Domestic obstacles to labor standards: law enforcement and informal institutions in Argentina’s garment industry
Journal
Socio-Economic Review
ISSN
1475-1461
Type
journal article
Date Issued
2018
Author(s)
Abstract
The obstacles to implementing labor standards in the garment industry have been addressed by a significant body of literature which increasingly considers local institutions. This includes viewing states and government actors as predictors of compliance. Yet fine-grained studies on how the interplay of informal institutions and local actors’ interests prevents standards being implemented are still lacking. Drawing on seven months of ethnographic fieldwork at the main supply center for sweatshop produced and counterfeit clothing in Buenos Aires, Argentina, this article shows how these actors’ tolerance toward the sweatshop economy obstructs the implementation of labor standards. According to empirical evidence, this tolerance means protecting certain actors, i.e. non-enforcing the law. Accordingly, the paper distinguishes between two types of protection: provided by state or by political actors. By uncovering the workings of informal institutions and the political actors’ logics, this article helps to understand why deplorable labor conditions in the garment industry persist.
Language
English
HSG Classification
contribution to scientific community
HSG Profile Area
SHSS - Kulturen, Institutionen, Maerkte (KIM)
Refereed
Yes
Publisher
Oxford University Press
Volume
16
Number
3
Start page
567
End page
586
Division(s)
Eprints ID
262024
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Name
SER_16_2018_Dewey.pdf
Size
353.47 KB
Format
Adobe PDF
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