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A woman, Sinem Kavak. Photo.

Sinem Kavak

Researcher

A woman, Sinem Kavak. Photo.

Transnational labour governance in hazelnut value chain : farmers and seasonal migrant workers at the nexus of market and politics in Turkey

Author

  • Sinem Kavak

Summary, in English

This article combines insights from two emerging literatures on transnational private regulation: the grounding perspective and politics and power in global value chains. Drawing on a case study conducted in Turkey, it examines political economy of voluntary sustainability standards in hazelnut production, a critical but overlooked part of the chocolate value chain with no shortage of human rights scandals. Focusing on smallholders and migrant workers, it problematizes the decent work programmes of transnational private governance systems. In Turkey, the agricultural labour market is ethnically segregated, and agricultural work is carried out by seasonal migrant workers belonging to the country’s Kurdish and Arab minorities and refugees, mainly from Syria. Decent work programmes focus on these workers. Through an analysis of the roles of actors (the state, corporations, exporters, local merchants, producers, workers, and third-party certifiers) in the financialized hazelnut market, I demonstrate that farmers and workers cannot sufficiently benefit from transnational private governance programmes due to political power dynamics, market structure, and price volatility at the nation-state level. I argue that any effort to assess the impact of private-led social justice schemes in food production must include a thorough analysis of country conditions, societal conflicts, power asymmetries, and the structure of the commodity market.

Department/s

  • Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law
  • LUCSUS (Lund University Centre for Sustainability Studies)
  • Centre for Advanced Middle Eastern Studies (CMES)
  • MECW: The Middle East in the Contemporary World

Publishing year

2025-07-16

Language

English

Publication/Series

Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems

Volume

9

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

Frontiers Media S. A.

Topic

  • Political Science (excluding Peace and Conflict Studies)
  • Environmental Studies in Social Sciences

Status

Published

Project

  • Unravelling climate change impacts on migrant farmworkers in agri-food production

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 2571-581X