TY - JOUR
AU - Ahmad, Nglaa Ahmad
AU - Haque, Shamima
AU - Islam, Muhammad
PY - 2021
DA - December
TI - Covid-19 and global clothing retailers’ responsibility to vulnerable workers : NGO counter-rhetoric
JO - Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal
VL - 35
IS - 1
DO - https://doi.org/10.1108/AAAJ-08-2020-4794
AB - PurposeThis article aims to examine how non-governmental organisations (NGOs)' narratives portray the vulnerability of workers in global clothing supply chains during the COVID-19 crisis.Design/methodology/approachThe research analyses the rhetoric in global clothing retailers' and NGOs' counter-rhetoric during the first seven months of 2020.FindingsDuring this period, retailers employed rhetorical strategies to legitimise irresponsible actions (corporate hegemony prevailed), while NGOs embraced forms of counter-rhetoric trying to delegitimise the retailers' logic, stressing the role of neoliberalism in worsening the situation.Originality/valueThe authors contribute to the literature by providing new insight into the consequences of COVID-19 for retailers' neoliberal practices and the livelihood of workers in global supply chains. Findings of this study extend authors’ knowledge about retailers' COVID-19 measures: These have contributed to the plights of workers working for their supply factories in the global South.
PB - Emerald Publishing
UR - https://hdl.handle.net/2164/17604
KW - Coronavirus (COVID-19)
KW - Work and workforce
ER