Consequentialism, indirect effects and fair trade

Utilitas

Volumn 24, Issue 1, 2012, Pages 126-138

  Walton, Andrew ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF ST GALLEN   (Switzerland)

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EID: 84857548113     PISSN: 09538208     EISSN: 17416183     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1017/S0953820811000410     Document Type: Article

References (24)

1. FLO, 'What is Fairtrade?', 〈http://www.fairtrade.net/what-is- fairtrade.html〉 (2010).
2. N. Hassoun, 'Making Free Trade Fair', Carnegie Mellon Department of Philosophy Working Paper Series, Paper 356, 〈http://repository.cmu.edu/cgi/ viewcontent.cgi?article =1357&context=philosophy〉 (2011), pp. 15-19;
3. J. Philips, 'Is There a Moral Case for Fair Trade Products? On the Moral Duty for Consumers to buy and for Governments to Support Fair Trade Products', The Impact of Fair Trade, ed. R. Ruben (Wageningen, 2008), pp. 240-3.
4. Philips, 'Is There a Moral Case for Fair Trade Products?', p. 249.
5. See, for example, B. Lindsay, 'Grounds for Complaint? Understanding the Coffee Crisis', Paper for the Centre for Trade Policy Studies, 16 〈http://www.freetrade.org/pubs/briefs/tbp-016.pdf 〉 (2003).
6. See, for example, M. S. LeClair, 'Fighting the Tide: Alternative Trade Organisations in the Era of Global Free Trade', World Development 30.6 (2002), pp. 949-58;
7. M. Kurjanska and M. Risse, 'Fairness in Trade II: Export Subsidies and the Fair Trade Movement', PPE 7.1 (2008), pp. 45-6.
8. This research is nicely summarized in Hassoun, 'Making Free Trade Fair', pp. 15-19.
9. See also the collection of articles in The Impact of Fair Trade, ed. R. Ruben (Wageningen, 2008).
10. SeeM. A. Littrell and M. A. Dickson, Social Responsibility in the GlobalMarket: Fair Trade of Cultural Products (London, 1999), pp. 61-112;
11. S. Mohan, Fair Trade without the Froth: A Dispassionate Economic Analysis of 'Fair Trade' (London, 2010), pp. 34-46.
12. I should note that I have explored the comparative challenge in detail elsewhere (A. Walton, 'The Common Arguments for Fair Trade', Political Studies, forthcoming).
13. An argument with a similar thrust can also be found in Kurjanska and Risse, 'Fairness in Trade II', pp. 43-9. As such, what follows is a stylized version of the argument, shortened to allow space for the other arguments of this article. I refer readers who desire more detail to the above texts.
14. This research is summarized in P. Singer, The Life You Can Save: How to Do Your Part to End World Poverty (New York, 2010), pp. 64-5.
15. See Singer, The Life You Can Save, pp. 64-5.
16. See Fairtrade Foundation, 'Global Fairtrade sales increase by 22%', 〈http://www.fairtrade.org.uk/press-office/press-releases-and-statements/ jun-2009/global-fairtrade-sales-increase-by-22.aspx〉 (2009)
17. and D. Milmo, 'Fairtrade's Annual Sales Defy Recession to Pass £1bn', The Guardian, 〈http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/feb/28/ fairtrade-sales-rise-despite-recession〉 (2011).
18. See, for example, IGD, 'Interest in Fair Trade Doubles', 〈http://www.igd.com/index.asp?id=1&fid=6&sid=25&cid=200〉 (2008).
19. Ipsos MORI, 'A Survey of Public Attitudes to the Charity Commission', 〈http://www.ipsos-mori.com/researchpublications/researcharchive/1767/ A-Surveyof-Public-Attitudes-to-the-Charity-Commission.aspx〉 (1999).
20. One objection that might be raised here is that larger, more bureaucratic charities can be more cost-effective owing to economies of scale, thus offsetting the disvalue of not garnering widespread popularity. For what it is worth, my understanding is that in practice these charities are not usually more efficient. On this see Giving What We Can, 'Recommended Charities', 〈http://www.givingwhatwecan.org/resources/recommended-charities.php〉 (2011)
21. and Giving What We Can, 'Charity Comparisons', 〈http://www. givingwhatwecan.org/resources/charitycomparisons.php〉 (2011). However, as I will highlight in the next section, even if this objection is accurate, it does not undermine my broader arguments.
22. M. B. Brown, Fair Trade: Reform and Realities in the International Trading System (London, 1993), p. 180;
23. K. Bird and D. Hughes, 'Ethical Consumerism: The Case of "Fairly-Traded" Coffee', Business Ethics: A European Review 6.3 (1997), pp. 159-67, at 161.
24. On this see J. Elster, The Cement of Society: A Study of Social Order (Cambridge, 1989).