I am a researcher interested in how the global economy is governed and in how developing countries (especially in Africa) fare in it. My research, fieldwork and policy work is informed by global value chain analysis and convention theory and explores the overlaps and tensions between private governance and public regulation. I am particularly interested in how standards, labels and certifications on food safety, quality and social-environmental conditions of production govern agro-food value chains. In recent research, I have been examining the increasing importance of celebrities in mobilizing 'compassionate' consumption and forms of corporate social responsibility that are 'distant and disengaged'.
This book examines the dynamics of socioeconomic change in rural areas of Africa, with particular... more This book examines the dynamics of socioeconomic change in rural areas of Africa, with particular reference to the effects of agricultural market liberalization. It examines both continental level patterns of change and the specificities of the liberalization process in ...
The interaction of sustainability governance and global value chains has crucial implications the... more The interaction of sustainability governance and global value chains has crucial implications the world over. When it comes to sustainability the last decade has witnessed the birth of hybrid forms of governance where business, civil society and public actors interact at different levels, leading to a focus on concepts of legitimacy within multi-stakeholder initiatives (MSIs).
Based in over 15 years of theoretical engagement and field research, Business, Power and Sustainability draws from both labour-intensive value chains, such as in the agro-food sector (coffee, wine, fish, biofuels, palm oil), and from capital-intensive value chains such as in shipping and aviation, to discuss how sustainability governance can be best designed, managed and institutionalized in today’s world of global value chains (GVCs). Examining current theoretical and analytical efforts aimed at including sustainability issues in GVC governance theory, it expands on recent work examining GVC upgrading by introducing the concept of environmental upgrading; and through new conceptions of orchestration, it provides suggestions for how governments and international organizations can best facilitate the achievement of sustainability goals.
Essential reading on the governance of sustainability in the twenty-first century.
'A profoundly important book that will be required reading not only for today’s practitioners and students, but for the next generation as well.' - Benjamin Cashore, Professor of Environmental Governance & Political Science at Yale University
‘Ponte shows not only how sustainability management is a key feature of contemporary capitalism, but also why pursuing "just sustainabilities’ is so imperative. I strongly recommend the book.' - Peter Newell, University of Sussex, author of Globalization and the Environment and Global Green Politics.
‘Since the 1980s, the main question has been how to leverage foreign direct investment and GVC engagement for economic development. Now, with the habitability of the planet in question, this book shifts the lens toward sustainability. Very timely!’ - Timothy J. Sturgeon, Senior Researcher, MIT Industrial Performance Center (IPC)
'This book is a well-researched, systematically analysed and neatly presented examination of how large firms have captured environmental sustainability to control the world through global value chains. It is a chilling but compulsive reading. It is highly recommended for researchers and students especially those in production sites - the global south.' - Christine Noe, Department of Geography, University of Dar es Salaam
‘A great book that all students of Global Value Chains and transnational sustainability governance should buy and read. Ponte is an expert and innovator in both fields of study, and successfully synthesizes insights from both literatures to build a provocative and compelling argument about ongoing and impending transformations in the global economy.’ - Luc Fransen, Associate Professor of International Relations, University of Amsterdam.
Products certified according to their environmental and social sustainability are becoming an imp... more Products certified according to their environmental and social sustainability are becoming an important feature of production, trade and consumption in the agro-food sector. 'Sustainability networks' are behind the emergence and growth of these new product forms, often evolving into multi-stakeholder initiatives that establish and manage base codes, standards, certifications and labels. As sustainability moves into the mainstream, understanding the governance of these networks is essential because they partly reshape the structure and characteristics of commodity flows. In this article, we examine the role of expert knowledge and process management in governing two multi-stakeholder initiatives (the Marine Stewardship Council and the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil) and in shaping their distributional effects. We find that the ability of developing countries, especially small-scale actors within them, to shape standard setting and management to their advantage depends not only on overcoming important structural differences in endowments and access to resources, but also on more subtle games. These include promoting the enrolment of one expert group or kind of expert knowledge over another, using specific formats of negotiation, and legitimating particular modes of engagement over others.
"“Has there ever been a better reason to shop?” asks an ad for the Product RED American Express c... more "“Has there ever been a better reason to shop?” asks an ad for the Product RED American Express card, telling members who use the card that buying “cappuccinos or cashmere” will help to fight AIDS in Africa. Cofounded in 2006 by the rock star Bono, Product RED has been a particularly successful example of a new trend in celebrity-driven international aid and development, one explicitly linked to commerce, not philanthropy.
