Ethical shopping in late Victorian and Edwardian Britain

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the significance and limitations of ethical shopping in Britain in the period between the 1880s and 1914 and, in particular, the use of white lists as a means of encouraging consumers only to buy goods produced in satisfactory working conditions. Design/methodology/approach – A brief survey of earlier examples of ethical shopping provides the context for a discussion of the published prospectus of the “Consumers” League’. Unpublished records of the Christian Social Union (CSU), supplemented by newspaper reports, are used to examine the rationale for white lists, their creation and effectiveness. Findings – The paper demonstrates that, contrary to what has generally been thought, consumers’ leagues originated in Britain not the USA. The CSU was not ineffective but provided an ethical and religious rationale for consumer activism. It was also responsible for the creation of white lists in several towns and cities in Britain and promoted the concept of preferential buying. CSU activity helped shape public opinion, but sustained improvements to working conditions also required effective trade unions and government intervention. Research limitations/implications – Relatively few CSU branch records survive and this precludes a comprehensive survey of its role in ethical shopping. Originality/value – The British consumer movement in this period has been little studied and often dismissed. By making use of archives, particularly CSU branch records, that have generally been ignored, the paper demonstrates that ethical shopping mattered and deserves more attention. It also highlights the importance of setting this in a wider context, particularly trade unionism and co-operation.

A quiet revolution

“…In terms of consumer sovereignty, the 9th May 1908 seminar had a lecture from a visiting speaker, Mr John Graham Brookes from the American Consumers League. Consumer leagues were groups championing ethical shopping and consumer sovereignty that emerged at the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth centuries in the USA and the UK (Mitchell, 2015). The visiting speaker “briefly explained the American Consumers League”, observing that “The nineteenth century was the century of the producer [and] the twentieth is the century of the consumer”, continuing that “After Mr Brookes speech several questions were asked and considered”, but tantalisingly no more detail is listed in the entry (Commerce Seminar minute book, 1908).…”