RM&C - t3 consumption & the global supply chain

supply chain responsibility issues & how these relate to everyday consumption practices & products

global supply chains link everyday products to distant production sites, consumers = disconnected, everyday products linked: exploitation/violence/environmental harm; object biography: resource extraction - production - distribution - consumption - disposal, helps trace responsibility (harm at every stage); e.g. Rubber in the Congo: rubber extraction supported colonial exploitation, Ango-Belgian India Rubber Company profited, failure to meet quotas = death/mutilation, cheap goods = extreme violence; slavery & commodities (historical): sugar = white gold, 11m Africans force transported, mass product via slave labour; markets & production: markets hide conditions, long supply chains increase opacity; value chain (Kaplinsky 2000): design - production - marketing, value increasingly added through branding & marketing not making; branding critique: companies outsource production, focus on image not labour consequences; consequences: outsourcing & offshoring, race to the bottom (lowest wages, weakest laws), increase distance: product/consumer; e.g. Blue Empire: Norwegian salmon farming - Mowi, sold: Tesco/Sainsbury’s/Aldi/Lidl/Wagamama, farmed salmon fed with wild fish from food-insecure countries = nutrient colonialism/food imperialism

modern slavery & its prevalence

slavery: exploitation people can’t refuse/leave due to threats/coercion/violence/deception; scale: >40.3m people enslaved globally (highest ever), common sectors: agriculture, clothes, domestic work, food services, nail bars/car washes/s trade; characteristics: violence, low cost/short term exploitation, workers disposable, hidden in supply chains; global trade: G20 imports >$127.7b garments at risk of slavery, depending global inequality increases vulnerability; consumers use neutralisation techniques (Carrington et al 2021): denial of responsibility, denial of victim, denial of injury, denial of evidence, othering & dehumanisation, necessity; ethical overwhelm (Stringer et al 2021): leads to reduced moral concern

addressing responsibility issues

sources of change: companies/governments/workers & unions/NGOs & campaigns/consumers; certification & regulation: B-Corp certification: measures social & environmental impact, requires: high impact score/legal accountability to stakeholders/public transparency, e.g. CottonConnect, ethical trading initiative, ETI principles: safe working conditions/no child labour/living wages/working hours; limits of ethical schemes: fair trade minerals (Hilson 2014): improved traceability but - weak enforcement/producers not empowered/focus on consumers over workers; harm chain framework (Carrigan et al 2013): pre-production - production - consumption - post-consumption, identified: who harmed/causes harm/can act, useful: locating unintended harm; challenges: complex supply chains, corporate power, weak audits, limited consumer demand, ethical confusion at POS

consumption & the global supply chain

supply chain responsibility issues & how these relate to everyday consumption practices & products; modern slavery & its prevalence; addressing responsibility issues