aldquobest in classrdquo model is like grading on a curve even if average performanceis quite low e second approach allows companies to start with a relativelylax standard and encourage gradual improvement over time852019

When industry outsiders have power in the initial design standard-seinginitiatives should look somewhat different First their standards are likely todepart more substantially from normal practices in the industry to a greateror lesser degree depending on the power of these outsiders Second these

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initiatives are more likely though certainly not guaranteed to endorse analternative model of production rather than to just reward the best in class orpush for continuous improvement Fair trade certi1047297cation and its emphasis

on democratically managed producer cooperatives (as described in chap-ter 1048628) is the clearest example of this ird and because of this initiativesspawned by outsiders are likely to either remain small or face dilemmas ofmainstreaming as they grow If they seek a large market presence ldquoalterna-tiverdquo programs will inevitably become more dependent on large companiese result may be a watering down of standards although as the case of theFSC shows (in chapter 1048627) this can be counteracted to some degree

For most products there are multiple competing aempts to de1047297ne fair-ness and sustainability For instance there are several ways of certifying thefairness and sustainability of coffee or of assessing the labor conditions ofapparel companies852020 Usually this competition reflects the struggle betweencompanies and NGOs Some scholars believe that such competition dooms

voluntary initiatives since it confuses consumers and lets companies choosetheir own standards (Seidman 1048626104862410486241048631) Others believe that it strengthens gov-ernance by spurring a ldquoratcheting uprdquo of expectations (Sabel OrsquoRourke and

Fung 1048626104862410486241048624) Our analysis of four global industries suggests that different setsof standards can oen coexist not exactly peacefully but with moderateinteraction or in different market niches Competition is inevitable but itseems to neither doom nor guarantee meaningful standards for fairness andsustainability It must be noted that initiatives that began with high bars991252namely Fair Trade and the FSC991252have not been pushed out of the market

by their competitors

Localized Globalisms and Globalized Localisms

Specifying links between ldquothe globalrdquo and ldquothe localrdquo has proven difficultand scholars have oen fallen prey to two types of conceptual dangers Firstin focusing on the global diffusion of a given idea or norm some have por-trayed domestic seings as lile more than passive receivers of a global proj-ect e language of domestic seings as ldquoreceptor sitesrdquo for global models(Frank Hironaka and Schofer 1048626104862410486241048624) is one example of this Pinpointingthis problem researchers are increasingly focusing on how local actors ap-propriate and ldquoindigenizerdquo global models to make them useful or meaningful

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(Halliday and Carruthers 1048626104862410486241048633 Merry 104862610486241048624983094) Second scholars of globaliza-tion oen equate the global with universalism (and oen progress) and thelocal with particularism (and oen backwardness) In so doing scholars

uncritically accept the most dominant model as ldquothe globalrdquo and obscure thepower that was exercised to establish its dominance

To deal with these problems we adopt Bonaventura de Santosrsquos language ofldquoglobalized localismsrdquo and ldquo localized globalismsrdquo (Santos 104862610486241048624983094 Santos andRodriacuteguez Garavito 1048626104862410486241048629) e 1047297rst refers to a process in which a particularis-tic set of ideas and practices becomes a dominant global norm Santos (104862610486241048624983094)provides examples such as ldquothe transformation of the English language into

a lingua franca the globalization of American fast food or popular music orthe worldwide adoption of the same laws of intellectual ownership patentsor telecommunications aggressively promoted by the USArdquo (10486271048633983094) For ourpurpose the key issue is how particular understandings of rights rules andenforcement have become institutionalized as global norms Concretely thenotion of a ldquoglobalized localismrdquo sensitizes us to processes by which particu-lar sets of reformers (NGOs companies or others) have turned their projectsinto ldquoglobalrdquo standards for fairness and sustainability Our point is not to

join the chorus that argues that ldquoWesternrdquo standards are being illegitimatelyforced on people and companies elsewhere ere have long been calls fordecent work and responsible natural resource management in many differ-ent parts of the world But the global standards supported by conscientiousconsumers in North A merica and Europe embody particular approaches tothese issues

e second concept ldquolocalized globalismrdquo refers to the incorporation of

these global models into local routines and expectations e concept sen-sitizes us to the work involved in turning global standards for fairness andsustainability into a concrete practice in a factory forest or farm in someparticular location As we have noted scholars too oen portray these sites asempty spaces We believe it is preferable to start from the opposite premisethat sites of implementation are crowded with different actors and agendasonly some of which are likely to line up with global standard-seing initia-tives Some elements of global standards are easily incorporated into localpractices while others are 1047297ercely resisted But a recognition of localizedglobalisms also has methodological implications It is rare for researchersto actually study these locations in detail It is easier to conduct distant and

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decontextualized studies of CSR or to focus only on the creation of standardsrather than their local implementation Our analyses of the global timberagricultural apparel and electronics industries include aention to speci1047297c

locations from the sugarcane farms of Paraguay to the electronics factoriesof Malaysia

Te Puzzle of Rules Rule Making and the Persistence of Unruliness

One can beer understand conscientious consumption and production proj-ects by recognizing what Tim Bartley (1048626104862410486251048628a) has called the ldquopuzzle of rulesrdquo

in the global economy simply put global capitalism can be ldquounrulyrdquo but italso generates many rule-making projects

e expansion of global markets has facilitated a number of rule-makingprojects from the standardization of accounting procedures to the rules forfairness and sustainability discussed in this book e volume of rule making

by both public and private actors has increased over the past three decadesMany scholars have pointed to these trends as evidence that global capitalismis not manic or ungovernable as it was initially framed Marie-Laure Djelic

and Kerstin Sahlin-Andersson (104862610486241048624983094) argue that ldquothe proliferation of regu-latory activities actors networks or constellations leads to an explosion ofrules and to the profound re-ordering of our worldrdquo (1048625) and they see globalcapitalism as ldquomarked by more991252not less991252rule-making activityrdquo (10486271048631983094)

On the other hand the explosion of rule making has oen been gearedtoward the expansion of markets rather than their restriction and in manyrespects global capitalism has remained unruly In many industries invest-

ment and orders can and do move quickly across locations oen under-mining aempts to impose rules Even more socially controlled European

varieties of capitalism have had their foundations chipped away (Streeck1048626104862410486241048633) Furthermore for all of the efforts of NGOs to build rules for fairnesssustainability and human rights many corners of global industries remainlargely unscrutinized and unaffected by these rule-making projects

As our case studies illustrate even as standards for fairness and sustain-ability have risen to prominence global industries have remained volatileand exploitative Certi1047297cation of sustainable forestry rose to prominencefrom 1048625104863310486331048629 to 1048626104862410486251048624 but so did illegal logging and deforestation worsenedin many places Te global apparel industry has come to be governed by

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numerous codes of conduct and factory monitoring initiatives but it hasalso continued to move quickly from one location to another in search oflow wages and more docile workers e rapid and inconsistent pace of the

global electronics industry has undermined aempts to improve workingconditions while rapidly changing agricultural markets have threatened thelivelihoods of many smallholder farmers

e puzzle of rules can be solved through an analysis of neoliberalism (seeBartley 1048626104862410486251048628a) but it also provokes a simple conclusion about the prospects forglobal fairness and sustainability global industries oen have contradictorytendencies so we should not expect either complete ldquogreenwashrdquoldquofairwashrdquo

or serious transformation Fair trade certi1047297cation has not transformed thelogic of commodity trade but it has improved conditions for some farmersin some circumstances FSC certi1047297cation has not made the timber trade sus-tainable but it has supported improvements in some forests As we developthese 1047297ndings (in part 1048626 of the book) we hope to speak not only to scholars ofconscientious consumerism but also to citizens and consumers themselvesConsumers oen want to feel like their purchases are ldquocleanrdquo of exploitation

but this is unrealistic We believe it would be more promising if consumers

shied from a deterministic to a probabilistic approach conscientious con-sumption may increase onersquos probability of contributing to improvementsand decrease the probability of contributing to the most extreme forms ofexploitation Tis does not answer the question of how large those prob-abilities are (which surely varies by product and label) or the question of howsigni1047297cant those improvements can be But only if consumers shi from anall-or-nothing view of ldquocleanrdquo versus ldquodirtyrdquo production (that is sustainable

versus destructive fair versus exploitative) can they come to an accurateunderstanding of what their purchases can and cannot achieve

983127 983144 983137983156 983116983145 983141 983155 983105 983144 983141 983137 983140

Part 1048625 of this book focuses on dynamics and dilemmas of conscientious con-sumerism In chapter 1048625 we look at why some American and European con-sumers are more likely than others to practice conscientious consumptionUsing survey data on thousands of individual consumers our quantitativeanalyses focus on factors that shape two forms of conscientious consump-tion boycoing and ldquobuycoingrdquo991252that is preferring a product for some po-

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litical or ethical reason Some paerns are related to consumersrsquo beliefs andthe extent to which they can afford to be choosy But individual differencesare only a small part of the story Where consumers are has a great deal to do

with whether they engage in conscientious consumption or not We thereforeconnect the individual survey responses with measures that capture nationaleconomic political and cultural contexts Overall this initial portrait showsthat conscientious consumption is widespread but far from universal withkey differences rooted not only in individual characteristics but in differentstructures of consumption as well

Having sketched some general paerns we delve deeper into the meanings

and implications of conscientious consumerism in chapter 1048626 Our analyses inchapter 1048625 are based on what consumers say they do but there are reasons todoubt that consumers will follow through on what they say or that what theysay truly captures the social meaning of their actions Yet we show that thereis evidence of consumers being wil ling to pay for eco-labels and social labelsConsumers are most likely to do so when their ldquoethicalrdquo choices also servetheir self-interest such as saving on energy costs or eating safer healthierfoods But even for those forms of conscientious consumption that have no

short-term direct bene1047297t for consumers there is mounting evidence thatsome consumers will pay more For labeling enthusiasts this is a good thingBut the ldquoone dollar one voterdquo logic of conscientious consumerism and thestatus-symbol character of some ldquoethicalrdquo products are potentially danger-ous in that they can exacerbate social economic and political inequalitiesamong consumers Moreover there is a danger that conscientious consumer-ism can displace other forms of political engagement promoting individual

consumerism at the expense of democratic citizenship and collective socialmovements Working through these debates we argue that conscientiousconsumerism as an ideology is regressive and counterproductive but speci1047297cpractices of conscientious consumption can sometimes be consistent withother forms of political engagement

Of course the real test of conscientious consumption comes at the pointof production To what extent do voluntary standards forged in response toconsumer concern make a difference ldquoon the groundrdquo in global industries

We tackle this question in part 1048626 of the book by looking at the global produc-tion of four types of products991252(1048625) wood and paper products (1048626) food (espe-cially the agri-food industry) (1048627) apparel and footwear and (1048628) electronics

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Each of these case studies is rooted in the interviews that we have conducted with local actors and other 1047297ne-grained information on the organization ofproduction ese chapters apply the framework sketched above (and a com-

mon organizational template) to allow for comparative insightsChapter 1048627 looks at the rise of forest certi1047297cation and its effects in the global

timber industry Like fair trade the FSC is one of the oldest and most es-tablished certi1047297cation and labeling initiatives It was founded more thantwenty years ago and it spurred a number of imitators and competitors Yetit is not well known among conscientious consumers and its impacts have

been far less than originally intended We trace the rise of forest certi1047297cation

with particular aention to the founders and constituents of the FSC andhow they leveraged the structure of the forest products industry to ldquomake amarketrdquo for certi1047297ed wood and paper Yet applying sustainability standardsto the production of some wood and paper products has barely influencedglobal deforestation A closer look at FSC certi1047297cation in the tropical forestsof Indonesia illustrates both the contradictions of certifying in a shiing andcontentious context and the limited ability of forest certi1047297cation to influencethe main drivers of deforestation

Next in chapter 1048628 we turn to agricultural production and the fairness andsustainability projects that have emerged in this seing Consumers aacha variety of meanings to food and the politics of food consumption has ex-ploded in the past decade In addition to sketching the structure of agri-foodproduction and consumption in general we focus on two types of rule-mak-ing projects fair trade certi1047297cation and an increasingly popular ldquocommod-ity roundtablerdquo approach Looking more closely at two crops991252sugar and

soy991252in one country Paraguay we are able to illustrate the consequences ofdifferent models of certi1047297cation and the crucial role of local context Globalfood politics are being layered onto preexisting institutional arrangementsand it is largely these institutional arrangements that determine whether cer-ti1047297cation is meaningful or not For instance fair trade certi1047297cation seems tomaer most when smallholder farmers are already organized into democrati-cally effective cooperatives or when local organizing al lows them to upgradetheir production capacities over time e contingent effects of conscientiousconsumption come into focus in this chapter

Chapter 1048629 considers how the rise of anti-sweatshop activism in the early1048625104863310486331048624s led to various aempts to monitor and improve working conditions inapparel and footwear factories A rough indication of how these initiatives

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have fared is provided by the occurrence of factory 1047297res in 1048626104862410486251048624ndash1048626104862410486251048627 and thedeath of more than eleven hundred garment workers in the 1048626104862410486251048627 collapse ofthe Rana Plaza building in Bangladesh Our chapter examines the constitu-

encies behind different factory auditing and certi1047297cation initiatives the waysstandards were implemented and the reasons why their effects have beenminimal e structure of apparel and footwear production in many wayscreated the demand for codes of conduct but the structure and the mobilityof the industry have undermined meaningful improvements Looking moreclosely at factories in China we show how aempts to certify particularfactories have fallen short In recent years several new projects to provide

ethical apparel have emerged but there remain few credible alternatives inthis industry

Finally chapter 983094 takes us into the fast-paced world of the electronics in-dustry where companies produce new models of smartphones laptops andother devices at breakneck speed Yet recently this industry has become afocus of aention for the exploitation of production workers especially aera series of worker suicides (and later strikes) at Foxconn factories in Chinaand mounting scrutiny of Foxconnrsquos buyer Apple Electronics brands have

also been accused of using ldquoconflict mineralsrdquo in the production of smart-phones e electronics industry is populated by well-capitalized companiesthat at times have demonstrated good intentions to make the labor processsafer and more humane Yet the industry has struggled to make improve-ments and 1047297nd tenable solutions We argue that the solution to this puzzlelies in the architecture of production and to a large extent ultimately in theorganization of electronics consumption is is a case in which conscien-

tious consumerism has been slow to develop and unreflective consumerismhas been a powerful constraint on signi1047297cant improvement Using detaileddata on factories producing for Hewle-Packard we show how the industrycontinues to demand extraordinarily ldquoflexiblerdquo labor markets and excessive

working hours in its factories in Southeast Asia We have tried to provide a sense of the complexity of these cases and set-

tings while still drawing out clear implications Along the way readers shouldget a clearer sense of the structure and operation of global value chains the

varied geographies of production and the circumscribed consequences ofeco-labels and social labels In a concluding chapter we compare our foursets of products and consider what has been learned

