I write a literature review framework and also get the feedback from my supervisor about this literature review framework. Hopefully it is useful for your writing.
(Below is a basic sketch of my literature review, with the key texts that I plan to mention.)
Literature Review
- Literature on issues in the fashion industry
The ecological and social issues have attracted scholars in the IPE filed from many different perspectives.
- About social issues:
Huq and Stevenson (2020) use a supplier’s perspective to reveal that the unethical buying practice from western buyers is hindering the sustainable development process of Global South countries. They use sociological institutionalism to analyse the decoupling: the pressure from international CSR and the superficial implementation in local supplier firms. From the viewpoint of GVC, Khan (2019) also pointed out the environmental upgrading is in fact a instrument of reputation and risk management that the lead firms employ and the suppliers pay the cost.
Yet Huq and Stevenson focuses on the external factors and ignores the internal factors leading to unsustainable practices. From a gendered perspective, Fakhoury (2019) pointed out that much more young women are employed in the low entry-level positions in the fashion industry in developing countries. (Kabir et al., 2019 tough working environments and low work payment damages women’s health; Akhter, 2019 the death rate of pregnant women workers) Therefore, the first social problem for developing sustainable fashion is the gender issue.
Brooks (2015a, 2015b) also points out the worrying consequence of commodity fetishism. Under the fetishism, consumers would demand more fashion products and the corporations would make more and more to meet the demands, which leads to fast fashion. Moreover, companies also use Greenwash to deceive the consumers, while the actual social issues are not solved.
The above texts mainly focus on social issues. I think social issues and ecological issues have many internal connections, and it is necessary to also consider about analysing the issue of ecology in my research.
- About ecological issues:
Binotto and Payne (2016) thinks that the most serious problem in fashion industry is waste. Many companies destroy huge amount of unsold clothes every year. In other words, designers are giving out new clothes more than people actually needs. The destroy of these clothes also leads to other pollutions such as air, soil and water pollutions.
In addition, McFall-Johnsen (2019) proposed that the fashion supply chain is indeed a pollution chain. The problem is not because of one part of the chain but the whole. Using chemicals and so on. Besides, the fashion supply chain is also a poverty chain. Therefore, sustainable fashion must be promoted in both social and ecological aspect, and the companies must be guided to transform.
- Toolboxes in sociological industry
Sociological institutionalists have developed many notions and toolboxes. To list some:
DiMaggio and Powell (1983): Isomorphism and three institutional pressures.
Zucker (1987) the gain of legitimacy.
Hirsch (1986) cultural aspect of institutions.
Friedland and Alford (1991) multiple institutional logics.
- Sociological institution analysis of fashion industry
Although the above scholars look at different problems in the fashion industry from different perspectives, these issues can be re-interpreted by using sociological institutionalism. Moreover, we can use sociological institutionalism to find the internal connections between different sectors in the fashion industry, as well as the relationship between the fashion industry and the environment.
For example, the developing countries are in the upper end of the fashion supply chain, and many of them wants to achieve economic goals via these labour-intensive factories, therefore their institutions usually allow unsustainable practices. Developing countries have more awareness of environmental protection and human rights, but they are more concerned with that in their own countries, and their companies and individuals actually benefit from the unsustainable fashion supply chain for lower cost.
Also, sociological institutionalism points out that the cognitive dimension of people is also an important institution. However, the ideology of environmental protection and full human rights still lacks in people in global south countries, because many of them are still struggle for basic living. Hence, they tend to prioritise economic profits rather than environmental and social benefits.
In addition, the institutions of the colonial time also have an impact on the current institutions. Many global south countries have a colonial history and extractive institutions. The legacies of extractive institutions exist not only in current institutions but also in the cultures and social norms, which are regarded as appropriate. As a result, even when they realise these social and ecological problems, they choose to be silent, because they are following the path of developed countries which is treatment after pollution. However, we cannot leave all these issues to the future.
Feedback from Supervisors
Thanks for this. It is great to see the progress you are making. I am impressed. Keep going!
The outline of the literature review looks sensible and clear to me, at this stage, although I didn’t really understand section 2 on toolboxes. But an approach which starts off looking at wider social and ecological issues, and then turns to the sociological institutionalist literature to advance these debates is a good overall structure.
In answer to your very good questions:
It is great to you have found useful texts from other perspectives. Definitely use them. If possible, fit them into your literature review in the sections on wider social/ecological issues. This section will be useful to show the breadth and range of your reading. The more texts cited here the better! Pack several references into sentences, e.g. “There are several studies of the class exploitation of textile workers (Adams, 1997; Bob, 2009; Clifford, 2019)”. If you can also discuss their approach and perspective that will be good too, depending on the amount of space (words) you have.
I suggest you use and discuss critical approaches, and show how their insights are useful. Then say that, despite their critiques, it is still true that institutional structures do play a role, and reforms can make a difference in particular cases and contexts. Your study seeks to build on and extend institutionalist approaches, whilst bearing in mind the insights and critiques of other approaches. Does this make sense? It is a difficult balancing act, and you need to show how your approach is important, consistent, and builds upon existing literature. But it doesn’t need to have all the answers to every critique. You may want to discuss some of the most common critiques in the section of your lit review on sociological institutionalism, and then show how it still has valuable insights despite the critiques. If there is a particularly powerful critique which you don’t have an answer to in this dissertation, it may be safest to leave it to one side and not mention it! We can discuss this further.
I can’t answer whether a particular actor focus would be a good idea or not. It depends on what empirical material you have found and what you want to say about it. In principle, a well-focused in-depth discussion of a particular actor perspective can be a good way to achieve the detail that defines a good dissertation. But you may not want to exclude some really good material which strengthens your argument. In either case I think the literature review should be wider and include more perspectives than your empirical sections.
There is no set number of references. But more is better than fewer! Don’t discuss them in a list though, which one coming after another. Group them – as you do in the plan you sent – and give yourself space to discuss a few (3-4?) in more depth. Then reference others as further examples of similar sorts of things, or additional studies on different countries, for example, as I do in the references above.
I hope this all makes sense, do email back if you have more questions.
