Systems, solidarity and fair trade

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Journal of Fair Trade

Volume 3, Issue 2

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Systems, solidarity and fair trade

research-article

Author(s): Tony Brauer ^* ^, , María Angela Zamora Chaves ^* ^, , Mike King ^* ^,

Publication date Pub: 30 March 2022

Journal: Journal of Fair Trade

Publisher: Pluto Journals

Keywords: environment, equity, fair trade, participation, solidarity, systems modelling techniques, systems thinking, well-being

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Abstract

The words fair trade are simple, but the ideas behind them are complex. Systems thinking allows an accessible, pluralistic response in which diversity is a bonus rather than a problem, while the model developed here offers a coherent framework for some familiar ideas, and some perhaps less so. A key distinction is made between procedural and reconstructive fair traders. Procedural fair traders focus on making market procedures more equitable. Reconstructive fair traders seek directly to repair social and environmental inequities arising from market and other systemic failures. These roles are seen as complementary rather than mutually exclusive. Procedural reform of the market rewrites the role of intermediaries in the supply chain from profit maximisation towards facilitation. At the same time, both types of fair trader are concerned by the market’s tendency to externalise social and environmental costs. Both types of fair traders also recognise the importance of consumer awareness: corporate behaviour is influenced both by the aggregate of purchasing decisions and by reputational concerns. All of these factors can be understood in the context of an holistic systems view of fair trade in three dimensions: the qualitative narrative, the quantifiable evidence, and the realities of ethical pluralism. This first model is fairly abstract, although underpinned by genuine experience. There is a further step, in which the contribution of this generalised model to the strategies of fair-trade enterprises will be explored.

Content

Author and article information

Journal

Journal ID (doi): 10.13169/jfairtrade

Title: Journal of Fair Trade

Abbreviated Title: JOFT

Publisher: Pluto Journals

ISSN (Electronic): 2513-9533

Publication date Pub: 30 March 2022

Publication date Collection: 2022

Volume: 3

Issue: 2

Pages: 1-15

Author notes

[* ] Correspondence: Tony Brauer

[* ] Correspondence: María Angela Zamora Chaves

[* ] Correspondence: Mike King

Article

DOI: 10.13169/jfairtrade.3.2.0001

SO-VID: 361567ed-61da-4966-a647-ed8932ebcb7f

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All content is freely available without charge to users or their institutions. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles in this journal without asking prior permission of the publisher or the author. Articles published in the journal are distributed under a http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

History

Page count

Pages: 15

References

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Comments

Comment on this article

[1] A.G. Awan (2015). State versus free market capitalism: A comparative analysis. Journal of Economics and Sustainable Development, 6(1), Online. Accessed 27 October 2020 .

[2] B Corps (2020). Building a better economy. Online. Accessed 8 December 2020 .

[3] R.G. Blanton & D. Pekson (2017). Dying for globalization? The impact of economic globalization on industrial accidents. Social Science Quarterly. February. Online. Accessed 27 October 2020 .

[4] N. Bohr (1939). Natural philosophy and human cultures. Nature, 143, 18 February, 268–272.

[5] T. Brauer (2018). Capturing the imprecision in an OR intervention: What is, what isn’t and what should be. European Journal of Operational Research, 268(3), 798–808.

[6] W. Buckley (1968). Society as a complex adaptive system. In Modern systems research for the behavioral scientist: A sourcebook (pp 490–513). Chicago: Aldine.

[7] C. Campbell, D. Heinrich & V. Schönmuller (2015). Consumers’ reaction to fair trade motivated price increases. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, May (24), 79–84.

[8] P.P. Cardoso Castro (2019). The viable system model as a framework to guide organisational adaptive response in times of instability and change. International Journal of Organizational Analysis, 27(2), 289–307. Online. Accessed 27 October 2020 .

[9] P. Checkland (1999). Systems thinking, systems practice. Chichester: Wiley.

[10] G. Deans, F. Krueger & S. Zeisel (2002). The consolidation curve. Harvard Business Review, December. Online. Accessed 27 October 2020 .

[11] J. Dine (2008). Democratization: The contribution of fair trade and ethical trading movements. Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies, 15(1), December.

[12] B. Edelman (2014). Mastering the intermediaries. Harvard Business Review, June. Online. Accessed 7 December 2020 .

[13] EIESL. (2011). Ethical pluralism. The EIESL Project (The Ethics of International Engagement and Service-Learning). Online. Accessed 28 October 2020 .

[14] L. Elliot (2021). Biden attempts to consign trickle-down economics to the dustbin of history The Guardian. Online. Accessed 30 April 2021 .

[15] S. Ennis, P. Gonzaga & C. Pike (2017). Inequality: A hidden cost of market power. Paris: OECD. Online. Accessed 28 October 2020.

[16] Fairtrade Foundation. (2016). Changing trade, changing lives. London: Fairtrade Foundation. Online. Accessed 27 October 2020.