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10486261048629983113983150983156983154983151983140983157983139983156983145983151983150

structure without too many intermediaries this should make it easier forstandards to ldquotravelrdquo through them ere is a conundrum here howeversince it is oen in industries with a high degree of subcontracting (such as

apparel) that global standards are in the highest demand If global industries were dominated by vertically integrated 1047297rms rather than dispersed supplychains the world of conscientious consumerism would look quite differentFurthermore sometimes the lack of action by large lead 1047297rms can leave aspace for activists and entrepreneurs to carve out a small market niche basedon fairness or sustainability is is how fair tradendashcerti1047297ed coffee beganand some new projects appear to be emerging in electronics (Fairphone as

discussed in chapter 983094) and apparel (the Alta Gracia factory as discussed inchapter 1048629) Aer looking more closely at our four industries991252timber foodapparelfootwear and electronics991252we return to questions about industrystructure in the bookrsquos conclusion

Industry structures also maer for consumers As we show in the nextchapter opportunities to engage in conscientious consumption are just asimportant as motivations to do so and these opportunities depend in parton the structure of the retail sector in a particular country Generally we sug-

gest that having larger retailers will facilitate consumer purchases of eco- andsocial-labeled products In part this is simply because larger retailers offer a

wider array of choices overall991252that is different versions of the same prod-uct991252while smaller retailers offer fewer choices To be sure small stores canspecialize in ldquoalternativerdquo products and large stores can fail to carry themBut given the trend toward ldquomainstreamingrdquo of alternatives (see Jaffee 1048626104862410486251048626)large retailers have become key points of sale for eco- and social-labeled prod-

ucts Furthermore oligopoly in the retail sector991252the dominance of a smallnumber of large companies991252also seems to magnify the power of activiststo influence the market As Rachel Schurman and William Munro (1048626104862410486241048633)found the existence of a small number of large food retailer chains in the UKallowed the anti-GMO movement to flourish there while it foundered amidthe larger number of supermarket chains in the United States

Constituencies and Standards

Global standards for fairness and sustainability may sound universal butthey spring from the priorities of particular individuals and groups A cru-cial step in understanding these standards is to examine the founders of

892019 Looking behind the Label (excerpt)

httpslidepdfcomreaderfulllooking-behind-the-label-excerpt 2835

1048626983094 983116983151983151983147983145983150983143 983138983141983144983145983150983140 983156983144983141 983116983137983138983141983148

initiatives that make rules audit compliance and certify products as fair orsustainable Some such initiatives such as fair trade certi1047297cation originatedlargely with NGOs or others outside of the industry Others such as the

Electronics Industry Citizenship Coalition and the Sustainable ForestryInitiative were founded almost exclusively by industry associations or othergroups of companies oen in response to the actions of NGOs In betweenare a number of initiatives developed by coalitions of NGOs and companiesfrom the Forest Stewardship Council to Social Accountability InternationalFounders are not everything NGO-initiated programs can become watereddown as they are mainstreamed and industry-initiated programs oen

evolve into formally independent organizations Most programs seek cred-ibility by calling themselves ldquomulti-stakeholderrdquo initiatives We maintainhowever that founding constituencies leave deep imprints on the content ofstandards and on the distribution of power within rule-making initiativesRules can get ratcheted up or down over time but these are usually marginalrevisions to a core approach Furthermore even when initiatives becomeformally independent from the constituencies that created them informalties revolving doors and 1047297nancial contributions oen persist

Generally we expect that industry-initiated programs will have standardsthat depart in relatively small ways from the normal practices of the indus-try Companies may want to improve labor conditions or environmentalperformance of their suppliers but they will be loath to push so far as todisrupt production or force a major change in their sourcing practices As aresult the greater the influence of companies in the founding of an initiativethe more likely it is to use either a ldquobest in classrdquo approach or a ldquocontinuous

improvementrdquo approach In the 1047297rst companies are recognized (throughcerti1047297cation or other endorsement) for demonstrating that they are aboveaverage in their industry is oen skirts the issue of whether they meeta stringent de1047297nition of a 1047297xed standard As Sco Nova (1048626104862410486251048625) has noted aldquobest in classrdquo model is like grading on a curve even if average performanceis quite low e second approach allows companies to start with a relativelylax standard and encourage gradual improvement over time852019

When industry outsiders have power in the initial design standard-seinginitiatives should look somewhat different First their standards are likely todepart more substantially from normal practices in the industry to a greateror lesser degree depending on the power of these outsiders Second these

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initiatives are more likely though certainly not guaranteed to endorse analternative model of production rather than to just reward the best in class orpush for continuous improvement Fair trade certi1047297cation and its emphasis

on democratically managed producer cooperatives (as described in chap-ter 1048628) is the clearest example of this ird and because of this initiativesspawned by outsiders are likely to either remain small or face dilemmas ofmainstreaming as they grow If they seek a large market presence ldquoalterna-tiverdquo programs will inevitably become more dependent on large companiese result may be a watering down of standards although as the case of theFSC shows (in chapter 1048627) this can be counteracted to some degree

For most products there are multiple competing aempts to de1047297ne fair-ness and sustainability For instance there are several ways of certifying thefairness and sustainability of coffee or of assessing the labor conditions ofapparel companies852020 Usually this competition reflects the struggle betweencompanies and NGOs Some scholars believe that such competition dooms

voluntary initiatives since it confuses consumers and lets companies choosetheir own standards (Seidman 1048626104862410486241048631) Others believe that it strengthens gov-ernance by spurring a ldquoratcheting uprdquo of expectations (Sabel OrsquoRourke and

Fung 1048626104862410486241048624) Our analysis of four global industries suggests that different setsof standards can oen coexist not exactly peacefully but with moderateinteraction or in different market niches Competition is inevitable but itseems to neither doom nor guarantee meaningful standards for fairness andsustainability It must be noted that initiatives that began with high bars991252namely Fair Trade and the FSC991252have not been pushed out of the market

by their competitors

Localized Globalisms and Globalized Localisms

Specifying links between ldquothe globalrdquo and ldquothe localrdquo has proven difficultand scholars have oen fallen prey to two types of conceptual dangers Firstin focusing on the global diffusion of a given idea or norm some have por-trayed domestic seings as lile more than passive receivers of a global proj-ect e language of domestic seings as ldquoreceptor sitesrdquo for global models(Frank Hironaka and Schofer 1048626104862410486241048624) is one example of this Pinpointingthis problem researchers are increasingly focusing on how local actors ap-propriate and ldquoindigenizerdquo global models to make them useful or meaningful

892019 Looking behind the Label (excerpt)

httpslidepdfcomreaderfulllooking-behind-the-label-excerpt 3035

10486261048632 983116983151983151983147983145983150983143 983138983141983144983145983150983140 983156983144983141 983116983137983138983141983148

(Halliday and Carruthers 1048626104862410486241048633 Merry 104862610486241048624983094) Second scholars of globaliza-tion oen equate the global with universalism (and oen progress) and thelocal with particularism (and oen backwardness) In so doing scholars

uncritically accept the most dominant model as ldquothe globalrdquo and obscure thepower that was exercised to establish its dominance

To deal with these problems we adopt Bonaventura de Santosrsquos language ofldquoglobalized localismsrdquo and ldquo localized globalismsrdquo (Santos 104862610486241048624983094 Santos andRodriacuteguez Garavito 1048626104862410486241048629) e 1047297rst refers to a process in which a particularis-tic set of ideas and practices becomes a dominant global norm Santos (104862610486241048624983094)provides examples such as ldquothe transformation of the English language into

a lingua franca the globalization of American fast food or popular music orthe worldwide adoption of the same laws of intellectual ownership patentsor telecommunications aggressively promoted by the USArdquo (10486271048633983094) For ourpurpose the key issue is how particular understandings of rights rules andenforcement have become institutionalized as global norms Concretely thenotion of a ldquoglobalized localismrdquo sensitizes us to processes by which particu-lar sets of reformers (NGOs companies or others) have turned their projectsinto ldquoglobalrdquo standards for fairness and sustainability Our point is not to

join the chorus that argues that ldquoWesternrdquo standards are being illegitimatelyforced on people and companies elsewhere ere have long been calls fordecent work and responsible natural resource management in many differ-ent parts of the world But the global standards supported by conscientiousconsumers in North A merica and Europe embody particular approaches tothese issues

e second concept ldquolocalized globalismrdquo refers to the incorporation of

these global models into local routines and expectations e concept sen-sitizes us to the work involved in turning global standards for fairness andsustainability into a concrete practice in a factory forest or farm in someparticular location As we have noted scholars too oen portray these sites asempty spaces We believe it is preferable to start from the opposite premisethat sites of implementation are crowded with different actors and agendasonly some of which are likely to line up with global standard-seing initia-tives Some elements of global standards are easily incorporated into localpractices while others are 1047297ercely resisted But a recognition of localizedglobalisms also has methodological implications It is rare for researchersto actually study these locations in detail It is easier to conduct distant and

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10486261048633983113983150983156983154983151983140983157983139983156983145983151983150

decontextualized studies of CSR or to focus only on the creation of standardsrather than their local implementation Our analyses of the global timberagricultural apparel and electronics industries include aention to speci1047297c

locations from the sugarcane farms of Paraguay to the electronics factoriesof Malaysia

Te Puzzle of Rules Rule Making and the Persistence of Unruliness

One can beer understand conscientious consumption and production proj-ects by recognizing what Tim Bartley (1048626104862410486251048628a) has called the ldquopuzzle of rulesrdquo

in the global economy simply put global capitalism can be ldquounrulyrdquo but italso generates many rule-making projects

e expansion of global markets has facilitated a number of rule-makingprojects from the standardization of accounting procedures to the rules forfairness and sustainability discussed in this book e volume of rule making

by both public and private actors has increased over the past three decadesMany scholars have pointed to these trends as evidence that global capitalismis not manic or ungovernable as it was initially framed Marie-Laure Djelic

and Kerstin Sahlin-Andersson (104862610486241048624983094) argue that ldquothe proliferation of regu-latory activities actors networks or constellations leads to an explosion ofrules and to the profound re-ordering of our worldrdquo (1048625) and they see globalcapitalism as ldquomarked by more991252not less991252rule-making activityrdquo (10486271048631983094)

On the other hand the explosion of rule making has oen been gearedtoward the expansion of markets rather than their restriction and in manyrespects global capitalism has remained unruly In many industries invest-

ment and orders can and do move quickly across locations oen under-mining aempts to impose rules Even more socially controlled European

varieties of capitalism have had their foundations chipped away (Streeck1048626104862410486241048633) Furthermore for all of the efforts of NGOs to build rules for fairnesssustainability and human rights many corners of global industries remainlargely unscrutinized and unaffected by these rule-making projects

As our case studies illustrate even as standards for fairness and sustain-ability have risen to prominence global industries have remained volatileand exploitative Certi1047297cation of sustainable forestry rose to prominencefrom 1048625104863310486331048629 to 1048626104862410486251048624 but so did illegal logging and deforestation worsenedin many places Te global apparel industry has come to be governed by

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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulllooking-behind-the-label-excerpt 3235

10486271048624 983116983151983151983147983145983150983143 983138983141983144983145983150983140 983156983144983141 983116983137983138983141983148

numerous codes of conduct and factory monitoring initiatives but it hasalso continued to move quickly from one location to another in search oflow wages and more docile workers e rapid and inconsistent pace of the

global electronics industry has undermined aempts to improve workingconditions while rapidly changing agricultural markets have threatened thelivelihoods of many smallholder farmers

e puzzle of rules can be solved through an analysis of neoliberalism (seeBartley 1048626104862410486251048628a) but it also provokes a simple conclusion about the prospects forglobal fairness and sustainability global industries oen have contradictorytendencies so we should not expect either complete ldquogreenwashrdquoldquofairwashrdquo

or serious transformation Fair trade certi1047297cation has not transformed thelogic of commodity trade but it has improved conditions for some farmersin some circumstances FSC certi1047297cation has not made the timber trade sus-tainable but it has supported improvements in some forests As we developthese 1047297ndings (in part 1048626 of the book) we hope to speak not only to scholars ofconscientious consumerism but also to citizens and consumers themselvesConsumers oen want to feel like their purchases are ldquocleanrdquo of exploitation

but this is unrealistic We believe it would be more promising if consumers

shied from a deterministic to a probabilistic approach conscientious con-sumption may increase onersquos probability of contributing to improvementsand decrease the probability of contributing to the most extreme forms ofexploitation Tis does not answer the question of how large those prob-abilities are (which surely varies by product and label) or the question of howsigni1047297cant those improvements can be But only if consumers shi from anall-or-nothing view of ldquocleanrdquo versus ldquodirtyrdquo production (that is sustainable

versus destructive fair versus exploitative) can they come to an accurateunderstanding of what their purchases can and cannot achieve

983127 983144 983137983156 983116983145 983141 983155 983105 983144 983141 983137 983140

Part 1048625 of this book focuses on dynamics and dilemmas of conscientious con-sumerism In chapter 1048625 we look at why some American and European con-sumers are more likely than others to practice conscientious consumptionUsing survey data on thousands of individual consumers our quantitativeanalyses focus on factors that shape two forms of conscientious consump-tion boycoing and ldquobuycoingrdquo991252that is preferring a product for some po-

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litical or ethical reason Some paerns are related to consumersrsquo beliefs andthe extent to which they can afford to be choosy But individual differencesare only a small part of the story Where consumers are has a great deal to do

with whether they engage in conscientious consumption or not We thereforeconnect the individual survey responses with measures that capture nationaleconomic political and cultural contexts Overall this initial portrait showsthat conscientious consumption is widespread but far from universal withkey differences rooted not only in individual characteristics but in differentstructures of consumption as well

Having sketched some general paerns we delve deeper into the meanings

and implications of conscientious consumerism in chapter 1048626 Our analyses inchapter 1048625 are based on what consumers say they do but there are reasons todoubt that consumers will follow through on what they say or that what theysay truly captures the social meaning of their actions Yet we show that thereis evidence of consumers being wil ling to pay for eco-labels and social labelsConsumers are most likely to do so when their ldquoethicalrdquo choices also servetheir self-interest such as saving on energy costs or eating safer healthierfoods But even for those forms of conscientious consumption that have no

short-term direct bene1047297t for consumers there is mounting evidence thatsome consumers will pay more For labeling enthusiasts this is a good thingBut the ldquoone dollar one voterdquo logic of conscientious consumerism and thestatus-symbol character of some ldquoethicalrdquo products are potentially danger-ous in that they can exacerbate social economic and political inequalitiesamong consumers Moreover there is a danger that conscientious consumer-ism can displace other forms of political engagement promoting individual

consumerism at the expense of democratic citizenship and collective socialmovements Working through these debates we argue that conscientiousconsumerism as an ideology is regressive and counterproductive but speci1047297cpractices of conscientious consumption can sometimes be consistent withother forms of political engagement

