...scale, and foster competition and innovation to increase productivity and achieve higher sustainable employment and economic growth.” (World Bank, 2013) Many economists have attributed much of the global economic growth down to free trade agreements, with the relaxing of tariffs, duties and quotas seen worldwide. Despite the widespread adoption of free trade agreements, fair trade is still relatively minimal. Some proponents of fair trade have compared it to the Code of Hammurabi, the earliest known legal code which claims the law is to ‘promote the welfare of the people and to cause justice to prevail in the land, to destroy the wicked and the evil that the strong might not oppress the weak’ with the opinion that fair trade can be used to prevent incredibly rich people and organisations from using trading relationships in the oppression of the vulnerable and weak and impoverished which is what occurs in free trade. (Northcott, 2006) Influenced by theorists such as Foucault and Gramsci, free trade is seen as an ideological instrument to employ ‘hegemonic’ dominance over the world, representing a vital component of the power/knowledge regime intended to sustain the current world order. (Fridell, 2007) According to Charles Elad (2013, pp. 1129), fair trade is an “alternative model of trade that seeks greater equity for small-scale producers...
Words: 2709 - Pages: 11
...GEO 3106 Producing Africa: Take – Home Exam 1) The ‘real Africa’ is presumed to be filthy and miserable (Wainaina, 2005). Discuss. Representations of Africa in a global context have been largely negative, often presumed to be one country the continent is stigmatised as backwards, disease ridden, violent and in need of Western assistance. Although some positive imagery does emerge from Africa including that associated with Comic Relief, corporate campaigns such as Guinness’s stylish philosophy and in music videos like ‘Am I wrong’ by Nico and Vinz, Africa is subject to the use and re-use of negative imagery resulting in prominent stereotypes shaping our geographical imaginations of the continent. This is a similar concept to that of orientalism explored by Edward Said (1987). This essay will argue that presumptions of the ‘real Africa’ are largely negative, discussing how ‘Africanism’ and stereotypes of the continent are heavily influenced by colonial representations of people and place arguing that these assumptions are highly compatible with Western domination and power rooted in imperial attitudes. Jan Pieterse (1992:75) recognises that Africa has been depicted as the ‘Dark Continent’ plagued by stereotypes ‘which colonialism would build on and elaborate’. Imaginaries of childlike, savage, inhumane distant others who are dependent upon Western help dominate the way in which Africa is perceived. Campbell and Power (2010) suggest that a dominant scopic regime shapes...
Words: 3627 - Pages: 15
...Is free trade also fair trade? All over college campuses around the world you can be sure to find cocoa, coffee and certain other products that are labeled “free trade,” but is fair trade really free trade? I started thinking more about it when a friend of mine coincidentally asked me the same question. After explaining what fair trade was she simply replied ‘does that really help the world, is that free trade?’ Although I answered here question with an emphatic ‘of course!.’ later on that evening I couldn’t help wondering if this was not one of the many ironies of economics and foreign policy to help developing countries that actually goes against common sense and free market systems. Coming from a developing country, I felt a tinge of regret for even thinking like this. Of course I want the best for developing countries. In countries like Ghana it is not hard to see the benefits of fair trade, the profits of farmers are increasing, more children especially girls are going to school, the premium from the fair trade organization is going into building social amenities like pure drinking water, more women are becoming empowered and are learning to take care of their own finances. But is this sustainable? Should the developing nations of Africa continue to depend on organizations such as this indefinitely? The answer to all these unfortunately is no. Governments of wealthy nations are continually pumping money into the fair trade. NGO’s fight indignantly for the rights of poor...
