Institutionalized Exploitation in Pakistan's Textile Supply Chain: Consequences of Buyer-Enforced Sustainability Management System

For more than two decades, global corporations have governed environmental and social sustainability by imposing ethics codes and sustainability standards on suppliers in the Global South. Yet, despite the growing prevalence of these frameworks, systemic problems persist. Drawing on empirical data from textile suppliers in Pakistan, this study offers a rarely explored perspective on global fashion value chains. Our findings reveal how global brands increasingly shift corporate responsibility along with the financial and environmental burden of sustainability to their suppliers. We conceptualize this phenomenon as buyer-enforced sustainability management, wherein brands impose rigid sustainability requirements while disregarding the local capacities, constraints, and institutional realities of supplier firms. We argue that these enforcement practices are not isolated but are rather a part of a broader strategy that exploits institutional weaknesses in supplier contexts. We identify local enabling factors such as regulatory voids and reactive compliance that allow this flawed model to continue.