In Brand Aid, Lisa Ann Richey and Stefano Ponte offer a deeply informed and stinging critique of “compassionate consumption.” Campaigns like Product RED and its precursors, such as Lance Armstrong’s Livestrong and the pink-ribbon project in support of breast cancer research, advance the expansion of consumption far more than they meet the needs of the people they ostensibly serve. At the same time, such campaigns sell both the suffering of Africans with AIDS (in the case of Product RED) and the power of the average consumer to ameliorate it through familiar and highly effective media representations.
Using Product RED as its focal point, this book explores how corporations like American Express, Armani, Gap, and Hallmark promote compassionate consumption to improve their ethical profile and value without significantly altering their business model, protecting themselves from the threat to their bottom lines posed by a genuinely engaged consumer activism. Coupled with the phenomenon of celebrity activism and expertise as embodied by Bono, Richey and Ponte argue that this “causumerism” represents a deeply troubling shift in relief efforts, effectively delinking the relationship between capitalist production and global poverty."
Governing through standards, rather than through law and regulation, is one of the central trends... more Governing through standards, rather than through law and regulation, is one of the central trends that has emerged in industrialized countries since the 1980s. This collection explains how and why standards are used as governance tools, how they are internally governed, and what effects they have in the real world. An interdisciplinary group of scholars examines standards in banking and accounting, quality management and organizational social responsibility, and sustainability standards. Applying theoretical frameworks within political economy and governmentality studies, the contributors analyze how governing through standards differs from other types of regulation. Finally, they shed light on the origins and drivers behind standards and the limitations of using standards as a governance tool.
"Standards are replacing tariffs as the main trade barriers facing developing country agro-food e... more "Standards are replacing tariffs as the main trade barriers facing developing country agro-food exports. This edited collection examines the challenges and opportunities that new public and private standards present to African countries, producers and exporters. The empirical focus is on food safety, environmental and climate change, and social and labour standards – and how they are implemented on the ground. Findings derive from a series of fieldwork-based studies carried out jointly by a group of researchers based in East Africa and Denmark under a collaborative research and capacity building programme.
Key questions addressed in the book are: To what extent are agro-food standards and standard-setting processes changing? In what ways are these standards being practically implemented? Have enterprises in African countries achieved conformity with these standards? What barriers have they overcome to do so, and with what costs and benefits? "
Africa's role in the global economy is evolving as a result of new corporate strategies, changing... more Africa's role in the global economy is evolving as a result of new corporate strategies, changing trade regulations, and innovative ways of overseeing the globalized production and distribution of goods both within Africa and internationally. African participants in the global economy, now faced with demands for higher levels of performance and quality, have generated occasional successes but also many failures. Peter Gibbon and Stefano Ponte describe the central processes that are integrating some African firms into the global economy while at the same time marginalizing others. They show the effects of these processes on African countries, and the farms and firms within them. The authors use an innovative combination of global value chain analysis—which links production, trade, and consumption—and convention theory, an approach to understanding the conduct of business. In doing so, Gibbon and Ponte present a timely overview of the economic challenges that lay ahead in Africa, and point to ways to best address them.
African agriculture has profoundly changed its role in global markets and national economies. Eco... more African agriculture has profoundly changed its role in global markets and national economies. Economic reforms have forced the withdrawal of the state from agricultural markets. Livelihoods have become increasingly commercialised. Rural households are restructuring the ways they manage their economic activities and are transforming their social relations. This book is about the contradictions of liberalisation and the complexity of farmers' responses to the changing roles of states and markets.
This book examines the dynamics of socioeconomic change in rural areas of Africa, with particular... more This book examines the dynamics of socioeconomic change in rural areas of Africa, with particular reference to the effects of agricultural market liberalization. It examines both continental level patterns of change and the specificities of the liberalization process in ...
The interaction of sustainability governance and global value chains has crucial implications the... more The interaction of sustainability governance and global value chains has crucial implications the world over. When it comes to sustainability the last decade has witnessed the birth of hybrid forms of governance where business, civil society and public actors interact at different levels, leading to a focus on concepts of legitimacy within multi-stakeholder initiatives (MSIs).
