The devil is in the detail — the need for a decolonizing turn and better environmental accountability in global supply chain regulations: a comment

This synthesis analyzes a Special Issue on global supply chain regulations covering human rights and environmental impacts. The papers demonstrate the analytical value of a contextualized governance perspective that studies discreet conditions and causal pathways shaping the dynamics of foreign corporate accountability: the devil is in the detail of due diligence regulations. We identity key findings on: the formative role of civil society groups from the Global North in due diligence rule-making while similar groups in the Global South are often absent from the policy formation process; the institutional complementarities between political-economic contexts of due diligence enforcement; and the failure of mandatory due diligence to deliver effective environmental accountability for foreign corporate practices. We argue for for a “decolonizing turn,” that foregrounds the question of agency in producing states and provides a fuller epistemological grasp of global supply chain relationships with negative human rights and environmental impacts.