Unearthing the Foundations of Exploitation: The Varieties of Capitalism and Forced Labour

Abstract

This thesis sought to answer how different forms of capitalism address unfree labour conditions through an analysis of a crucial case, Nestlé S.A. The thesis employed the use of the Varieties of Capitalism theory to explore the forms of capitalism utilised in the global economy, a liberal market economy (LME) and Switzerland, a coordinated liberal market economy (CLME), the two systems Nestlé S.A. is embedded in. A computer-assisted content analysis with a discursive analytic framework was then used to identify which of the two systems Nestlé S.A. used more in its structure and rhetoric, and finally determined its prioritisation of LME traits within the Swiss CLME system. This prioritisation is found in the firm’s attempts to address forced labour, as its efforts are hindered by vague definitions of the problem and identifying farmer productivity as the core cause of forced labour in global supply chains.