University of Vaasa - Vaasan yliopisto

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Once economic behaviour is no longer seen through the lens of economic man, value
tensions have arisen out of morality and economic motives. The concept of Fairtrade
seeks to reconcile these motives by enabling ethically driven value creation. In a
nutshell, the idea behind the Fairtrade movement is that of a fairer and more human
market (VanderHoff Boersma 2009). Fairtrade goes against the rationalization of
economic man and call on a more other-oriented behaviour (Moore 2004). More than
just an entrepreneurial organization defending legitimate humanistic and ethical
ideologies, or a new trend responding to consumers’ philanthropic needs, some have
elevated Fairtrade to the rank of an alternative market (see VanderHoff Boersma
2009; Steinrucken & Jaenichen 2007 and Gendron et al. 2008). VanderHoff Boersma
(2009) defends the idea that the alternative market should not be thought of as a
niche market, nor does it seek to co-exist as an option to traditional market, but
fervently argues that the alternative market will correct and create, step by step, new
conditions and new norms within the dominant market.
These collectivist assumptions can be found in the Fairtrade definition quoted in the
introduction. First of all, it is important to point out that despite the reference to
producer/consumer and trade in the definition, the focus is non-economic, probably
not surprising as the network is dominated by NGOs. This non-economic focus is
reinforced by the use of words such as rights, dialogue, transparency, respect, equity,
sustainability, implying the importance of values other than profit and competition as
defended by a free market’s view. The definition clearly stipulates political activism
as being an integral part of the movement through, for example, using the word
‘campaigning’, and positioning the movement as opposing ‘conventional’ trade. The
definition also identifies an alliance between consumers and Fairtrade organisations,
recognizing consumers as significant actors.
While a stark dichotomy (free market versus fair trade) between opponents and
proponents of Fairtrade has been identified, the question then emerges as to how the
movement has been able to discursively navigate the demands of profit and ethics, of
self-regarding and other-regarding behaviour, especially now that the movement has
broadened from its NGO base and now includes large for-profit players. Has a
coherent and uniform Fairtrade discourse emerged that transcends national
boundaries and the different interests of the many actors involved in the movement?
Methodology
Case Study and Case Selection
While there exist diverging approaches to the case study, in this paper we recognize
the fundamental necessity of generating context specific theories and therefore
favour case-oriented explanations, rather than a variable-oriented approach (Ragin
1992, 1997). We will therefore follow Ragin’s approach to casing and emphasis the
importance of context specific results (Ragin 1992, 1997) as opposed to a more
conventional positivistic view. We examine context by contrasting Fairtrade actors in
France and the UK. The UK is regarded as a leader in terms of the Fairtrade
movement and the country in which Fairtrade products have achieved greatest
adoption. In 2005, the Grocer reported the UK to be “(…) the biggest Fairtrade