ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses the role that campaign groups, non-governmental organisations, and charities can play in markets and the impact that this can demonstrate. It looks at the wide range of organisations involved from the Living Wage Foundation to the Fair Tax Mark and Stop Funding Hate. It provides examples of influential research reports such as the Environmental Justice Foundation’s 2004 report on Uzbek cotton. It then explores the role of legal action from companies, such as in the classic McLibel case in the UK.
It looks at how some organisations choose to use boycott campaigns though examples like the Nike boycott of the 1990s and an Icelandic fish boycott in the 1980s. It then looks at how other campaign groups have become involved in setting up ‘model companies’, such as the Fairtrade brand Cafédirect or new production systems like Greenpeace’s GreenFreeze fridge.
A third approach involves producing ethical rankings of companies. Examples explored include the World Benchmarking Alliance and the Environmental Investigation Agency’s Chilling Facts campaign. It ends by looking at how campaigners can also target banks and investors, as evidenced by recent campaigns against new fossil fuel finance.
