My current research analyzes systems for regulating the environmental
and social impacts of industrial activities. Through a range of projects,
I have been examining trends in industrial development, and state, firm,
and community responses to adverse impacts of industrialization and
urbanization. I work with NGOs and community-based organizations in
the US and Asia to analyze the impacts of pollution on communities and
workers, and to advance more effective strategies for regulating environmental
and health hazards. I am currently working on projects in the US, Vietnam,
China, and Indonesia.
Specifically, my research focuses on:
Environmental Justice and Community-Driven Regulation. I am currently working on several projects that analyze participatory strategies for environmental planning and regulation. I have on-going research in Vietnam on processes of "Community-Driven Regulation" and will be expanding this research to at least one other country later this year (likely Indonesia). I am also interested in new community initiatives around environmental justice concerns in the US. I have just begun a research project with Gregg Macey on community monitoring of environmental issues in the US such as "bucket brigades," community health surveys, sniffer logs, and good neighbor agreements which support environmental justice campaigns.
Sweatshops and Independent Monitoring. I have been working over the last three years to analyze the growth of sweatshop production in industrialized and developing countries, and the emerging movements to curb these conditions. I am currently conducting case studies on the footwear sector (focusing on Nike, Reebok, and adidas), and on the transnational advocacy campaigns to influence multinational production practices. One response to sweatshop concerns has been the development of codes of conduct and monitoring regimes. I am now engaged in two projects to analyze independent monitoring systems. One is as a consultant to a consortium of universities (including Harvard, Notre Dame, Ohio State, the University of Michigan, and the University of California) which seek to better understand the conditions under which their university-branded apparel is manufactured, and then to develop strategies to enforce and verify that subcontractors are complying with university codes of conduct. The second project is evaluating NGO efforts to monitor factory conditions around the world. This project recently received funding from the MacArthur Foundation to develop training and capacity building tools to support NGO monitoring of multinational producers.
Regulation of Global Production Systems. My longer-term research focuses on the challenges of regulating global supply chains and of more effectively implementing environmental and labor standards around the world. I recently completed a paper on "Ratcheting Labor Standards" (with Chuck Sabel and Archon Fung) which explores alternatives to "core standards" or "voluntary code" regimes. I am particularly interested in the role of the state in the promotion and regulation of multinational firms and production chains, and in the potential for state-society synergy in environmental and labor regulation. Through the Nike and Reebok cases, I also plan to analyze firm strategies to integrate labor and environmental standards into global management systems.
Information-Based Regulatory Strategies. For the last several years I have been analyzing information-based strategies for environmental management and regulation such as the Toxics Release Inventory and Proposition 65 in the US, and the PROPER program in Indonesia. I am now interested in looking in more detail at advanced information tools for community analysis and participation in environmental management. Ultimately I hope to analyze both web-based information tools and low-tech strategies for supporting community (and consumer) participation in environmental and social development decisions, and information systems for evaluating the labor and environmental impacts of specific products and production processes.
Industrial Ecology. I also have a continuing interest in the area of industrial ecology. Based on past work in pollution prevention and cleaner production (including technical waste audits of specific factories), I am now looking more broadly at tools for improving the environmental performance of industry (such as design for environment, life cycle assessment, environmental management tools, etc.) and the barriers and incentives for the effective use of these tools. I am particularly interested in the development and implementation of information tools useful to the public.
