Leveraging transparency to shift capital‐labour relations in garment sector production: A critical analysis of the design and structure of the Bangladesh Accord

Abstract

There is a lack of attention to examples of innovative structural designs in private labour regulation of garment global production networks (GPNs). This paper addresses this gap by examining the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh (the Accord), critically examining the contested nature of its structural features: (1) a legally binding basis, (2) a labour‐balanced executive board, (3) corporate critical mass, and (4) transparency of functions. Our findings contribute to understandings of emerging hybrid governance mechanisms, which combine multi‐organisational cooperative action with traditional capital‐labour dynamics to influence labour regulation in GPNs in new and contradictory ways.