Global Corporate Social Responsibility and Policy Evolution in the Garment Industry: A Case Study from Bangladesh Using a Multiple-Streams Approach and Punctuated Equilibrium Theory

<p>This research offers a new way to show how Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policy decisions are made in complex international settings. A theoretical framework based on Baumgartner and Jones’ Punctuated Equilibrium Theory and John Kingdon’s Multiple Streams Approach is used to explore the development of the Accord on the Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh as a proposed independent and legally binding agreement governing garment factory conditions in that country. The Accord led to a series of audits aimed at reforming a large part of Bangladesh’s garment industry, hence there has been a shift in a working environment ensuring the safety of garment workers. The case study of the Rana Plaza factory disaster shows how this tragedy contributed to CSR policy development, combining with years of preparatory work by labor and worker-safety advocates. The thesis shows, therefore, how theories of the policy process designed generally to explain policymaking in the United States at a national level can help to explain the development of international regulations in the absence of a strong, central state, and in the midst of powerful countervailing forces.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts

Level thesis:degree_level

Master

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Liberal Studies

Grantor

The Graduate School and University Center of The City University of New York

Year dc:date.available

2020

Author dc:creator

• Maisashvili, Tamar

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• John Krinsky

• International Relations
• Policy Design, Analysis, and Evaluation
• Theories of Policy Process
• CSR Policy Development
• Development of International Regulations
• The Rana Plaza Collapse
• The Accord

Repository record dc:identifier

https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/3603

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:academicworks.cuny.edu:gc_etds-4683