Words: 351 - Pages: 2
...Source: DE ECONOMIST 150, NO. 3, 2002 HOW FAIR IS FAIR TRADE? ** BY ROBBERT MASELAND AND ALBERT DE VAAL* Summary This paper investigates to what extent fair trade programmes, are indeed ‘fair.’ This is accomplished by comparing fair trade with free trade and protectionist trade regimes on their compliance of the criteria set by the fair trade movement itself. This comparison is made using comparative cost based models and economies of scale models. It is found that whether or not fair trade is superior to free trade or protectionism is highly dependent on a number of characteristics of the products to which fair trade is applied as well as on the context within which international trade takes place. 1 INTRODUCTION A long-standing debate in development economics has been the one between advocates of free trade and proponents of protectionism in developing countries. While the former argued that free trade would offer large opportunities for poor countries to improve their situation, the latter considered trade to be harmful to poorer countries and typically preferred a combination of protectionism and development aid. This opposition tended to dominate the discussion about the role of international trade in the Third World. Bhagwati 1993 , Krueger 1990 However, in recent years, a third position has come up. This position maintains that international trade can be beneficial to developing countries as long as it is performed in a just manner. The idea behind this is that...
Words: 10145 - Pages: 41
...Fair Trade is Not a Realistic Trading System For fair trade to work in a global world economy a lot of change must take place. These changes aren’t small either. One of its biggest obstacles is free trade. That in itself is a monumental task in changing the mind set of big businesses and in some cases entire countries, especially third world countries. Free trade in a global economy only allows those with the power to determine what kind of compensation and benefits the employee will receive. Such is the case in third world ands communist countries where the government dictates the values. To change this, businesses that trade with these countries for goods and services must insist on fair trade. For the global economy to embrace fair trade, which means that the work you put in, and the goods and services that you are acquiring, must come from a source that is trading fairly with its farmers and manufacturing companies. There is no way that this is going to happen in a company that operates in a third world country. The governments in those countries are the ones setting the standards, brutalizing businesses to the point where they have to lie to protect themselves and say yes, they are getting fair trade for their goods, when it is not true. Then there are the countries that have embraced capitalism and with capitalism comes free trade. Free trade is not free for most businesses and farmers. Free trade is exploitive by nature, where companies and countries will make the biggest...
Words: 494 - Pages: 2
...The principles of Fair Trade have been around much longer than most would anticipate. In 1827 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, slave-derived goods were boycotted. Thomas M’Clintock, a member of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) founded the “Free Produce Society”. Other movements such as the Free produce movement fought against slavery by emphasizing the honest labor of free men and women (Newman, 2008). The American Free Produce Association began in 1838. This was a group of citizens from many different states who promoted their cause by seeking out non-slave alternatives. They formed distribution channels and published information including their own journal, “Non-Slaveholder”. The movement was unsuccessful because the cost of non-slave goods was higher than others they competed with. Most of these groups disbanded in the late 1840’s and mid 1850’s. Europe is given some credit for beginning the Fair Trade movement. Due to young, college radicals and a push to prove their stance of Neo-Colonialism, they began attacking the corporate world or global free market. Out of this came the ideals of fair trade. Though this was during the 1960’s, they pushed it into the forefront of Global economics. The mother of Fair Trade is a different story that began in 1946. Edna Ruth Byler was in Puerto Rico visiting a sewing class. She was a volunteer for the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC). Edna went to places of extreme poverty and that day she was taken aback by the beautiful lace...
Words: 637 - Pages: 3
...Relevance for Global Manager. The article I found that supports my essay is called Free Trade vs. Fair Trade. established in 2011. This article supports my essay because it gives the definition of free trade and fair trade and explains the two. The article also explains the difference between fair trade and free trade, using coffee as an example. I provided an example in my essay with providing lemons to run a lemonade stand to ell drinks. I will now explain how relationship to globalization and its relevance for global managers. Globalization refers to the increasingly global relationships of culture, people and economic activity. Mainly, it refers to economics: the global distribution of the production of goods and services, through reduction of barriers to international trade such as tariffs, export fees, and import quotas. Globalization contributes to economic growth in urban and developing countries through improved specialization and the principle of comparative advantage (Wikipedia). After reading the article, I believe that free trade and open markets are becoming under much criticism. Global managers have a wide range of options to deal with globalization. For global competition, managers also need to make decisions regarding the internationalization process. In my essay Ashley and Beth was their own managers who made their own decisions. Ashley, supported free trade by taking five lemons to her neighbor to trade for ten cups and one bag of sugar. She did...
