International Supply Chains and the Labour Process

The changing nature of global production and distribution processes and their impact on the capital-labour relationship raise a number of questions for labour process analysis. Where business operates across national boundaries whether as multinational companies (MNCs) or as lead firms in international supply chains, the relational nature of power relationships between and within firms is significant to understanding the bargaining power of labour at the point of production (Coe et al., 2008a). Although there is no single body of theory relating to the analysis of international supply chains, the article argues that the perspectives developed by different authors relating to global commodity chains (GCCs), global value chains (GVCs) and global production networks (GPNs) have a contribution to make to labour process analysis. This contribution lies in the understanding of the contested nature of systems of managerial control, on the one hand, and the sources of resistance and ability of labour to mobilize, on the other.