Minimum Contract Justice: A Capabilities Perspective on Sweatshops and Consumer Contracts

Description

The collapse of the Rana Plaza in Bangladesh (2013) is one of many cases to invoke critical scrutiny and moral outrage regarding the conditions under which consumer goods sold on our markets are produced elsewhere. In spite of abiding moral concerns, these goods remain popular and consumers continue to buy them. Such transactions for goods made under deplorable production conditions are usually presumed to count as ‘normal’ market transactions, ie transactions that are recognized as valid consumer-contracts under the rules of contract law. This book challenges this presumption of normality. It explores the question of how theories of justice bear on such consumer contracts; how should a society treat a transaction for a good made under deplorable conditions elsewhere? This book defends the position that a society that strives to be minimally just should not lend its power to enforce, support, or encourage transactions that are incompatible with the ability of others elsewhere to live decent human lives. As such, the book introduces a new perspective on the legal debate concerning deplorable production conditions that has settled around ideas of corporate responsibility, and the pursuit of international labour rights. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Contents List of Cases Introduction 1 Minimum Contract Justice: Context and Outline I. The Questions in a Broader Context II. Tracing Developments in European Contract Law III. Market Conduct in Europe in a Global Setting IV. Outline 2 Minimum Contract Justice: A Capabilities Approach I. The Development of the Capabilities Concept and Capabilities Perspectives on Justice II. A Capabilities Based Approach to Minimum Justice III. Contract Law and the Responsibility Bearing Structure of Society 3 Sweatshops and Consumer Contracts I. Sweatshops II. Context: Sweatshops in the Garment Industry III. The Debate on the Moral Status of Sweatshops IV. Sweatshops as Contractual Externalities? 4 The Potential Frontiers of Contract Justice: A Sweatshop Case Study I. Contractual Immorality and its Potential Frontiers II. Methodology 5 Contractual Immorality in Europe I. European Instruments of Contract Law II. The Netherlands III. Germany IV. France V. England VI. Comparative Conclusions 6 Conclusion I. A Ranking of Contractual Regimes Based on Minimum Contract Justice II. A Way Forward Bibliography Index