Bad Goods: on the Political Morality of Production and Consumption in Global Supply Chains

Bad Goods: On the Political Morality of Production and Consumption in Global Supply Chains by Ewan David Kingston Department of Philosophy Duke University Date:_______________________ Approved: ___________________________ Wayne Norman, Supervisor ___________________________ Allen Buchanan ___________________________ Walter Sinnott-Armstrong ___________________________ Daniel Vermeer ___________________________ David Wong Dissertation] submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Philosophy in the Graduate School of Duke University 2019 ABSTRACT Bad Goods: On the Political Morality of Production and Consumption in Global Supply Chains by Ewan David Kingston Department of Philosophy Duke University Date:_______________________ Approved: ___________________________ Wayne Norman, Supervisor ___________________________ Allen Buchanan ___________________________ Walter Sinnott-Armstrong ___________________________ Daniel Vermeer ___________________________ David Wong An abstract of a dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, in the Department of Philosophy in the Graduate School of Duke University 2019 Copyright by Ewan David Kingston, 2019 Abstract People buy many goods produced in ways that appear to call for a remedy or a reaction from actors in developed countries: these are goods which appear to have “grave flaws” in the upstream supply chain. For example, one can buy products produced by firms which routinely clear-cut forests, employ child or forced labor, defy domestic health-and-safety laws, intimidate labor organizers, and so on. On the other hand, many of the global poor rely on the employment opportunities that global production networks create, and developing countries tend to see their low production costs as their comparative advantage to attract foreign investment and upgrade to higher stages of development. In this dissertation, I explore different aspects of the moral, political and social philosophy surrounding grave flaws, particularly what they entail for consumers in affluent countries. Chapters 2-4 concern the appropriate role of consumers and those who would mobilize them to remedy grave flaws. In Chapter 2, I survey the kinds of moral relationship that consumers might have to the grave flaws. I then ask under what conditions an individual consumer has strong moral reasons to react to grave flaws by practicing selective purchasing. I conclude that the deep epistemic difficulties surrounding recognising each good’s connection with a grave flaw, and the effects of switching to apparently better products, mean consumers do not typically have strong moral reasons to practice conscientious consumption. Chapters 3 and 4 turn to consider what I call political consumerism, practiced by consumers as an iv aggregate group, mobilized by those who aim to remedy some of the grave flaws. In Chapter 3 I raise concerns about the necessity, effectiveness, and risks of political consumerism, and argue that it might be an effective and appropriate means to remedy grave flaws in global supply chains only in rather specific circumstances. Furthermore, in Chapter 3, I argue that because political consumerism threatens several liberal- democratic values, the mobilizers of political consumerism should attempt to apply more deliberative and democratic elements to their campaigns. Finally, in Chapter 5, I turn to the question of which flaws in supply chains are actually grave. I use the apparel industry as an example, and argue that, apart from outright fraud and coercion, cases of firms trying to undermine or ignore attempts to collectively overcome systemic market failures in the supply chain are the grave flaws we in affluent countries should be most concerned about. v Dedication To Tori, for her constancy, and Graham, for his kindness. vi Contents Abstract .................................................................................................................................... iv List of Tables.......................................................................................................................... xiv List of Figures ......................................................................................................................... xv Acknowledgements .............................................................................................................. xvi 1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Apparent grave flaws of global supply chains .......................................................... 1 1.1.1 Laptops .................................................................................................................... 1 1.1.2 Clothing ................................................................................................................... 1 1.1.3 Paper ........................................................................................................................ 2 1.1.4 Gold .......................................................................................................................... 2 1.1.5 Cocoa ........................................................................................................................ 3 1.2 What are grave flaws? ................................................................................................. 4 1.2.1. Flaws outside the scope of this project. ............................................................. 6 1.3 What are global supply chains? .................................................................................. 8 1.4 Two Assumptions ...................................................................................................... 10 1.4.1 Global trade is not necessarily bad for developing countries. ........................... 11 1.4.2 Consumption and trade are compatible with ecological limits. ........................ 12 1.5 The responsibility deficit ........................................................................................... 13 1.5.1 Primary responsibility to the upstream state? .................................................... 13 1.5.2 Local and global barriers to effective regulation ................................................ 15 1.6 Ideal or non-ideal theory? ......................................................................................... 17 vii 1.6.1 Full vs partial compliance .................................................................................... 17 1.6.2 Feasible vs infeasible ............................................................................................. 17 1.6.3 End-state vs transitional theories ......................................................................... 18 1.6.4 Ideal/non-ideal theory in this dissertation .......................................................... 18 2. Do I know how to save the world through shopping?: Conscientious consumption and the epistemic objection ................................................................................................... 21 2.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................ 21 2.2 Morally significant relationships. ............................................................................. 23 2.2.1 Familiar moral concepts ....................................................................................... 24 2.2.1.1 Consequences ................................................................................................. 24 2.2.1.2 Complicity ...................................................................................................... 25 2.2.1.3 Virtues ............................................................................................................. 25 2.2.2 Revisionary concepts ............................................................................................ 26 2.3 Conscientious consumption thesis ........................................................................... 29 2.3.1 Objections to the Conscientious consumption thesis ......................................... 32 2.4 Typical approaches to the epistemological issues ................................................... 35 2.4.1 Point to “obvious” cases. ...................................................................................... 36 2.4.2 Assume away ........................................................................................................ 36 2.4.3 The information-sponge view .............................................................................. 37 2.5 Rejecting the epistemic assumptions ........................................................................ 38 2.6 The challenging epistemic environment and its sources ........................................ 39 2.6.1 Complexity ............................................................................................................ 39 2.6.2 Features of the consumer-information infrastructure ........................................ 40 viii 2.6.2.1 Complexity again ........................................................................................... 41 2.6.2.2 Conflicts of interest. ....................................................................................... 43 2.6.2.3 Bias towards developed-country concerns .................................................

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