ABSTRACT
We will look at the fair-trade system through the key factors of economic impact, social-movement impact in the North, social-movement impact in the South, and, finally, overall reform potential. In the mid-1990s, the fair-trade system made its first move towards mainstreaming with the advent of the fair-trade “certification schemes.” At that time, the movement toward mainstream and corporate control was still mitigated by small-farmer control and alternative-trade-organization control. Ten years later, by 2005, corporate control of the fair-trade system had increased dramatically, to the point that the certifiers had abandoned the original mission. Ironically, the fair-trade system at that point had dramatically increased its economic impact at the cost of surrendering its reform potential. We conclude with our analysis of where the now-mainstream fair-trade system is headed and what is needed by the forces of social change (small farmers, consumers, fair-trade organizations) for fair trade to be rescued from its plight.