Of course the real test of conscientious consumption comes at the pointof production To what extent do voluntary standards forged in response toconsumer concern make a difference ldquoon the groundrdquo in global industries

We tackle this question in part 1048626 of the book by looking at the global produc-tion of four types of products991252(1048625) wood and paper products (1048626) food (espe-cially the agri-food industry) (1048627) apparel and footwear and (1048628) electronics

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10486271048626 983116983151983151983147983145983150983143 983138983141983144983145983150983140 983156983144983141 983116983137983138983141983148

Each of these case studies is rooted in the interviews that we have conducted with local actors and other 1047297ne-grained information on the organization ofproduction ese chapters apply the framework sketched above (and a com-

mon organizational template) to allow for comparative insightsChapter 1048627 looks at the rise of forest certi1047297cation and its effects in the global

timber industry Like fair trade the FSC is one of the oldest and most es-tablished certi1047297cation and labeling initiatives It was founded more thantwenty years ago and it spurred a number of imitators and competitors Yetit is not well known among conscientious consumers and its impacts have

been far less than originally intended We trace the rise of forest certi1047297cation

with particular aention to the founders and constituents of the FSC andhow they leveraged the structure of the forest products industry to ldquomake amarketrdquo for certi1047297ed wood and paper Yet applying sustainability standardsto the production of some wood and paper products has barely influencedglobal deforestation A closer look at FSC certi1047297cation in the tropical forestsof Indonesia illustrates both the contradictions of certifying in a shiing andcontentious context and the limited ability of forest certi1047297cation to influencethe main drivers of deforestation

Next in chapter 1048628 we turn to agricultural production and the fairness andsustainability projects that have emerged in this seing Consumers aacha variety of meanings to food and the politics of food consumption has ex-ploded in the past decade In addition to sketching the structure of agri-foodproduction and consumption in general we focus on two types of rule-mak-ing projects fair trade certi1047297cation and an increasingly popular ldquocommod-ity roundtablerdquo approach Looking more closely at two crops991252sugar and

soy991252in one country Paraguay we are able to illustrate the consequences ofdifferent models of certi1047297cation and the crucial role of local context Globalfood politics are being layered onto preexisting institutional arrangementsand it is largely these institutional arrangements that determine whether cer-ti1047297cation is meaningful or not For instance fair trade certi1047297cation seems tomaer most when smallholder farmers are already organized into democrati-cally effective cooperatives or when local organizing al lows them to upgradetheir production capacities over time e contingent effects of conscientiousconsumption come into focus in this chapter

Chapter 1048629 considers how the rise of anti-sweatshop activism in the early1048625104863310486331048624s led to various aempts to monitor and improve working conditions inapparel and footwear factories A rough indication of how these initiatives

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10486271048627983113983150983156983154983151983140983157983139983156983145983151983150

have fared is provided by the occurrence of factory 1047297res in 1048626104862410486251048624ndash1048626104862410486251048627 and thedeath of more than eleven hundred garment workers in the 1048626104862410486251048627 collapse ofthe Rana Plaza building in Bangladesh Our chapter examines the constitu-

encies behind different factory auditing and certi1047297cation initiatives the waysstandards were implemented and the reasons why their effects have beenminimal e structure of apparel and footwear production in many wayscreated the demand for codes of conduct but the structure and the mobilityof the industry have undermined meaningful improvements Looking moreclosely at factories in China we show how aempts to certify particularfactories have fallen short In recent years several new projects to provide

ethical apparel have emerged but there remain few credible alternatives inthis industry

Finally chapter 983094 takes us into the fast-paced world of the electronics in-dustry where companies produce new models of smartphones laptops andother devices at breakneck speed Yet recently this industry has become afocus of aention for the exploitation of production workers especially aera series of worker suicides (and later strikes) at Foxconn factories in Chinaand mounting scrutiny of Foxconnrsquos buyer Apple Electronics brands have

also been accused of using ldquoconflict mineralsrdquo in the production of smart-phones e electronics industry is populated by well-capitalized companiesthat at times have demonstrated good intentions to make the labor processsafer and more humane Yet the industry has struggled to make improve-ments and 1047297nd tenable solutions We argue that the solution to this puzzlelies in the architecture of production and to a large extent ultimately in theorganization of electronics consumption is is a case in which conscien-

tious consumerism has been slow to develop and unreflective consumerismhas been a powerful constraint on signi1047297cant improvement Using detaileddata on factories producing for Hewle-Packard we show how the industrycontinues to demand extraordinarily ldquoflexiblerdquo labor markets and excessive

working hours in its factories in Southeast Asia We have tried to provide a sense of the complexity of these cases and set-

tings while still drawing out clear implications Along the way readers shouldget a clearer sense of the structure and operation of global value chains the

varied geographies of production and the circumscribed consequences ofeco-labels and social labels In a concluding chapter we compare our foursets of products and consider what has been learned

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1048626983094 983116983151983151983147983145983150983143 983138983141983144983145983150983140 983156983144983141 983116983137983138983141983148

initiatives that make rules audit compliance and certify products as fair orsustainable Some such initiatives such as fair trade certi1047297cation originatedlargely with NGOs or others outside of the industry Others such as the

Electronics Industry Citizenship Coalition and the Sustainable ForestryInitiative were founded almost exclusively by industry associations or othergroups of companies oen in response to the actions of NGOs In betweenare a number of initiatives developed by coalitions of NGOs and companiesfrom the Forest Stewardship Council to Social Accountability InternationalFounders are not everything NGO-initiated programs can become watereddown as they are mainstreamed and industry-initiated programs oen

evolve into formally independent organizations Most programs seek cred-ibility by calling themselves ldquomulti-stakeholderrdquo initiatives We maintainhowever that founding constituencies leave deep imprints on the content ofstandards and on the distribution of power within rule-making initiativesRules can get ratcheted up or down over time but these are usually marginalrevisions to a core approach Furthermore even when initiatives becomeformally independent from the constituencies that created them informalties revolving doors and 1047297nancial contributions oen persist

Generally we expect that industry-initiated programs will have standardsthat depart in relatively small ways from the normal practices of the indus-try Companies may want to improve labor conditions or environmentalperformance of their suppliers but they will be loath to push so far as todisrupt production or force a major change in their sourcing practices As aresult the greater the influence of companies in the founding of an initiativethe more likely it is to use either a ldquobest in classrdquo approach or a ldquocontinuous

improvementrdquo approach In the 1047297rst companies are recognized (throughcerti1047297cation or other endorsement) for demonstrating that they are aboveaverage in their industry is oen skirts the issue of whether they meeta stringent de1047297nition of a 1047297xed standard As Sco Nova (1048626104862410486251048625) has noted aldquobest in classrdquo model is like grading on a curve even if average performanceis quite low e second approach allows companies to start with a relativelylax standard and encourage gradual improvement over time852019

When industry outsiders have power in the initial design standard-seinginitiatives should look somewhat different First their standards are likely todepart more substantially from normal practices in the industry to a greateror lesser degree depending on the power of these outsiders Second these

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httpslidepdfcomreaderfulllooking-behind-the-label-excerpt 2935

10486261048631983113983150983156983154983151983140983157983139983156983145983151983150

initiatives are more likely though certainly not guaranteed to endorse analternative model of production rather than to just reward the best in class orpush for continuous improvement Fair trade certi1047297cation and its emphasis

on democratically managed producer cooperatives (as described in chap-ter 1048628) is the clearest example of this ird and because of this initiativesspawned by outsiders are likely to either remain small or face dilemmas ofmainstreaming as they grow If they seek a large market presence ldquoalterna-tiverdquo programs will inevitably become more dependent on large companiese result may be a watering down of standards although as the case of theFSC shows (in chapter 1048627) this can be counteracted to some degree

For most products there are multiple competing aempts to de1047297ne fair-ness and sustainability For instance there are several ways of certifying thefairness and sustainability of coffee or of assessing the labor conditions ofapparel companies852020 Usually this competition reflects the struggle betweencompanies and NGOs Some scholars believe that such competition dooms

voluntary initiatives since it confuses consumers and lets companies choosetheir own standards (Seidman 1048626104862410486241048631) Others believe that it strengthens gov-ernance by spurring a ldquoratcheting uprdquo of expectations (Sabel OrsquoRourke and

Fung 1048626104862410486241048624) Our analysis of four global industries suggests that different setsof standards can oen coexist not exactly peacefully but with moderateinteraction or in different market niches Competition is inevitable but itseems to neither doom nor guarantee meaningful standards for fairness andsustainability It must be noted that initiatives that began with high bars991252namely Fair Trade and the FSC991252have not been pushed out of the market

by their competitors

Localized Globalisms and Globalized Localisms

Specifying links between ldquothe globalrdquo and ldquothe localrdquo has proven difficultand scholars have oen fallen prey to two types of conceptual dangers Firstin focusing on the global diffusion of a given idea or norm some have por-trayed domestic seings as lile more than passive receivers of a global proj-ect e language of domestic seings as ldquoreceptor sitesrdquo for global models(Frank Hironaka and Schofer 1048626104862410486241048624) is one example of this Pinpointingthis problem researchers are increasingly focusing on how local actors ap-propriate and ldquoindigenizerdquo global models to make them useful or meaningful

892019 Looking behind the Label (excerpt)

httpslidepdfcomreaderfulllooking-behind-the-label-excerpt 3035

10486261048632 983116983151983151983147983145983150983143 983138983141983144983145983150983140 983156983144983141 983116983137983138983141983148

(Halliday and Carruthers 1048626104862410486241048633 Merry 104862610486241048624983094) Second scholars of globaliza-tion oen equate the global with universalism (and oen progress) and thelocal with particularism (and oen backwardness) In so doing scholars

uncritically accept the most dominant model as ldquothe globalrdquo and obscure thepower that was exercised to establish its dominance

To deal with these problems we adopt Bonaventura de Santosrsquos language ofldquoglobalized localismsrdquo and ldquo localized globalismsrdquo (Santos 104862610486241048624983094 Santos andRodriacuteguez Garavito 1048626104862410486241048629) e 1047297rst refers to a process in which a particularis-tic set of ideas and practices becomes a dominant global norm Santos (104862610486241048624983094)provides examples such as ldquothe transformation of the English language into

a lingua franca the globalization of American fast food or popular music orthe worldwide adoption of the same laws of intellectual ownership patentsor telecommunications aggressively promoted by the USArdquo (10486271048633983094) For ourpurpose the key issue is how particular understandings of rights rules andenforcement have become institutionalized as global norms Concretely thenotion of a ldquoglobalized localismrdquo sensitizes us to processes by which particu-lar sets of reformers (NGOs companies or others) have turned their projectsinto ldquoglobalrdquo standards for fairness and sustainability Our point is not to

join the chorus that argues that ldquoWesternrdquo standards are being illegitimatelyforced on people and companies elsewhere ere have long been calls fordecent work and responsible natural resource management in many differ-ent parts of the world But the global standards supported by conscientiousconsumers in North A merica and Europe embody particular approaches tothese issues

e second concept ldquolocalized globalismrdquo refers to the incorporation of

these global models into local routines and expectations e concept sen-sitizes us to the work involved in turning global standards for fairness andsustainability into a concrete practice in a factory forest or farm in someparticular location As we have noted scholars too oen portray these sites asempty spaces We believe it is preferable to start from the opposite premisethat sites of implementation are crowded with different actors and agendasonly some of which are likely to line up with global standard-seing initia-tives Some elements of global standards are easily incorporated into localpractices while others are 1047297ercely resisted But a recognition of localizedglobalisms also has methodological implications It is rare for researchersto actually study these locations in detail It is easier to conduct distant and

892019 Looking behind the Label (excerpt)

httpslidepdfcomreaderfulllooking-behind-the-label-excerpt 3135

10486261048633983113983150983156983154983151983140983157983139983156983145983151983150

decontextualized studies of CSR or to focus only on the creation of standardsrather than their local implementation Our analyses of the global timberagricultural apparel and electronics industries include aention to speci1047297c

locations from the sugarcane farms of Paraguay to the electronics factoriesof Malaysia

Te Puzzle of Rules Rule Making and the Persistence of Unruliness

One can beer understand conscientious consumption and production proj-ects by recognizing what Tim Bartley (1048626104862410486251048628a) has called the ldquopuzzle of rulesrdquo

in the global economy simply put global capitalism can be ldquounrulyrdquo but italso generates many rule-making projects

e expansion of global markets has facilitated a number of rule-makingprojects from the standardization of accounting procedures to the rules forfairness and sustainability discussed in this book e volume of rule making

by both public and private actors has increased over the past three decadesMany scholars have pointed to these trends as evidence that global capitalismis not manic or ungovernable as it was initially framed Marie-Laure Djelic

and Kerstin Sahlin-Andersson (104862610486241048624983094) argue that ldquothe proliferation of regu-latory activities actors networks or constellations leads to an explosion ofrules and to the profound re-ordering of our worldrdquo (1048625) and they see globalcapitalism as ldquomarked by more991252not less991252rule-making activityrdquo (10486271048631983094)

On the other hand the explosion of rule making has oen been gearedtoward the expansion of markets rather than their restriction and in manyrespects global capitalism has remained unruly In many industries invest-

ment and orders can and do move quickly across locations oen under-mining aempts to impose rules Even more socially controlled European

varieties of capitalism have had their foundations chipped away (Streeck1048626104862410486241048633) Furthermore for all of the efforts of NGOs to build rules for fairnesssustainability and human rights many corners of global industries remainlargely unscrutinized and unaffected by these rule-making projects

As our case studies illustrate even as standards for fairness and sustain-ability have risen to prominence global industries have remained volatileand exploitative Certi1047297cation of sustainable forestry rose to prominencefrom 1048625104863310486331048629 to 1048626104862410486251048624 but so did illegal logging and deforestation worsenedin many places Te global apparel industry has come to be governed by

