7 - When Transnational Governance Meets National Actors

Summary

Institutions of transnational industrial democracy are emerging, as demonstrated in the book. However, the relationship between these transnational structures and national systems has often been overlooked. Chapter 7 thus focuses on the relationship between transnational industrial democracy and national institutions in Bangladesh: the relationship between the Bangladesh Accord, on the one hand, and national actors from the industry association and government of Bangladesh, on the other. For national actors, the imposition of private labour governance through the Accord undermined local democratic institutions, and thus became highly contentious. This highlights the trade-off between effectiveness and inclusiveness of private governance. While collective action from over 200 signatory companies has been vital in driving factory owners to remediate urgent safety issues, it also created quasi-authority to regulate and close sites of production by withdrawing orders from unsafe or non-cooperative factories. Overall, Chapter 7 raises challenging questions about democratic governance and the intersection of transnational and national spheres.