Corporate Harm and Embedded Labor Exploitation in Agri-Food Supply Networks

Abstract

Harm facilitated by corporations has received increased attention in recent years. However, corporate crime and harm remain under-researched themes in relation to labor exploitation, both in theoretical and empirical terms. The purpose of this paper is to argue that in the context of agricultural and food supply networks, harmful labor practices result from structural problems associated with the demand for products. While individual employers and businesses have a role in facilitating these harmful practices, they also emerge from otherwise legitimate agri-food supply network dynamics, such as subcontracted labor which results in fragmented responsibility. Therefore, labor practices have significant implications for the nature, organisation, and control of corporate harms, whereby harmful consequences become normalized, accepted, and embedded in agri-food supply network practices. Criminological analyses of food production and contemporary markets more widely can begin to address the systemic challenges of harmful labor practices, both in domestic and global supply networks.

Keywords: Agri-Food Supply Networks, Corporate Crime, Labor Exploitation, Harm, Organizational Deviance