Fairtrade

Fair trade and empire: An anti-capitalist critique of the fair trade movement

by Ian Hussey

Article in Briarpatch Magazine 40(5): 15-18. September 1, 2011.

Quote from intro: "Fair trade marketing and advocacy rely on the idea that fair trade increases connectedness... more Quote from intro: "Fair trade marketing and advocacy rely on the idea that fair trade increases connectedness between Global South producers and Global North consumers. But while fair trade does reduce the number of intermediaries in the supply chain as compared to the free trade system, it also serves to reinforce racist and colonial distinctions between the poor Global South farmer and the benevolent Global North consumer. While it may channel slightly more income into agricultural communities, it ultimately fails to address the colonial capitalist structures that produce the impoverishment of farmers on an ongoing basis."

Fair Trade, Colonialism, and Capitalism: Exploring the Contradictions, Paradoxes, and Erasures

by Ian Hussey

Hussey, Ian. Forthcoming 2012. “Fair Trade, Colonialism, and Capitalism: Exploring the Contradictions, Paradoxes, and Erasures.” Reilumman kaupan jäljillä: Kirjoituksia reilust kaupasta ja solidaarisesta vaihdosta. [Searching for fairer trade: Essays about fair trade and solidarity exchange]. Edited by Ehrstedt Johan and Mervi Leppäkorpi. Into Kustannus: Helsinki.

National Contexts Matter: The Co-evolution of Sustainability Standards in Global Value Chains

by Stephan Manning

Full Source: Manning, S.; Boons, F.; Von Hagen, O.; Reinecke, J. 2011. "National Contexts Matter: The Co-evolution of Sustainability Standards in Global Value Chains", Ecological Economics, Forthcoming.

In this paper, we investigate the role of key industry and other stakeholders and their embeddedness in particular... more In this paper, we investigate the role of key industry and other stakeholders and their embeddedness in particular national contexts in driving the proliferation and co-evolution of sustainability standards, based on the case of the global coffee industry. We find that institutional conditions and market opportunity structures in consuming countries have been important sources of standards variation, for example in the cases of Fairtrade, UTZ Certified and the Common Code for the Coffee Community (4C). In turn, supplier structures in producing countries as well as their linkages with traders and buyers targeting particular consuming countries have been key mechanisms of standards transmission and selection. Unlike prior research, which has emphasized the role of global actors and structures in promoting – and hindering – sustainability initiatives, we argue that national economic and institutional conditions in consuming and producing countries have not only served as important drivers of standardsmultiplicity and co-evolution, but also as catalysts for the entire global sustainability movement.

Fairtrade or fifty-fifty? The consequences of shifts in African perceptions of Fairtrade for development education practitioners

by Jonathan Penson

In: Policy and Practice: A Development Education Review, Issue 5, pp. 20-30. Centre for Global Education: Belfast. (2007)

Jonathan Penson examines the prized reputation Fairtrade has established among consumers for ethical trading, and... more Jonathan Penson examines the prized reputation Fairtrade has established among consumers for ethical trading, and finds that there is evidence that problems with Fairtrade institutions are encouraging some African coffee producers to exit the Fairtrade system, and that alternatives to Fairtrade are arising. Given that Fairtrade is so often and so successfully used as a synecdoche by development education practitioners for wider issues of advocacy around trade justice, this finding may have important repercussions for them.

Coffee, Fairtrade & Rwanda

by Jonathan Penson

Co-authored with Sara Edstrom and Annie Chamberland

‘Coffee, Fairtrade and Rwanda’ explains how the world coffee system works and how Fairtrade fits in. It looks at how... more ‘Coffee, Fairtrade and Rwanda’ explains how the world coffee system works and how Fairtrade fits in. It looks at how coffee is produced and how the world coffee trading system affects coffee producers. Written by volunteers working in Rwanda with Voluntary Service Overseas, it is aimed to be a complete resource for self-briefing for those interested in global education.

Fairtrade or fifty-fifty: Are African coffee producers forsaking Fairtrade?

by Jonathan Penson

Fairtrade has established a prized reputation among consumers for ethical trading. This article offers evidence that... more Fairtrade has established a prized reputation among consumers for ethical trading. This article offers evidence that problems with Fairtrade institutions are encouraging some African coffee producers to exit the Fairtrade system, and that indigenous alternatives to Fairtrade are arising. Expanding an existing model of the impact of enhanced pricing initiatives on local markets to make a comparative analysis of Fairtrade co-operatives in Rwanda with an alternative form of market-led ethical trading initiative in Uganda, it is found that second order regulation of the market is necessary to institutionalise the developmental gains offered by both forms.

Le mouvement du commerce équitable et la Convention sur la Diversité Biologique

by Pierre Johnson

Cet article analyse la prise en compte, somme toute marginale, des principes novateurs de la Convention sur la... more Cet article analyse la prise en compte, somme toute marginale, des principes novateurs de la Convention sur la Diversité Biologique pour un «partage juste et équitable» des ressources génétiques par le mouvement du commerce équitable.

Unintended Consequences of Green Technologies

by Ozzie Zehner

Zehner, Ozzie. “Unintended Consequences.” In Green Technology, edited by Paul Robbins, Dustin Mulvaney and J. Geoffrey Golson, 427-32. London: Sage, 2011.

Green technologies (e.g. wind turbines, solar cells, and biofuels) and initiatives (e.g. efficiency, recycling, and... more Green technologies (e.g. wind turbines, solar cells, and biofuels) and initiatives (e.g. efficiency, recycling, and organics) yield distinct unanticipated consequences that can partially or fully offset intended environmental benefits.

Fairtrade: a Model for Alternative Development?

by Rob Curran

2009 paper discussing fairtrade, submitted for Open University MA unit in International Development.