The Bangladesh Sustainability Compact: an effective exercise of global experimentalist EU governance?

The calamitous Rana Plaza factory collapse in 2013 focused international attention on labour rights’ violations and factory safety in Bangladesh’s dominant ready-made garment industry which is almost wholly dependent on exports to the EU. In response, the EU and the ILO launched the Bangladesh Susta...

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Main Authors: Kenner, Jeff, Peake, Katrina
Format: Article
Published: Cambridge University Press 2017
Subjects:
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/48167/
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author Kenner, Jeff
Peake, Katrina
author_facet Kenner, Jeff
Peake, Katrina
author_sort Kenner, Jeff
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description The calamitous Rana Plaza factory collapse in 2013 focused international attention on labour rights’ violations and factory safety in Bangladesh’s dominant ready-made garment industry which is almost wholly dependent on exports to the EU. In response, the EU and the ILO launched the Bangladesh Sustainability Compact, with the core objective of promoting continuous improvement in labour rights and factory safety in the industry. The uniqueness of the Compact stems from its nature as a form of experimentalist governance involving both governmental and non-governmental actors. Being primarily an EU-led initiative based on balancing trade, sustainable development and human rights’ objectives, it is underpinned by the possible option, if the Compact fails, of withdrawing trade preferences. This article will examine the rationale for the Compact, its main features, and its effectiveness as a form of ‘global experimentalist governance’.
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spelling nottingham-481672020-05-04T19:01:16Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/48167/ The Bangladesh Sustainability Compact: an effective exercise of global experimentalist EU governance? Kenner, Jeff Peake, Katrina The calamitous Rana Plaza factory collapse in 2013 focused international attention on labour rights’ violations and factory safety in Bangladesh’s dominant ready-made garment industry which is almost wholly dependent on exports to the EU. In response, the EU and the ILO launched the Bangladesh Sustainability Compact, with the core objective of promoting continuous improvement in labour rights and factory safety in the industry. The uniqueness of the Compact stems from its nature as a form of experimentalist governance involving both governmental and non-governmental actors. Being primarily an EU-led initiative based on balancing trade, sustainable development and human rights’ objectives, it is underpinned by the possible option, if the Compact fails, of withdrawing trade preferences. This article will examine the rationale for the Compact, its main features, and its effectiveness as a form of ‘global experimentalist governance’. Cambridge University Press 2017-08-17 Article PeerReviewed Kenner, Jeff and Peake, Katrina (2017) The Bangladesh Sustainability Compact: an effective exercise of global experimentalist EU governance? Cambridge Yearbook of European Legal Studies . pp. 1-30. ISSN 2049-7636 labour rights trade sustainable development European Union Bangladesh Compact ready-made garments global experimentalist governance https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/cambridge-yearbook-of-european-legal-studies/article/bangladesh-sustainability-compact-an-effective-exercise-of-global-experimentalist-eu-governance/59F080EAD23A1B94DCB3AD610EF9491A doi:10.1017/cel.2017.3 doi:10.1017/cel.2017.3
spellingShingle labour rights
trade
sustainable development
European Union
Bangladesh
Compact
ready-made garments
global experimentalist governance
Kenner, Jeff
Peake, Katrina
The Bangladesh Sustainability Compact: an effective exercise of global experimentalist EU governance?
title The Bangladesh Sustainability Compact: an effective exercise of global experimentalist EU governance?
title_full The Bangladesh Sustainability Compact: an effective exercise of global experimentalist EU governance?
title_fullStr The Bangladesh Sustainability Compact: an effective exercise of global experimentalist EU governance?
title_full_unstemmed The Bangladesh Sustainability Compact: an effective exercise of global experimentalist EU governance?
title_short The Bangladesh Sustainability Compact: an effective exercise of global experimentalist EU governance?
title_sort bangladesh sustainability compact: an effective exercise of global experimentalist eu governance?
topic labour rights
trade
sustainable development
European Union
Bangladesh
Compact
ready-made garments
global experimentalist governance
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/48167/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/48167/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/48167/