https://thesis.eur.nl/col/4331/ List of Publications en https://thesis.eur.nl/pub/6755/ Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:01 GMT <div>Konforti, Lazar</div> This paper uses a global value chain framework to analyse the globalised struggle over the embeddedness of agriculture between neoliberalism as a system and the fair trade network. The neoliberal model of governance is discussed in terms of its effects on value chain dynamics and power relationships. Neoliberal governance promotes the pursuit of individual gain at the expense of social considerations, i.e. a Polanyian disembedded economy. It is argued that the three crucial aspects of neoliberal governance are that it forces economic actors with unequal access to resources into a system of global competition, resulting in a loss of local control over the development process. Together, these characteristics drive the process of global and local unequalisation. The fair trade network in contrast is considered here as an attempt to re-embed the agricultural economy by creating a sense of producer-consumer solidarity and building an alternative consumer-driven value chain governance model with the aim of enhancing producer livelihoods. Based on a discussion of power and space in the governance of global agricultural value chains, it is argued that fair trade’s ability to counter the disembedding effects of neoliberalism – unequal access to resources, competition, and delocalisation – has been and will likely continue to be limited. It is argued that the fair trade consumer-driven model might benefit from forging alliances with other civic groups who can challenge the neoliberal model directly in the spaces of governance in which it is dominant. https://thesis.eur.nl/pub/7189/ Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:01 GMT <div>Konforti, Lazar</div> This paper uses a global value chain framework to analyse the globalised struggle over the embeddedness of agriculture between neoliberalism as a system and the fair trade network. The neoliberal model of governance is discussed in terms of its effects on value chain dynamics and power relationships. Neoliberal governance promotes the pursuit of individual gain at the expense of social considerations, i.e. a Polanyian disembedded economy. It is argued that the three crucial aspects of neoliberal governance are that it forces economic actors with unequal access to resources into a system of global competition, resulting in a loss of local control over the development process. Together, these characteristics drive the process of global and local unequalisation. The fair trade network in contrast is considered here as an attempt to re-embed the agricultural economy by creating a sense of producer-consumer solidarity and building an alternative consumer-driven value chain governance model with the aim of enhancing producer livelihoods. Based on a discussion of power and space in the governance of global agricultural value chains, it is argued that fair trade’s ability to counter the disembedding effects of neoliberalism – unequal access to resources, competition, and delocalisation – has been and will likely continue to be limited. It is argued that the fair trade consumer-driven model might benefit from forging alliances with other civic groups who can challenge the neoliberal model directly in the spaces of governance in which it is dominant. https://thesis.eur.nl/pub/32910/ Fri, 11 Dec 2015 00:00:01 GMT <div>Odero, Cynthia Achieng</div> Despite valid security trepidations, the Kenyan government directive to counter terror known as ‘Operation Usalama Watch’ has made the Somali community previously known as excellent business people, creators of small companies, employment and opportunities for investment an easy target. This is because they are now being associated with a new set of images of violent crimes in Kenya. This research paper is based on a study carried out among Somali urban refugees in Eastleigh. The main objective of this study was to investigate the factors that have caused a shift by the Kenyan government to relabel Somali urban refugees as a security threat despite their economic contribution to the country. Drawing on a document analysis and qualitative field research, this study considers the reaction of the Somali refugees to the label of security threat and uses the theoretical approach of labelling, refugee governance to comprehend the Kenyan’s government’s narrative towards Somali urban refugees. By examining the existing policies and practices of the Kenya government in relation to the issue of Somali Refugees we see the dilemma faced by both the refugees and the government regarding security and economic benefits. Ultimately, the study highlights the necessity for directing focus towards the refugees being part of the development agenda with the government investing in their businesses and supporting their plans to be integrated into the Kenyan society or go back home and a need for the government to alter its counter-productive measure of encampment of refugees. Meanwhile, there is need to expand the evaluative space to take into account the value of refugees to the Kenyan economy as well as relational outcomes. https://thesis.eur.nl/pub/32931/ Fri, 11 Dec 2015 00:00:01 GMT <div>Bimir, Mathias Nigatu</div> The past few decades have shown an increasing progress towards business role in social and environmental concerns other than business as usual. Such corporate social responsibility role became an important tool for corporate success and inclusive development all over the world despite it emerged in advanced countries. To that end, learning business organizations strive to erudite sustainability practices to meet the interests of stakeholders. Applying organizational learning concepts and norm life cycle theory, this study was carried out to investigate CSR learning in the leather and footwear firms of Ethiopia. The study was carried out as a qualitative case study, informed by the selected leather and footwear firms, industry association and leather industry development institute. Interviews and content analysis of policy/regulatory documents were the main methods employed. The firms and the state were at the centre of the analysis. The issue of analysis was empirical CSR practice and how regulative, normative and strategic motives shape firms learning towards responsible business. Findings show that firms’ learning social responsibility is at emergence stage with the state and foreign market pressure as key motivators. While regulating environmental and labour conditions, the state offer incentives for higher economic responsibility of firms. Then, there exists collaborative learning in the firm-state institutions affinity. The civil society organizations are away from nurturing responsible investment and are not sources of social responsibility unlike advanced nations. Because firms see each other as rival, there is isolation which deter inter-firm learning too. Responsible investment, to move forward in the industry, needs multi-stakeholder dialogue and learning platform to share experiences and develop organizational learning. https://thesis.eur.nl/pub/32995/ Fri, 11 Dec 2015 00:00:01 GMT <div>Meza Servín, Victoria</div> In the following research I will lay out the factors that explain how and why IBM, one of the most successful Multinational Corporations, has become a global reference in terms Corporate Social Responsibility specifically in their efforts towards LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) workplace inclusion. Through a case study methodology of IBM’s headquarters in the USA and its subsidiaries in Mexico, aspects of glocalities, organizational structure, business imperatives and activism will inform the questions surrounding the successful cross-national transference and implementation of global CSR policies. https://thesis.eur.nl/pub/32997/ Fri, 11 Dec 2015 00:00:01 GMT <div>Céspedes Vargas, Pablo</div> Juchitán de Zaragoza, México, has been historically known as a commercial town dominated by hard working women. It has also become well-known because of “muxes”, a community of gender nonconforming people who have been frequently reported as “socially accepted”, in relation to other transgender communities at the national level. In this context, this research brings the narratives of muxes about gender and work. It seeks to make clear how heteronormativity creates and constrains room for muxes in the workplace, affecting their access to some types of jobs, in the context of a local and globalized economy. The labor market affects muxes but also muxes affect economic activity, keeping the economy local against the pressures of globalization. What protects and supports muxes is the economy by and for the local population. The local economy, mainly built on fiestas and other economic practices, allows muxes to be independent, “hard-working” and productive. In a different way, the wage labor is for transgender muxes the heteronormative sphere of the labor market, but an open space for normative muxes and gays. In the end, the research concludes that muxes, depending on their gender identities and expressions, experience different degrees of heteronormativity at work.