892019 Looking behind the Label (excerpt)

httpslidepdfcomreaderfulllooking-behind-the-label-excerpt 3235

10486271048624 983116983151983151983147983145983150983143 983138983141983144983145983150983140 983156983144983141 983116983137983138983141983148

numerous codes of conduct and factory monitoring initiatives but it hasalso continued to move quickly from one location to another in search oflow wages and more docile workers e rapid and inconsistent pace of the

global electronics industry has undermined aempts to improve workingconditions while rapidly changing agricultural markets have threatened thelivelihoods of many smallholder farmers

e puzzle of rules can be solved through an analysis of neoliberalism (seeBartley 1048626104862410486251048628a) but it also provokes a simple conclusion about the prospects forglobal fairness and sustainability global industries oen have contradictorytendencies so we should not expect either complete ldquogreenwashrdquoldquofairwashrdquo

or serious transformation Fair trade certi1047297cation has not transformed thelogic of commodity trade but it has improved conditions for some farmersin some circumstances FSC certi1047297cation has not made the timber trade sus-tainable but it has supported improvements in some forests As we developthese 1047297ndings (in part 1048626 of the book) we hope to speak not only to scholars ofconscientious consumerism but also to citizens and consumers themselvesConsumers oen want to feel like their purchases are ldquocleanrdquo of exploitation

but this is unrealistic We believe it would be more promising if consumers

shied from a deterministic to a probabilistic approach conscientious con-sumption may increase onersquos probability of contributing to improvementsand decrease the probability of contributing to the most extreme forms ofexploitation Tis does not answer the question of how large those prob-abilities are (which surely varies by product and label) or the question of howsigni1047297cant those improvements can be But only if consumers shi from anall-or-nothing view of ldquocleanrdquo versus ldquodirtyrdquo production (that is sustainable

versus destructive fair versus exploitative) can they come to an accurateunderstanding of what their purchases can and cannot achieve

983127 983144 983137983156 983116983145 983141 983155 983105 983144 983141 983137 983140

Part 1048625 of this book focuses on dynamics and dilemmas of conscientious con-sumerism In chapter 1048625 we look at why some American and European con-sumers are more likely than others to practice conscientious consumptionUsing survey data on thousands of individual consumers our quantitativeanalyses focus on factors that shape two forms of conscientious consump-tion boycoing and ldquobuycoingrdquo991252that is preferring a product for some po-

892019 Looking behind the Label (excerpt)

httpslidepdfcomreaderfulllooking-behind-the-label-excerpt 3335

10486271048625983113983150983156983154983151983140983157983139983156983145983151983150

litical or ethical reason Some paerns are related to consumersrsquo beliefs andthe extent to which they can afford to be choosy But individual differencesare only a small part of the story Where consumers are has a great deal to do

with whether they engage in conscientious consumption or not We thereforeconnect the individual survey responses with measures that capture nationaleconomic political and cultural contexts Overall this initial portrait showsthat conscientious consumption is widespread but far from universal withkey differences rooted not only in individual characteristics but in differentstructures of consumption as well

Having sketched some general paerns we delve deeper into the meanings

and implications of conscientious consumerism in chapter 1048626 Our analyses inchapter 1048625 are based on what consumers say they do but there are reasons todoubt that consumers will follow through on what they say or that what theysay truly captures the social meaning of their actions Yet we show that thereis evidence of consumers being wil ling to pay for eco-labels and social labelsConsumers are most likely to do so when their ldquoethicalrdquo choices also servetheir self-interest such as saving on energy costs or eating safer healthierfoods But even for those forms of conscientious consumption that have no

short-term direct bene1047297t for consumers there is mounting evidence thatsome consumers will pay more For labeling enthusiasts this is a good thingBut the ldquoone dollar one voterdquo logic of conscientious consumerism and thestatus-symbol character of some ldquoethicalrdquo products are potentially danger-ous in that they can exacerbate social economic and political inequalitiesamong consumers Moreover there is a danger that conscientious consumer-ism can displace other forms of political engagement promoting individual

consumerism at the expense of democratic citizenship and collective socialmovements Working through these debates we argue that conscientiousconsumerism as an ideology is regressive and counterproductive but speci1047297cpractices of conscientious consumption can sometimes be consistent withother forms of political engagement

Of course the real test of conscientious consumption comes at the pointof production To what extent do voluntary standards forged in response toconsumer concern make a difference ldquoon the groundrdquo in global industries

We tackle this question in part 1048626 of the book by looking at the global produc-tion of four types of products991252(1048625) wood and paper products (1048626) food (espe-cially the agri-food industry) (1048627) apparel and footwear and (1048628) electronics

892019 Looking behind the Label (excerpt)

httpslidepdfcomreaderfulllooking-behind-the-label-excerpt 3435

10486271048626 983116983151983151983147983145983150983143 983138983141983144983145983150983140 983156983144983141 983116983137983138983141983148

Each of these case studies is rooted in the interviews that we have conducted with local actors and other 1047297ne-grained information on the organization ofproduction ese chapters apply the framework sketched above (and a com-

mon organizational template) to allow for comparative insightsChapter 1048627 looks at the rise of forest certi1047297cation and its effects in the global

timber industry Like fair trade the FSC is one of the oldest and most es-tablished certi1047297cation and labeling initiatives It was founded more thantwenty years ago and it spurred a number of imitators and competitors Yetit is not well known among conscientious consumers and its impacts have

been far less than originally intended We trace the rise of forest certi1047297cation

with particular aention to the founders and constituents of the FSC andhow they leveraged the structure of the forest products industry to ldquomake amarketrdquo for certi1047297ed wood and paper Yet applying sustainability standardsto the production of some wood and paper products has barely influencedglobal deforestation A closer look at FSC certi1047297cation in the tropical forestsof Indonesia illustrates both the contradictions of certifying in a shiing andcontentious context and the limited ability of forest certi1047297cation to influencethe main drivers of deforestation

Next in chapter 1048628 we turn to agricultural production and the fairness andsustainability projects that have emerged in this seing Consumers aacha variety of meanings to food and the politics of food consumption has ex-ploded in the past decade In addition to sketching the structure of agri-foodproduction and consumption in general we focus on two types of rule-mak-ing projects fair trade certi1047297cation and an increasingly popular ldquocommod-ity roundtablerdquo approach Looking more closely at two crops991252sugar and

soy991252in one country Paraguay we are able to illustrate the consequences ofdifferent models of certi1047297cation and the crucial role of local context Globalfood politics are being layered onto preexisting institutional arrangementsand it is largely these institutional arrangements that determine whether cer-ti1047297cation is meaningful or not For instance fair trade certi1047297cation seems tomaer most when smallholder farmers are already organized into democrati-cally effective cooperatives or when local organizing al lows them to upgradetheir production capacities over time e contingent effects of conscientiousconsumption come into focus in this chapter

Chapter 1048629 considers how the rise of anti-sweatshop activism in the early1048625104863310486331048624s led to various aempts to monitor and improve working conditions inapparel and footwear factories A rough indication of how these initiatives

892019 Looking behind the Label (excerpt)

httpslidepdfcomreaderfulllooking-behind-the-label-excerpt 3535

10486271048627983113983150983156983154983151983140983157983139983156983145983151983150

have fared is provided by the occurrence of factory 1047297res in 1048626104862410486251048624ndash1048626104862410486251048627 and thedeath of more than eleven hundred garment workers in the 1048626104862410486251048627 collapse ofthe Rana Plaza building in Bangladesh Our chapter examines the constitu-

encies behind different factory auditing and certi1047297cation initiatives the waysstandards were implemented and the reasons why their effects have beenminimal e structure of apparel and footwear production in many wayscreated the demand for codes of conduct but the structure and the mobilityof the industry have undermined meaningful improvements Looking moreclosely at factories in China we show how aempts to certify particularfactories have fallen short In recent years several new projects to provide

ethical apparel have emerged but there remain few credible alternatives inthis industry

Finally chapter 983094 takes us into the fast-paced world of the electronics in-dustry where companies produce new models of smartphones laptops andother devices at breakneck speed Yet recently this industry has become afocus of aention for the exploitation of production workers especially aera series of worker suicides (and later strikes) at Foxconn factories in Chinaand mounting scrutiny of Foxconnrsquos buyer Apple Electronics brands have

also been accused of using ldquoconflict mineralsrdquo in the production of smart-phones e electronics industry is populated by well-capitalized companiesthat at times have demonstrated good intentions to make the labor processsafer and more humane Yet the industry has struggled to make improve-ments and 1047297nd tenable solutions We argue that the solution to this puzzlelies in the architecture of production and to a large extent ultimately in theorganization of electronics consumption is is a case in which conscien-

tious consumerism has been slow to develop and unreflective consumerismhas been a powerful constraint on signi1047297cant improvement Using detaileddata on factories producing for Hewle-Packard we show how the industrycontinues to demand extraordinarily ldquoflexiblerdquo labor markets and excessive

working hours in its factories in Southeast Asia We have tried to provide a sense of the complexity of these cases and set-

tings while still drawing out clear implications Along the way readers shouldget a clearer sense of the structure and operation of global value chains the

varied geographies of production and the circumscribed consequences ofeco-labels and social labels In a concluding chapter we compare our foursets of products and consider what has been learned

Page 29: Looking behind the Label (excerpt)

892019 Looking behind the Label (excerpt)

httpslidepdfcomreaderfulllooking-behind-the-label-excerpt 2935

10486261048631983113983150983156983154983151983140983157983139983156983145983151983150

initiatives are more likely though certainly not guaranteed to endorse analternative model of production rather than to just reward the best in class orpush for continuous improvement Fair trade certi1047297cation and its emphasis

on democratically managed producer cooperatives (as described in chap-ter 1048628) is the clearest example of this ird and because of this initiativesspawned by outsiders are likely to either remain small or face dilemmas ofmainstreaming as they grow If they seek a large market presence ldquoalterna-tiverdquo programs will inevitably become more dependent on large companiese result may be a watering down of standards although as the case of theFSC shows (in chapter 1048627) this can be counteracted to some degree

For most products there are multiple competing aempts to de1047297ne fair-ness and sustainability For instance there are several ways of certifying thefairness and sustainability of coffee or of assessing the labor conditions ofapparel companies852020 Usually this competition reflects the struggle betweencompanies and NGOs Some scholars believe that such competition dooms

voluntary initiatives since it confuses consumers and lets companies choosetheir own standards (Seidman 1048626104862410486241048631) Others believe that it strengthens gov-ernance by spurring a ldquoratcheting uprdquo of expectations (Sabel OrsquoRourke and

Fung 1048626104862410486241048624) Our analysis of four global industries suggests that different setsof standards can oen coexist not exactly peacefully but with moderateinteraction or in different market niches Competition is inevitable but itseems to neither doom nor guarantee meaningful standards for fairness andsustainability It must be noted that initiatives that began with high bars991252namely Fair Trade and the FSC991252have not been pushed out of the market

by their competitors

Localized Globalisms and Globalized Localisms

Specifying links between ldquothe globalrdquo and ldquothe localrdquo has proven difficultand scholars have oen fallen prey to two types of conceptual dangers Firstin focusing on the global diffusion of a given idea or norm some have por-trayed domestic seings as lile more than passive receivers of a global proj-ect e language of domestic seings as ldquoreceptor sitesrdquo for global models(Frank Hironaka and Schofer 1048626104862410486241048624) is one example of this Pinpointingthis problem researchers are increasingly focusing on how local actors ap-propriate and ldquoindigenizerdquo global models to make them useful or meaningful

892019 Looking behind the Label (excerpt)

httpslidepdfcomreaderfulllooking-behind-the-label-excerpt 3035

10486261048632 983116983151983151983147983145983150983143 983138983141983144983145983150983140 983156983144983141 983116983137983138983141983148

(Halliday and Carruthers 1048626104862410486241048633 Merry 104862610486241048624983094) Second scholars of globaliza-tion oen equate the global with universalism (and oen progress) and thelocal with particularism (and oen backwardness) In so doing scholars

uncritically accept the most dominant model as ldquothe globalrdquo and obscure thepower that was exercised to establish its dominance

To deal with these problems we adopt Bonaventura de Santosrsquos language ofldquoglobalized localismsrdquo and ldquo localized globalismsrdquo (Santos 104862610486241048624983094 Santos andRodriacuteguez Garavito 1048626104862410486241048629) e 1047297rst refers to a process in which a particularis-tic set of ideas and practices becomes a dominant global norm Santos (104862610486241048624983094)provides examples such as ldquothe transformation of the English language into

a lingua franca the globalization of American fast food or popular music orthe worldwide adoption of the same laws of intellectual ownership patentsor telecommunications aggressively promoted by the USArdquo (10486271048633983094) For ourpurpose the key issue is how particular understandings of rights rules andenforcement have become institutionalized as global norms Concretely thenotion of a ldquoglobalized localismrdquo sensitizes us to processes by which particu-lar sets of reformers (NGOs companies or others) have turned their projectsinto ldquoglobalrdquo standards for fairness and sustainability Our point is not to

join the chorus that argues that ldquoWesternrdquo standards are being illegitimatelyforced on people and companies elsewhere ere have long been calls fordecent work and responsible natural resource management in many differ-ent parts of the world But the global standards supported by conscientiousconsumers in North A merica and Europe embody particular approaches tothese issues

e second concept ldquolocalized globalismrdquo refers to the incorporation of

these global models into local routines and expectations e concept sen-sitizes us to the work involved in turning global standards for fairness andsustainability into a concrete practice in a factory forest or farm in someparticular location As we have noted scholars too oen portray these sites asempty spaces We believe it is preferable to start from the opposite premisethat sites of implementation are crowded with different actors and agendasonly some of which are likely to line up with global standard-seing initia-tives Some elements of global standards are easily incorporated into localpractices while others are 1047297ercely resisted But a recognition of localizedglobalisms also has methodological implications It is rare for researchersto actually study these locations in detail It is easier to conduct distant and

892019 Looking behind the Label (excerpt)

httpslidepdfcomreaderfulllooking-behind-the-label-excerpt 3135

10486261048633983113983150983156983154983151983140983157983139983156983145983151983150

decontextualized studies of CSR or to focus only on the creation of standardsrather than their local implementation Our analyses of the global timberagricultural apparel and electronics industries include aention to speci1047297c

locations from the sugarcane farms of Paraguay to the electronics factoriesof Malaysia

Te Puzzle of Rules Rule Making and the Persistence of Unruliness

One can beer understand conscientious consumption and production proj-ects by recognizing what Tim Bartley (1048626104862410486251048628a) has called the ldquopuzzle of rulesrdquo

in the global economy simply put global capitalism can be ldquounrulyrdquo but italso generates many rule-making projects

e expansion of global markets has facilitated a number of rule-makingprojects from the standardization of accounting procedures to the rules forfairness and sustainability discussed in this book e volume of rule making

by both public and private actors has increased over the past three decadesMany scholars have pointed to these trends as evidence that global capitalismis not manic or ungovernable as it was initially framed Marie-Laure Djelic

and Kerstin Sahlin-Andersson (104862610486241048624983094) argue that ldquothe proliferation of regu-latory activities actors networks or constellations leads to an explosion ofrules and to the profound re-ordering of our worldrdquo (1048625) and they see globalcapitalism as ldquomarked by more991252not less991252rule-making activityrdquo (10486271048631983094)

