Legal struggles in transnational supply chains

Departing from the concept of legal struggles, we examine strategies of legal mobilisation, e.g. in the framework of strategic litigation or the interpretation of the German Act on Corporate Due Diligence Obligations in Supply Chains (Lieferkettensorgfaltspflichtengesetz – LkSG). In two case studies, we analyse strategic lawsuits against stakeholders addressing the dam collapse in Brumadinho, Brazil, as well as the political and legal struggles around the interpretation of the LkSG.

At the beginning of 2023, the German Act on Corporate Due Diligence Obligations in Supply Chains came into force. Our research project aims at analysing the associated struggles on the legal terrain and at investigating the changes that result for different actors in global production networks. Research in legal theory has shown that political struggles by no means come to a standstill when laws come into force, but merely change terrain. This is because legal norms do not execute themselves, but have to be interpreted and implemented by actors in the legal arena. Therefore, in our research project, we do not only focus on the law, but on the strategies that mobilise  the LkSG as starting point for legal struggles. The LkSG is of particular interest because it is capable of significantly changing the terrain of legal struggles in global production networks.

Our project addresses the question: How do workers and their representatives use the legal and political potentials of legal struggles along transnational supply chains to ensure the protection of human rights and labour rights at the national and transnational levels? To answer this question, we first analyse the how legal procedures can be able to enforce rights in supply chains. Secondly, we identify the opportunities and risks of legal struggles for workers in the global production. To this end, we examine two exemplary cases: In the first case we analyse strategic lawsuits based on the existing legal instruments; the second case examines the new legal-political disputes about the implementation and interpretation of the LkSG. Third, we explore the interactions between the political and juridical fields in such disputes.

For the empirical research we combine qualitative methods of the social and legal sciences: We will conduct expert interviews with key actors (trade unions, NGOs, lawyers, rights holders, company representatives, etc.), analyse the content of legal texts (rulings, legal opinion legal journals) and policy papers (handouts about the LkSG, statements by the relevant political actors). We will follow court proceedings. For the field research in Brazil, we will work together with local scholars. With this approach, we want to systematically analyse the central antagonistic positions in the juridical field and examine the associated political strategies in relation to the LkSG.

Prof. Dr. Sonja Buckel, Universität Kassel

Dr. Dr. Carolina Alves Vestena, Universität Kassel

Dr. Christian Scheper, Institut für Entwicklung und Frieden, Universität Duisburg-Essen

Prof. Dr. Maximilian Pichl, Hochschule RheinMain

Dr. Judith Kopp, Universität Kassel

Anne Engelhardt, Institut für Entwicklung und Frieden, Universität Duisburg-Essen