The Geo-political Economy of Global Production Networks

The literature on global production networks (GPNs) has made important contributions to our understanding of globalization, overcoming much of the state-centrism of other kinds of political economic approaches. It has also extended effectively beyond the relatively narrower focus of its predecessors, the global commodity chains and global value chains approaches, to analyze not only the direct process of production but also various social activities that are crucial to the overall process of commodity (and value) production. Yet in spite of opening a potential space for interrogating political processes as integral aspects of production, most work on GPNs has avoided the discussion of political issues that speak to the messiness, contestation, and violence that often accompanies globalization. This article shows that GPN approaches can and should encompass geo-political aspects of the production process that range from labor struggles to inter-state competition and even war. As examples from South Korea show, a geo-political economy approach to GPNs that includes examination of war and geo-politics can extend our understanding of the process of globalization.