Whither Fair Trade?

In an age of competitive marketing for brand value, what does it mean to say that one represents fairness? Now that Fairtrade products are widely available, the spotlight is falling increasingly on what lies behind these new brands. It is not just their trading practices that are examined, but also the conceptual integrity of what they promote. For example, if a number of new 'fairly traded' brands appear, what other than the market and competitive pricing will they base themselves on? Can each maintain its own version of fairness without reference to the others or will they eventually come round full circle to a competitive ‘beauty contest’ to decide who is the fairest of them all? To be able to say what one means by ‘fair’ is, of course, crucial, taking account of the inherent dynamics of true economic relationships in a way that is rigorous enough to lay down in criteria, but avoiding anything bureaucratically conceived or outwardly imposed. In the words of Michael Wilson from The Golden Blade 1978: “The ability to decide wisely is an art, not a system, and can be developed only from man to man, and from moment to moment. But if a group of people, however small, succeed in developing it, they will have enormous coherence as a unit. Our concept of ‘fair’ will deepen immeasurably with the penetration of our insight and the widening of our responsibility. Other countries have already had to borrow our English word fair, couldn’t we do more with it ourselves?”