This article investigates the institutional logics affecting labour governance upstream in agrifood supply chains. It focuses on the lived experience of farming communities in Pakistan, their agency and the implications for top-down governance of labour exploitation.
A qualitative approach comprising 48 interviews and 10 focus groups, with 73 total respondents, was employed. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis to understand how governance efforts were understood and experienced.
The study identifies the logics at play. Conflicts were found both in the top-down governance and market logics imposed on farming communities and between those logics and factors informing a local “social logic”. The complexity of these conflicts and resistance among farming communities induce what we term a “messy paralysis” of governance. Communities exercised their agency to resist top-down governance efforts, which they see as imposed on them.
Labour and wider governance efforts that are not co-designed with their subject communities are likely to conflict with local values, reducing their impact and failing to protect workers' well-being and corporate reputation.
The upstream approach taken, and its link with global labour governance approaches, is rare in the operations and supply chain management literature. The article provides rich insights which both build upon and problematize extant labour governance research.
