Paper Summary:

This paper discusses the fair trade movement - a new economic, social movement that is seeking to change the purchasing habits of individuals in developed countries through marketing and educational programs designed to heighten awareness of the plight of Third World farmers. The paper describes the goals of the fair trade movement and the primary ways that the fair trade movement has sought to achieve its goals. Specifically discussed are the movement's aim of capturing the consciousness of the politically-minded consumer by psychologically connecting the fair trade label with the provision of economic assistance to farmers in developing countries.

Table of Contents:
A Brief Overview of the Fair Trade Movement
The Role of the Consumer in Promoting Fair Trade
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"The fair trade movement has worked for the last several decades to close the economic divide between the First World and the Third World through the empowerment of small farmers in developing countries to determine their own terms of production and sale of their produce. It also works to promote environmentally and socially responsible farming methods and investments in those countries. Meanwhile, in the developed world, fair trade organizations work to capture the attention of consumers by gaining access to and influence in political institutions and by providing educational information, as well as through the more traditional business practice of marketing. These methods are used to create in the consumer a sense that their actions are morally right and appreciated by those individuals on the other side of the world, despite the fact that they can receive no feedback from those individuals. Politically conscious consumers in the developed world purchase fair trade goods as a minor form of protest against the traditional economic structures involved in international trade. The fair trade movement is part of a larger global effort toward creating conditions of social justice and political and economic equality for all the world's citizens."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Fairtrade Labelling Organization. "FLO International: About Fair Trade." 2006. 20 May 2008. <http://www.fairtrade.net/about_fairtrade.html>
• Fridell, Mara, Ian Hudson and Mark Hudson. "With Friends Like These: The Corporate Response to Fair Trade Coffee." Review of Radical Political Economics 40.8 (2008): 8-34.
• International Fair Trade Association. "IFAT - 60 Years of Fair Trade: Where did it all begin?" 2008. 20 May 2008. <http://www.ifat.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=10&Itemid=17&limit=1&limitstart=1>
• International Fair Trade Association. "IFAT - The 10 Standards of Fair Trade." 2008. 20 May 2008. <http://www.ifat.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2&Itemid=14>
• Linton, April, Cindy Chiayuan Liou, and Kelly Ann Shaw. "A Taste of Trade Justice: Marketing Global Social Responsibility via Fair Trade Coffee." Globalizations 1.2 (2004): 223-246.

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