Dr Matthew Alford

Overview

My research interrogates questions of development in the context of globalization, transnational trading networks and labour. More specifically, I focus on the role of nation states in governing labour, and how public regulations interact with lead-firm driven private codes of conduct and civil society initiatives across geographical scales. Another strand of my research explores labour agency, and the evolving strategies adopted by workers in contesting their conditions in global production networks (GPNs). I have investigated these issues in the context of South African fruit farms linked to GPNs. Having secured a large Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF), Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) grant with colleagues at the University of Manchester, I will advance this agenda by exploring public-private governance dynamics in regional value chains driven by Southern lead firms across sub-Saharan Africa. I earned my PhD in International Development from the Global Development Institute (GDI), and am currently employed as Lecturer in International Business and Management at Alliance Manchester Business School (AMBS), University of Manchester.