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Seduced or Sceptical Consumers? Organised Action and the Case of Fair Trade Coffee

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  • Janette Webb

Abstract

This article brings together research on political consumerism, social movements and markets to analyse the phenomenon of fair trade coffee. It does this to demonstrate the influence of organised consumers in shaping markets, and to show that people are not inevitably individualised and seduced by the power of corporate marketing. The case of fair trade coffee is used because of the pivotal role of coffee in the global economy. ‘Organised consumers’ are treated as comprised of three inter-connecting, fluid, components: an activist core, responsible for building the campaign and its alternative trade networks; a widely dispersed alliance of civil society and social movement organisations, articulating the connections between trade justice, human rights and wellbeing; and an ‘outer edge’ of quasi-organised consumers acting as part of a largely imagined group by using economic capital to express cultural and political values. Despite saturated markets, and oligopoly among suppliers in a highly rationalised supply chain, such consumer movements have been instrumental in an emerging new trade paradigm, which has influenced the business and product strategies of trans-national corporations. The creation, and rising sales, of Fair Trade products are evidence of the role of consumers as sceptical actors, challenging consumerism and the ethics of a supply chain which impoverishes coffee farmers. Although the future trajectories of fair trade campaigns and products are uncertain, their growth indicates that people continue to draw on sources of social identity beyond that of ‘consumer’.

Suggested Citation

  • Janette Webb, 2007. "Seduced or Sceptical Consumers? Organised Action and the Case of Fair Trade Coffee," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 12(3), pages 73-85, May.
  • Handle: RePEc:sae:socres:v:12:y:2007:i:3:p:73-85
    DOI: 10.5153/sro.1536
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Finnemore, Martha & Sikkink, Kathryn, 1998. "International Norm Dynamics and Political Change," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 52(4), pages 887-917, October.
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    Cited by:

    1. Margaret M. Willis & Juliet B. Schor, 2012. "Does Changing a Light Bulb Lead to Changing the World? Political Action and the Conscious Consumer," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 644(1), pages 160-190, November.
    2. Nadine Arnold & Raimund Hasse, 2015. "Escalation of Governance: Effects of Voluntary Standardization on Organizations, Markets and Standards in Swiss Fair Trade[1]," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 20(3), pages 94-109, August.

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