Network O’s GVC Conversations 2026 Webinar Series: Rethinking Global Value Chains: a Research Approach for Social and Environmental Transformation
Joint online SASE/RGVC seminar – January 15th – 14h-16h CET
This joint SASE/RGVC online seminar explores the ways in which research on global value chains and production networks may offer insights, framings and orientations to be fruitfully mobilized by civil society groups, in their efforts to promote greater social and environmental protection in and around global value chains. The reorganization of the economy into transnational value chains has significantly challenged the capacity of civil society actors to (re-)embed economic forces into social and environmental safety nets, particularly at the national and local scales. On the one hand, the rise of global value chains (GVCs) entailed a dilution of responsibilities among multiple, intertwined economic entities involved in the conception, production and sale of products and services. On the other, GVCs allowed for greater concentration of economic power by major lead firms on a global scale, a power that the complexity and opacity of value chains had rendered largely unaccountable. In response to such transformations, civil society movements have campaigned on multiple scales and reached out to both economic and public actors to promote social and environmental protection in and around GVCs’ operations. Tackling GVCs remains a persistent challenge, for which GVC research may be usefully mobilized, as will be discussed through the sharing of various experiences of academic and civil society collaboration.
What to expect
Introduction – Florence Palpacuer (University of Montpellier, RGVC initiative) & Joonkoo Lee (School of Business, Hanyang University, SASE Network O Global Value Chain)
(8-10mins)
‘The global value chain in canned tuna and labour unionisation in Papua New Guinea
(10-12mn)
In this first case, Liam Campling (Queen Mary University of London) sets out his work on mapping the GVC in tuna, highlighting several ways in which this can be useful for civil society campaigns and/or policy makers; Liz Blackshaw (former labour organiser at International Transport Workers’ Federation; International Union of Food Workers; UK Trades Union Congress) will further talk about her role in a successful campaign to unionise cannery workers in Papua New Guinea, and the ways in which understanding the GVC fed into this initiative.
Lithium value chains and labor regimes
(10-12 mins)
This case of academic–civil society collaboration presents the research carried out by Lucas Cifuentes (University of Manchester) and Felipe Irarrázaval (Universidad de Chile) on lithium production networks in Latin America, with a focus on workers’ participation in the governance of these production networks. A representative from IndustriALL will discuss how the organization has drawn on a global value chain approach to strengthen campaigns aimed at enhancing workers’ agency and improving working conditions.
From Global Value Chain Research to Cluster Transformation: Insights from the Green Threads Initiative
(10-12 mins)
Green Threads builds on long-standing collaboration between Copenhagen Business School (CBS) and the Foundation for MSME Clusters (FMC) to strengthen sustainability in India’s textile recycling hubs. Peter Lund-Thompsen (CBS), will present how CBS research traced used clothing flows from the EU and North America into four interconnected clusters—Kandla, Panipat, Bhojpur, and Amroha—revealing both their central role in global value chains and their urgent need for social, economic, and environmental upgrading. Amit Pande (Chief Operating Officer, FMC) will discuss how this research informed FMC’s design of an EU SWITCH-Asia intervention now being implemented across three of these clusters.
Worker-Driven Co-Research in Latin American GVCs: Challenges and Opportunities
(10-12 mins)
Mark Anner (Rutgers University) will offer a broader perspective on key features and challenges of academic collaboration with civil society groups, based on extensive experience of joint work with labor unions over several projects pertaining to American GVCs.
Past Network O Webinars
To watch webinars from past years, please visit SASE’s GVC Conversations YouTube playlist here.