Collective Identity and Social Movements

Audebrand, L. K., & Iacobus, A. (2006). The appropriation of fair trade by northern populations: "necessary stage" for genuine social innovation? [L'appropriation du commerce equitable par les populations du Nord: un "passage oblige" pour une reelle innovation sociale?] Economie Et Solidarites, 37(2), 1-15.

The appropriation of a social invention such as Fair Trade by a given population implies a complex process which combines economic, social & symbolic changes. This appropriation in turn influences the extent of the social innovation potential link to the emergence & development of Fair Trade. With this theoretical paper, our contribution is twofold: first, we provide a detailed description of the appropriation process of Fair Trade based on social representation theory; second, we assess the risks associated with the circulation of social representations about Fair Trade within populations of the North. Tables, Figures, References. Adapted from the source document.

Bisaillon, V., Gendron, C., & Turcotte, M. (2006). Fair trade as a transforming movement. [Le commerce equitable comme mouvement de transformation] Economie Et Solidarites, 37(2), 16-24.

Discusses the concept of free trade as both a label & an ideal. States that as an ideal it involves commercial interests in dialogue with openness, respect & the aim of introducing greater equity into world trade. Asserts it belongs to a new generation of socioeconomic movements, one that questions as it renews & renovates the traditional economic system. Argues that such institutionalization need not dilute the social movement that gave rise to it; on the contrary, it modifies its discourse & changes its strategies as part of a new development. Claims that as a movement with practices associated with it, economic, political & social, free trade is a rich object of study from several perspectives: anthropological, sociological, the perspectives of international development, & management science. Adapted from the source document.

Chin, G., & GJC. (2004). Fair trade or fair play. Science, 306(5694), 199-199.

This article presents information on a distressing trend of the past few decades has been the increasing regard for quantification of behavior with the attendant corollary that developing a metric and quantitatively analyzing it are sufficient for understanding how humans behave. Within the realm of social exchanges, monetization, whether of time or productivity or reward, is readily achieved, and open markets soon establish prices for everything and anything. Some scientists describe a trio of experiments, loosely based on Tom Sawyer and his whitewashing escapade, that reveal behavior in a social versus a monetary market.

Gogoi, P. (2008). Is fair trade becoming 'fair trade lite'? BusinessWeek Online, 1-1.

The article reports that TransFair USA Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Paul Rice is finding a lot of common ground with Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s CEO H. Lee Scott especially since April 1, 2008, when Wal-Mart launched three house-brand coffees certified as "fair trade," meaning they provide a fair price to small farmers. At one time, Rice was placed among Wal-Mart's detractors, considering the criticism of the chain's treatment of its own workers, its anti-union stance and its sweatshop issues.

Available online: http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/jun2008/db20080617_775861.htm?campaign_id=rss_daily

Gome, A. (2000). Fair trade or foul? Business Review Weekly, 22(28), 90.

Speculates on the impact of the advent of Internet exchanges on relations between big business and suppliers. Big businesses' interest in gaining collective strength to pressure suppliers to lower their prices; Possible breach of fair trading laws; Buyer group's ability to organize a collective boycott of suppliers outside of its approved list of suppliers.

Moore, G. (2004). The fair trade movement: Parameters, issues and future research. Journal of Business Ethics, 53(1-2), 73.

Although Fair Trade has been in existence for more than 40 years, discussion in the business and business ethics literature of this unique trading and campaigning movement between Southern producers and Northern buyers and consumers has been limited. This paper seeks to redress this deficit by providing a description of the characteristics of Fair Trade, including definitional issues, market size and segmentation and the key organizations. It discusses Fair Trade from Southern producer and Northern trader and consumer perspectives and highlights the key issues that currently face the Fair Trade movement. It then identifies an initial research agenda to be followed up in subsequent papers. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]

Support trade justice! support fair trade !(2004). New Internationalist, (374), 28-28.

Focuses on the role of the fair trade organizations in improving the trading systems of various countries. Increase on the number of investors; Affordability on the prices of several products; Expansion on the level of competitive advantage.

Taylor, P. L. (2005). In the market but not of it: Fair trade coffee and forest stewardship council certification as market-based social change. World Development, 33(1), 129-147.

This paper discusses two well-known market-based social change initiatives, Fair Trade coffee and Forest Stewardship Council certification, which harness market forces to pursue social and environmental objectives. A preliminary framework is proposed for comparative assessment, focusing on distribution of benefits, how conventional market institutions may be questioned, and how internal governance manages diverse stakeholder interests and influence. [Copyright 2005 Elsevier]

Wilkinson, J. (2007). Fair trade: Dynamic and dilemmas of a market oriented global social movement. Journal of Consumer Policy, 30(3), 219.

Fair Trade is analysed as a new economic social movement to the extent that it is based on new forms of collective action and directs its demands primarily to the market rather than to the State. In addition, it is intrinsically a global movement harnessing development goals to new market relations. It differs, however, from similar movements (organics, animal welfare) to the extent that it focuses primarily on traditional issues of redistributive justice rather than a new generation of rights and duties. Fair Trade is understood as having three components: (i) the organization of alternative trading networks; (ii) the marketing of Fair Trade labelled products through licensed conventional traders and retailers; and (iii) the campaign-based promotion of Fair Trade to change both purchasing practices and the rules of conventional trade. As a market oriented movement, Fair Trade relies crucially on the emergence of a new politicization of consumer activity comprising not only "consumer-activists" but also the State as consumer and a new layer of political consumers sensitive to issues of social justice in their daily purchasing practices. (Wilkinson, 2007)