Prof. Susan Whiting
Government and Politics of China
POLS 442/SISEA 449
Reading Questions #8
Gary Gereffi, The Organization of Buyer-Driven Global Commodity Chains: How U.S. Retailers
Shape Overseas Production Networks
1. Which types of industries do buyer-driven global commodity chains refer to? How are
these industries different from producer-driven global commodity chains? What goods do
industries characterized by buyer-driven global commodity chains produce?
2. Identify the major actors in buyer-driven commodity chains.
3. How do different types of big retailers and brand-named merchandisers in the US choose
the location of their global sourcing?
4. How does triangle manufacturing in global commodity chains work?
Cal Clark, Growing Cross-Strait Economic Integration
1. How is the cross-strait trade structured? What products are being traded between China
and Taiwan?
2. How does growing trade and investment impact cross-strait political relations and the
chance of military conflict?
3. How do you relate cross-strait economic integration with the “triangle manufacturing”
pattern in Gereffi’s article?
Ching Kwan Lee, Against the Law: Labor Protests in China’s Rustbelt and Sunbelt
1. How does Lee evaluate the actual practices and effects of labor laws and regulatory
institutions?
2. How do workers acquire legal knowledge? How does the newly acquired legal
knowledge help to facilitate migrant workers’ activism?