This book brings together a set of studies on labour conditions in global value chains (GVCs) in a variety of sectors, ranging from labour-intensive sectors (garments, fresh fruits, tourism), to medium and high technology sectors (automobiles, electronics and telecom) and knowledge-intensive sectors (IT software services). The studies span a number of countries across Asia - Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Vietnam. This book stands out for its grounded and detailed examination of both what is working and what is not working as Asian labour gets more embedded in global value chains. In trying to identify spaces for progressive action and policies in the current GVC-linked global work environment, the book goes against the grain in searching for an alternative to laissez faire forms of globalisation.

‘… a conceptually coherent and empirically rich assessment of the complex and shifting position of labour in GVCs in Asia … very effectively uses different GVC governance types as an organising frame, but also gives full weight to the place-specific or ‘horizontal' factors that powerfully shape the outcomes and opportunities for labour in GVCs … an exciting contribution which deserves a wide readership across the field of GVC/global production network research and beyond.'

Neil Coe - National University of Singapore

‘This important book demonstrates … that GVCs are not delivering a fair share of the economic benefits to workers and that private compliance approaches have failed. It contributes to a better understanding of the underlying causes, which should help governments, companies and others interested in positively influencing working conditions in GVCs to distinguish worker-centered strategies that can lead to genuine change from mere window-dressing.'

Jenny Holdcroft - IndustriALL Global Union

‘… a major contribution to knowledge of how GVCs work, the wage and skill patterns that they create, the conditions under which gains for labour can be maximized and the ways in which the actors concerned are responding. It is required reading for anyone who wants to get behind the rhetoric of the global economy to understand the realities on the ground.'

Gerry Rodgers - International Institute of Labour Studies, Geneva

'The link between an increasingly important type of participation in international trade and conditions in the labor market, and thus the process of development in general throws much-needed light on a topical subject of great concern in Asia and elsewhere.'

Pranab Bardhan - University of California, Berkeley