Words: 372 - Pages: 2
...for everyone to follow and even after Hammurabi died the people should still follow those rules. But was Hammurabi's code fair to all genders, social classes, and jobs? I think not! Hammurabi's Code was very pushed towards men and was definitely not fair for girls and women. One rule that was pointed towards men and boys was law 168, it read “If a son has struck his father, his hand shall be cut off.” which meant if a son had hit his dad his hand will be cut off, but this means a son can his mother and keep his hands! Some are tremendously unfair like laws 209 and 213. Law 209 says “ If a man strikes the daughter of a free man and causes her to lose the fruit of her womb, he shall pay 10 shekels of silver”. One of the reasons this is unfair is because the money does not even go to the women who lost her baby, it goes to the man!...
Words: 541 - Pages: 3
...Buddies www.sciencebuddies.org/Traducir esta página Free Topic Selection Wizard, science fair project ideas, step by step how to do a science fair project, Ask an Expert discussion board, and science fair tips for ... Science Fair Project Ideas Hundreds of detailed science fair project ideas for all grade levels ... About Us What is Science Buddies? The award-winning, non-profit ... Science Fair Project Guide Ask an Expert - Background Research Plan - Research Paper Parent Resources The Science Buddies Parent page offers information and resources ... Student Resources Student Resources ... Science Buddies has additional ... Advanced Project Guide Advanced Project Guide ... About Advanced High School Science ... Más resultados de sciencebuddies.org » Science Buddies, más de 1000 ideas y recursos para ... wwwhatsnew.com/.../science-buddies-mas-de-1000-ideas-y-recursos-par... 19 de dic. de 2014 - Science Buddies es una excelente herramienta educativa que nos provee de una colección impresionante de ideas y recursos para utilizar en ... Science Buddies - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_BuddiesTraducir esta página Science Buddies, formerly the Kenneth Lafferty Hess Family Charitable Foundation, is a non-profit organization that provides a website of free science fair ... Science Buddies | Facebook https://www.facebook...
Words: 414 - Pages: 2
...How fair is fair trade chocolate? Is chocolate leaving a bitter taste in your mouth? But now fair trade has made its way around and is a sweet solution to poverty. Fairtrade is an organization that offers the poor better trading conditions allowing them to earn the money that they should earn. Fair trade has lived up to their values by; reducing poverty, supporting better work conditions and protecting human rights in addition. The chocolate industry has a very bittersweet story behind it which includes child slavery and human trafficking. Human trafficking is a hardship that many developing countries are suffering and the main cause of trafficking is poverty. Those who are in the state of being severely poor are willing to give up anything even for the smallest thing like water for example. Fairtrade has helped to reduce poverty by supplying Kuapa Kokoo (A co-operative based in Ghana that provides only ‘Child-labour’ free cocoa beans) with necessities that help to support over 45,000 individual cocoa farmers. Things such as water, food and proper housing are slowly in construction ever since farmers have been selling directly to fair trade therefore a decrease in poverty has taken place. A male farmer who goes by the name Issac Frimpong has said that “Fair trade has helped me get money to look after myself and my children, to buy food and to look after myself”. Because...
Words: 697 - Pages: 3
.... Fair trade is an example of how world trade can and should be run to tackle poverty. Producers are all small scale and must be part of a cooperative or democratically run association of workers who observe high social and environmental standards. Selling some produce to the "fair trade" market that cushions them from depressed world commodity markets and the price wars between giant multinationals. The price difference can be as much as 100% .At the other end of the chain, the first-world consumer pays about a penny extra for goods. Fair trade shows that charity is not needed to lift people out of poverty and that social and environmental standards can be put into trade. Fair trade means you believe there are some rules in trade that must be placed in order to provide for producers who have disadvantages in a free market. (Free – no barriers, fair –rules) 2. It as a situation in which goods come into and out of a country without any controls or taxes. Countries which fully believe in free trade take away barriers to trade. They have open borders and few controls of goods at customs. There are two major barriers: tariffs and subsidies. Countries which open their markets usually have a policy of deregulation, that's to say, they free their companies to compete in markets, without government control or subsidies. Because of this, consumers in free trade areas are offered a wider range of high-quality products at lower prices. 1. In my opinion, the best candidate for the...
