Das Recht und intersektionale Konflikte in globalen Produktionsnetzwerken

The intersectional dimensions of labour conflicts in transnational corporations and global production networks (GPNs) have been increasingly discussed, intensified by the consequences of the Covid 19 pandemic. In this paper, we point out that violence and intersectional inequality present in the exploitation of labour in transnational contexts are not an exception, but rather a structural feature of GPNs. Conflict and violence unfold in the hierarchical global division of labour along multidimensional lines of discrimination. While linking this finding to existing GPN analyses, we propose an additional explanation for the persistence of intersectional violence: In addition to structural logics of capital accumulation, the law also plays an essential role in this persistence. Starting from a vignette on labour conditions in global coffee production in Brazil, we analyse the intertwining of several conflict dimensions in GPNs and propose a distinction between two processes of legal mobilisation in order to understand the legal dimension of these conflicts: Legal Landnahme and Legal Struggles. Our contribution to scholarship is to identify both the interconnectedness of power and the permanent conflictual character of law in GPN. Furthermore, in dialogue with peace and conflict studies, we aim to contribute to conceptualising the tensions between intersectional conflicts, transnational corporations and law in GPNs.