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A History of Fair Trade in Contemporary BritainChristian Ethics and Economics: Voluntary Organisations and Alternative Trade

A History of Fair Trade in Contemporary Britain: Christian Ethics and Economics: Voluntary... [‘Only vicars would be mad enough to buy them.’1 This was the reason given by one supermarket chief for not listing Fair Trade products in the early 1990s. Retailers argued that paying a Fair Trade premium would only appeal to a niche demographic. This response has been used by commentators to illustrate how out of touch many supermarkets seemed about the potential for Fair Trade and ethical goods. However, while the market for Fair Trade was clearly not only limited to vicars, the support of Christian groups has played an important role in the progression of the Fair Trade movement and this has yet to be properly addressed in the academic literature. The limited research in this area is perhaps a wider reflection of how the role of religion has been downplayed in order to ‘package’ Fair Trade to fit with conventional consumer marketing. In countering this imbalance, this chapter does not intend to characterise Fair Trade as an exclusively Christian mission; this would be a step too far. Instead, the aim is to investigate how contemporary Christian perspectives about ethics, justice and fairness developed, and to better understand the role of Christian voluntary organisations within the growing network of Alternative Trade Organisations (ATOs) and campaigners working on Fair Trade.] http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png

A History of Fair Trade in Contemporary BritainChristian Ethics and Economics: Voluntary Organisations and Alternative Trade

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References (12)

Publisher
Palgrave Macmillan UK
Copyright
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2015
ISBN
978-1-349-55240-5
Pages
44 –66
DOI
10.1057/9781137313300_3
Publisher site
See Chapter on Publisher Site

Abstract

[‘Only vicars would be mad enough to buy them.’1 This was the reason given by one supermarket chief for not listing Fair Trade products in the early 1990s. Retailers argued that paying a Fair Trade premium would only appeal to a niche demographic. This response has been used by commentators to illustrate how out of touch many supermarkets seemed about the potential for Fair Trade and ethical goods. However, while the market for Fair Trade was clearly not only limited to vicars, the support of Christian groups has played an important role in the progression of the Fair Trade movement and this has yet to be properly addressed in the academic literature. The limited research in this area is perhaps a wider reflection of how the role of religion has been downplayed in order to ‘package’ Fair Trade to fit with conventional consumer marketing. In countering this imbalance, this chapter does not intend to characterise Fair Trade as an exclusively Christian mission; this would be a step too far. Instead, the aim is to investigate how contemporary Christian perspectives about ethics, justice and fairness developed, and to better understand the role of Christian voluntary organisations within the growing network of Alternative Trade Organisations (ATOs) and campaigners working on Fair Trade.]

Published: Dec 3, 2015

Keywords: Fair Trade; Christian Faith; Ethical Consumption; Catholic Social Teaching; Christian Ethic

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