About Sustainability

& Fair Trade

Sustainability

• Sustainable development • Promote economic growth without damaging env.

• Sustainability• Promote economic growth that improves quality of

life and minimizes impact on planet• Not just about environmental concerns• Necessarily about social concerns• For producers, but also communities

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Sustainability• Tied to globalization (Hudson, et al say:)

• Extension of rules that control connections• Is ‘neoliberal globalization’ (NEM)• Product of Washington Consensus

• Critical of NEM• Didn’t raise all boats, need alternative to

capitalism• Inequality and poverty persist, cause env. issues

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Fair Trade• Fair price, conditions for producers of commodities• FT movement pushes for more• Social justice, equality, community development,

democratic decision making, etc. • Split within FT movement• FTUSA v. FLO

• Form FT connections to bypass capitalist market system• Recognize potential value of using capitalist system• Greater reach• Form ATOs¤

Fair Trade HistoryNowFormalDual: within and outside systemMostly impersonalSell stories to appeal to buyersEqual-exchange modelMuch more secularizedSocial justice through ‘trade not aid’Driven by not only social justice, but social statusFT labels and FTOs

ThenInformalAlternative to capitalist systemNetwork-, trust-basedCharity affiliation, charity modelMostly churchesSought social justice through religion, solidarity, charity

Fair trade organizations

Organism v. Labeling • Whole package• Producer to customer

• Labeling• Not new idea• Unions, country of origin

• Raise awareness• Sell through vendors• Label guarantees product• Trust-based mvt. didn’t need labels

• Label only guarantees product, not corporation, vendor, etc.

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Labeling Problems • Different values cause split in labeling orgs.• FTUSA, FLO (FLO split: set/review; certify)

• Lots more labeling orgs. form• Rainforest Alliance, Equal Exchange, UTZ, Fair Trade • Each with different standards

• Retailer, etc., benefits from association• Not all Starbucks coffee is FT

• Label clutter• Diff. orgs, diff. standards, LOTS of labels• Other causes- dolphin-free tuna, etc. • FT and label became synonymous

Result: Dilute value of fair trade notion¤

Commodity Fetishism• Commodity= product produced to earn profit• Real value of product obscured, not even

considered, so not even valued• Cereal example• Individual self-interest• Price, brand v. generic, healthfulness• Don’t consider source of the product

• Fetishism part results from the characteristics imbued into the product• Not just cereal, but Quaker Oats• Not just a phone, but an iPhone• Value-added products

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Commodity Fetishism• Consumers only value the product because of what

it can do for them • Satisfy need, accord social stature, assuage guilt,

promote health, save them time/money, etc.• Intrinsic value of product not in the labor that goes

into making it• Producer not vested in end product beyond earning

wages• Consumer not vested in producer• Hidden costs behind product• Human, env. costs¤

Value• Assigning value• NEM: quantitative aspect- market decides• Marx: qualitative aspect- should be based on value of

labor contribution• Value in the capitalist market• Use value- table serves purpose• Exchange value- table is commodity in rel. to other

commodities• Abstract value- homogenization of diff. types of labor• Work is means to an end in order to consume rather

than end in itself¤

NEM Destroys Social Relationships• CF intensified• Marketing, distance

• Distance producers from consumers• Job no longer determines place in society• Deteriorates society, community• People conditioned to not care or voice concerns

• Challenge: Rethink being consumers• Think more about social relations • Respond with political activism

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Self-Preserving System• System sets rules in its favor• IGOs, esp. WTO• Concern is end product, not effects of production• GMO ex.= regulate if consumer problem, not

production-end issue (env., health of laborer)• Race to the bottom discourages ‘fair’ compensation• Need to remain competitive

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Theorists at Odds

• Social theorists• Focus is social mvts., social relations, communities

• NEM no longer embedded w/in soc/pol relations• Had set norms; now market is a force of its own

• Concern over disconnect bt. market and soc/pol sectors• Undermine social relations undermines

democratic participation, governance• Set policy through market-dominated states• New Deal

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Theorists at Odds

Disagreement abounds- even within same camps• FT working in the market• FT as potential to provide human, env. checks

• FT necessarily working outside of the market • Called Alternative Trade Organizations (ATOs) for

a reasonWhat do the authors think?• FT can use market to counter current norms• FT can raise awareness about/ challenge

commodity fetishism• ATOs just don’t have same reach

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Criticisms• Dependency theory• Unequal exchange- basis of system• Comparative advantage as dead end for GS dev.• New International Division of Labor

• Consumers as activists• Individual buyer v. collective action for change• Lack equal spending power in market• FT= rich consumer movement

• FT neglects env. aspect • Pushes solving problems through consumption¤

Dual Nature of FT• Undermine CF• Gets consumers to look behind the curtain

• Rework CF• Buy FT for peer approval • Effect change through buying (more) stuff• Political action through consumerism

• Challenge: How to use market against itself to transform consumerism

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Authors Argue• FT provides $ transfer from GN to GS• FT focus is at exchange end, but can still raise

awareness• ‘Political consumerism’ can facilitate activism

• Use market but don’t get consumed by it¤

How about You?• Did you consider social relations, community, and/or

democratic participation as part of sustainability? Why are these necessary?

• What are the main objectives of FT?¤