Theoretical Framework and Review of Related Literature

This chapter contains definitions of labour relations and its major components. It also examines existing debates of labour relations. It also reviews the literature on the challenges of creating a viable capital-labour relationship, focusing on the apparel sector in developing countries as part of global value chains (GVCs). Hence, the chapter demonstrates the limitations of the neoclassical model of labour relations and gives insights into the human rights or social upgrading and corporate social responsibility alternatives to ensure a sustainable global apparel value chain. It also summarizes the major challenges of labour agency in the GVCs from the perspectives of emerging apparel exporting countries of the Global South. Finally, it highlights various international efforts towards the labor or human rights of workers for an inclusive and a sustaineble industrial developement of states.