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Paper short abstract

This paper takes the leather sector of Bangladesh as a case to explore the conditions under which states and firm owners in the global south address, prioritise, or avoid environmental and labour concerns through an in-depth and integrated analysis of the domestic and global political economy.

Paper long abstract

Firm owners and states have historically suppressed labour and ignored environmental concerns during the early stages of industrialisation and capital accumulation. Of late, both state and business actors in the global south have come under pressure to meet environmental and labour conditions to retain and expand access to markets in the global north. Buyers from the global north now increasingly set labour and environmental standards for the industries of the global south. Yet, poor environmental and labour conditions continue to exist in the manufacturing industries of the global south despite rising global awareness of these problems. Moreover, given the variations in the state’s capacity, developmental strategy, and position in the global economy, addressing environmental and labour concerns has varied from country to country and from industry to industry. Hence, exploring the conditions under which states and firm owners address or avoid environmental and labour concerns demands an in-depth and integrated analysis of the domestic and global political economy. Additionally, it is also important to understand why and when the state prioritises adopting and implementing one category (e.g., environmental) of regulations and standards over the other (e.g. labour). We take the leather sector of Bangladesh as a case to study the politics of the non-adoption, adoption, and prioritisation of certain regulations and standards in the manufacturing industries of the global south.