Making fashion sustainable and making sustainability fashionable: en fallstudie av makt och påverkan mellan Swedwatch och svenska textilföretag

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to consider how Swedwatch use their power to influence social responsibility and sustainability in the Swedish textile industry. Through theories of power, responsibility and influence the study examines empirical material from sustainability reports, reviews and interviews from the corporations and from Swedwatch. Relevance for Global Studies is made through the study’s focus on global business structures and theories of structural injustice and sustainability. The analysis consists of five parts regarding responsibility, influence, legitimacy, power resources and structures in the textile industry. Main findings include that the role of Swedwatch as a critical examiner has an impact on Swedish companies, but it does so more as a partner and source of information than being a standards authority. The power relations are therefore considered to be interdependent.