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.

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This paper examines the modern iterations of ethical consumption which, we argue, are dominated by a highly individualised form, 'shopping for a better world', and marginalises the more overtly politicised and collective approach. This dissociative transformation of ethical consumption is illustrated through the case example of the fair-trade movement. We explore two related literatures, geography and politics, to suggest that the (re-)creation of ethical spaces hold great promise for expanding sales, shortening the distance between producer and consumer and reinvigorating the message of reforming and transforming international trade relations.

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affinity marketing, ethical leadership, fair trade movement, marketing ethics, no-sweat movement, zoos, aquaria, sweat shops, ethical purchasing, virtue ethics, conservation,