Bio

Luc Fransen is Assistant Professor of International Relations and member of the Political Economy and Transnational Governance (PETGOV) Research Group as well as the Transnational Configurations, Conflict and Governance Research Group. He received his PhD in Social Sciences at the University of Amsterdam in 2010 and has held research and teaching positions at the European University Institute, Yale University, Leiden University and the Amsterdam Institute for International Development.

Research

Luc Fransen's research investigates how, why and to what effect various types of global governance of social and environmental conditions of production evolve, diffuse and interact. This leads to an interest in Corporate Social Responsibility, private standard-setting, transnational governance organizations, civil society activism and international organizations. His most recent book Corporate Social Responsibility and Global Labor Standards (2012, Routledge) analyzes the evolution of, business demand for and competition between transnational private labor standard organizations. Next to that, his work has been published in various international journals, including Governance, Socio-Economic Review, Review of International Political Economy, Regulation & Governance, Organization, British Journal of Industrial Relations,  European Journal of Industrial Relations, Business and Society, and Journal of Business Ethics.

Ongoing Projects

1. Interactions between transnational private sustainability standard organizations.

This project  a) analyzes the design features of these organizations; b) performs a comparative study of why private standard organizations do or do not proliferate in particular industries; c)  executes a case study of programs stimulating coordination between standard organizations; and d) performs a network analysis of professional and communication linkages between standard organizations. Output includes collaborative work with Graeme Auld, Thomas Conzelmann, Ans Kolk, and Jelmer Schalk.

2. Global Reordering: Evolution through European Networks (GR:EEN) 

 This EU FP7 Program is focused on the political economy of network governance in Europe (UvA contributions led by Jonathan Zeitlin and Daniel Muegge). My contributions involve study with Brian Burgoon of civil society organization advocacy on, consumer attitudes towards and variety in non-state initiatives for labor-standards protection in the EU and beyond.

3. Transnational Public Private Regimes

This line of research proposes and elaborates a theoretical framework for the analysis of the likelihood that state and non-state actors in developing countries will comply with new transnational regimes focused on labor, environmental and human rights.

Teaching

Luc has teaching experience in the subfields of International Relations, Political Economy, Political Theory, Public Administration, and Social Science Methodology.

This academic year, he will teach and coordinate Political Economy [Politieke Economie] and Corporate Social Responsibility [Maatschappelijk Verantwoord Ondernemen] for the Bachelor Program, and the Thesis Project Transnational Politics of Sustainability  for the Master Program.

International ISI-rated peer-reviewed journal articles:

·         Fransen, L. and T. Conzelmann. 2014. Fragmented or cohesive transnational private regulation of sustainability standards? A comparative study. Regulation & Governance. DOI: 10.1111/rego.12055.

·         Fransen, L. and B. Burgoon. 2013. Global labor standard advocacy by European Civil Society Organizations: Trends and developments. British Journal of Industrial Relations. DOI: 10.1111/bjir.12017.

·         Fransen, L. and Burgoon, B. 2013. Privatizing or socializing Corporate Responsibility? Business & Society, DOI: 10.1177/0007650313475784.

·         Fransen, L. 2012. Multi-stakeholder governance and voluntary programme interactions. Socio-Economic Review, 10:1, pp. 163-192.

·         Fransen, L. 2012. The embeddedness of responsible business practice: Exploring the interaction between national-institutional environments and Corporate Social Responsibility. Journal of Business Ethics, DOI: 10.1007/s10551-012-1395-2.

·         Fransen, L. 2011. Why do private governance organizations not converge? A political-institutional analysis of transnational labor standards regulation. Governance, 24:2, pp. 359-387.

·         Fransen, L. and Burgoon, B. 2011. A market for worker rights: Explaining business support for international private labour regulation. Review of International Political Economy, 19 (2): 236 -266.

·         Kocer, R. G. and Fransen, L. 2009. Codes of conduct and the promise of a change of climate in worker organization. European Journal of Industrial Relations, 15:3, pp. 237-256.

·         Fransen, L. and Kolk, A. 2007. Global rule-setting for business: A critical analysis of multi-stakeholder standards. Organization, 14:5, pp. 667-684.

Monograph:

·         Fransen, L. 2012. Corporate Social Responsibility and global labor standards. New York: Routledge.

PhD thesis:

·         Fransen, L. May 20 2010. Minding their own business? Firms and activists in the making of private labour regulation. PhD Thesis, University of Amsterdam

Chapters in edited volumes:

·         Fransen, L. 2013. Global companies in the private regulation of global labor standards. In Mikler J. (ed.), Global Policy Handbooks: Global Companies. Hoboken: Wiley-Blackwell, pp. 437-454.

·         Fransen, L. 2006. Maatschappelijk Verantwoord Ondernemen: pressie op bedrijven [Corporate Social Responsibility: pressure on corporations]. In Tonkens, E., M., Ham en J. Uitermark (eds.), Handboek Moraliseren [Handbook of Applying Norms], Amsterdam: Van Gennep, pp. 138-151.

National non-refereed academic journals:

·         Fransen, L. 2012. Multi-stakeholderbestuur en Maatschappelijk Verantwoord Ondernemen [Multi-Stakeholder Governance and Corporate Social Responsibility]. Res Publica, 54: 2, pp. 257-261.

Working paper

·         Fransen, L. 2012. The embeddedness of European responsible business practice: national institutions, policy and Corporate Social Responsibility. Osgoode CLPE Research Paper No. 14/2012.

Review essay

·         Fransen, L. Neo-liberal globalism and social sustainable globalization. 2008. Contemporary Sociology, 7:4, pp. 497-499.

Selected invited lectures and conference presentations

·         Fransen, L. 2013. Transnational Public-Private Regimes: A political economic perspective. Presented at the International Studies Association Annual Conference in San Francisco, April 3 2013.

·         Fransen, L. 2012. The politics of meta-standard setting in transnational sustainability governance. Prepared for the American Political Science Association Annual Conference New Orleans, August 30 2012.

·         Fransen, L. and T. Conzelmann. 2012. Fragmented or uniform transnational voluntary regulation of sustainability standards? A comparative study. Presented at the ECPR Regulation and Governance Bi-Annual Conference, University of Exeter, June 29 2012.

·         Fransen, L. 2012. Global companies in the private regulation of global labor standards. Presented at Penn State University Global Worker Rights Workshop, March 27 2012.

·         Fransen, L. and B. Burgoon. 2012. Global labor standard advocacy by European Civil Society Organizations: Trends and developments. Presented at the International Studies Association Annual Conference in San Diego, March 30 2012.

·         Fransen, 2011. The embeddedness of responsible business practice: National institutions and Corporate Social Responsibility. Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics (SASE) Annual Conference, Madrid, June 2011.

·         Fransen, L. 2011. Multi-stakeholder governance and business driven programs in Corporate Social Responsibility. Private Governance and its Global Implementation workshop, Freie Universitat Berlin, February 4-5 2011.

·         Fransen, L. 2010. Are business-driven programs becoming multi-stakeholder governed? Lecture at the Centre for Business and Politics at Copenhagen Business School, November 2010.

·         Fransen, L. 2008. Understanding patterns of business support in private governance. Lecture at the Political Science Seminar of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), April 2008.

·         Fransen, L. 2008. Dynamics of private regulatory competition. Lecture at the Global Governance Seminar of the Yale School of Management, Yale University, March 2008.

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