On the other hand the explosion of rule making has oen been gearedtoward the expansion of markets rather than their restriction and in manyrespects global capitalism has remained unruly In many industries invest-

ment and orders can and do move quickly across locations oen under-mining aempts to impose rules Even more socially controlled European

varieties of capitalism have had their foundations chipped away (Streeck1048626104862410486241048633) Furthermore for all of the efforts of NGOs to build rules for fairnesssustainability and human rights many corners of global industries remainlargely unscrutinized and unaffected by these rule-making projects

As our case studies illustrate even as standards for fairness and sustain-ability have risen to prominence global industries have remained volatileand exploitative Certi1047297cation of sustainable forestry rose to prominencefrom 1048625104863310486331048629 to 1048626104862410486251048624 but so did illegal logging and deforestation worsenedin many places Te global apparel industry has come to be governed by

892019 Looking behind the Label (excerpt)

httpslidepdfcomreaderfulllooking-behind-the-label-excerpt 3235

10486271048624 983116983151983151983147983145983150983143 983138983141983144983145983150983140 983156983144983141 983116983137983138983141983148

numerous codes of conduct and factory monitoring initiatives but it hasalso continued to move quickly from one location to another in search oflow wages and more docile workers e rapid and inconsistent pace of the

global electronics industry has undermined aempts to improve workingconditions while rapidly changing agricultural markets have threatened thelivelihoods of many smallholder farmers

e puzzle of rules can be solved through an analysis of neoliberalism (seeBartley 1048626104862410486251048628a) but it also provokes a simple conclusion about the prospects forglobal fairness and sustainability global industries oen have contradictorytendencies so we should not expect either complete ldquogreenwashrdquoldquofairwashrdquo

or serious transformation Fair trade certi1047297cation has not transformed thelogic of commodity trade but it has improved conditions for some farmersin some circumstances FSC certi1047297cation has not made the timber trade sus-tainable but it has supported improvements in some forests As we developthese 1047297ndings (in part 1048626 of the book) we hope to speak not only to scholars ofconscientious consumerism but also to citizens and consumers themselvesConsumers oen want to feel like their purchases are ldquocleanrdquo of exploitation

but this is unrealistic We believe it would be more promising if consumers

shied from a deterministic to a probabilistic approach conscientious con-sumption may increase onersquos probability of contributing to improvementsand decrease the probability of contributing to the most extreme forms ofexploitation Tis does not answer the question of how large those prob-abilities are (which surely varies by product and label) or the question of howsigni1047297cant those improvements can be But only if consumers shi from anall-or-nothing view of ldquocleanrdquo versus ldquodirtyrdquo production (that is sustainable

versus destructive fair versus exploitative) can they come to an accurateunderstanding of what their purchases can and cannot achieve

983127 983144 983137983156 983116983145 983141 983155 983105 983144 983141 983137 983140

Part 1048625 of this book focuses on dynamics and dilemmas of conscientious con-sumerism In chapter 1048625 we look at why some American and European con-sumers are more likely than others to practice conscientious consumptionUsing survey data on thousands of individual consumers our quantitativeanalyses focus on factors that shape two forms of conscientious consump-tion boycoing and ldquobuycoingrdquo991252that is preferring a product for some po-

892019 Looking behind the Label (excerpt)

httpslidepdfcomreaderfulllooking-behind-the-label-excerpt 3335

10486271048625983113983150983156983154983151983140983157983139983156983145983151983150

litical or ethical reason Some paerns are related to consumersrsquo beliefs andthe extent to which they can afford to be choosy But individual differencesare only a small part of the story Where consumers are has a great deal to do

with whether they engage in conscientious consumption or not We thereforeconnect the individual survey responses with measures that capture nationaleconomic political and cultural contexts Overall this initial portrait showsthat conscientious consumption is widespread but far from universal withkey differences rooted not only in individual characteristics but in differentstructures of consumption as well

Having sketched some general paerns we delve deeper into the meanings

and implications of conscientious consumerism in chapter 1048626 Our analyses inchapter 1048625 are based on what consumers say they do but there are reasons todoubt that consumers will follow through on what they say or that what theysay truly captures the social meaning of their actions Yet we show that thereis evidence of consumers being wil ling to pay for eco-labels and social labelsConsumers are most likely to do so when their ldquoethicalrdquo choices also servetheir self-interest such as saving on energy costs or eating safer healthierfoods But even for those forms of conscientious consumption that have no

short-term direct bene1047297t for consumers there is mounting evidence thatsome consumers will pay more For labeling enthusiasts this is a good thingBut the ldquoone dollar one voterdquo logic of conscientious consumerism and thestatus-symbol character of some ldquoethicalrdquo products are potentially danger-ous in that they can exacerbate social economic and political inequalitiesamong consumers Moreover there is a danger that conscientious consumer-ism can displace other forms of political engagement promoting individual

consumerism at the expense of democratic citizenship and collective socialmovements Working through these debates we argue that conscientiousconsumerism as an ideology is regressive and counterproductive but speci1047297cpractices of conscientious consumption can sometimes be consistent withother forms of political engagement

Of course the real test of conscientious consumption comes at the pointof production To what extent do voluntary standards forged in response toconsumer concern make a difference ldquoon the groundrdquo in global industries

We tackle this question in part 1048626 of the book by looking at the global produc-tion of four types of products991252(1048625) wood and paper products (1048626) food (espe-cially the agri-food industry) (1048627) apparel and footwear and (1048628) electronics

892019 Looking behind the Label (excerpt)

httpslidepdfcomreaderfulllooking-behind-the-label-excerpt 3435

10486271048626 983116983151983151983147983145983150983143 983138983141983144983145983150983140 983156983144983141 983116983137983138983141983148

Each of these case studies is rooted in the interviews that we have conducted with local actors and other 1047297ne-grained information on the organization ofproduction ese chapters apply the framework sketched above (and a com-

mon organizational template) to allow for comparative insightsChapter 1048627 looks at the rise of forest certi1047297cation and its effects in the global

timber industry Like fair trade the FSC is one of the oldest and most es-tablished certi1047297cation and labeling initiatives It was founded more thantwenty years ago and it spurred a number of imitators and competitors Yetit is not well known among conscientious consumers and its impacts have

been far less than originally intended We trace the rise of forest certi1047297cation

with particular aention to the founders and constituents of the FSC andhow they leveraged the structure of the forest products industry to ldquomake amarketrdquo for certi1047297ed wood and paper Yet applying sustainability standardsto the production of some wood and paper products has barely influencedglobal deforestation A closer look at FSC certi1047297cation in the tropical forestsof Indonesia illustrates both the contradictions of certifying in a shiing andcontentious context and the limited ability of forest certi1047297cation to influencethe main drivers of deforestation

Next in chapter 1048628 we turn to agricultural production and the fairness andsustainability projects that have emerged in this seing Consumers aacha variety of meanings to food and the politics of food consumption has ex-ploded in the past decade In addition to sketching the structure of agri-foodproduction and consumption in general we focus on two types of rule-mak-ing projects fair trade certi1047297cation and an increasingly popular ldquocommod-ity roundtablerdquo approach Looking more closely at two crops991252sugar and

soy991252in one country Paraguay we are able to illustrate the consequences ofdifferent models of certi1047297cation and the crucial role of local context Globalfood politics are being layered onto preexisting institutional arrangementsand it is largely these institutional arrangements that determine whether cer-ti1047297cation is meaningful or not For instance fair trade certi1047297cation seems tomaer most when smallholder farmers are already organized into democrati-cally effective cooperatives or when local organizing al lows them to upgradetheir production capacities over time e contingent effects of conscientiousconsumption come into focus in this chapter

Chapter 1048629 considers how the rise of anti-sweatshop activism in the early1048625104863310486331048624s led to various aempts to monitor and improve working conditions inapparel and footwear factories A rough indication of how these initiatives

892019 Looking behind the Label (excerpt)

httpslidepdfcomreaderfulllooking-behind-the-label-excerpt 3535

10486271048627983113983150983156983154983151983140983157983139983156983145983151983150

have fared is provided by the occurrence of factory 1047297res in 1048626104862410486251048624ndash1048626104862410486251048627 and thedeath of more than eleven hundred garment workers in the 1048626104862410486251048627 collapse ofthe Rana Plaza building in Bangladesh Our chapter examines the constitu-

encies behind different factory auditing and certi1047297cation initiatives the waysstandards were implemented and the reasons why their effects have beenminimal e structure of apparel and footwear production in many wayscreated the demand for codes of conduct but the structure and the mobilityof the industry have undermined meaningful improvements Looking moreclosely at factories in China we show how aempts to certify particularfactories have fallen short In recent years several new projects to provide

ethical apparel have emerged but there remain few credible alternatives inthis industry

Finally chapter 983094 takes us into the fast-paced world of the electronics in-dustry where companies produce new models of smartphones laptops andother devices at breakneck speed Yet recently this industry has become afocus of aention for the exploitation of production workers especially aera series of worker suicides (and later strikes) at Foxconn factories in Chinaand mounting scrutiny of Foxconnrsquos buyer Apple Electronics brands have

also been accused of using ldquoconflict mineralsrdquo in the production of smart-phones e electronics industry is populated by well-capitalized companiesthat at times have demonstrated good intentions to make the labor processsafer and more humane Yet the industry has struggled to make improve-ments and 1047297nd tenable solutions We argue that the solution to this puzzlelies in the architecture of production and to a large extent ultimately in theorganization of electronics consumption is is a case in which conscien-

tious consumerism has been slow to develop and unreflective consumerismhas been a powerful constraint on signi1047297cant improvement Using detaileddata on factories producing for Hewle-Packard we show how the industrycontinues to demand extraordinarily ldquoflexiblerdquo labor markets and excessive

working hours in its factories in Southeast Asia We have tried to provide a sense of the complexity of these cases and set-

tings while still drawing out clear implications Along the way readers shouldget a clearer sense of the structure and operation of global value chains the

varied geographies of production and the circumscribed consequences ofeco-labels and social labels In a concluding chapter we compare our foursets of products and consider what has been learned

Page 30: Looking behind the Label (excerpt)

892019 Looking behind the Label (excerpt)

httpslidepdfcomreaderfulllooking-behind-the-label-excerpt 3035

10486261048632 983116983151983151983147983145983150983143 983138983141983144983145983150983140 983156983144983141 983116983137983138983141983148

(Halliday and Carruthers 1048626104862410486241048633 Merry 104862610486241048624983094) Second scholars of globaliza-tion oen equate the global with universalism (and oen progress) and thelocal with particularism (and oen backwardness) In so doing scholars

uncritically accept the most dominant model as ldquothe globalrdquo and obscure thepower that was exercised to establish its dominance

To deal with these problems we adopt Bonaventura de Santosrsquos language ofldquoglobalized localismsrdquo and ldquo localized globalismsrdquo (Santos 104862610486241048624983094 Santos andRodriacuteguez Garavito 1048626104862410486241048629) e 1047297rst refers to a process in which a particularis-tic set of ideas and practices becomes a dominant global norm Santos (104862610486241048624983094)provides examples such as ldquothe transformation of the English language into

a lingua franca the globalization of American fast food or popular music orthe worldwide adoption of the same laws of intellectual ownership patentsor telecommunications aggressively promoted by the USArdquo (10486271048633983094) For ourpurpose the key issue is how particular understandings of rights rules andenforcement have become institutionalized as global norms Concretely thenotion of a ldquoglobalized localismrdquo sensitizes us to processes by which particu-lar sets of reformers (NGOs companies or others) have turned their projectsinto ldquoglobalrdquo standards for fairness and sustainability Our point is not to

join the chorus that argues that ldquoWesternrdquo standards are being illegitimatelyforced on people and companies elsewhere ere have long been calls fordecent work and responsible natural resource management in many differ-ent parts of the world But the global standards supported by conscientiousconsumers in North A merica and Europe embody particular approaches tothese issues

e second concept ldquolocalized globalismrdquo refers to the incorporation of

these global models into local routines and expectations e concept sen-sitizes us to the work involved in turning global standards for fairness andsustainability into a concrete practice in a factory forest or farm in someparticular location As we have noted scholars too oen portray these sites asempty spaces We believe it is preferable to start from the opposite premisethat sites of implementation are crowded with different actors and agendasonly some of which are likely to line up with global standard-seing initia-tives Some elements of global standards are easily incorporated into localpractices while others are 1047297ercely resisted But a recognition of localizedglobalisms also has methodological implications It is rare for researchersto actually study these locations in detail It is easier to conduct distant and

892019 Looking behind the Label (excerpt)

httpslidepdfcomreaderfulllooking-behind-the-label-excerpt 3135

10486261048633983113983150983156983154983151983140983157983139983156983145983151983150

decontextualized studies of CSR or to focus only on the creation of standardsrather than their local implementation Our analyses of the global timberagricultural apparel and electronics industries include aention to speci1047297c

locations from the sugarcane farms of Paraguay to the electronics factoriesof Malaysia

Te Puzzle of Rules Rule Making and the Persistence of Unruliness

One can beer understand conscientious consumption and production proj-ects by recognizing what Tim Bartley (1048626104862410486251048628a) has called the ldquopuzzle of rulesrdquo

in the global economy simply put global capitalism can be ldquounrulyrdquo but italso generates many rule-making projects

e expansion of global markets has facilitated a number of rule-makingprojects from the standardization of accounting procedures to the rules forfairness and sustainability discussed in this book e volume of rule making

by both public and private actors has increased over the past three decadesMany scholars have pointed to these trends as evidence that global capitalismis not manic or ungovernable as it was initially framed Marie-Laure Djelic

and Kerstin Sahlin-Andersson (104862610486241048624983094) argue that ldquothe proliferation of regu-latory activities actors networks or constellations leads to an explosion ofrules and to the profound re-ordering of our worldrdquo (1048625) and they see globalcapitalism as ldquomarked by more991252not less991252rule-making activityrdquo (10486271048631983094)

On the other hand the explosion of rule making has oen been gearedtoward the expansion of markets rather than their restriction and in manyrespects global capitalism has remained unruly In many industries invest-

ment and orders can and do move quickly across locations oen under-mining aempts to impose rules Even more socially controlled European

varieties of capitalism have had their foundations chipped away (Streeck1048626104862410486241048633) Furthermore for all of the efforts of NGOs to build rules for fairnesssustainability and human rights many corners of global industries remainlargely unscrutinized and unaffected by these rule-making projects

