The political economy of polycentric governance in global production: insights from South African fruit

Global production network (GPN) and global value chain (GVC) research has analysed private governance by Northern lead firms, with recent attention given to the state. A parallel literature highlights expanding regional and domestic production networks (RPNs and DPNs) that intersect with GPNs. However, we have limited knowledge of the political economy of state governance in this context. We leverage the concept of polycentric governance – referring to public–private governance that plays out across multiple poles of authority – and explore how this unfolds in the South African fruit sector. The paper asks: what role has the state played in governing South African fruit production networks in a context of polycentric trade? What are the distributive implications of state and private governance interactions across multiple poles of authority? We highlight key tensions underpinning polycentric governance: RPNs and DPNs constrain the state’s ability to outsource regulatory governance to private authorities. Despite DPNs falling within the territorial and regulatory authority of nation-states, global
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competitive forces perpetuate the state’s prioritisation of facilitative over regulatory and distributive strategies. The concept of polycentric governance – which resists favouring the study of governance in singular GPNs and extends analysis across multiple networks – promises exciting interdisciplinary avenues for future research.