Fair Trade: The Paradox of Global Social Change

Like all great social change movements, Fair Trade is a messy and imperfect project.

A grassroots movement that for some emerged in opposition to global free trade eventually gave rise to an ambitious labeling and certification system that has now grown into a complex global organization. A simple yet powerful idea that began with small scale coffee farmers now spans a vast range of products that includes soccer balls and soon artisanal gold.  From the 1988 launch of the world’s first Fair Trade labelling initiative, Stichting Max Havelaar is today part of a worldwide network of twenty-three certifying bodies, that includes TransFair Canada, and three producer networks within the Fairtrade Labelling Organizations (FLO) International.

From its “small is beautiful” origins, the Fair Trade movement today finds itself confronting the paradoxes and tensions of achieving global social change in an increasingly multinational-driven global economy.

A movement driven by grassroots activism has given rise to a global Fair Trade bureaucracy that, at times, appears to have forgotten its simple yet powerful raison d’etre. What began as an alternative economic system connecting small scale farmers in the South with visionary small businesses in the North has now entered the global boardroom. Transnational companies, by their sheer size and scale, have the capacity to build large new markets for Fair Trade products and provide economic benefits to an unprecedented number of producers. Yet the entry of transnationals into Fair Trade creates a potential threat to the very existence of those visionary small businesses at the heart of the movement.

This is the world in which TransFair Canada finds itself today.

Canada is currently the sixth largest market for Fair Trade Certified products and is experiencing some of the fastest growth rates in the world. While our influence at FLO has been limited we are now emerging as a respected voice internationally. This has allowed us to push from within FLO for an international system driven not by the needs of a global bureaucracy, but by the ideals and passions of our founders. 

Yet, we are also confronted by the same paradoxes as the entire Fair Trade movement. TransFair Canada today is an organization monitoring the activities of more than 230 companies ranging in size from very small to large multinational corporations, with some considering themselves “Fair Traders” and others having a less central focus on Fair Trade.

We find ourselves grappling with the very tensions that Jeff and Laure wrote about in their editorials.While large companies are held to the same standard as small companies, do transnational companies carry additional risks that outweigh the benefits they bring? Should it be our role as a product certifier to also pass judgment on the relative goodness of companies, or is that a role best left to consumers themselves? Can we broaden and deepen the market in Canada to create greater opportunities for producers while remaining small-scale and grassroots ourselves? To what extent can we meaningfully influence the global system and to what extent are we able to strike out on our own?

Finding solutions to these difficult questions lies in having a strong and transparent foundation for dialogue and engagement within the Canadian Fair Trade movement. It also comes from TransFair Canada being an accountable, responsive voice within Canada and internationally.

TransFair Canada’s Board is working to create a more inclusive approach to membership. We are working to bring more voices into Board governance to enhance the quality and responsiveness of our decision-making. And we are continuing to actively reach out at the grassroots level across Canada – with students, social justice activists, and community groups of all types.

None of these important steps will alone solve the critical challenges confronting the global Fair Trade movement. But they will strengthen our ability to engage in collective dialogue and problem solving, while remaining resolutely focused on the simple yet powerful idea from which our movement began.

Social change in the final analysis is about engagement and dialogue. I hope you will join in the dialogue by leaving your comments here or by emailing me at: chairtransfair [dot] ca.

John Kay is the President of the TransFair Canada Board of Directors