Abstract
This chapter provides an overview of the literature on power relations in global sourcing which goes beyond the prevalent focus on the dyadic business-to-business relation. The move through the various theories of power leads to my major claim which is that power dynamics in GVCs must be understood in the context of institutions in various fields and at different levels. While economic logic can explain certain patterns of power asymmetries, the power dynamics among actors at particular times and locations will be shaped by the specifics of the context. Therefore, universal claims concerning the character of power relations in global sourcing must be qualified by considerations for definite contexts. The overview applies Steven Luke’s ‘three faces of power’ to the agential dimensions of power, the neo-institutionalist’s differentiation of regulative, normative, and cognitive institutions, and neo-Gramscian perspective on the emergence and reproduction of the so-called neoliberal historical bloc which provides the previously mentioned institutions with some sort of coherence.
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Notes
- 1.
In the terminology of Gereffi: market-based coordination.
- 2.
Fleming and Spicer call this ‘power of manipulation’ (2007, p.16). As I will argue, the more interesting source for this power are routines, not the direct exercise of power (first face) or the manipulation of interests (third face of power), though in reality the mixture of these different forms of power may result in the mentioned ‘non-decisions’.
- 3.
Lukes calls his third face ‘power as domination’. I find this term not very precise; it blurs the line to the previous two faces of power.
- 4.
- 5.
In Neo-Marxist discourses the term structure is more used than the term institution. There is much confusion about the difference of these terms. My take on the issue is that in case an institution structures human behavior and/or meaning making, it can be called a structure. Since many institutions have this quality, the term structure needs to be differentiated according to the scale and scope of human behavior/meaning making that is being structured. The larger the scale and scope of an institution’s structuring capability is, the more appropriate it is to call this institution a structure. In line with Ernesto Laclau's critique of structural/essentialist Marxism (1990), I reject the notion of a closed structure.
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Scherrer, C. (2022). Embeddedness of Power Relations in Global Value Chains. In: Teipen, C., Dünhaupt, P., Herr, H., Mehl, F. (eds) Economic and Social Upgrading in Global Value Chains. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-87320-2_5
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