2017 Theses Master's

Empowering Women’s Labor Mobilization in Cambodia: The Role of Global Enterprise

Rullo, Matthew

Cambodian garment workers continue to suffer deplorable working conditions and face severe barriers to their meaningful labor organization. This study explores the unique opportunity and emerging responsibility of multinational apparel brands to actively shape and protect freedom of association (FOA) for women workers in the Cambodian garment industry. It examines the extent to which global brands sourcing from Cambodia’s garment sector have taken positive action to protect FOA space for women labor organizers throughout their global supply chains. This research aims to contribute to the wider Business and Human Rights (BHR) discourse, building an argument that apparel brands should leverage their unique positions of political and economic influence, not only to passively respect but, to actively protect FOA rights of garment workers—especially in politically volatile and oppressive domestic contexts. This work goes on to reveal how such protective human rights advocacy measures on the part of multinational corporations are helping to drive the BHR discourse forward.