Fair Trade and Socio-Economic Conditions in the Global Commodity Chain

SES-0920980劳拉·雷诺兹科罗拉多州立大学公平贸易是一项迅速增长的倡议，它挑战历来的全球不平等，并寻求通过为经过认证的产品创造更公平的商品链，改善全球南方边缘化生产者和工人的社会经济条件。现有的研究探讨了咖啡公平贸易的动态及其对农民生产者的影响。然而，公平贸易目前增长最快的是花卉等大宗商品，这些商品是由雇佣工人的大型企业生产的。到目前为止，关于这些新的商品链的性质及其对雇佣劳工的影响的研究很少，其中很大一部分是女性。该项目解决了这一研究差距，分析了三个关键问题：(1)全球公平贸易花卉链条中存在哪些类型的商品和非商品联系，厄瓜多尔种植园是如何融入这些网络的？(2)旨在解决农民生产者状况的公平贸易在促进与工人组织的伙伴关系和改善受认证种植园雇用的工人的条件方面取得了多大成功？(3)公平贸易如何影响认证种植园的性别动态？认证的影响是什么？该项目采用多层次、多方法的方法，需要在厄瓜多尔进行为期5个月的实地研究。它分析了世界公平贸易花卉市场，供应这些市场的厄瓜多尔种植园，以及这些种植园工人的条件。研究方法结合了文献回顾、人种学观察、对厄瓜多尔和美国公平贸易网络演员、种植园经理和工人组织领导人的60-75次半结构化访谈，对40-56名女性花卉工人的焦点小组，以及对160名男女工人的随机抽样调查。结合定性和定量的数据收集和分析，这项研究获得了对公平贸易花卉网络和社会经济生产条件的深度和广度的了解。这项研究将首次详细分析公平贸易对拉丁美洲种植园企业和性别劳工的影响。该项目有助于社会学和相关社会科学学科内部的关键辩论。它在三个关键领域提供了信息并促进了理论和经验的理解。这项研究通过关注一项既是一项社会运动又是一项认证制度的倡议，加强了我们对全球化和新的监管形式的理解。它提供了对全球商品链如何运作的见解，重点是如何将替代公平规范纳入贸易关系和参与组织。而且，它揭示了公平贸易对工人的影响，特别是探讨了女性工人的融合。更广泛的影响该项目整合了培训一名美国研究生的研究和教育活动，并与厄瓜多尔的同行密切合作。它扩大了代表性不足的群体的参与，让厄瓜多尔花卉工人，特别是女工人有了发言权。该项目为美国和拉美研究人员未来的合作奠定了基础。数据将与厄瓜多尔同行和公平与替代贸易中心(CFAT)的附属机构共享，并将文件添加到科罗拉多州立大学的CFAT收藏中。项目结果将广泛传播给美国和厄瓜多尔的学者、政策制定者、实践者和相关公民。该项目将产生强大的社会影响，提供获取所需信息的途径，并指出加强现有项目的途径，这些项目寻求改善国际贸易的潜在负面后果。

SES-0920980Laura RaynoldsColorado State UniversityFair Trade is a rapidly growing initiative that challenges historical global inequalities and seeks to improve the socio-economic conditions of marginalized producers and workers in the global South through the creation of fairer commodity chains for certified products. Existing research explores the dynamics of Fair Trade in coffee and its implications for peasant producers. Yet Fair Trade's most rapid growth is now in commodities, such as flowers, which are produced by large enterprises using hired workers. There has to date been little research on the nature of these new commodity chains or their impacts on hired laborers, a significant share of whom are women. This project addresses this research gap, analyzing three key questions: (1) What types of commodity and non-commodity ties exist in global Fair Trade flower chains and how have Ecuadorian plantations been integrated into these networks? (2) How successful has Fair Trade, which was designed to address the conditions of peasant producers, been at promoting partnerships with worker organizations and improving the conditions of workers employed by certified plantations? (3) How does Fair Trade effect gender dynamics on certified plantations and what are the implications of certification how female as well as male workers? This project pursues a multi-level multi-method approach and entails 5 months of field research in Ecuador. It analyzes world Fair Trade flower markets, the Ecuadorian plantations supplying those markets, and the conditions of workers on those plantations. Research methods combine document reviews, ethnographic observations, 60-75 semi-structured interviews with Ecuadorian and US Fair Trade network actors, plantation managers, and worker organization leaders, focus groups with 40-56 female flower workers, and a random sample survey of 160 male and female workers. Integrating qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis, the study gains both depth and breadth of understanding of Fair Trade flower networks and socio-economic production conditions. This study will provide the first detailed analysis of Fair Trade's impacts on plantation enterprises and gendered labor in Latin America. The project contributes to key debates within Sociology and related social science disciplines. It informs and advances theoretical and empirical understanding in three key areas. The research strengthens our understanding of globalization and new forms of regulation by focusing on an initiative that is both a social movement and a certification system. It provides insights into how global commodity chains operate, focusing on how alternative norms of fairness may be integrated into trade relations and participating organizations. And, it sheds light on the implications of Fair Trade for workers, exploring particularly the integration of female workers. Broader ImpactsThis project integrates research and education activities in training a US graduate student and working closely with counterparts in Ecuador. It broadens the participation of underrepresented groups, giving voice to Ecuadorian flower workers in general and female workers in particular. The project lays the groundwork for future collaborations between US and Latin American researchers. Data will be shared with Ecuadorian counterparts and with affiliates of the Center for Fair & Alternative Trade (CFAT) with documents added to the CFAT collection at Colorado State University. Project findings will be disseminated broadly to US and Ecuadorian academics, policy-makers, practitioners, and concerned citizens. The project will have strong societal impacts, providing access to needed information and pointing to avenues for strengthening existing programs that seek to ameliorate potential negative consequences of international trade.