Postcards from the edge: maintaining the ‘alternative’ character of fair trade

Abstract

This paper argues that the pressures for fair trade to substantially increase market access for marginalized producers in the global South and subsequently move fair trade out of niche into mainstream markets is reshaping the boundaries of the movement. We suggest that going mainstream carries with it the danger of appropriation of the more convenient elements of fair trade by the commercial sector and loss of the more radical edges. This paper examines the changing discourse surrounding fair trade, critically reflecting on the movement's history to understand how its evolution to date might influence its possible futures. The paper concludes by exploring how various elements within the fair trade movement are trying to retain a radical edge in order to continue to provide a critique of the dominant paradigm of business and trade.

Resource advantage theory and fair trade social enterprises

“…For the purpose of this paper this review will focus on the mainstreaming of FT (for a review of the literature associated with the emergence, philosophy and mechanism of FT, please see Barratt Brown, 1993Crane & Matten, 2007;Low & Davenport, 2005a, 2005bMoore, 2004;Nicholls, 2009;Nicholls & Opal, 2005;Strong, 1996Strong, , 1997.…”

“…According to Moore, Gibbon, and Slack (2006), the recent dramatic growth of FT is partly down to the mainstreaming of FT food products such as Divine and Cafédirect brands through conventional retail outlets such as the supermarket multiples. However academic research so far carried out in the strategic management and marketing of FT does not appear to be grounded in a theory of competition (Davies & Crane, 2003;Golding & Peattie, 2005;Low & Davenport, 2005a, 2005bNicholls, 2002Nicholls, , 2006Strong, 1996Strong, , 1997Welford, Meaton, & Young, 2003).…”

“…Civil society has responded to the predicament of marginalised producers by the rapid emergence of the fair trade market both within the UK and internationally (Barratt Brown, 1993;Crane & Matten, 2007;Low & Davenport, 2005a;Moore, 2004;Nicholls, 2009). In 2008, UK sales of fair trade (FT) products have grown to £700m at retail value, a growth of 46% on 2007(Fairtrade Foundation, 2008Mesure & Bloomfield, 2008).…”

“…It is worth noting that UK fair trade sales in 1999 totalled £16m. A number of authors (Golding & Peattie, 2005;Low & Davenport, 2005a, 2005bNicholls & Opal, 2005) identify the mainstreaming 1 of FT as key to the growth of FT sales in the UK.…”

“…This is regarded as the political dimension with the goal of transforming international trade to be a partnership with small-scale farmers (Huybrechts & Defourny, 2008). Low and Davenport (2005a) describe both Cafédirect and Divine as typical FT pioneer companies, where southern producer groups have joint ownership in northern companies and their brands. For example, the Kuapa Kokoo (KK) farmers co-operative in Ghana has 45% share ownership in Divine (Wiggins, 2007).…”