Based in over 15 years of theoretical engagement and field research, Business, Power and Sustainability draws from both labour-intensive value chains, such as in the agro-food sector (coffee, wine, fish, biofuels, palm oil), and from capital-intensive value chains such as in shipping and aviation, to discuss how sustainability governance can be best designed, managed and institutionalized in today’s world of global value chains (GVCs). Examining current theoretical and analytical efforts aimed at including sustainability issues in GVC governance theory, it expands on recent work examining GVC upgrading by introducing the concept of environmental upgrading; and through new conceptions of orchestration, it provides suggestions for how governments and international organizations can best facilitate the achievement of sustainability goals.
Essential reading on the governance of sustainability in the twenty-first century.
'A profoundly important book that will be required reading not only for today’s practitioners and students, but for the next generation as well.' - Benjamin Cashore, Professor of Environmental Governance & Political Science at Yale University
‘Ponte shows not only how sustainability management is a key feature of contemporary capitalism, but also why pursuing "just sustainabilities’ is so imperative. I strongly recommend the book.' - Peter Newell, University of Sussex, author of Globalization and the Environment and Global Green Politics.
‘Since the 1980s, the main question has been how to leverage foreign direct investment and GVC engagement for economic development. Now, with the habitability of the planet in question, this book shifts the lens toward sustainability. Very timely!’ - Timothy J. Sturgeon, Senior Researcher, MIT Industrial Performance Center (IPC)
'This book is a well-researched, systematically analysed and neatly presented examination of how large firms have captured environmental sustainability to control the world through global value chains. It is a chilling but compulsive reading. It is highly recommended for researchers and students especially those in production sites - the global south.' - Christine Noe, Department of Geography, University of Dar es Salaam
‘A great book that all students of Global Value Chains and transnational sustainability governance should buy and read. Ponte is an expert and innovator in both fields of study, and successfully synthesizes insights from both literatures to build a provocative and compelling argument about ongoing and impending transformations in the global economy.’ - Luc Fransen, Associate Professor of International Relations, University of Amsterdam.
Products certified according to their environmental and social sustainability are becoming an imp... more Products certified according to their environmental and social sustainability are becoming an important feature of production, trade and consumption in the agro-food sector. 'Sustainability networks' are behind the emergence and growth of these new product forms, often evolving into multi-stakeholder initiatives that establish and manage base codes, standards, certifications and labels. As sustainability moves into the mainstream, understanding the governance of these networks is essential because they partly reshape the structure and characteristics of commodity flows. In this article, we examine the role of expert knowledge and process management in governing two multi-stakeholder initiatives (the Marine Stewardship Council and the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil) and in shaping their distributional effects. We find that the ability of developing countries, especially small-scale actors within them, to shape standard setting and management to their advantage depends not only on overcoming important structural differences in endowments and access to resources, but also on more subtle games. These include promoting the enrolment of one expert group or kind of expert knowledge over another, using specific formats of negotiation, and legitimating particular modes of engagement over others.
"“Has there ever been a better reason to shop?” asks an ad for the Product RED American Express c... more "“Has there ever been a better reason to shop?” asks an ad for the Product RED American Express card, telling members who use the card that buying “cappuccinos or cashmere” will help to fight AIDS in Africa. Cofounded in 2006 by the rock star Bono, Product RED has been a particularly successful example of a new trend in celebrity-driven international aid and development, one explicitly linked to commerce, not philanthropy.
In Brand Aid, Lisa Ann Richey and Stefano Ponte offer a deeply informed and stinging critique of “compassionate consumption.” Campaigns like Product RED and its precursors, such as Lance Armstrong’s Livestrong and the pink-ribbon project in support of breast cancer research, advance the expansion of consumption far more than they meet the needs of the people they ostensibly serve. At the same time, such campaigns sell both the suffering of Africans with AIDS (in the case of Product RED) and the power of the average consumer to ameliorate it through familiar and highly effective media representations.
Using Product RED as its focal point, this book explores how corporations like American Express, Armani, Gap, and Hallmark promote compassionate consumption to improve their ethical profile and value without significantly altering their business model, protecting themselves from the threat to their bottom lines posed by a genuinely engaged consumer activism. Coupled with the phenomenon of celebrity activism and expertise as embodied by Bono, Richey and Ponte argue that this “causumerism” represents a deeply troubling shift in relief efforts, effectively delinking the relationship between capitalist production and global poverty."