[17] E. Ferrell (2011). Consumers’ motivation for buying fair trade clothing. MS thesis. University of Kentucky. Online. Accessed 27 October 2020 .

[18] E. Foxman & P. Kilcoyne (1993). Information technology, marketing practice, and consumer privacy: Ethical issues. Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, 12 (1), 106–119.

[19] R. Freeman,et al. (2012). Stakeholder theory(ies): Ethical ideas and managerial action. Journal of Business Ethics, 109(1–2). Online. Accessed 28 October 2020 .

[20] M. Friedman (1970). A Friedman doctrine: The social responsibility of business is to increase its profits. New York Times Magazine, 13 September 1970. Online. Accessed 8 December 2020 .

[21] T. Jackson (2009). Prosperity without growth: Economics for a finite planet. London: Earthscan.

[22] Kostaryka. (2020). Curiosities: Legends. Online. Accessed 19 October 2020.

[23] E. Lonergan & M. Blyth (2020). Radical conditionality: Rewriting the rules of macroeconomic policy. Paris: OECD. Online. Accessed 19 October 2020.

[24] B. Looney (2020). BP energy with purpose: BP sustainability report 2019. Online. Accessed 7 December 2020 .

[25] J.E. Maybee (2020). Hegel’s dialectics. In E. Zalta (Ed.), The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Online. Accessed 28 October 2020 .

[26] K. McCall-Smith and A. Rühmkorf (2018). Reconciling human rights and supply chain management through corporate social responsibility. In V. Ruiz Abou-Nigm et al. (Eds.), Linkages and boundaries in private and public international law. Hart. pp, 147–173. Online. Accessed 19 October 2020 .

[27] D. Meadows (2008). Thinking in systems: A primer. London: Earthscan.

[28] G. Monbiot (2019). Oil strike. The Guardian. 10 October. Online. Accessed 7 December 2020 .

[29] G. Morgan (1997). Images of organization. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

[30] P. Nelson (1970). Information and consumer behavior. Journal of Political Economy, 78(2), 311–329.

[31] R. Nozick (1974). Anarchy, state, and utopia. New York: Basic Books.

[32] OMI (Open Markets Institute). (2020). Innovation and monopoly. Online. Accessed 26 October 2020 .

[33] M.E. Porter & V.C. Millar (1985). How information gives you competitive advantage. Harvard Business Review, July. Online. Accessed 27 October 2020 .

[34] M. Reynolds & S. Holwell (2010). Introducing systems approaches. In M. Reynolds & S. Holwell (Eds.), Systems approaches to managing change: A practical guide (pp. 1–23). London: Springer.

[35] I. Robeyns (2005). The capability approach: A theoretical approach. Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, 6(1), 93–117.

[36] M. Schmelzer (2007). Fair Trade – in or against the market. Institut fur soziale Dreiliederung. Online. Accessed 27 October 2020 .

[37] A. Sen (2014). A wish a day for a week. London: Penguin.

[38] C. Shapiro (2011). Competition and innovation: Did arrow hit the bull’s eye? In The rate and direction of inventive activity revisited (pp, 361–404). Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research.

[39] M. Sirgy & C. Su (2000). The ethics of consumer sovereignty in an age of high tech. Journal of Business Ethics, 28, 1–14.

[40] A. Smith (1759). The theory of moral sentiments. book IV. Edinburgh: Alexander Kincaid & J. Bell.

[41] A. Smith (1776). The wealth of nations. London: W. Strahan & T. Cadell.

[42] Statista. (2020). Leading lobbying industries in the United States in 2019. Online. Accessed 7 December 2020 .

[43] J. Stiglitz (2020). Covid19 and global inequality. Washington DC: IMF. Online. Accessed 7 December 2020.

[44] J. Stiglitz, A. Sen & J.-P. Fitoussi (2009). Report by the commission on the measurement of economic performance and social progress. Paris: Commission on the Measurement of Economic Performance and Social Progress,

[45] K. Swan (2016). If markets fail, governments fail harder. Atlanta, GA: FEE Online. Accessed 29 April 2021.

[46] P. Tiffen (2019). Who cares about fair trade? Journal of Fair Trade. Online. Accessed 27 October 2020 .

[47] W. Ulrich (2020). A mini-primer of critical systems heuristics. Online. Accessed 28 October 2020 .

[48] United Nations. (2015). Inequality measurement. Development Issues No 2. Online. Accessed 10 December 2021 .

[49] J.E. Urbany & P.R. Dickson (1988). Consumer information, competitive rivalry, and price setting: When ignorance isn’t bliss. In M. Houston (Ed.), NA – Advances in Consumer Research (vol. 15, pp. 341–347). Association for Consumer Research. Online. Accessed 27 October 2020 .

[50] World Bank. (2020a). Towards a green, clean, resilient world for all. Online. Accessed 27 October 2020 .

[51] World Bank. (2020b). Gini index. Online. Accessed 26 July 2020 .

Journal of Fair Trade

Systems, solidarity and fair trade

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