Globalization

Fieleke, N. S. (1997). Popular myths about the world economy. New England Economic Review, 17.

Examines common myths and misconceptions about the international economy. Role of global competition on inflation; Equal labor standards as requirement for fair trade; Relationship between revealed comparative advantage in manufactured goods trade and gross national product.

Fridell, G. (2006). Fair trade and neoliberalism: Assessing emerging perspectives. Latin American Perspectives, 33(6), 8-28.

Emerging perspectives on the fair-trade network can be grouped into three broad categories on the basis of their overarching assumptions. The 'shaped-advantage' perspective depicts fair trade as a project that assists local groups in developing capacities to help offset the negative impact of globalization. The 'alternative' perspective depicts fair trade as an alternative model of globalization that, in contrast to the neoliberal paradigm, seeks to 'include' the poorest sectors in the purported benefits of international trade. The 'decommodification' perspective portrays fair trade as a challenge to the commodification of goods under global capitalism. The grouping that least reflects the full aims of the network, the shaped-advantage perspective, most accurately reflects fair trade's overall impact. This raises concerns about the ability of fair traders to achieve their objectives within the market-based model they have developed. (Fridell, 2006)

Available online: http://www.usft.org/fairtrade/files/u1/Fair_Trade_and_Neoliberalism_2_.pdf

Fridell, G. (2007). Fair-trade coffee and commodity fetishism: The limits of market-driven social justice. Historical Materialism, 15(4), 79-104.

This paper explores the claims made by various authors that the fair-trade network provides an initial basis for a challenge to the commodification of goods under global capitalism. Proponents of fair trade generally advance two essential arguments in this regard. First, they claim that fair trade reveals the social and environmental conditions under which goods are produced and brings producers and consumers together through 'ethical consumerism', which challenges the commodification of goods into items with an independent life of their own. Second, they argue that fair trade affirms non-economic values of co-operation and solidarity which challenge the capitalist imperatives of competition, accumulation, and profit-maximisation. Drawing from cases in the fair-trade coffee sector, these assertions are critically examined and it is argued that, while fair trade can provide a symbolic challenge to commodity fetishism, in the end this challenge is strictly limited by the power of global market imperatives and the network's market-driven approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Available online: http://www.law.buffalo.edu/baldycenter/pdfs/Regional07Fridell2.pdf

Gray, L. (2009). Fair trade:The challenges of transforming globalization. Economic Geography, 85(2), 239-240.

The article reviews the book "Fair Trade: The Challenges of Transforming Globalization," edited by Laura T. Raynolds, Douglas L. Murray and John Wilkinson.

Hayes, M. G. (2008). “Fighting the tide: Alternative trade organizations in the era of global free Trade”—A comment. World Development, 36(12), 2953-2961.

This article concludes that in theory Fair Trade is a second-best alternative to aid, may impose losses on non-Fair Trade producers and prolongs dependence on unsustainable modes of production. This paper shows how these conclusions depend upon a particular definition of subsidy and upon the assumptions of full employment and that Fair Trade goods face price-inelastic demand. An adverse impact on non-Fair Trade producers is possible but not intrinsic, and the claim of economic inefficiency cannot be sustained within a more general analysis. Summary: LeClair [LeClair, M. S. (2002). Fighting the tide: alternative trade organizations in the era of global free trade. World Development, 30(6), 949–958]

Hightower, J. (1998). Fair trade or bust. Nation, 266(11), 23-24.

Globalization is a much more polished and cosmopolitan overmaster than the old Southern power structure, but not any less ruthless as it bloodies heads worldwide, making a mockery of workers' rights and devastating entire communities. Today's globalist is Bull Connor in an Armani suit, enforcing order with Wall Street lawyers rather than fire hoses, holding people down with Washington lobbyists rather than snarling dogs. Anna Harris is one of the former Lucent workers who poured out their stories. Now in her early 50's, she was abruptly abandoned by the globally wayward Lucent after twenty-five years. She now works for $7.50 an hour at a Target store, though she can only get sporadic hours, adding up to less than full time each month and a poverty income each year. (Hightower, 1998)

Jaffee, D. (2008). Fair trade: The challenges of transforming globalization. Rural Sociology, 73(4), 694-697.

The article reviews the book "Fair Trade: The Challenges of Transforming Globalization," edited by Laura T. Raynolds, Douglas Murray and John Wilkinson.

Lewis, J., & Runsten, D. (2008). Is fair trade-organic coffee sustainable in the face of migration? evidence from a oaxacan community. Globalizations, 5(2), 275-290.

Mexican coffee growers have been negatively affected by low world coffee prices coupled with reduced government support. One response by coffee farmers has been increasing migration to the US. Another response by some cooperatives has been to differentiate their coffee by certifying it as environmentally sustainable, organic, and/or Fair Trade. This paper examines the links among low coffee prices, migration, and certified coffee production and trade, drawing on a 2004 case study conducted in Oaxaca, Mexico. Although remittances from migrants help finance coffee production, increased migration drains human capital out of the region, which raises the opportunity cost of labor and hence local wages. In this sense, coffee growers who migrate to the US, partly to provide operating capital for coffee, undermine coffee production by raising its costs. The findings raise doubts about the sustainability of the Fair Trade-organic coffee model in the face of migration opportunities. (Lewis and all., 2008)

Morse, P. (2004). The fair trade movement and globalization: No one need die marching from Matagalpa to Managua. (M.A., University of Massachusetts Lowell). , 136.

Rural coffee workers walking to their death are a stark reminder that free trade and globalization as they are proposed by the nations of the north and their large financial institutions do not equal 'fair trade.' As this thesis will demonstrate, this is especially true for small coffee growers and their families practicing the trades and skills engrained in their unique cultural experience. In what follows I describe the historical development of the world coffee bean trade, discuss the current situation of small coffee growers based on a fact-finding trip to Nicaragua, and consider several strategies for getting small growers a much better deal in the global economy. (Morse, 2004)

Murray, D., Raynolds, L. & Wilkinson, J.. (2007). Fair trade : The challenges of transforming globalization. Routledge. 240p.

This edited volume – the first of its kind – is a valuable contribution. The book fills an important niche, pulling together in one place a wealth of detailed data on the rapidly changing political and organizational landscape of the international fair trade movement. It will be valuable to researchers and practitioners working on fair trade and other alternative market initiatives, and would be useful for graduate courses on food systems, globalization, development and other topics in a range of social science disciplines. – Daniel Jaffee, Agriculture and Human Values, vol 25

Vander Weyer, M., Elliott, D., & Thompson, C. (2005). Can free trade be fair trade? New Statesman, 134(4729), 22-25.

Offers a look at the moral and ethical aspects of fair trade versus free trade. Criticisms brought against free trade by anti-globalization protesters and fair trade campaigners; View of various capitalists that international trade without the interference of tariffs, subsidies and price controls is the most efficient way of matching global supply to demand while making all participants richer; Reference to the book "The Truth About Markets," by John Kay; Reference to the book "Eat the Rich," by P. J. O'Rourke; View of United States President George W. Bush regarding free trade; Discussion of the exploitation of labor in poor countries to produce consumer goods for export to rich countries; Reference to the book "Why Globalization Works," by Martin Wolf; Suggestion that developing countries gain more in terms of social progress and the eradication of poverty when they engage in international trade.

Available online: http://www.newstatesman.com/200502280013