ABSTRACT
For starters is an example that at first blush may seem bizarre, if not perverse, all the more that it is tempting to draw a parallel with the clergy selling "indulgences" that promised remission from punishments for sin. According to Caroline Fisher, fair trade is best described as a commodification of realms such as ethical behavior, morality, and activism, that have previously not been associated with a global exchange value. Fair-trade coffee sellers market their product as a way for consumers to participate in the relationship between growers and traders and in a sense to become consumer-activists. In the process of fair trade, the consumer is paying a certain amount for coffee and a certain amount more for the activism done in his or her name. She is somewhat ambivalent about the practice: "Paying for activism strikes many consumers, particularly anthropologists, as distasteful, although it does have positive effects".