As our case studies illustrate even as standards for fairness and sustain-ability have risen to prominence global industries have remained volatileand exploitative Certi1047297cation of sustainable forestry rose to prominencefrom 1048625104863310486331048629 to 1048626104862410486251048624 but so did illegal logging and deforestation worsenedin many places Te global apparel industry has come to be governed by

892019 Looking behind the Label (excerpt)

httpslidepdfcomreaderfulllooking-behind-the-label-excerpt 3235

10486271048624 983116983151983151983147983145983150983143 983138983141983144983145983150983140 983156983144983141 983116983137983138983141983148

numerous codes of conduct and factory monitoring initiatives but it hasalso continued to move quickly from one location to another in search oflow wages and more docile workers e rapid and inconsistent pace of the

global electronics industry has undermined aempts to improve workingconditions while rapidly changing agricultural markets have threatened thelivelihoods of many smallholder farmers

e puzzle of rules can be solved through an analysis of neoliberalism (seeBartley 1048626104862410486251048628a) but it also provokes a simple conclusion about the prospects forglobal fairness and sustainability global industries oen have contradictorytendencies so we should not expect either complete ldquogreenwashrdquoldquofairwashrdquo

or serious transformation Fair trade certi1047297cation has not transformed thelogic of commodity trade but it has improved conditions for some farmersin some circumstances FSC certi1047297cation has not made the timber trade sus-tainable but it has supported improvements in some forests As we developthese 1047297ndings (in part 1048626 of the book) we hope to speak not only to scholars ofconscientious consumerism but also to citizens and consumers themselvesConsumers oen want to feel like their purchases are ldquocleanrdquo of exploitation

but this is unrealistic We believe it would be more promising if consumers

shied from a deterministic to a probabilistic approach conscientious con-sumption may increase onersquos probability of contributing to improvementsand decrease the probability of contributing to the most extreme forms ofexploitation Tis does not answer the question of how large those prob-abilities are (which surely varies by product and label) or the question of howsigni1047297cant those improvements can be But only if consumers shi from anall-or-nothing view of ldquocleanrdquo versus ldquodirtyrdquo production (that is sustainable

versus destructive fair versus exploitative) can they come to an accurateunderstanding of what their purchases can and cannot achieve

983127 983144 983137983156 983116983145 983141 983155 983105 983144 983141 983137 983140

Part 1048625 of this book focuses on dynamics and dilemmas of conscientious con-sumerism In chapter 1048625 we look at why some American and European con-sumers are more likely than others to practice conscientious consumptionUsing survey data on thousands of individual consumers our quantitativeanalyses focus on factors that shape two forms of conscientious consump-tion boycoing and ldquobuycoingrdquo991252that is preferring a product for some po-

892019 Looking behind the Label (excerpt)

httpslidepdfcomreaderfulllooking-behind-the-label-excerpt 3335

10486271048625983113983150983156983154983151983140983157983139983156983145983151983150

litical or ethical reason Some paerns are related to consumersrsquo beliefs andthe extent to which they can afford to be choosy But individual differencesare only a small part of the story Where consumers are has a great deal to do

with whether they engage in conscientious consumption or not We thereforeconnect the individual survey responses with measures that capture nationaleconomic political and cultural contexts Overall this initial portrait showsthat conscientious consumption is widespread but far from universal withkey differences rooted not only in individual characteristics but in differentstructures of consumption as well

Having sketched some general paerns we delve deeper into the meanings

and implications of conscientious consumerism in chapter 1048626 Our analyses inchapter 1048625 are based on what consumers say they do but there are reasons todoubt that consumers will follow through on what they say or that what theysay truly captures the social meaning of their actions Yet we show that thereis evidence of consumers being wil ling to pay for eco-labels and social labelsConsumers are most likely to do so when their ldquoethicalrdquo choices also servetheir self-interest such as saving on energy costs or eating safer healthierfoods But even for those forms of conscientious consumption that have no

short-term direct bene1047297t for consumers there is mounting evidence thatsome consumers will pay more For labeling enthusiasts this is a good thingBut the ldquoone dollar one voterdquo logic of conscientious consumerism and thestatus-symbol character of some ldquoethicalrdquo products are potentially danger-ous in that they can exacerbate social economic and political inequalitiesamong consumers Moreover there is a danger that conscientious consumer-ism can displace other forms of political engagement promoting individual

consumerism at the expense of democratic citizenship and collective socialmovements Working through these debates we argue that conscientiousconsumerism as an ideology is regressive and counterproductive but speci1047297cpractices of conscientious consumption can sometimes be consistent withother forms of political engagement

Of course the real test of conscientious consumption comes at the pointof production To what extent do voluntary standards forged in response toconsumer concern make a difference ldquoon the groundrdquo in global industries

We tackle this question in part 1048626 of the book by looking at the global produc-tion of four types of products991252(1048625) wood and paper products (1048626) food (espe-cially the agri-food industry) (1048627) apparel and footwear and (1048628) electronics

892019 Looking behind the Label (excerpt)

httpslidepdfcomreaderfulllooking-behind-the-label-excerpt 3435

10486271048626 983116983151983151983147983145983150983143 983138983141983144983145983150983140 983156983144983141 983116983137983138983141983148

Each of these case studies is rooted in the interviews that we have conducted with local actors and other 1047297ne-grained information on the organization ofproduction ese chapters apply the framework sketched above (and a com-

mon organizational template) to allow for comparative insightsChapter 1048627 looks at the rise of forest certi1047297cation and its effects in the global

timber industry Like fair trade the FSC is one of the oldest and most es-tablished certi1047297cation and labeling initiatives It was founded more thantwenty years ago and it spurred a number of imitators and competitors Yetit is not well known among conscientious consumers and its impacts have

been far less than originally intended We trace the rise of forest certi1047297cation

with particular aention to the founders and constituents of the FSC andhow they leveraged the structure of the forest products industry to ldquomake amarketrdquo for certi1047297ed wood and paper Yet applying sustainability standardsto the production of some wood and paper products has barely influencedglobal deforestation A closer look at FSC certi1047297cation in the tropical forestsof Indonesia illustrates both the contradictions of certifying in a shiing andcontentious context and the limited ability of forest certi1047297cation to influencethe main drivers of deforestation

Next in chapter 1048628 we turn to agricultural production and the fairness andsustainability projects that have emerged in this seing Consumers aacha variety of meanings to food and the politics of food consumption has ex-ploded in the past decade In addition to sketching the structure of agri-foodproduction and consumption in general we focus on two types of rule-mak-ing projects fair trade certi1047297cation and an increasingly popular ldquocommod-ity roundtablerdquo approach Looking more closely at two crops991252sugar and

soy991252in one country Paraguay we are able to illustrate the consequences ofdifferent models of certi1047297cation and the crucial role of local context Globalfood politics are being layered onto preexisting institutional arrangementsand it is largely these institutional arrangements that determine whether cer-ti1047297cation is meaningful or not For instance fair trade certi1047297cation seems tomaer most when smallholder farmers are already organized into democrati-cally effective cooperatives or when local organizing al lows them to upgradetheir production capacities over time e contingent effects of conscientiousconsumption come into focus in this chapter

Chapter 1048629 considers how the rise of anti-sweatshop activism in the early1048625104863310486331048624s led to various aempts to monitor and improve working conditions inapparel and footwear factories A rough indication of how these initiatives

892019 Looking behind the Label (excerpt)

httpslidepdfcomreaderfulllooking-behind-the-label-excerpt 3535

10486271048627983113983150983156983154983151983140983157983139983156983145983151983150

have fared is provided by the occurrence of factory 1047297res in 1048626104862410486251048624ndash1048626104862410486251048627 and thedeath of more than eleven hundred garment workers in the 1048626104862410486251048627 collapse ofthe Rana Plaza building in Bangladesh Our chapter examines the constitu-

encies behind different factory auditing and certi1047297cation initiatives the waysstandards were implemented and the reasons why their effects have beenminimal e structure of apparel and footwear production in many wayscreated the demand for codes of conduct but the structure and the mobilityof the industry have undermined meaningful improvements Looking moreclosely at factories in China we show how aempts to certify particularfactories have fallen short In recent years several new projects to provide

ethical apparel have emerged but there remain few credible alternatives inthis industry

Finally chapter 983094 takes us into the fast-paced world of the electronics in-dustry where companies produce new models of smartphones laptops andother devices at breakneck speed Yet recently this industry has become afocus of aention for the exploitation of production workers especially aera series of worker suicides (and later strikes) at Foxconn factories in Chinaand mounting scrutiny of Foxconnrsquos buyer Apple Electronics brands have

also been accused of using ldquoconflict mineralsrdquo in the production of smart-phones e electronics industry is populated by well-capitalized companiesthat at times have demonstrated good intentions to make the labor processsafer and more humane Yet the industry has struggled to make improve-ments and 1047297nd tenable solutions We argue that the solution to this puzzlelies in the architecture of production and to a large extent ultimately in theorganization of electronics consumption is is a case in which conscien-

tious consumerism has been slow to develop and unreflective consumerismhas been a powerful constraint on signi1047297cant improvement Using detaileddata on factories producing for Hewle-Packard we show how the industrycontinues to demand extraordinarily ldquoflexiblerdquo labor markets and excessive

working hours in its factories in Southeast Asia We have tried to provide a sense of the complexity of these cases and set-

tings while still drawing out clear implications Along the way readers shouldget a clearer sense of the structure and operation of global value chains the

varied geographies of production and the circumscribed consequences ofeco-labels and social labels In a concluding chapter we compare our foursets of products and consider what has been learned

Page 31: Looking behind the Label (excerpt)

892019 Looking behind the Label (excerpt)

httpslidepdfcomreaderfulllooking-behind-the-label-excerpt 3135

10486261048633983113983150983156983154983151983140983157983139983156983145983151983150

decontextualized studies of CSR or to focus only on the creation of standardsrather than their local implementation Our analyses of the global timberagricultural apparel and electronics industries include aention to speci1047297c

locations from the sugarcane farms of Paraguay to the electronics factoriesof Malaysia

Te Puzzle of Rules Rule Making and the Persistence of Unruliness

One can beer understand conscientious consumption and production proj-ects by recognizing what Tim Bartley (1048626104862410486251048628a) has called the ldquopuzzle of rulesrdquo

in the global economy simply put global capitalism can be ldquounrulyrdquo but italso generates many rule-making projects

e expansion of global markets has facilitated a number of rule-makingprojects from the standardization of accounting procedures to the rules forfairness and sustainability discussed in this book e volume of rule making

by both public and private actors has increased over the past three decadesMany scholars have pointed to these trends as evidence that global capitalismis not manic or ungovernable as it was initially framed Marie-Laure Djelic

and Kerstin Sahlin-Andersson (104862610486241048624983094) argue that ldquothe proliferation of regu-latory activities actors networks or constellations leads to an explosion ofrules and to the profound re-ordering of our worldrdquo (1048625) and they see globalcapitalism as ldquomarked by more991252not less991252rule-making activityrdquo (10486271048631983094)

On the other hand the explosion of rule making has oen been gearedtoward the expansion of markets rather than their restriction and in manyrespects global capitalism has remained unruly In many industries invest-

ment and orders can and do move quickly across locations oen under-mining aempts to impose rules Even more socially controlled European

varieties of capitalism have had their foundations chipped away (Streeck1048626104862410486241048633) Furthermore for all of the efforts of NGOs to build rules for fairnesssustainability and human rights many corners of global industries remainlargely unscrutinized and unaffected by these rule-making projects

As our case studies illustrate even as standards for fairness and sustain-ability have risen to prominence global industries have remained volatileand exploitative Certi1047297cation of sustainable forestry rose to prominencefrom 1048625104863310486331048629 to 1048626104862410486251048624 but so did illegal logging and deforestation worsenedin many places Te global apparel industry has come to be governed by

892019 Looking behind the Label (excerpt)

httpslidepdfcomreaderfulllooking-behind-the-label-excerpt 3235

10486271048624 983116983151983151983147983145983150983143 983138983141983144983145983150983140 983156983144983141 983116983137983138983141983148

numerous codes of conduct and factory monitoring initiatives but it hasalso continued to move quickly from one location to another in search oflow wages and more docile workers e rapid and inconsistent pace of the

global electronics industry has undermined aempts to improve workingconditions while rapidly changing agricultural markets have threatened thelivelihoods of many smallholder farmers

e puzzle of rules can be solved through an analysis of neoliberalism (seeBartley 1048626104862410486251048628a) but it also provokes a simple conclusion about the prospects forglobal fairness and sustainability global industries oen have contradictorytendencies so we should not expect either complete ldquogreenwashrdquoldquofairwashrdquo

or serious transformation Fair trade certi1047297cation has not transformed thelogic of commodity trade but it has improved conditions for some farmersin some circumstances FSC certi1047297cation has not made the timber trade sus-tainable but it has supported improvements in some forests As we developthese 1047297ndings (in part 1048626 of the book) we hope to speak not only to scholars ofconscientious consumerism but also to citizens and consumers themselvesConsumers oen want to feel like their purchases are ldquocleanrdquo of exploitation

but this is unrealistic We believe it would be more promising if consumers

shied from a deterministic to a probabilistic approach conscientious con-sumption may increase onersquos probability of contributing to improvementsand decrease the probability of contributing to the most extreme forms ofexploitation Tis does not answer the question of how large those prob-abilities are (which surely varies by product and label) or the question of howsigni1047297cant those improvements can be But only if consumers shi from anall-or-nothing view of ldquocleanrdquo versus ldquodirtyrdquo production (that is sustainable

versus destructive fair versus exploitative) can they come to an accurateunderstanding of what their purchases can and cannot achieve

983127 983144 983137983156 983116983145 983141 983155 983105 983144 983141 983137 983140

Part 1048625 of this book focuses on dynamics and dilemmas of conscientious con-sumerism In chapter 1048625 we look at why some American and European con-sumers are more likely than others to practice conscientious consumptionUsing survey data on thousands of individual consumers our quantitativeanalyses focus on factors that shape two forms of conscientious consump-tion boycoing and ldquobuycoingrdquo991252that is preferring a product for some po-

892019 Looking behind the Label (excerpt)

httpslidepdfcomreaderfulllooking-behind-the-label-excerpt 3335

10486271048625983113983150983156983154983151983140983157983139983156983145983151983150

litical or ethical reason Some paerns are related to consumersrsquo beliefs andthe extent to which they can afford to be choosy But individual differencesare only a small part of the story Where consumers are has a great deal to do

with whether they engage in conscientious consumption or not We thereforeconnect the individual survey responses with measures that capture nationaleconomic political and cultural contexts Overall this initial portrait showsthat conscientious consumption is widespread but far from universal withkey differences rooted not only in individual characteristics but in differentstructures of consumption as well

