Global Labour Column: Better Work or ‘Ethical Fix’? Lessons from Cambodia's Apparel Industry

Better Work or ‘Ethical Fix’? Lessons from Cambodia's Apparel Industry, by Dennis Arnold.

In this column, Dennis Arnold focuses on ILO’s Better Work programme in Cambodia with the analysis being on the Better Factories Cambodia (BFC) which was established in 2001 involving the ILO, the Cambodian government, garment manufacturers, and trade unions. He asks “how much ‘better’ is work in factories engaging in this programme? Has it actually empowered workers to achieve better wage and working conditions, or is it yet another high profile ‘ethical fix’ mechanism for brands to protect their images?”  He argues that because the programme is non-binding it offers carrots without wielding a stick and “poverty wages and precarious work continue to be the norm in Cambodia’s garment factories.” Dennis Arnold is Assistant Professor at the University of Amsterdam, Department of Human Geography, Planning and International Development. Drawing on research in Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam, Dennis’ work focuses on labour, migration and citizenship; global production network analysis; and borderlands of continental Southeast Asia.

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