Global value chains and transnational social spaces and communities: the emergence of a circular economy in the apparel industry

Rana, Mohammad Bakhtiar, Allen, Matthew ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6463-9039 and Tajuddin, Syed Ahmed (2025) Global value chains and transnational social spaces and communities: the emergence of a circular economy in the apparel industry. In: Research in the Sociology of Organizations. Research in the Sociology of Organizations . Emerald, Leeds. (In Press)

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Abstract

The transition to a circular economy (CE) requires multinational enterprises (MNEs) to engage with diverse social actors involved in production, reuse, and recycling across global value chains. Existing research often adopts a static, economics-based perspective that privileges MNEs while overlooking the dynamic interactions between MNEs and other social actors, as well as their varying interests, which shape the emergence of CE policies and practices in global supply chains. This study applies the concepts of transnational social spaces (TSSs) and transnational communities (TCs) to examine CE transitions in Bangladesh’s garment industry. Drawing on interviews with various social actors embedded in two interlinked cases, we develop a contextualized view of MNEs and their evolving relationships. We explore three emergent properties—shared purpose, shared cognition and logic, and symbolic change and transformation—that drive structured interactions within TSSs, fostering TCs that facilitate the transition to a CE in MNEs’ global supply chains. We highlight how shared objectives emerge from social actors’ interactions, fostering a TC with shared cognition that instigates symbolic changes across multiple actors and institutional contexts. At the same time, differences and tensions persist among these actors. By emphasizing the emergent and dynamic nature of TSSs and TCs—both of which reflect and enable the CE transition—this study contributes to research on sustainability transitions, international business management, and global value chains.