David Bek
Biographic Data
| ID | 147694 |
|---|---|
| NAME | David Bek |
| GIVEN NAMES | David |
| FAMILY NAME | Bek |
| SIGNATURE | BEK D |
| AFFILIATIONS | Durham University |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-1503-3609 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 19 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 124 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 19 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2003 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 7 |
How inclusive is South Africa’s green economy? A qualitative case study of the Working for Water Programme
Over the past 15 years, South Africa has embraced ‘green economy’ policy approaches aimed at tackling social and environmental challenges. However, concerns have emerged that these approaches may inadvertently exclude marginalised communities and fail to address the systemic factors perpetuating inequities. Drawing upon field-based research in the Agulhas Plain, we critically examine how the green economy concept is understood and applied in Sout…
Do water risk management strategies lead to environmental upgrading in global value chains? A view from South Africa's export fruit industry
Environmental upgrading is becoming increasingly important in terms of leveraging sustainability in global value chains (GVCs). Existing research focuses on environmental upgrading as a process, while the drivers and outcomes often remain unclear. We address this limitation through a qualitative case study of the South African fruit industry based on interviews and documents, where we investigate the drivers and outcomes of environmental upgradin…
More than floods and droughts
Water is indispensable to agricultural production and trade. Using a global production network (GPN) framework, this article explores the variegated ways water risks manifest in agricultural value chains. Moving beyond extreme events, such as floods and droughts, we explore how the emergence and convergence of political, economic and ecological perspectives during the past 25 years has led to more nuanced understandings of water risks. By doing s…
In whose interests? Water risk mitigation strategies practiced by the fruit industry in South Africa's Western Cape
Fairtrade, place and moral economy
This paper explores the significance of the relationships and disjunctures between the global moral discourses of Fairtrade that are articulated through ethics of fairness in supply chains and the everyday moral experiences, discourses and practices of producers that shape moral economies in specific localities. Due to increased governance through universal codes, standards and certification, Fairtrade risks becoming an abstract ethical and regul…
A High Road to Sustainability? Wildflower Harvesting, Ethical Trade and Social Upgrading in South Africa's Western Cape
This paper evaluates the outcomes from an ambitious wildflower harvesting programme in South Africa's Western Cape, which has sought to achieve positive outcomes in terms of socio-economic development and biodiversity conservation. Indigenous wildflowers, harvested according to conservation principles, are processed into 'Cape Flora' bouquets and sold into international and domestic markets. The principal supply chain provides an example of ethic…
Mobilizing the ethical consumer in South Africa
Theorising middle class consumption from the global South
Postcolonial Perspectives on Global Production Networks
This paper proposes dialogue between postcolonial theory and the analytical frameworks of global value chains (GVCs) and global production networks (GPNs). It does so in order to open up more culturally sensitive accounts of global supply networks and exporting localities than those provided by prevailing political-economic approaches. Particular focus is placed on Zein-Elabdin's postcolonial notion of economic hybridity to advance understanding …
Retailers, supply networks and changing articulations of ethicality
This article advances debate on retailers’ supply networks and ethical trade using the case of sustainably harvested wildflower bouquets supplied from South Africa to domestic and UK retailers. These trends concern strategizing, embedding and practising ethicality, respectively, with the term ethicality capturing not only the ethical standards themselves but also the changing practices shaping what counts as ethical
Futures, ethics and the politics of expectation in biodiversity conservation
Wild flower harvesting on South Africa's agulhas plain
Post‐apartheid South Africa is characterized by considerable spatial and social inequality and high levels of poverty and unemployment, particularly among historically disadvantaged groups. Since 1994, there has been much attention given to fostering local economic development (LED) to promote empowerment, job creation, economic growth and community development, with a primary focus on broad‐based Black Economic Empowerment. However, LED initiati…
The political economy of alternative trade
Placing Ethical Trade in Context
How ethical trade develops in specific ways in particular national-institutional and historical contexts remains largely unexamined. This paper analyses approaches to ethical trade in the South African wine industry through a case study of the Wine and Agricultural Ethical Trade Association (wieta). It examines factors influencing wieta, including the legacies of colonialism and apartheid, its relationship with post-apartheid restructuring and le…
Multinationals in their Communities
Ethical Trading and Socioeconomic Transformation
Newly emerging ethical trade practices in the South African wine industry are examined as a way of engaging with debates about the ability of alternative trade approaches to facilitate meaningful opportunities for socioeconomic development in the global South. The South African wine industry has undergone rapid restructuring since the end of apartheid in order to meet the demands of international markets. However, transforming racially skewed own…
(Re)politicizing empowerment
Regional Development in South Africa's West Coast
Academics, policy‐makers and consultants have been increasingly focusing upon the ‘region’ as the crucible of economic development. This regionalist approach places institutions at the centre of the process of stimulating growth. Much debate has been ongoing in academic circles, particularly those inhabited by economic geographers, about the veracity of the regionalist approach and the explanatory power of the terminology associated with it. This…
