Zaken doen, goed doen? Ethiek en vervreemding in de zoektocht naar duurzaamheid in kapitalistische markten

This dissertation critically examines the sociological implications of quantifying sustainability paradigms within the context of global value chains (GVCs), exemplified by Human Rights Due Diligence (HRDD) as the current dominant framework. As global trade remains deeply reliant on transnational supply chains, the shortcomings of voluntary corporate social responsibility (CSR) frameworks have prompted a shift towards binding legal instruments mandating HRDD processes. Legislative initiatives such as the French Duty of Vigilance Law, the UK Modern Slavery Act, and the proposed EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CS3D) signify this juridical evolution from soft to hard law. Drawing on a four-year empirical study of the supply chains of a number of ethical companies operating in sectors with elevated human rights risks, the research interrogates the normative assumptions and operational consequences of HRDD. The dissertation demonstrates that quantifying notions of sustainable business, while legally framed as risk management mechanisms intended to protect human rights, often fail to deliver substantive improvements for workers. Instead, they tend to increase a focus on counting and accounting, thus reproducing power asymmetries by entrenching managerial oversight and data-driven control mechanisms throughout supply chains. Theoretically grounded in cultural sociology, labour process theory and Sartrean concepts of alienation and serialization, the study posits that HRDD constitutes not an emancipatory legal innovation, but a continuation of a quantifying and alienating approach to a sustainable economy. The dissertation concludes with a call for alternative legal and policy frameworks that emphasize real inter-organizational solidarity and worker-led governance of global supply chains. It advocates for a reconfiguration of supply chain governance that foregrounds social justice and deconstructs structural barriers to meaningful solidarity among economic actors and workers around the globe.