Governing through standards, rather than through law and regulation, is one of the central trends... more Governing through standards, rather than through law and regulation, is one of the central trends that has emerged in industrialized countries since the 1980s. This collection explains how and why standards are used as governance tools, how they are internally governed, and what effects they have in the real world. An interdisciplinary group of scholars examines standards in banking and accounting, quality management and organizational social responsibility, and sustainability standards. Applying theoretical frameworks within political economy and governmentality studies, the contributors analyze how governing through standards differs from other types of regulation. Finally, they shed light on the origins and drivers behind standards and the limitations of using standards as a governance tool.
"Standards are replacing tariffs as the main trade barriers facing developing country agro-food e... more "Standards are replacing tariffs as the main trade barriers facing developing country agro-food exports. This edited collection examines the challenges and opportunities that new public and private standards present to African countries, producers and exporters. The empirical focus is on food safety, environmental and climate change, and social and labour standards – and how they are implemented on the ground. Findings derive from a series of fieldwork-based studies carried out jointly by a group of researchers based in East Africa and Denmark under a collaborative research and capacity building programme.
Key questions addressed in the book are: To what extent are agro-food standards and standard-setting processes changing? In what ways are these standards being practically implemented? Have enterprises in African countries achieved conformity with these standards? What barriers have they overcome to do so, and with what costs and benefits? "
Africa's role in the global economy is evolving as a result of new corporate strategies, changing... more Africa's role in the global economy is evolving as a result of new corporate strategies, changing trade regulations, and innovative ways of overseeing the globalized production and distribution of goods both within Africa and internationally. African participants in the global economy, now faced with demands for higher levels of performance and quality, have generated occasional successes but also many failures. Peter Gibbon and Stefano Ponte describe the central processes that are integrating some African firms into the global economy while at the same time marginalizing others. They show the effects of these processes on African countries, and the farms and firms within them. The authors use an innovative combination of global value chain analysis—which links production, trade, and consumption—and convention theory, an approach to understanding the conduct of business. In doing so, Gibbon and Ponte present a timely overview of the economic challenges that lay ahead in Africa, and point to ways to best address them.
African agriculture has profoundly changed its role in global markets and national economies. Eco... more African agriculture has profoundly changed its role in global markets and national economies. Economic reforms have forced the withdrawal of the state from agricultural markets. Livelihoods have become increasingly commercialised. Rural households are restructuring the ways they manage their economic activities and are transforming their social relations. This book is about the contradictions of liberalisation and the complexity of farmers' responses to the changing roles of states and markets.
Exploring how transnational environmental governance and the operation of global value chains (GV... more Exploring how transnational environmental governance and the operation of global value chains (GVCs) intersect is key in explaining the circumstances under which mandatory disclosure can improve the environmental footprint of business operations. We investigate how the governance dynamics of the tanker shipping value chain (a major emitter of greenhouse gases) limits the effectiveness of the European Union (EU) monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) regulation, which mandates the disclosure of greenhouse gas emissions for ships calling at EU ports. Although MRV seeks to help shipowners and ship managers save fuel and reduce emissions, it does not address the complexity of power relations along the tanker shipping value chain and currently cannot disentangle how different actors influence the design, operational, commercial, and ocean/weather factors that together determine fuel consumption. In particular, the EU MRV neglects to reflect on how oil majors exert their power and ...
ABSTRACT Products certified according to their environmental and social sustainability are becomi... more ABSTRACT Products certified according to their environmental and social sustainability are becoming an important feature of production, trade and consumption in the agro-food sector. ‘Sustainability networks’ are behind the emergence and growth of these new product forms, often evolving into multi-stakeholder initiatives that establish and manage base codes, standards, certifications and labels. As sustainability moves into the mainstream, understanding the governance of these networks is essential because they partly reshape the structure and characteristics of commodity flows. In this article, we examine the role of expert knowledge and process management in governing two multi-stakeholder initiatives (the Marine Stewardship Council and the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil) and in shaping their distributional effects. We find that the ability of developing countries, especially small-scale actors within them, to shape standard setting and management to their advantage depends not only on overcoming important structural differences in endowments and access to resources, but also on more subtle games. These include promoting the enrolment of one expert group or kind of expert knowledge over another, using specific formats of negotiation, and legitimating particular modes of engagement over others.