Words: 490 - Pages: 2
..."Not every democracy will succeed in dealing with its deep divides. But democracy has institutional features which offer the hope that every part of the population will feel part of the whole" (Glazer 2010, 19). Democracies differ from totalitarian regimes in the sense that the well-being of the individual supersedes the well-being of the state, and allows individual liberties to be exercised through inclusive participation and contestation, which totalitarian regimes strictly limit. Thus, in order for a polity to be considered democratic, it must take into account the interests and well-being of the citizens, and this is achieved through the implementation of a rule of law, ensuring equality of outcome, and allowing citizens access to free and fair elections to elect a leader who best represent their views. A fundamental component of democracy is the protection of individual rights and liberties to ensure the well-being of citizens by granting them equal treatment under the law, and in order for this to be achieved, democracy must be grounded in a constitution based on the rule of law as opposed to the rule of man (Wong, September 16, 2013). This means that government authorities must also obey the same laws as citizens, which is important for ensuring the well-being of citizens, as it keeps governments accountable to the people, creating a regime that serves societal interests over private ones (Blais 1999, 2). Since the rule of law is designed to promote equality of outcome...
Words: 1381 - Pages: 6
...The Influence of Law in Business Practice Intro to Business & Technology March 23, 2014 The Influence of Law in Business Practice There are several laws in the United States that are meant to set a standard for fair, balanced, and competitive business practices. These are, by design, a way to ensure that trade- international as well as domestic- is done in a reputable and progressive fashion. There are many aspects that come in to scrutiny in considering whether a business is operating in a way that is fair: one view on this subject I found was related to The Eagle and The Condor Theory. “There is no universally recognized definition of Fair Trade, but its principles and practices include fair wages, cooperative workplaces, consumer education, environmental sustainability, direct trade with producers, financial and technical support for producers, community development, respect for cultural identity, and public accountability through transparency.” (Stenzel, 2012). Related to this description of fair trade, there are laws in the U.S. that aim to regulate business. One such law is the Federal Trade Commission Act of 1914. The Federal Trade Commission Act of 1914 was set up to prevent unfair competition among businesses. It also allowed for a Commission (The FTC, or Federal Trade Commission) to be formed to regulate businesses and enforce the Act, which oversees many different things- from false advertising to false claims related to where a product is made. The...
Words: 936 - Pages: 4
...The Syrian refugees are leaving their country to go to Denmark. In Denmark, the people forced refugees to give up valuables under proposed asylum law. This law is fair for these many reasons. The refugees get good benefits from Denmark. In other words, refugees don’t have to pay for their items. It’s free to them. Since it’s not necessary to keep useless items, the government only let them keep their valuable items. Also, it’s safe to be in Denmark than staying in Syria, where ISIS wrecked their area. The first fair answer is not paying for anything. Refugees do not need to worry about bills, payment for clothes, food, or education. They have it all covered. Denmark is nice enough to do all these nice things for them. They...
Words: 372 - Pages: 2
...Doing Well by Doing Good Case Study: ‘Fair & Lovely’ Whitening Cream Aneel Karnani Stephen M. Ross School of Business The University of Michigan 701 Tappan Street Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1234 Phone: (734) 764-0276 Fax: (734) 936-8715 E-mail: akarnani@umich.edu March 2007 UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Doing Well by Doing Good SMJ 07-6615 rev Doing Well by Doing Good Case Study: ‘Fair & Lovely’ Whitening Cream Abstract According to the ‘doing well by doing good’ proposition, firms have a corporate social responsibility to achieve some larger social goals, and can do so without a financial sacrifice. This paper empirically examines this proposition by studying in depth the case of ‘Fair & Lovely,’ a skin whitening cream, marketed by Unilever in many countries in Asia and Africa, and, in particular, India. Fair & Lovely is indeed doing well; it is a profitable and fast growing brand. It is, however, not doing good, and I demonstrate its negative implications for public welfare. I conclude with thoughts on how to reconcile this divergence between private profits and public welfare. Key Words: Corporate social responsibility; bottom of the pyramid 2 Doing Well by Doing Good SMJ 07-6615 rev The idea that companies can do well by doing good has caught the attention of executives, business academics, and public officials. The annual report of virtually every large company claims its mission is to serve some larger social purpose besides making profits. The theme...
Words: 4696 - Pages: 19
