Event Title
Dancing With the Devil? The Potential and Perils of Fair Trade in the Americas
Location
Lindy C. Boggs Conference Center – Room 256
Session
Session Two: Fair Trade: Solidarity through Consumption?
Start Date
17-10-2009 9:30 AM
End Date
17-10-2009 11:30 AM
Description
This paper examines the frought politics of the rapidly growing fair trade market and the social movement that generated it. Fair trade emerged in its current form in the late 1980s, with substantial impetus from solidarity movements on the political Left, in response to the deeply inequitable terms of trade for small commodity producers in the global South. The aim was to create alternative trading structures to link peasant farmers more directly with Northern consumers, freeing up capital for higher and fairer prices. Mexico produced the first fairly-traded coffee, and today Latin America is the biggest producer of fair trade certified goods. However, while the movement’s strategy of market mainstreaming has led to dramatic growth, it has also drawn the participation of the largest corporate agrofood firms (including Nestle, Procter & Gamble, Coca-Cola, and Dole) and opened the door to certification of agribusiness plantations in a wide range of crops. Critics charge that corporate participation has watered down fair trade standards and coopted the movement’s foundational principles. The paper assesses the risks and possibilities of fair trade at the present moment, and its prospects in the future, for small producers and social movements in the Americas.
Dancing With the Devil? The Potential and Perils of Fair Trade in the Americas
Lindy C. Boggs Conference Center – Room 256
This paper examines the frought politics of the rapidly growing fair trade market and the social movement that generated it. Fair trade emerged in its current form in the late 1980s, with substantial impetus from solidarity movements on the political Left, in response to the deeply inequitable terms of trade for small commodity producers in the global South. The aim was to create alternative trading structures to link peasant farmers more directly with Northern consumers, freeing up capital for higher and fairer prices. Mexico produced the first fairly-traded coffee, and today Latin America is the biggest producer of fair trade certified goods. However, while the movement’s strategy of market mainstreaming has led to dramatic growth, it has also drawn the participation of the largest corporate agrofood firms (including Nestle, Procter & Gamble, Coca-Cola, and Dole) and opened the door to certification of agribusiness plantations in a wide range of crops. Critics charge that corporate participation has watered down fair trade standards and coopted the movement’s foundational principles. The paper assesses the risks and possibilities of fair trade at the present moment, and its prospects in the future, for small producers and social movements in the Americas.