In this article, we examine the relations between global value chain governance and environmental... more In this article, we examine the relations between global value chain governance and environmental upgrading in maritime shipping. Drawing from interviews with global shipping companies and major buyers of shipping services (cargo-owners), we reveal the key issues and challenges faced in improving the environmental performance of maritime transportation. Contributing to the Global Value Chain (GVC) literature, we compare and analyze the influence of three main external drivers on environmental upgrading in the tanker, bulk and container shipping segments: regulation, cooperation and buyer demands. Our findings suggest that environmental upgrading is more likely to occur when global value chains are characterized by unipolar governance and where the lead firms are consumer-facing companies with reputational risks. Furthermore, environmental upgrading in shipping is not likely to materialize without clear and enforceable global regulation and stronger alignment between regulation and voluntary sustainability initiatives.
Consumers, partnering with corporations and celebrities, are forming new alliances in internation... more Consumers, partnering with corporations and celebrities, are forming new alliances in international development through what we call 'Brand Aid' initiatives. At a time of shifting relationships between public and private aid, commodities are sold as the means for achieving development for recipients and good feelings for consumers simultaneously. In this article, first we formalize our conceptual model of Brand Aid at the triple interface of causes, branded products and celebrities. Then, we conduct a systematic empirical analysis of contemporary Brand Aid initiatives including three in-depth case studies of: 'Win One Give One', TOMS shoes and Product (RED). We argue that these not only use imaginaries of development to sell products to Northern consumers, but also engage in the work of a 'story factory' – producing truths about international development and consumer engagement that make development appear simplified, manageable and marketable. We conclude that, in Brand Aid, the problems themselves and the people who experience them are branded and marketed to Western consumers (through celebritized multi-media story-telling) just as effectively as the products that will 'save' them.
This paper examines the experience of sustainability partnerships for the management of coastal r... more This paper examines the experience of sustainability partnerships for the management of coastal resources in Tanzania. It identifies key actors and governance dynamics, with focus on decentralization processes, legitimacy-building and participation of local communities. The paper first provides a brief status of coastal resources in Tanzania and a historical overview of the evolution of co-management practices. Then, it examines actors and processes at the national and local levels in relation to two types of co-management: Marine Parks (MPAs) and Beach Management Units (BMUs). In view of ongoing research under the New Partnerships for Sustainability project (NEPSUS), it provides guidance on research gaps in specific relation to the Mnazi Bay Ruvuma Estuary Marine Park (MBREMP) and selected BMUs in Mtwara region, Southern Tanzania.
New and more complex partnerships are emerging to address the sustainability of natural resource ... more New and more complex partnerships are emerging to address the sustainability of natural resource use in developing countries. These partnerships variously link donors, governments, community-based organizations, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), business, certification agencies and other intermediaries. High expectations and many resources have been invested in these initiatives. Yet, we still do not know whether more sophisticated organizational structures, more stakeholders involved, and more advanced participatory processes have delivered better sustainability outcomes, and if so, in what sectors and under what circumstances. To fill this knowledge gap and build capacity in this area, the NEPSUS research and capacity building project assembles a multidisciplinary team to analyze sustainability partnerships in three key natural resource sectors in Tanzania: forestry, wildlife and coastal resources. In each of these sectors, we assess whether co-management with local communities and private and civil society actors, and putatively more participatory processes in the governance of renewable resources, result in more equitable and sustainable livelihoods and environmental outcomes. We compare ‘more complex’ partnerships to relatively ‘simpler’, more traditional top-down and centralized management systems, and to instances where sustainability partnerships are not in place. This working paper tackles the main conceptual, methodological and research design issues arising in this effort.
As multiple visions for a Green Economy seek to become real, so are
green economic initiatives in... more As multiple visions for a Green Economy seek to become real, so are green economic initiatives in the global South multiplying. These can offer integration into wealth-generating markets – as well as displacement, alienation, conflict and opportunities for ‘green washing’. The articles included in this collection bring together a multidisciplinary team of scholars and a range of case studies, from forestry governance to tourism to carbon finance, to provide nuanced analyses of Green Economy experiences in the global South – examining the opportunities they provide, the redistributions they entail and the kinds of resistance they face.
