Conclusion: Lessons for Building Union Power in Garment Producing Countries and Benefits of a Relational Approach for Analysing Labour Control and Labour Agency in GPNs

Abstract

AbstractThis chapter summarises central findings in light of the posed research questions and discusses the empirical and conceptual contributions of this book. In terms of empirical contributions, the book highlights the central role of local worker organisations in improving working conditions in the garment industry while simultaneously revealing the complex, networked labour control structures that constrain the terrain for labour agency in garment producing countries. Against this background, unions need to develop networked agency strategies that employ coalitional and moral power resources from international consumer and labour organisations to open up space for workplace organising and collective bargaining. Conceptually, the relational approach for studying labour control and labour agency in GPNs developed in this book contributes to reinvigorating a relational understanding of labour dynamics in GPNs as constituted through power-laden, networked relationships at the vertical and horizontal dimension of the GPN. Thereby the book addresses a gap in past scalar analyses, which have not sufficiently explored the specific links between network dynamics and territorial outcomes for labour at specific nodes of a GPN. The chapter concludes with final reflections on challenges and strategies for improving working conditions in the global garment industry and directions for further research.