The costs of compliance? Views of Sri Lankan apparel manufacturers in times of global economic crisis

Complementing the rise of ethical trading initiatives there has been a parallel growth in the number of academic studies tracking their origins and evolution, and assessing the implementation and success of social auditing practices. Despite this, the consequences and responses to the implementation of codes of conduct relating to labour standards at sites of production remains an understudied topic. This article focuses on those issues in the context of the global apparel industry using evidence from interviews with managers in the Sri Lankan garment manufacturing sector. In particular, it focuses on the contradictions and tensions inherent in compliance, and the anxieties management face during a period of global economic crisis, in a country which is generally considered to be in the vanguard of promoting and protecting ethical labour standards.