Catching the development train’
Government policy in post-1994 South Africa, whilst upholding the principles of community participation and development, has been firmly wedded to a neoliberal growth agenda. This paper critically examines whether one element of that new growth agenda, that of Spatial Development Initiatives, has catalysed both ‘bottom-up’ development and also meaningfully assisted micro-entrepreneurs through more ‘top-down’ interventions. The paper focuses on tw…
Theorising middle class consumption from the global South
(Re)politicizing empowerment
Ethical Trading and Socioeconomic Transformation
Newly emerging ethical trade practices in the South African wine industry are examined as a way of engaging with debates about the ability of alternative trade approaches to facilitate meaningful opportunities for socioeconomic development in the global South. The South African wine industry has undergone rapid restructuring since the end of apartheid in order to meet the demands of international markets. However, transforming racially skewed own…
Retailers, supply networks and changing articulations of ethicality
This article advances debate on retailers’ supply networks and ethical trade using the case of sustainably harvested wildflower bouquets supplied from South Africa to domestic and UK retailers. These trends concern strategizing, embedding and practising ethicality, respectively, with the term ethicality capturing not only the ethical standards themselves but also the changing practices shaping what counts as ethical
The political economy of alternative trade
Mobilizing the ethical consumer in South Africa
In whose interests? Water risk mitigation strategies practiced by the fruit industry in South Africa's Western Cape
Postcolonial Perspectives on Global Production Networks
This paper proposes dialogue between postcolonial theory and the analytical frameworks of global value chains (GVCs) and global production networks (GPNs). It does so in order to open up more culturally sensitive accounts of global supply networks and exporting localities than those provided by prevailing political-economic approaches. Particular focus is placed on Zein-Elabdin's postcolonial notion of economic hybridity to advance understanding …
Catching the development train’
Government policy in post-1994 South Africa, whilst upholding the principles of community participation and development, has been firmly wedded to a neoliberal growth agenda. This paper critically examines whether one element of that new growth agenda, that of Spatial Development Initiatives, has catalysed both ‘bottom-up’ development and also meaningfully assisted micro-entrepreneurs through more ‘top-down’ interventions. The paper focuses on tw…
Placing Ethical Trade in Context
How ethical trade develops in specific ways in particular national-institutional and historical contexts remains largely unexamined. This paper analyses approaches to ethical trade in the South African wine industry through a case study of the Wine and Agricultural Ethical Trade Association (wieta). It examines factors influencing wieta, including the legacies of colonialism and apartheid, its relationship with post-apartheid restructuring and le…
Futures, ethics and the politics of expectation in biodiversity conservation
Do water risk management strategies lead to environmental upgrading in global value chains? A view from South Africa's export fruit industry
Environmental upgrading is becoming increasingly important in terms of leveraging sustainability in global value chains (GVCs). Existing research focuses on environmental upgrading as a process, while the drivers and outcomes often remain unclear. We address this limitation through a qualitative case study of the South African fruit industry based on interviews and documents, where we investigate the drivers and outcomes of environmental upgradin…
Fairtrade, place and moral economy
This paper explores the significance of the relationships and disjunctures between the global moral discourses of Fairtrade that are articulated through ethics of fairness in supply chains and the everyday moral experiences, discourses and practices of producers that shape moral economies in specific localities. Due to increased governance through universal codes, standards and certification, Fairtrade risks becoming an abstract ethical and regul…
A High Road to Sustainability? Wildflower Harvesting, Ethical Trade and Social Upgrading in South Africa's Western Cape
This paper evaluates the outcomes from an ambitious wildflower harvesting programme in South Africa's Western Cape, which has sought to achieve positive outcomes in terms of socio-economic development and biodiversity conservation. Indigenous wildflowers, harvested according to conservation principles, are processed into 'Cape Flora' bouquets and sold into international and domestic markets. The principal supply chain provides an example of ethic…
Wild flower harvesting on South Africa's agulhas plain
Post‐apartheid South Africa is characterized by considerable spatial and social inequality and high levels of poverty and unemployment, particularly among historically disadvantaged groups. Since 1994, there has been much attention given to fostering local economic development (LED) to promote empowerment, job creation, economic growth and community development, with a primary focus on broad‐based Black Economic Empowerment. However, LED initiati…
Regional Development in South Africa's West Coast
Academics, policy‐makers and consultants have been increasingly focusing upon the ‘region’ as the crucible of economic development. This regionalist approach places institutions at the centre of the process of stimulating growth. Much debate has been ongoing in academic circles, particularly those inhabited by economic geographers, about the veracity of the regionalist approach and the explanatory power of the terminology associated with it. This…
Catching the development train’
Government policy in post-1994 South Africa, whilst upholding the principles of community participation and development, has been firmly wedded to a neoliberal growth agenda. This paper critically examines whether one element of that new growth agenda, that of Spatial Development Initiatives, has catalysed both ‘bottom-up’ development and also meaningfully assisted micro-entrepreneurs through more ‘top-down’ interventions. The paper focuses on tw…
