1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910786113603321

Autore

Brown Keith R.

Titolo

Buying into fair trade : culture, morality, and consumption / / Keith R. Brown

Pubbl/distr/stampa

New York, NY : , : New York University Press, , [2013]

©2013

ISBN

0-8147-2538-4

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (201 p.)

Disciplina

306.3

Soggetti

Social responsibility of business

International trade - Moral and ethical aspects

Consumption (Economics) - Social aspects

Consumption (Economics) - Moral and ethical aspects

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references (pages 171-180) and index.

Nota di contenuto

Front matter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- 1. A Taste of Life in the Nicaraguan Campo -- 2. “Just One Normal Coffee” -- 3. “Buy More Coffee” -- 4. “Who Are We Pillaging from This Time?” -- 5. How to Appear Altruistic -- 6. The Great Recession and the Social Significance of Buying into Fair Trade -- Appendix -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index -- About the Author

Sommario/riassunto

Stamped on products from coffee to handicrafts, the term “fair trade” has quickly become one of today’s most seductive consumer buzzwords. Purportedly created through fair labor practices, or in ways that are environmentally sustainable, fair-trade products give buyers peace of mind in knowing that, in theory, how they shop can help make the world a better place. Buying into Fair Trade turns the spotlight onto this growing trend, exploring how fair-trade shoppers think about their own altruism within an increasingly global economy. Using over 100 interviews with fair-trade consumers, national leaders of the movement, coffee farmers, and artisans, author Keith Brown describes both the strategies that consumers use to confront the moral contradictions involved in trying to shop ethically and the ways shopkeepers and suppliers reconcile their need to do good with the



ever -present need to turn a profit. In addition to his in-depth analysis of the fair-trade market, Brown also provides a how-to chapter that outlines strategies readers can use to appear altruistic. This chapter highlights the ways that socially responsible markets have been detached from issues of morality. A fascinating account of how consumers first learn about, understand, and sometimes ignore the ethical implications of shopping, Buying into Fair Trade sheds new light on the potential for the fair trade market to reshape the world into a more socially-just place.