Outsourcing state functions and the limits of existing regulatory regimes -- Contract as transnational regulatory governance -- The emergence of a transnational private regime for the regulation of PMSCs -- Conclusion -- Notes -- References -- 14. Conclusion: Empire through contract: A private international law perspective -- Abstract -- Introduction -- Self-constituting regimes: Private international law's libertarian view of contract -- Possible antidotes: From the undiscovered DNA of contract law to new global forms of legal pluralism -- Notes -- References -- Index

'This book draws out the profound implications and transformational dynamics of multi-level global governance of natural resources, labour standards and particularly food safety. the hybrid private-public governance of these supply chains has in some contexts made large western retailer groups more dominant regulators than states. Yet the new regulatory governance is more pluralistic in its flux than a shift from state to retailer hegemony. Governance by contracts of global sway more than government by statutes of states drives regulatory innovation. Legal entrepreneurs and model mongers of many stripes inspire this innovation. Political theory is yet to come to grips with the significance of the shifts this thoughtful collection ably traces.' – John Braithwaite, Australian National University 'This edited volume represents a major contribution to scholarship on the role of private standards in global governance. It brings together a wealth of important new research written by a distinguished group of scholars. It is noteworthy not only for the breadth and depth of its case-studies, but by its extensive analysis of the legal dimensions of private standard setting and enforcement.' – David Vogel, University of California, Berkeley, US Private regulatory initiatives aim to govern supply chains across the globe according to a set of environmental, food safety and/or social standards. Until now, literature on the topic has been fragmented and divided by research fields. However, this unique and comprehensive book bridges these disciplinary and thematic research lines, bringing together an interdisciplinary group of leading scholars to identify key issues. the expert contributors assess the state-of-the-art with regard to private regulation of food, natural resources and labour conditions. They begin with an introduction to, and discussion of, several leading existing private standards, and go on to assess private food standards and their legitimacy and effectiveness in the context of the global trade regime. This truly multidisciplinary assessment of the scope and importance of private standards as a governance tool in a globalizing world will prove to be an enlightening read for a wide-ranging audience encompassing: academics, students, researchers, policymakers and analysts focusing on private forms of governance in several sectors including economics, law, politics, development, environment and agriculture.

This volume explores a variety of forms of transnational private governance where non-state actors cooperate across borders to establish rules and standards accepted as legitimate by other agents. Transnational private governance is a core feature of the devolution of power that we observe in the global realm and that is bringing about new forms of authority. Transnational Private Governance provides theoretically and empirically informed insights into the interactions between states and non-state actors including domains beyond intergovernmental organizations, conventional non-governmental organizations, and multinational enterprises, covering a wide range of arrangements, from highly formal devolutions of power to lax and informal platforms of interaction between private actors. Contributing to the latest generation of globalization studies, the authors consider the relationship between states and markets as closely integrated and seek to broaden the scope of enquiry by including new patterns and agents of change on a transnational basis. This book will be of great interest to researchers and students of political science, international political economy, economics, business studies, globalisation and law.

Over the years many transnational labor alliances have succeeded in improving conditions for workers, but many more have not. In The New Politics of Transnational Labor, Marissa Brookes explains why this dichotomy has occurred. Using the coordination and context-appropriate (CCAP) theory, she assesses this divergence, arguing that the success of transnational alliances hinges not only on effective coordination across borders and within workers' local organizations but also on their ability to exploit vulnerabilities in global value chains, invoke national and international institutions, and mobilize networks of stakeholders in ways that threaten employers' core, material interests. Brookes uses six comparative case studies spanning four industries, five countries, and fifteen years. From dockside labor disputes in Britain and Australia to service sector campaigns in the supermarket and private security industries to campaigns aimed at luxury hotels in Southeast Asia, Brookes creates her new theoretical framework and speaks to debates in international and comparative political economy on the politics of economic globalization, the viability of private governance, and the impact of organized labor on economic inequality. From this assessment, Brookes provides a vital update to the international relations literature on non-state actors and transnational activism and shows how we can understand the unique capacities labor has as a transnational actor.

This book is about what it really means when companies claim to be promoting sustainability and fairness in their global operations.

This path-breaking collection analyzes the dialectic between legal and constitutional innovations intended to inscribe corporate power and market disciplines in world order, and the potential for challenges and alternative frameworks of governance to emerge. It provides a comprehensive approach to neoliberal constitutionalism and regulation and limits to policy autonomy of states, and how this disciplines populations according to the intensifying demands of corporations and market forces in global market civilization. Contributors examine global and local public policy challenges and consider if the ongoing crises of capitalism and world order offer states and societies opportunities to challenge this loss of policy autonomy and potentially to refashion world order. Integrating approaches to governance and world order from both leading and emerging scholars, this is an innovative, indispensable source for policymakers, civil society organizations, professionals and students in law, politics, economics, sociology, philosophy and international relations

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