Since the 1990s governments in both the Global North and the Global South have been heavily promo... more Since the 1990s governments in both the Global North and the Global South have been heavily promoting liquid biofuels and enacting policies as a result of concerns related to climate change mitigation, energy security, and rural development. Policy discourses about future technological pathways and landscapes have also been based on framing the lack of energy as an impediment to development and growth (Smith, 2010; Wilkinson and Herrera, 2010). Liquid biofuels have been portrayed as an attractive technological pathway because they can address disparate problems at once without fundamentally altering prevailing energy consumption practices (Smith, 2010; White and Dasgupta, 2010). They are already a major ‘renewable’ energy source in the United States, Brazil, and the European Union where they are presented as a way to sustainably transition away from fossil fuels in the future (Birch and Calvert, forthcoming).
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Based in over 15 years of theoretical engagement and field research, Business, Power and Sustainability draws from both labour-intensive value chains, such as in the agro-food sector (coffee, wine, fish, biofuels, palm oil), and from capital-intensive value chains such as in shipping and aviation, to discuss how sustainability governance can be best designed, managed and institutionalized in today’s world of global value chains (GVCs). Examining current theoretical and analytical efforts aimed at including sustainability issues in GVC governance theory, it expands on recent work examining GVC upgrading by introducing the concept of environmental upgrading; and through new conceptions of orchestration, it provides suggestions for how governments and international organizations can best facilitate the achievement of sustainability goals.
Essential reading on the governance of sustainability in the twenty-first century.
'A profoundly important book that will be required reading not only for today’s practitioners and students, but for the next generation as well.'
- Benjamin Cashore, Professor of Environmental Governance & Political Science at Yale University
‘Ponte shows not only how sustainability management is a key feature of contemporary capitalism, but also why pursuing "just sustainabilities’ is so imperative. I strongly recommend the book.'
- Peter Newell, University of Sussex, author of Globalization and the Environment and Global Green Politics.
‘Since the 1980s, the main question has been how to leverage foreign direct investment and GVC engagement for economic development. Now, with the habitability of the planet in question, this book shifts the lens toward sustainability. Very timely!’
- Timothy J. Sturgeon, Senior Researcher, MIT Industrial Performance Center (IPC)
'This book is a well-researched, systematically analysed and neatly presented examination of how large firms have captured environmental sustainability to control the world through global value chains. It is a chilling but compulsive reading. It is highly recommended for researchers and students especially those in production sites - the global south.'
- Christine Noe, Department of Geography, University of Dar es Salaam
‘A great book that all students of Global Value Chains and transnational sustainability governance should buy and read. Ponte is an expert and innovator in both fields of study, and successfully synthesizes insights from both literatures to build a provocative and compelling argument about ongoing and impending transformations in the global economy.’
- Luc Fransen, Associate Professor of International Relations, University of Amsterdam.
In Brand Aid, Lisa Ann Richey and Stefano Ponte offer a deeply informed and stinging critique of “compassionate consumption.” Campaigns like Product RED and its precursors, such as Lance Armstrong’s Livestrong and the pink-ribbon project in support of breast cancer research, advance the expansion of consumption far more than they meet the needs of the people they ostensibly serve. At the same time, such campaigns sell both the suffering of Africans with AIDS (in the case of Product RED) and the power of the average consumer to ameliorate it through familiar and highly effective media representations.
Using Product RED as its focal point, this book explores how corporations like American Express, Armani, Gap, and Hallmark promote compassionate consumption to improve their ethical profile and value without significantly altering their business model, protecting themselves from the threat to their bottom lines posed by a genuinely engaged consumer activism. Coupled with the phenomenon of celebrity activism and expertise as embodied by Bono, Richey and Ponte argue that this “causumerism” represents a deeply troubling shift in relief efforts, effectively delinking the relationship between capitalist production and global poverty."
Key questions addressed in the book are: To what extent are agro-food standards and standard-setting processes changing? In what ways are these standards being practically implemented? Have enterprises in African countries achieved conformity with these standards? What barriers have they overcome to do so, and with what costs and benefits? "
Based in over 15 years of theoretical engagement and field research, Business, Power and Sustainability draws from both labour-intensive value chains, such as in the agro-food sector (coffee, wine, fish, biofuels, palm oil), and from capital-intensive value chains such as in shipping and aviation, to discuss how sustainability governance can be best designed, managed and institutionalized in today’s world of global value chains (GVCs). Examining current theoretical and analytical efforts aimed at including sustainability issues in GVC governance theory, it expands on recent work examining GVC upgrading by introducing the concept of environmental upgrading; and through new conceptions of orchestration, it provides suggestions for how governments and international organizations can best facilitate the achievement of sustainability goals.