Having sketched some general paerns we delve deeper into the meanings

and implications of conscientious consumerism in chapter 1048626 Our analyses inchapter 1048625 are based on what consumers say they do but there are reasons todoubt that consumers will follow through on what they say or that what theysay truly captures the social meaning of their actions Yet we show that thereis evidence of consumers being wil ling to pay for eco-labels and social labelsConsumers are most likely to do so when their ldquoethicalrdquo choices also servetheir self-interest such as saving on energy costs or eating safer healthierfoods But even for those forms of conscientious consumption that have no

short-term direct bene1047297t for consumers there is mounting evidence thatsome consumers will pay more For labeling enthusiasts this is a good thingBut the ldquoone dollar one voterdquo logic of conscientious consumerism and thestatus-symbol character of some ldquoethicalrdquo products are potentially danger-ous in that they can exacerbate social economic and political inequalitiesamong consumers Moreover there is a danger that conscientious consumer-ism can displace other forms of political engagement promoting individual

consumerism at the expense of democratic citizenship and collective socialmovements Working through these debates we argue that conscientiousconsumerism as an ideology is regressive and counterproductive but speci1047297cpractices of conscientious consumption can sometimes be consistent withother forms of political engagement

Of course the real test of conscientious consumption comes at the pointof production To what extent do voluntary standards forged in response toconsumer concern make a difference ldquoon the groundrdquo in global industries

We tackle this question in part 1048626 of the book by looking at the global produc-tion of four types of products991252(1048625) wood and paper products (1048626) food (espe-cially the agri-food industry) (1048627) apparel and footwear and (1048628) electronics

892019 Looking behind the Label (excerpt)

httpslidepdfcomreaderfulllooking-behind-the-label-excerpt 3435

10486271048626 983116983151983151983147983145983150983143 983138983141983144983145983150983140 983156983144983141 983116983137983138983141983148

Each of these case studies is rooted in the interviews that we have conducted with local actors and other 1047297ne-grained information on the organization ofproduction ese chapters apply the framework sketched above (and a com-

mon organizational template) to allow for comparative insightsChapter 1048627 looks at the rise of forest certi1047297cation and its effects in the global

timber industry Like fair trade the FSC is one of the oldest and most es-tablished certi1047297cation and labeling initiatives It was founded more thantwenty years ago and it spurred a number of imitators and competitors Yetit is not well known among conscientious consumers and its impacts have

been far less than originally intended We trace the rise of forest certi1047297cation

with particular aention to the founders and constituents of the FSC andhow they leveraged the structure of the forest products industry to ldquomake amarketrdquo for certi1047297ed wood and paper Yet applying sustainability standardsto the production of some wood and paper products has barely influencedglobal deforestation A closer look at FSC certi1047297cation in the tropical forestsof Indonesia illustrates both the contradictions of certifying in a shiing andcontentious context and the limited ability of forest certi1047297cation to influencethe main drivers of deforestation

Next in chapter 1048628 we turn to agricultural production and the fairness andsustainability projects that have emerged in this seing Consumers aacha variety of meanings to food and the politics of food consumption has ex-ploded in the past decade In addition to sketching the structure of agri-foodproduction and consumption in general we focus on two types of rule-mak-ing projects fair trade certi1047297cation and an increasingly popular ldquocommod-ity roundtablerdquo approach Looking more closely at two crops991252sugar and

soy991252in one country Paraguay we are able to illustrate the consequences ofdifferent models of certi1047297cation and the crucial role of local context Globalfood politics are being layered onto preexisting institutional arrangementsand it is largely these institutional arrangements that determine whether cer-ti1047297cation is meaningful or not For instance fair trade certi1047297cation seems tomaer most when smallholder farmers are already organized into democrati-cally effective cooperatives or when local organizing al lows them to upgradetheir production capacities over time e contingent effects of conscientiousconsumption come into focus in this chapter

Chapter 1048629 considers how the rise of anti-sweatshop activism in the early1048625104863310486331048624s led to various aempts to monitor and improve working conditions inapparel and footwear factories A rough indication of how these initiatives

892019 Looking behind the Label (excerpt)

httpslidepdfcomreaderfulllooking-behind-the-label-excerpt 3535

10486271048627983113983150983156983154983151983140983157983139983156983145983151983150

have fared is provided by the occurrence of factory 1047297res in 1048626104862410486251048624ndash1048626104862410486251048627 and thedeath of more than eleven hundred garment workers in the 1048626104862410486251048627 collapse ofthe Rana Plaza building in Bangladesh Our chapter examines the constitu-

encies behind different factory auditing and certi1047297cation initiatives the waysstandards were implemented and the reasons why their effects have beenminimal e structure of apparel and footwear production in many wayscreated the demand for codes of conduct but the structure and the mobilityof the industry have undermined meaningful improvements Looking moreclosely at factories in China we show how aempts to certify particularfactories have fallen short In recent years several new projects to provide

ethical apparel have emerged but there remain few credible alternatives inthis industry

Finally chapter 983094 takes us into the fast-paced world of the electronics in-dustry where companies produce new models of smartphones laptops andother devices at breakneck speed Yet recently this industry has become afocus of aention for the exploitation of production workers especially aera series of worker suicides (and later strikes) at Foxconn factories in Chinaand mounting scrutiny of Foxconnrsquos buyer Apple Electronics brands have

also been accused of using ldquoconflict mineralsrdquo in the production of smart-phones e electronics industry is populated by well-capitalized companiesthat at times have demonstrated good intentions to make the labor processsafer and more humane Yet the industry has struggled to make improve-ments and 1047297nd tenable solutions We argue that the solution to this puzzlelies in the architecture of production and to a large extent ultimately in theorganization of electronics consumption is is a case in which conscien-

tious consumerism has been slow to develop and unreflective consumerismhas been a powerful constraint on signi1047297cant improvement Using detaileddata on factories producing for Hewle-Packard we show how the industrycontinues to demand extraordinarily ldquoflexiblerdquo labor markets and excessive

working hours in its factories in Southeast Asia We have tried to provide a sense of the complexity of these cases and set-

tings while still drawing out clear implications Along the way readers shouldget a clearer sense of the structure and operation of global value chains the

varied geographies of production and the circumscribed consequences ofeco-labels and social labels In a concluding chapter we compare our foursets of products and consider what has been learned

Page 32: Looking behind the Label (excerpt)

892019 Looking behind the Label (excerpt)

httpslidepdfcomreaderfulllooking-behind-the-label-excerpt 3235

10486271048624 983116983151983151983147983145983150983143 983138983141983144983145983150983140 983156983144983141 983116983137983138983141983148

numerous codes of conduct and factory monitoring initiatives but it hasalso continued to move quickly from one location to another in search oflow wages and more docile workers e rapid and inconsistent pace of the

global electronics industry has undermined aempts to improve workingconditions while rapidly changing agricultural markets have threatened thelivelihoods of many smallholder farmers

e puzzle of rules can be solved through an analysis of neoliberalism (seeBartley 1048626104862410486251048628a) but it also provokes a simple conclusion about the prospects forglobal fairness and sustainability global industries oen have contradictorytendencies so we should not expect either complete ldquogreenwashrdquoldquofairwashrdquo

or serious transformation Fair trade certi1047297cation has not transformed thelogic of commodity trade but it has improved conditions for some farmersin some circumstances FSC certi1047297cation has not made the timber trade sus-tainable but it has supported improvements in some forests As we developthese 1047297ndings (in part 1048626 of the book) we hope to speak not only to scholars ofconscientious consumerism but also to citizens and consumers themselvesConsumers oen want to feel like their purchases are ldquocleanrdquo of exploitation

but this is unrealistic We believe it would be more promising if consumers

shied from a deterministic to a probabilistic approach conscientious con-sumption may increase onersquos probability of contributing to improvementsand decrease the probability of contributing to the most extreme forms ofexploitation Tis does not answer the question of how large those prob-abilities are (which surely varies by product and label) or the question of howsigni1047297cant those improvements can be But only if consumers shi from anall-or-nothing view of ldquocleanrdquo versus ldquodirtyrdquo production (that is sustainable

versus destructive fair versus exploitative) can they come to an accurateunderstanding of what their purchases can and cannot achieve

983127 983144 983137983156 983116983145 983141 983155 983105 983144 983141 983137 983140

Part 1048625 of this book focuses on dynamics and dilemmas of conscientious con-sumerism In chapter 1048625 we look at why some American and European con-sumers are more likely than others to practice conscientious consumptionUsing survey data on thousands of individual consumers our quantitativeanalyses focus on factors that shape two forms of conscientious consump-tion boycoing and ldquobuycoingrdquo991252that is preferring a product for some po-

892019 Looking behind the Label (excerpt)

httpslidepdfcomreaderfulllooking-behind-the-label-excerpt 3335

10486271048625983113983150983156983154983151983140983157983139983156983145983151983150

litical or ethical reason Some paerns are related to consumersrsquo beliefs andthe extent to which they can afford to be choosy But individual differencesare only a small part of the story Where consumers are has a great deal to do

with whether they engage in conscientious consumption or not We thereforeconnect the individual survey responses with measures that capture nationaleconomic political and cultural contexts Overall this initial portrait showsthat conscientious consumption is widespread but far from universal withkey differences rooted not only in individual characteristics but in differentstructures of consumption as well

Having sketched some general paerns we delve deeper into the meanings

and implications of conscientious consumerism in chapter 1048626 Our analyses inchapter 1048625 are based on what consumers say they do but there are reasons todoubt that consumers will follow through on what they say or that what theysay truly captures the social meaning of their actions Yet we show that thereis evidence of consumers being wil ling to pay for eco-labels and social labelsConsumers are most likely to do so when their ldquoethicalrdquo choices also servetheir self-interest such as saving on energy costs or eating safer healthierfoods But even for those forms of conscientious consumption that have no

short-term direct bene1047297t for consumers there is mounting evidence thatsome consumers will pay more For labeling enthusiasts this is a good thingBut the ldquoone dollar one voterdquo logic of conscientious consumerism and thestatus-symbol character of some ldquoethicalrdquo products are potentially danger-ous in that they can exacerbate social economic and political inequalitiesamong consumers Moreover there is a danger that conscientious consumer-ism can displace other forms of political engagement promoting individual

consumerism at the expense of democratic citizenship and collective socialmovements Working through these debates we argue that conscientiousconsumerism as an ideology is regressive and counterproductive but speci1047297cpractices of conscientious consumption can sometimes be consistent withother forms of political engagement

Of course the real test of conscientious consumption comes at the pointof production To what extent do voluntary standards forged in response toconsumer concern make a difference ldquoon the groundrdquo in global industries

We tackle this question in part 1048626 of the book by looking at the global produc-tion of four types of products991252(1048625) wood and paper products (1048626) food (espe-cially the agri-food industry) (1048627) apparel and footwear and (1048628) electronics

892019 Looking behind the Label (excerpt)

httpslidepdfcomreaderfulllooking-behind-the-label-excerpt 3435

10486271048626 983116983151983151983147983145983150983143 983138983141983144983145983150983140 983156983144983141 983116983137983138983141983148

Each of these case studies is rooted in the interviews that we have conducted with local actors and other 1047297ne-grained information on the organization ofproduction ese chapters apply the framework sketched above (and a com-

mon organizational template) to allow for comparative insightsChapter 1048627 looks at the rise of forest certi1047297cation and its effects in the global

timber industry Like fair trade the FSC is one of the oldest and most es-tablished certi1047297cation and labeling initiatives It was founded more thantwenty years ago and it spurred a number of imitators and competitors Yetit is not well known among conscientious consumers and its impacts have

been far less than originally intended We trace the rise of forest certi1047297cation

with particular aention to the founders and constituents of the FSC andhow they leveraged the structure of the forest products industry to ldquomake amarketrdquo for certi1047297ed wood and paper Yet applying sustainability standardsto the production of some wood and paper products has barely influencedglobal deforestation A closer look at FSC certi1047297cation in the tropical forestsof Indonesia illustrates both the contradictions of certifying in a shiing andcontentious context and the limited ability of forest certi1047297cation to influencethe main drivers of deforestation

Next in chapter 1048628 we turn to agricultural production and the fairness andsustainability projects that have emerged in this seing Consumers aacha variety of meanings to food and the politics of food consumption has ex-ploded in the past decade In addition to sketching the structure of agri-foodproduction and consumption in general we focus on two types of rule-mak-ing projects fair trade certi1047297cation and an increasingly popular ldquocommod-ity roundtablerdquo approach Looking more closely at two crops991252sugar and

soy991252in one country Paraguay we are able to illustrate the consequences ofdifferent models of certi1047297cation and the crucial role of local context Globalfood politics are being layered onto preexisting institutional arrangementsand it is largely these institutional arrangements that determine whether cer-ti1047297cation is meaningful or not For instance fair trade certi1047297cation seems tomaer most when smallholder farmers are already organized into democrati-cally effective cooperatives or when local organizing al lows them to upgradetheir production capacities over time e contingent effects of conscientiousconsumption come into focus in this chapter

Chapter 1048629 considers how the rise of anti-sweatshop activism in the early1048625104863310486331048624s led to various aempts to monitor and improve working conditions inapparel and footwear factories A rough indication of how these initiatives

892019 Looking behind the Label (excerpt)

httpslidepdfcomreaderfulllooking-behind-the-label-excerpt 3535

10486271048627983113983150983156983154983151983140983157983139983156983145983151983150

have fared is provided by the occurrence of factory 1047297res in 1048626104862410486251048624ndash1048626104862410486251048627 and thedeath of more than eleven hundred garment workers in the 1048626104862410486251048627 collapse ofthe Rana Plaza building in Bangladesh Our chapter examines the constitu-

encies behind different factory auditing and certi1047297cation initiatives the waysstandards were implemented and the reasons why their effects have beenminimal e structure of apparel and footwear production in many wayscreated the demand for codes of conduct but the structure and the mobilityof the industry have undermined meaningful improvements Looking moreclosely at factories in China we show how aempts to certify particularfactories have fallen short In recent years several new projects to provide

ethical apparel have emerged but there remain few credible alternatives inthis industry

