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Disconnecting Labour? The Labour Process in the UK Fast Fashion Value Chain

Bibliographic Data

ID2374334
AuthorsNikolaus Hammer (University of Leicester, corresponding author), Réka Plugor (University of Leicester)
Year2019
Volume33
Issue6
Pages913-928
Publication date2019-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueWork Employment and Society (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0950-0170 • E-ISSN: 1469-8722
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0950017019847942
OpenAlexW2948002194
LanguageEN
Citations received15
References cited32

This article focuses on the interlinkages between the labour process and global value chains. It draws on the renewed growth in UK apparel manufacturing, specifically within the fast fashion value chain, and asks how value chain requirements are translated into the labour process as well as how the latter enables quick response manufacturing. The case study shows how buyer-lead firms engender accelerated capital circuits of fast fashion which rely on an increased segmentation of manufacturers and workers, the elimination of unproductive spaces in the labour process, and a further rise in the informalisation and precarity of labour. The article demonstrates a strategic disconnection within the fast fashion value chain: upstream manufacturers are only able to satisfy lead firms' economic and operational standards if they disconnect - informalise - labour from the latter's 'ethical' standards

Business · Capital (architecture · Clothing · Commerce · Economics · Fast fashion · Industrial organization · Labour economics · Market economy · Precarity · Process (computing · Supply chain · Upstream (networking · Value (mathematics · Value chain · Computer Science · Crafts, Textile, and Design · Engineering · Global trade, sustainability, and social impact · Labor Movements and Unions · Marketing

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Unique citing works15
Citations per year3
Citation span2021 - 2025 (5)
Citation velocityrecent
Highly citedNo
Citation typesNeutral: 15

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