PhD Defence Faisal Bin Alam | Social Upgrading in Global Value Chains of the Apparel Industry

Social Upgrading in Global Value Chains of the Apparel Industry

Faisal Bin Alam is a PhD student in the Department of Entrepreneurship & Technology Management. Promotors are prof.dr. T. Bondarouk from the Faculty of Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences and prof.dr.ing. A. Nijhof from Nyenrode Business University.

The global apparel industry, which employs more than 75 million workers, primarily women, is a key source of employment for low-skilled workers in both least developed and developing countries. However, its labor-intensive and low-skill structure is frequently associated with inadequate wages and unsafe working conditions for workers. The industry has achieved remarkable economic growth over the last few decades, but this has not translated into equivalent social progress.

The COVID-19 pandemic made these dynamics painfully visible when brands canceled orders and factories bore the cost of disruption. The uneven exposure of vulnerable stakeholders demonstrates that weak social protections and limited worker agency leave such groups at acute risk during shocks, reinforcing the need for targeted social upgrading measures for rights protection and resilience.

This dissertation unfolds through a series of five interconnected studies, each addressing a critical dimension of social upgrading, from conceptual foundations to empirical analysis of resilience, challenges, and pathways for transformation. The central idea of this dissertation is to demonstrate the implications of social upgrading and explore pathways to achieve social upgrading in global apparel value chains. This dissertation offers a roadmap for rebalancing global apparel governance, bridging GVC theory, labor rights, resilience and sustainability transitions, and positioning social upgrading as the cornerstone of a just and resilient global apparel value chain.