Universities as Global Actors in the Apparel Supply Chain: The Designated Suppliers Program

Buyer-driven supply chains of modern capitalism put power into the hands of consumers. In the absence of a unified transnational labor movement, activists focus on mobilizing consumers to push corporations to adopt socially responsible practices.;Universities have exclusive power over the multi-billion dollar collegiate apparel market and have used their influence to raise labor standards for "sweatshop" workers. Recognizing that monitoring organizations are incapable of examining thousands of factories involved in collegiate apparel production and that pricing practices of apparel brands prevent sustainable increases to labor conditions, student-activists have proposed the Designated Suppliers Program (DSP).;Recently cleared by the Department of Justice, the DSP represents an opportunity for universities to ensure that factory workers have stable employment in a dignified workplace while earning a living wage. This would be a fundamental shift in production that could have far reaching impacts on the apparel industry and third-party monitoring. Currently, there is no academic literature on the program (or on the collegiate apparel industry in general), which needs to be placed in the broader context of social movements, labor rights, and global capitalism.;The purpose of this thesis is to explore why the DSP has not been successfully implemented since it was first proposed in 2005. Before directly assessing this, the collegiate apparel industry is explored and the history of the DSP is presented. The necessity, desirability, and feasibility of the DSP are evaluated with specific emphasis on the perspective of universities. Ultimately, the study concludes that there are no flaws inherent in the design of the DSP that would prevent successful implementation and the primary reason it is not being pursued by universities is because of a lack of awareness of the program. Student campaigns for the DSP are poised to surge within the year, and along with success of the first factory that meets DSP criteria (Alta Gracia), universities will soon be faced with the task of critically and reflexively considering their position and influence in the global apparel industry.