Regional Development in South Africa's West Coast
Academics, policy‐makers and consultants have been increasingly focusing upon the ‘region’ as the crucible of economic development. This regionalist approach places institutions at the centre of the process of stimulating growth. Much debate has been ongoing in academic circles, particularly those inhabited by economic geographers, about the veracity of the regionalist approach and the explanatory power of the terminology associated with it. This…
(Re)politicizing empowerment
Multinationals in their Communities
Ethical Trading and Socioeconomic Transformation
Newly emerging ethical trade practices in the South African wine industry are examined as a way of engaging with debates about the ability of alternative trade approaches to facilitate meaningful opportunities for socioeconomic development in the global South. The South African wine industry has undergone rapid restructuring since the end of apartheid in order to meet the demands of international markets. However, transforming racially skewed own…
The political economy of alternative trade
Placing Ethical Trade in Context
How ethical trade develops in specific ways in particular national-institutional and historical contexts remains largely unexamined. This paper analyses approaches to ethical trade in the South African wine industry through a case study of the Wine and Agricultural Ethical Trade Association (wieta). It examines factors influencing wieta, including the legacies of colonialism and apartheid, its relationship with post-apartheid restructuring and le…
Wild flower harvesting on South Africa's agulhas plain
Post‐apartheid South Africa is characterized by considerable spatial and social inequality and high levels of poverty and unemployment, particularly among historically disadvantaged groups. Since 1994, there has been much attention given to fostering local economic development (LED) to promote empowerment, job creation, economic growth and community development, with a primary focus on broad‐based Black Economic Empowerment. However, LED initiati…
Retailers, supply networks and changing articulations of ethicality
This article advances debate on retailers’ supply networks and ethical trade using the case of sustainably harvested wildflower bouquets supplied from South Africa to domestic and UK retailers. These trends concern strategizing, embedding and practising ethicality, respectively, with the term ethicality capturing not only the ethical standards themselves but also the changing practices shaping what counts as ethical
Futures, ethics and the politics of expectation in biodiversity conservation
Mobilizing the ethical consumer in South Africa
Theorising middle class consumption from the global South
Postcolonial Perspectives on Global Production Networks
This paper proposes dialogue between postcolonial theory and the analytical frameworks of global value chains (GVCs) and global production networks (GPNs). It does so in order to open up more culturally sensitive accounts of global supply networks and exporting localities than those provided by prevailing political-economic approaches. Particular focus is placed on Zein-Elabdin's postcolonial notion of economic hybridity to advance understanding …
Fairtrade, place and moral economy
This paper explores the significance of the relationships and disjunctures between the global moral discourses of Fairtrade that are articulated through ethics of fairness in supply chains and the everyday moral experiences, discourses and practices of producers that shape moral economies in specific localities. Due to increased governance through universal codes, standards and certification, Fairtrade risks becoming an abstract ethical and regul…
A High Road to Sustainability? Wildflower Harvesting, Ethical Trade and Social Upgrading in South Africa's Western Cape
This paper evaluates the outcomes from an ambitious wildflower harvesting programme in South Africa's Western Cape, which has sought to achieve positive outcomes in terms of socio-economic development and biodiversity conservation. Indigenous wildflowers, harvested according to conservation principles, are processed into 'Cape Flora' bouquets and sold into international and domestic markets. The principal supply chain provides an example of ethic…
In whose interests? Water risk mitigation strategies practiced by the fruit industry in South Africa's Western Cape
More than floods and droughts
Water is indispensable to agricultural production and trade. Using a global production network (GPN) framework, this article explores the variegated ways water risks manifest in agricultural value chains. Moving beyond extreme events, such as floods and droughts, we explore how the emergence and convergence of political, economic and ecological perspectives during the past 25 years has led to more nuanced understandings of water risks. By doing s…
Do water risk management strategies lead to environmental upgrading in global value chains? A view from South Africa's export fruit industry
Environmental upgrading is becoming increasingly important in terms of leveraging sustainability in global value chains (GVCs). Existing research focuses on environmental upgrading as a process, while the drivers and outcomes often remain unclear. We address this limitation through a qualitative case study of the South African fruit industry based on interviews and documents, where we investigate the drivers and outcomes of environmental upgradin…
How inclusive is South Africa’s green economy? A qualitative case study of the Working for Water Programme
Over the past 15 years, South Africa has embraced ‘green economy’ policy approaches aimed at tackling social and environmental challenges. However, concerns have emerged that these approaches may inadvertently exclude marginalised communities and fail to address the systemic factors perpetuating inequities. Drawing upon field-based research in the Agulhas Plain, we critically examine how the green economy concept is understood and applied in Sout…
Economics (16 works) · Political science (14 works) · Global trade, sustainability, and social impact (11 works) · Law (9 works) · Organic Food and Agriculture (9 works) · Sociology (9 works) · Economic growth (8 works) · Geography (8 works) · Innovation and Socioeconomic Development (8 works) · Law (7 works)