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Green transition for whom? Garment production networks and the politics of climate crisis in Bangladesh

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: The global apparel industry faces increasing pressure to enact a ‘green transition’ by adopting sustainability standards around carbon emissions, water use, and waste. This article explores how new environmental regulations affect global production networks (GPNs), focusing on Bangladeshi producers exporting to Europe. Using a multi-scalar ethnographic approach, we demonstrate that the apparel industry’s green transition is profoundly shaped by discourses of environmental and climate ‘crisis,’ but that network actors perceive and experience crisis differently. We argue that the politics of crisis, rather than crisis itself, drives the apparel industry’s green transition, replicating power asymmetries within GPNs and broader capitalist geographies.

Source: Journal of Economic Geography

DOI: 10.1093/jeg/lbag004

Authors: Hasan Ashraf, Rebecca Prentice

Institutions: Jahangirnagar University, University of Sussex

Language: English

Topic: Global trade, sustainability, and social impact

Subfield: Strategy and Management

Field: Business, Management and Accounting

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Responsible consumption and production, Decent work and economic growth, Climate action

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $4,638