Like all great social change movements, Fair Trade is a messy and imperfect project.
A grassroots movement that for some emerged in opposition to global free trade eventually gave rise to an ambitious labeling and certification system that has now grown into a complex global organization. A simple yet powerful idea that began with small scale coffee farmers now spans a vast range of products that includes soccer balls and soon artisanal gold. From the 1988 launch of the world’s first Fair Trade labelling initiative, Stichting Max Havelaar is today part of a worldwide network of twenty-three certifying bodies, that includes TransFair Canada, and three producer networks within the Fairtrade Labelling Organizations (FLO) International.
In the face of the universal gospel of “free trade”, it was heresy. Yet it took hold and now that the global economy is in shambles, it stands as a potential model for doing business differently, globally and locally.
Or does it?
It started as a simple proposal in the late 80’s. At the height of “free trade” frenzy, aimed at breaking down all obstacles and obligations, political, social and environmental for international trade. The crass justification for free trade was that if those with wealth were able to maximize their profits, it would “trickle down” to everyone else. Economist John Kenneth Galbraith suggested that was akin to thinking “if one feeds the horse enough oats, some will pass through to the road for the sparrows”.
Rather than, or perhaps in addition to, the high-minded but ultimately hopeless protests at the time, the idea of Fair Trade was to make a concrete proposal – concrete ideas that would foster concrete actions.
