Business, Power and Sustainability in a World of Global Value Chains

by Stefano Ponte

Overview

The interaction of sustainability governance and global value chains has crucial implications the world over. When it comes to sustainability the last decade has witnessed the birth of hybrid forms of governance where business, civil society and public actors interact at different levels, leading to a focus on concepts of legitimacy within multi-stakeholder initiatives (MSIs).

Based in over 15 years of theoretical engagement and field research, Business, Power and Sustainability draws from both labour-intensive value chains, such as in the agro-food sector (coffee, wine, fish, biofuels, palm oil), and from capital-intensive value chains such as in shipping and aviation, to discuss how sustainability governance can be best designed, managed and institutionalized in today's world of global value chains (GVCs). Examining current theoretical and analytical efforts aimed at including sustainability issues in GVC governance theory, it expands on recent work examining GVC upgrading by introducing the concept of environmental upgrading; and through new conceptions of orchestration, it provides suggestions for how governments and international organizations can best facilitate the achievement of sustainability goals.

Essential reading on the governance of sustainability in the twenty-first century.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781786992574
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	10/15/2019
Edition description:	1
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 8.52(h) x 0.79(d)

About the Author

Stefano Ponte is Professor of International Political Economy at Copenhagen Business School, Denmark, as well as Distinguished Visiting Professor at the Centre for Competition, Regulation, and Economic Development at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa. His previous books include The Coffee Paradox: Global Markets, Commodity Trade and the Elusive Promise of Development (Zed, 2005, with Benoit Daviron); Trading Down: Africa, Value Chains, and the Global Economy (2005, with Peter Gibbon); Brand Aid: Shopping Well to Save the World (2011, with Lisa Ann Richey); and Business, Power, and Sustainability in a World of Global Value Chains (Zed, 2019).

Table of Contents

List of Figures xiii

List of Tables xv

List of Abbreviations xvii

Preface and Acknowledgements xxiii

Introduction: Business, Sustainability and the Global Economy 1

1 What We Know About Sustainability Governance 25

2 Power in Global Value Chains 42

3 Sustainability, Power and Governance in the Wine, Coffee and Biofuels Global Value Chains 63

4 Value Creation and Capture through Economic and Environmental Upgrading 133

5 Orchestrating Sustainability 175

Conclusion: Green Capital, Brown Environments 211

Notes 227

References 231

Index 261

Editorial Reviews

Since the 1980s, the main question has been how to leverage foreign direct investment and GVC engagement for economic development. Now, with the habitability of the planet in question, this book shifts the lens toward sustainability. Very timely!” —Timothy J. Sturgeon, Ph.D. Senior Researcher, MIT Industrial Performance Center (IPC)

“A profoundly important book that will be required reading not only for today's practitioners and students, but for the next generation as well.” —Benjamin Cashore, Professor of Environmental Governance & Political Science at Yale University

“A great book that all students of Global Value Chains and transnational sustainability governance should buy and read. Ponte is an expert and innovator in both fields of study, and successfully synthesizes insights from both literatures to build a provocative and compelling argument about ongoing and impending transformations in the global economy.” —Luc Fransen, Associate Professor of International Relations, University of Amsterdam.

“Ponte shows not only how sustainability management is a key feature of contemporary capitalism, but also why pursuing "just sustainabilities' is so imperative. I strongly recommend the book.” —Professor Peter Newell, University of Sussex, author of Globalization and the Environment and Global Green Politics.

From the Publisher