ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses critically the concept of global commodity chains (GCCs) popularised inter alia by Gary Gereffi (1994a). Briefly, the world economy is conceptualised as a system of chains within which successive material transformations and the final marketing of particular products or product groups takes place. These chains connect core regions of the world economy, where most products are consumed, to peripheries, where they are produced, or where at least the chain starts. Two types are identified: buyer-driven chains and producer-driven chains. A development of this concept by Peter Gibbon (2001), trader-driven chains, is also reported. In order to export, according to GCC theory, Third World producers must find a place for themselves in global commodity chains. Upgrading of (export) operations implies moving to better positions within such chains and engaging in activities that add more value. Upgrading also implies a learning trajectory and proponents of the GCC concept assume that learning through connections within GCCs is both feasible and desirable.
