Recent studies have shed light on the emergence of Southern sustainability initiatives in commodity-based value chains. These initiatives position themselves as countering the exclusionary nature of many global multi-stakeholder initiatives (MSIs), as critically analysed by previous studies. However, a common theoretical perspective on the inclusiveness of MSIs is still lacking. By drawing on the theory of regimes of engagement, we develop a theoretical framework which helps understanding the overt and subtle practices of including or excluding different stakeholders in MSIs. We apply this framework to ‘Trustea’, an Indian MSI for sustainable tea production, to further investigate the ‘inclusiveness paradigm’ of Southern sustainability initiatives. Our findings highlight the complexity of stakeholder engagement across the different phases of Trustea’s development, from initiation and code development to formal launch and roll-out. We find that different types of engagement can exist in parallel. Justifiable engagement is expressed in the participating organisations’ reference to a shared common goal of Trustea, whereas familiar engagement is linked to the rootedness of the individuals involved in the Indian tea industry. Strategic engagement, in turn, comes to the fore through the strong emphasis on developing an Indian code for sustainable tea production and promoting adoption among tea growers. The importance of reaching this objective has led to the replication of exclusionary patterns also noted for global MSIs, as small-scale producers and other weak actors have been largely excluded from decision-making processes, despite informal efforts aimed at substitution of representation.

中文翻译：

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农业价值链中的南方可持续性举措：增强包容性的问题？印度的 Trustea 案例

最近的研究揭示了南方在基于商品的价值链中出现的可持续性倡议。这些举措将自己定位为对抗许多全球多利益相关方举措 (MSI) 的排他性，正如之前的研究所批判的那样。然而，关于 MSI 的包容性的共同理论观点仍然缺乏。通过借鉴参与机制的理论，我们开发了一个理论框架，有助于理解在 MSI 中包括或排除不同利益相关者的公开和微妙的做法。我们将此框架应用于“Trustea”，这是一个印度可持续茶叶生产的 MSI，以进一步研究南方可持续发展举措的“包容性范式”。我们的发现突出了 Trustea 开发不同阶段（从启动和代码开发到正式发布和推出）的利益相关者参与的复杂性。我们发现不同类型的参与可以并行存在。参与组织对 Trustea 的共同目标的引用表达了合理的参与，而熟悉的参与则与参与印度茶业的个人的根基有关。反过来，战略参与通过强调制定印度可持续茶叶生产守则和促进茶农的采用而脱颖而出。实现这一目标的重要性导致了全球 MSI 也注意到的排斥模式的复制，