The collapse of the Lanna Plaza building in Bangladesh in 2013 and the fires of factories in Pakistan and Bangladesh in 2012 took the lives of more than 1,500 people. These incidents once again called for global action to pay attention of the implementation and governance of labour standards to achieve decent working conditions around the worl
2. Literature Review (4500-5000 words, need references)
2.1 Global Value Chain
what is GVC?
Explain: “Comparative advantage” caused the transfer of global market
The implication of globalization to developing countries
How GVC affects labour standards and put pressure on producers
general information
role/importance of international labour standards, why important?
international labour standards in textile industry
2.3 Labour Clauses in Trade Agreements
Labour clauses in bilateral or regional trade agreements
Examples: North American Agreement on Labour Cooperation (NAALC) in North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA); Textile and Apparel Trade Agreement between the US and Cambodia; Better Factory Cambodia project and so on.
Describe these clauses, explain why they appeared and what they brought to both sides
2.4 Soft Law on Labor Standards
Corporation Social Responsibility (CSR)
Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI): QuizRR in Bangladesh
2.5 Private Governance
local firms
international lead firms
2.6 Governance of Local Government
3. Methodology and Analysis
no need
4. Case Study (5000 words except 4.1, need reference)
4.1 Background in Bangladesh
no need
4.2. Reasons for accidents
Why did these accidents happen?
e.g. irresponsibility and empty promises of retailers and other reasons
4.3. Response of international society
What did international society/retailers do after the fire and building collapse? Or their response to the sweatshop workers? (eg. governance, credible inspections, remediation, financial support etc.)
Analyse why they did this? Their purpose?
4.3.1 local government
4.3.2 companies
4.3.3 NGOs
4.4. Current situation
How about the current situation of garment industry in Bangladesh? Is there any breakthrough?
compare with their response, find the difference of promise and reality
analyse why this happened?