Social Protection as Technocratic Fix?: Labour Precarity and Crises of Capitalism after Bangladesh’s Rana Plaza Collapse

Abstract

Abstract After the 2013 collapse of Bangladesh’s Rana Plaza garment manufacturing building, the Rana Plaza Arrangement (rpa) provided work-injury compensation benefits to injured survivors and the families of those killed, funded by global apparel brands. This article draws upon qualitative interviews with international stakeholders—including global brands, activists, and the International Labour Organization (ilo)—who developed and implemented the rpa, and survivors who claimed compensation payments. We analyse the rpa as an experiment in transnational social protection, which attempted to recentre labour rights and state responsibility after three decades of neoliberal labour governance. Arguing that social protection can be a technocratic “fix” to restore and make tolerable an injurious economic system, we demonstrate the inherent paradox of attempting to integrate precarious labour into decent and dignified social protection. The rpa’s many failures suggest that state commitment to regulation and organized labour power are necessary ingredients for successful transnational social protection.