Antonella Angelini Seminar

The Edinburgh Centre for International and Global Law presents

Labor agency in transnational private governance: new regulatory schemes from (old and) new sources of power

Dr Antonella Angelini, University of Geneva

About the seminar

In the face of increasingly dispersed and fragmented value chains, workers, unions, and worker organizations have recently started forging innovative solutions against the concentration of power in the hands of upstream buyers. At the heart of such initiatives is an engagement by unions or other worker organizations with buyer firms to improve labor standards among suppliers. Usually, this engagement finds expression through formal agreements, sometimes coupled with informal instruments. The common element is establishing legally enforceable obligations on the part of the actors throughout the entire supply chain.

While these practices are carving a new space into transnational governance, the theorizing of labor agency therein is at its early stages. Specific case studies have expounded on the power sources—positional, associational, or coalitional—for workers to strike an agreement with buyer firms. The presentation will put this literature in context. More broadly, it will reflect on how workers can use their knowledge of supply chains to bring into view potential alignment of interests among chain constituents and thereby leverage source of power. What regulatory schemes may emerge from this leverage? What may the whole panoply of worker-driven governance initiatives look like in the near feature? Through these questions, the presentation will offer a theoretical and policy-informed contribution to the urgent debate on post-pandemic reform of global labour governance.

Edinburgh Law School Event COVID Information/Guidance

Places are strictly limited and registration is required.

To comply with COVID safety measures all attendees must wear a mask/face covering unless medically exempt.

To prevent the spread of COVID-19 virus please take particular care to follow the social distancing guidelines and hand-hygiene measures in place. Masks must be worn in all Edinburgh Law School premises (unless medically exempt).

Please do not attend if you feel unwell or have symptoms of COVID-19.

If you are unable to attend please cancel your ticket as places are restricted and demand is expected to be high.