Fair Trade, Free Trade and the State

Coffee Activism and the Politics of Fair Trade and Ethical Consumption in the Global North

“…1 This move is typical of the successful and popular British public campaign. In terms of fair trade as development, Fridell (2010) underscores that state policies need to be strengthened in order to safeguard the sustainability of fair trade. The fair trade movement, therefore, is at best being supported by national subsidies, while fair trade as development can at best be supported through state policies.…”

When Governance Gets Going: Certifying ‘Better Cotton’ and ‘Better Sugarcane’

“…Here too, though, it is worth noting the similarities. There is little evidence to suggest that these and other multi‐stakeholder certification schemes targeting mass markets will avoid the fate of the niche initiatives documented by Fridell (). In light of these findings, the pro‐poor aspects of roundtables more generally should be an area of considerable scholarly and non‐scholarly concern.…”

“…The aim is to show that the dynamics of buyer‐driven supply chains, industrialization and liberalization in the world commodity order have both contributed to the reliance of the sugar and cotton roundtables on key sets of producers and weakened their prospects for defending the interests of the rural poor more widely. This complements another strand of political economy research focused on the limits of certification initiatives targeted at market niches, like Fairtrade, to substitute for broader price management regimes or ‘movements’ (Fridell, ). Put another way, through focusing on two commodity initiatives that aim to serve mass markets rather than niches, this article contributes new evidence from two new systems that reinforces Fridell's () conclusion that the pro‐poor aspects of certification schemes are often circumscribed.…”

“…This complements another strand of political economy research focused on the limits of certification initiatives targeted at market niches, like Fairtrade, to substitute for broader price management regimes or ‘movements’ (Fridell, ). Put another way, through focusing on two commodity initiatives that aim to serve mass markets rather than niches, this article contributes new evidence from two new systems that reinforces Fridell's () conclusion that the pro‐poor aspects of certification schemes are often circumscribed.…”

Beyond Free Trade

“…In examining carbon sinks/markets as one manifestation of these grabs, the literature collectively offers a potent demonstration of how socio-environmental change and deterioration becomes a strategic subject of investment for different capital sectors (Ervine 2007, Osuoka 2009, Bond 2012. Thus social movement pursuit of greater justice in the global economy through (partial) decommodification (social embedding) has been incorporated into carbon trading or other market schemes (Fridell 2010). Likewise, the equity-seeking principle of 'common heritage' first advanced by the G-77 in the 1970s and 1980s was reduced to the neoliberal compromise of the 1994 UNCLOS Implementation Agreement discussed below (Wood 1999).…”