Finally chapter 983094 takes us into the fast-paced world of the electronics in-dustry where companies produce new models of smartphones laptops andother devices at breakneck speed Yet recently this industry has become afocus of aention for the exploitation of production workers especially aera series of worker suicides (and later strikes) at Foxconn factories in Chinaand mounting scrutiny of Foxconnrsquos buyer Apple Electronics brands have

also been accused of using ldquoconflict mineralsrdquo in the production of smart-phones e electronics industry is populated by well-capitalized companiesthat at times have demonstrated good intentions to make the labor processsafer and more humane Yet the industry has struggled to make improve-ments and 1047297nd tenable solutions We argue that the solution to this puzzlelies in the architecture of production and to a large extent ultimately in theorganization of electronics consumption is is a case in which conscien-

tious consumerism has been slow to develop and unreflective consumerismhas been a powerful constraint on signi1047297cant improvement Using detaileddata on factories producing for Hewle-Packard we show how the industrycontinues to demand extraordinarily ldquoflexiblerdquo labor markets and excessive

working hours in its factories in Southeast Asia We have tried to provide a sense of the complexity of these cases and set-

tings while still drawing out clear implications Along the way readers shouldget a clearer sense of the structure and operation of global value chains the

varied geographies of production and the circumscribed consequences ofeco-labels and social labels In a concluding chapter we compare our foursets of products and consider what has been learned

Page 33: Looking behind the Label (excerpt)

892019 Looking behind the Label (excerpt)

httpslidepdfcomreaderfulllooking-behind-the-label-excerpt 3335

10486271048625983113983150983156983154983151983140983157983139983156983145983151983150

litical or ethical reason Some paerns are related to consumersrsquo beliefs andthe extent to which they can afford to be choosy But individual differencesare only a small part of the story Where consumers are has a great deal to do

with whether they engage in conscientious consumption or not We thereforeconnect the individual survey responses with measures that capture nationaleconomic political and cultural contexts Overall this initial portrait showsthat conscientious consumption is widespread but far from universal withkey differences rooted not only in individual characteristics but in differentstructures of consumption as well

Having sketched some general paerns we delve deeper into the meanings

and implications of conscientious consumerism in chapter 1048626 Our analyses inchapter 1048625 are based on what consumers say they do but there are reasons todoubt that consumers will follow through on what they say or that what theysay truly captures the social meaning of their actions Yet we show that thereis evidence of consumers being wil ling to pay for eco-labels and social labelsConsumers are most likely to do so when their ldquoethicalrdquo choices also servetheir self-interest such as saving on energy costs or eating safer healthierfoods But even for those forms of conscientious consumption that have no

short-term direct bene1047297t for consumers there is mounting evidence thatsome consumers will pay more For labeling enthusiasts this is a good thingBut the ldquoone dollar one voterdquo logic of conscientious consumerism and thestatus-symbol character of some ldquoethicalrdquo products are potentially danger-ous in that they can exacerbate social economic and political inequalitiesamong consumers Moreover there is a danger that conscientious consumer-ism can displace other forms of political engagement promoting individual

consumerism at the expense of democratic citizenship and collective socialmovements Working through these debates we argue that conscientiousconsumerism as an ideology is regressive and counterproductive but speci1047297cpractices of conscientious consumption can sometimes be consistent withother forms of political engagement

Of course the real test of conscientious consumption comes at the pointof production To what extent do voluntary standards forged in response toconsumer concern make a difference ldquoon the groundrdquo in global industries

We tackle this question in part 1048626 of the book by looking at the global produc-tion of four types of products991252(1048625) wood and paper products (1048626) food (espe-cially the agri-food industry) (1048627) apparel and footwear and (1048628) electronics

892019 Looking behind the Label (excerpt)

httpslidepdfcomreaderfulllooking-behind-the-label-excerpt 3435

10486271048626 983116983151983151983147983145983150983143 983138983141983144983145983150983140 983156983144983141 983116983137983138983141983148

Each of these case studies is rooted in the interviews that we have conducted with local actors and other 1047297ne-grained information on the organization ofproduction ese chapters apply the framework sketched above (and a com-

mon organizational template) to allow for comparative insightsChapter 1048627 looks at the rise of forest certi1047297cation and its effects in the global

timber industry Like fair trade the FSC is one of the oldest and most es-tablished certi1047297cation and labeling initiatives It was founded more thantwenty years ago and it spurred a number of imitators and competitors Yetit is not well known among conscientious consumers and its impacts have

been far less than originally intended We trace the rise of forest certi1047297cation

with particular aention to the founders and constituents of the FSC andhow they leveraged the structure of the forest products industry to ldquomake amarketrdquo for certi1047297ed wood and paper Yet applying sustainability standardsto the production of some wood and paper products has barely influencedglobal deforestation A closer look at FSC certi1047297cation in the tropical forestsof Indonesia illustrates both the contradictions of certifying in a shiing andcontentious context and the limited ability of forest certi1047297cation to influencethe main drivers of deforestation

Next in chapter 1048628 we turn to agricultural production and the fairness andsustainability projects that have emerged in this seing Consumers aacha variety of meanings to food and the politics of food consumption has ex-ploded in the past decade In addition to sketching the structure of agri-foodproduction and consumption in general we focus on two types of rule-mak-ing projects fair trade certi1047297cation and an increasingly popular ldquocommod-ity roundtablerdquo approach Looking more closely at two crops991252sugar and

soy991252in one country Paraguay we are able to illustrate the consequences ofdifferent models of certi1047297cation and the crucial role of local context Globalfood politics are being layered onto preexisting institutional arrangementsand it is largely these institutional arrangements that determine whether cer-ti1047297cation is meaningful or not For instance fair trade certi1047297cation seems tomaer most when smallholder farmers are already organized into democrati-cally effective cooperatives or when local organizing al lows them to upgradetheir production capacities over time e contingent effects of conscientiousconsumption come into focus in this chapter

Chapter 1048629 considers how the rise of anti-sweatshop activism in the early1048625104863310486331048624s led to various aempts to monitor and improve working conditions inapparel and footwear factories A rough indication of how these initiatives

892019 Looking behind the Label (excerpt)

httpslidepdfcomreaderfulllooking-behind-the-label-excerpt 3535

10486271048627983113983150983156983154983151983140983157983139983156983145983151983150

have fared is provided by the occurrence of factory 1047297res in 1048626104862410486251048624ndash1048626104862410486251048627 and thedeath of more than eleven hundred garment workers in the 1048626104862410486251048627 collapse ofthe Rana Plaza building in Bangladesh Our chapter examines the constitu-

encies behind different factory auditing and certi1047297cation initiatives the waysstandards were implemented and the reasons why their effects have beenminimal e structure of apparel and footwear production in many wayscreated the demand for codes of conduct but the structure and the mobilityof the industry have undermined meaningful improvements Looking moreclosely at factories in China we show how aempts to certify particularfactories have fallen short In recent years several new projects to provide

ethical apparel have emerged but there remain few credible alternatives inthis industry

Finally chapter 983094 takes us into the fast-paced world of the electronics in-dustry where companies produce new models of smartphones laptops andother devices at breakneck speed Yet recently this industry has become afocus of aention for the exploitation of production workers especially aera series of worker suicides (and later strikes) at Foxconn factories in Chinaand mounting scrutiny of Foxconnrsquos buyer Apple Electronics brands have

also been accused of using ldquoconflict mineralsrdquo in the production of smart-phones e electronics industry is populated by well-capitalized companiesthat at times have demonstrated good intentions to make the labor processsafer and more humane Yet the industry has struggled to make improve-ments and 1047297nd tenable solutions We argue that the solution to this puzzlelies in the architecture of production and to a large extent ultimately in theorganization of electronics consumption is is a case in which conscien-

tious consumerism has been slow to develop and unreflective consumerismhas been a powerful constraint on signi1047297cant improvement Using detaileddata on factories producing for Hewle-Packard we show how the industrycontinues to demand extraordinarily ldquoflexiblerdquo labor markets and excessive

working hours in its factories in Southeast Asia We have tried to provide a sense of the complexity of these cases and set-

tings while still drawing out clear implications Along the way readers shouldget a clearer sense of the structure and operation of global value chains the

varied geographies of production and the circumscribed consequences ofeco-labels and social labels In a concluding chapter we compare our foursets of products and consider what has been learned

Page 34: Looking behind the Label (excerpt)

892019 Looking behind the Label (excerpt)

httpslidepdfcomreaderfulllooking-behind-the-label-excerpt 3435

10486271048626 983116983151983151983147983145983150983143 983138983141983144983145983150983140 983156983144983141 983116983137983138983141983148

Each of these case studies is rooted in the interviews that we have conducted with local actors and other 1047297ne-grained information on the organization ofproduction ese chapters apply the framework sketched above (and a com-

mon organizational template) to allow for comparative insightsChapter 1048627 looks at the rise of forest certi1047297cation and its effects in the global

timber industry Like fair trade the FSC is one of the oldest and most es-tablished certi1047297cation and labeling initiatives It was founded more thantwenty years ago and it spurred a number of imitators and competitors Yetit is not well known among conscientious consumers and its impacts have

been far less than originally intended We trace the rise of forest certi1047297cation

with particular aention to the founders and constituents of the FSC andhow they leveraged the structure of the forest products industry to ldquomake amarketrdquo for certi1047297ed wood and paper Yet applying sustainability standardsto the production of some wood and paper products has barely influencedglobal deforestation A closer look at FSC certi1047297cation in the tropical forestsof Indonesia illustrates both the contradictions of certifying in a shiing andcontentious context and the limited ability of forest certi1047297cation to influencethe main drivers of deforestation

Next in chapter 1048628 we turn to agricultural production and the fairness andsustainability projects that have emerged in this seing Consumers aacha variety of meanings to food and the politics of food consumption has ex-ploded in the past decade In addition to sketching the structure of agri-foodproduction and consumption in general we focus on two types of rule-mak-ing projects fair trade certi1047297cation and an increasingly popular ldquocommod-ity roundtablerdquo approach Looking more closely at two crops991252sugar and

soy991252in one country Paraguay we are able to illustrate the consequences ofdifferent models of certi1047297cation and the crucial role of local context Globalfood politics are being layered onto preexisting institutional arrangementsand it is largely these institutional arrangements that determine whether cer-ti1047297cation is meaningful or not For instance fair trade certi1047297cation seems tomaer most when smallholder farmers are already organized into democrati-cally effective cooperatives or when local organizing al lows them to upgradetheir production capacities over time e contingent effects of conscientiousconsumption come into focus in this chapter

Chapter 1048629 considers how the rise of anti-sweatshop activism in the early1048625104863310486331048624s led to various aempts to monitor and improve working conditions inapparel and footwear factories A rough indication of how these initiatives

892019 Looking behind the Label (excerpt)

httpslidepdfcomreaderfulllooking-behind-the-label-excerpt 3535

10486271048627983113983150983156983154983151983140983157983139983156983145983151983150

have fared is provided by the occurrence of factory 1047297res in 1048626104862410486251048624ndash1048626104862410486251048627 and thedeath of more than eleven hundred garment workers in the 1048626104862410486251048627 collapse ofthe Rana Plaza building in Bangladesh Our chapter examines the constitu-

encies behind different factory auditing and certi1047297cation initiatives the waysstandards were implemented and the reasons why their effects have beenminimal e structure of apparel and footwear production in many wayscreated the demand for codes of conduct but the structure and the mobilityof the industry have undermined meaningful improvements Looking moreclosely at factories in China we show how aempts to certify particularfactories have fallen short In recent years several new projects to provide

ethical apparel have emerged but there remain few credible alternatives inthis industry

Finally chapter 983094 takes us into the fast-paced world of the electronics in-dustry where companies produce new models of smartphones laptops andother devices at breakneck speed Yet recently this industry has become afocus of aention for the exploitation of production workers especially aera series of worker suicides (and later strikes) at Foxconn factories in Chinaand mounting scrutiny of Foxconnrsquos buyer Apple Electronics brands have

also been accused of using ldquoconflict mineralsrdquo in the production of smart-phones e electronics industry is populated by well-capitalized companiesthat at times have demonstrated good intentions to make the labor processsafer and more humane Yet the industry has struggled to make improve-ments and 1047297nd tenable solutions We argue that the solution to this puzzlelies in the architecture of production and to a large extent ultimately in theorganization of electronics consumption is is a case in which conscien-

tious consumerism has been slow to develop and unreflective consumerismhas been a powerful constraint on signi1047297cant improvement Using detaileddata on factories producing for Hewle-Packard we show how the industrycontinues to demand extraordinarily ldquoflexiblerdquo labor markets and excessive

working hours in its factories in Southeast Asia We have tried to provide a sense of the complexity of these cases and set-

tings while still drawing out clear implications Along the way readers shouldget a clearer sense of the structure and operation of global value chains the

varied geographies of production and the circumscribed consequences ofeco-labels and social labels In a concluding chapter we compare our foursets of products and consider what has been learned

Page 35: Looking behind the Label (excerpt)

892019 Looking behind the Label (excerpt)

httpslidepdfcomreaderfulllooking-behind-the-label-excerpt 3535

10486271048627983113983150983156983154983151983140983157983139983156983145983151983150

have fared is provided by the occurrence of factory 1047297res in 1048626104862410486251048624ndash1048626104862410486251048627 and thedeath of more than eleven hundred garment workers in the 1048626104862410486251048627 collapse ofthe Rana Plaza building in Bangladesh Our chapter examines the constitu-

encies behind different factory auditing and certi1047297cation initiatives the waysstandards were implemented and the reasons why their effects have beenminimal e structure of apparel and footwear production in many wayscreated the demand for codes of conduct but the structure and the mobilityof the industry have undermined meaningful improvements Looking moreclosely at factories in China we show how aempts to certify particularfactories have fallen short In recent years several new projects to provide

ethical apparel have emerged but there remain few credible alternatives inthis industry

Finally chapter 983094 takes us into the fast-paced world of the electronics in-dustry where companies produce new models of smartphones laptops andother devices at breakneck speed Yet recently this industry has become afocus of aention for the exploitation of production workers especially aera series of worker suicides (and later strikes) at Foxconn factories in Chinaand mounting scrutiny of Foxconnrsquos buyer Apple Electronics brands have

also been accused of using ldquoconflict mineralsrdquo in the production of smart-phones e electronics industry is populated by well-capitalized companiesthat at times have demonstrated good intentions to make the labor processsafer and more humane Yet the industry has struggled to make improve-ments and 1047297nd tenable solutions We argue that the solution to this puzzlelies in the architecture of production and to a large extent ultimately in theorganization of electronics consumption is is a case in which conscien-

tious consumerism has been slow to develop and unreflective consumerismhas been a powerful constraint on signi1047297cant improvement Using detaileddata on factories producing for Hewle-Packard we show how the industrycontinues to demand extraordinarily ldquoflexiblerdquo labor markets and excessive

working hours in its factories in Southeast Asia We have tried to provide a sense of the complexity of these cases and set-

tings while still drawing out clear implications Along the way readers shouldget a clearer sense of the structure and operation of global value chains the

varied geographies of production and the circumscribed consequences ofeco-labels and social labels In a concluding chapter we compare our foursets of products and consider what has been learned