Gereffi G,Global Value Chains and Development: Redefining the Contours of 21st Century Capitalism (2018)

Reviewed by: Rory Horner, Global Development Institute, University of Manchester, UK; Department of Geography, Environmental Management and Energy Studies, University of Johannesburg, South Africa

Global value chains (GVCs) are now widely recognized across the social sciences, as well as amongst governments, international organizations and non-governmental organizations, as the key arteries through which global trade is constructed. Global Value Chains and Development is a collection of seminal pieces of work by Gary Gereffi, the pioneer of GVC analysis, on a topic central to understanding development processes in a context of globalization.

Taken together, the book provides an overview of where GVC analysis has come from, its key concepts and potential future directions. The book is comprised of 15 chapters, 13 of which have been previously published as either single- or co-authored articles or book chapters. A characteristic of the book throughout is the clarity of Gereffi’s thought, situating his work on GVCs vis-à-vis, and challenging, the wider debates on development and globalization.

The introductory chapter, a new contribution for this book, outlines the genealogy of GVC research and helps identify the essence of what GVC analysis is and how it is distinct from conventional approaches to understanding development. The origins of GVC research are situated within the emergence of export-orientation as a dominant development paradigm from the 1980s onwards. Gereffi emphasizes the importance of studying industries through actor-oriented approaches centred on different activities involved in the production of goods and services, with a specific focus on lead firms and their suppliers. GVC analysis thus moves beyond traditional trade theory based on individual countries trading finished goods with each other. Global Value Chains and Development is a significant departure from neoclassical and neoliberal approaches to trade and development by charting the power dynamics which are central to global industries and their uneven outcomes for different firms, farms and workers. Fieldwork grounded in the experience of different industries is emphasized to challenge dominant development narratives and to uncover the winners and losers of globalization. The introductory chapter, where Gereffi reflects on the genealogy of his work on GVCs, is highly recommended reading. It is especially useful for those seeking to understand how an incredibly successful research career, both by conventional academic measures and in terms of policy impact, has evolved.

After the introductory chapter, the remaining chapters are categorized into three sections. The first – ‘Foundations of the Global Value Chain framework’ – includes Gereffi’s most-cited pieces of work, namely on buyer-driven commodity chains, industrial upgrading and GVC governance. Part two, ‘Expanding the Governance and Upgrading Dimensions in Global Value Chains’, includes work on clusters, social upgrading, private governance and corporate social responsibility. The final part, ‘Policy Issues and Challenges’, outlines the applicability of the GVC framework for policy issues and covers more recent developments such as the growth of end markets in the global South.

The trajectory of the book charts a shifting range of questions and debates to which Gereffi’s GVC research has been applied. Initially challenging state-centric approaches to development, Gereffi’s work highlighted the novel power of global lead firms and their influence in shaping industrial upgrading. As public debates grew over labour conditions in GVCs, the analysis of upgrading evolved to consider social upgrading and thus explicitly engage with the prospects for workers from their employment in export-oriented industries. The book then considers more recent issues, including the emergence of a more multi-polar world economy where firms from emerging economies are playing a more prominent leading role.

Given the dominant export-oriented development strategy in a context of a liberalized global economy within which most of the book is set, the final chapter is of particular intrigue. Also, a new contribution for this book, as well as discussing other emerging issues such as the digital economy and platform firms, Gereffi uses a GVC understanding to challenge Trump’s ‘America first’ economic strategy and the US trade war with China. The chapter provides glimpses of what may be a new, emerging paradigm, yet about which there is considerable uncertainty as to how GVCs will evolve.

The book reflects a particular period of globalization, so there are issues which the book only touches upon, but which will undoubtedly get more attention in the future. Most of the chapters are focused implicitly or explicitly on Northern lead firms and Southern suppliers, with the rise of South–South trade (Horner and Nadvi, 2018) only receiving some attention near the end. Similarly considerable attention is placed on private governance, partly reflecting the realities of the period of globalization the book was charting and the emphasis of GVC research on the novel aspects of globalization at that time, yet public governance (Horner, 2017; Mayer and Philipps, 2017) gets less attention. Nevertheless, the protectionism chapter (15) does suggest this will become a bigger focus of interest in the future. While the book goes beyond a solely economic focus by giving attention to social upgrading, or outcomes for workers, there is little analysis of the environmental implications of participating in GVCs (see, for example, De Marchi et al., 2019). As global development challenges and the global economy evolve, including following the Covid-19 pandemic, these issues serve as exciting agendas where the GVC analytical toolkit can be drawn upon and further elaborated.

This book will be of interest to students and researchers of all levels, to trade, industry and labour specialists amongst other policymakers, as well as those involved in civil society organizations. The book brings together key pieces of a body of literature that is incredibly useful for teaching, by introducing the globalization processes behind the production of everyday goods and services. While those new to global value chains will appreciate the comprehensive resource that this book provides, experienced researchers will also benefit from the two novel chapters (1 – ‘The Emergence of Global Value Chains’ and 15 – ‘Protectionism and Global Value Chains’) as well as the convenience of having these seminal works together in a single collection.

Although globalization remains highly contested and its future is uncertain, Global Value Chains and Development will arguably always remain one of the key books to understand the dynamics of globalization from the 1970s/1980s through the first couple of decades of the 21st century.