Essential reading on the governance of sustainability in the twenty-first century.
'A profoundly important book that will be required reading not only for today’s practitioners and students, but for the next generation as well.'
- Benjamin Cashore, Professor of Environmental Governance & Political Science at Yale University
‘Ponte shows not only how sustainability management is a key feature of contemporary capitalism, but also why pursuing "just sustainabilities’ is so imperative. I strongly recommend the book.'
- Peter Newell, University of Sussex, author of Globalization and the Environment and Global Green Politics.
‘Since the 1980s, the main question has been how to leverage foreign direct investment and GVC engagement for economic development. Now, with the habitability of the planet in question, this book shifts the lens toward sustainability. Very timely!’
- Timothy J. Sturgeon, Senior Researcher, MIT Industrial Performance Center (IPC)
'This book is a well-researched, systematically analysed and neatly presented examination of how large firms have captured environmental sustainability to control the world through global value chains. It is a chilling but compulsive reading. It is highly recommended for researchers and students especially those in production sites - the global south.'
- Christine Noe, Department of Geography, University of Dar es Salaam
‘A great book that all students of Global Value Chains and transnational sustainability governance should buy and read. Ponte is an expert and innovator in both fields of study, and successfully synthesizes insights from both literatures to build a provocative and compelling argument about ongoing and impending transformations in the global economy.’
- Luc Fransen, Associate Professor of International Relations, University of Amsterdam.
In Brand Aid, Lisa Ann Richey and Stefano Ponte offer a deeply informed and stinging critique of “compassionate consumption.” Campaigns like Product RED and its precursors, such as Lance Armstrong’s Livestrong and the pink-ribbon project in support of breast cancer research, advance the expansion of consumption far more than they meet the needs of the people they ostensibly serve. At the same time, such campaigns sell both the suffering of Africans with AIDS (in the case of Product RED) and the power of the average consumer to ameliorate it through familiar and highly effective media representations.
Using Product RED as its focal point, this book explores how corporations like American Express, Armani, Gap, and Hallmark promote compassionate consumption to improve their ethical profile and value without significantly altering their business model, protecting themselves from the threat to their bottom lines posed by a genuinely engaged consumer activism. Coupled with the phenomenon of celebrity activism and expertise as embodied by Bono, Richey and Ponte argue that this “causumerism” represents a deeply troubling shift in relief efforts, effectively delinking the relationship between capitalist production and global poverty."
Key questions addressed in the book are: To what extent are agro-food standards and standard-setting processes changing? In what ways are these standards being practically implemented? Have enterprises in African countries achieved conformity with these standards? What barriers have they overcome to do so, and with what costs and benefits? "
certification agencies and other intermediaries. High expectations and many resources have been invested in these initiatives. Yet, we still do not know whether more sophisticated organizational structures, more stakeholders involved, and more advanced participatory processes have delivered better sustainability outcomes, and if so, in what sectors and under what circumstances. To fill this knowledge gap and build capacity in this area, the NEPSUS research and capacity building project assembles a multidisciplinary team to analyze sustainability partnerships in three key natural resource sectors in Tanzania: forestry, wildlife and coastal resources. In each of these sectors, we assess whether co-management with local communities and private and civil society actors, and putatively more participatory processes in the governance of renewable resources, result in more equitable and sustainable livelihoods and environmental outcomes. We compare ‘more complex’ partnerships to relatively ‘simpler’, more traditional top-down and centralized management systems, and to
instances where sustainability partnerships are not in place. This working paper tackles the main conceptual, methodological and research design issues arising in this effort.
green economic initiatives in the global South multiplying. These can
offer integration into wealth-generating markets – as well as displacement,
alienation, conflict and opportunities for ‘green washing’. The
articles included in this collection bring together a multidisciplinary
team of scholars and a range of case studies, from forestry governance
to tourism to carbon finance, to provide nuanced analyses of
Green Economy experiences in the global South – examining the
opportunities they provide, the redistributions they entail and the
kinds of resistance they face.