In defining the “public square,” Green writes:
“The public square is no singular place. Rather, it is shaped by many social actors in many places, including government agencies at all levels, large-scale economic actors operating at a distance, and participants in the kinds of localized voluntary organizations Sara Evans and Harry Boyte call 'free spaces,' where people develop civic skills and virtues as well as a sense of 'somebodiness' within cooperative, democratic, cross-difference efforts through which they aim to solve problems, to improve their lives, and to realize at least some of their hopes” (199).
For the Fair Trade campaign to be successful, our class has to mobilize and gain the cooperation of several different sectors of the public sphere - institutions of public education (our class and broader student support), town government, portions of the business sector, the media, etc. On a global scale, Fair Trade requires the participation of international or national labeling agencies, foreign workers, retailers and distributors, etc.
Think critically about the links between these institutions, and choose at least one of the following questions to explore: Which alliances do you think are easiest to form, and which require the most struggle? Which alliances require the presence of some sort of intermediary? Which actors stand to gain, and who will have to make sacrifices? What is the best way to link the local sphere to the global sphere?
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Fair trade is a concept that should technically be universally accepted. However, the fact that it involves trade reform is what causes the greatest strife. Throughout her book, Green argues that strengthening communities and social institutions will strengthen individuals and their interactions, who in turn will have the experiential tools necessary to contribute to deeply democratic communities.In addition to stimulating third-world countries, fair trade promotes the economy of developed nations by allowing them to get raw products at cheaper prices than they would in their own nation. Such a system put forth by powerhouse nations, such as the United States, will result in not only a transfer of goods, but also a transfer of ideas and relations, leading to a deeply democratic world. This is an important concept because in economic times such as this, people in countries such as the US may feel that they should support their own vulnerable economy and businesses, but doing so would be a mistake. In fact former U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said, "Giving in to protectionist sentiment would send a terrible signal. We would be telling developing nations that while we have benefited from increased trade, we aren't going to allow them the same opportunity to develop." He concluded that such a direction would be "morally wrong." Thus, as a wealthy and powerful nation, the United States has the platform necessary to promote new yet sustainable ideas that will be easily adopted by other countries. More importantly, through movements such as fair trade, nations such as the U.S. can set a precedent for adopting democratic policies in line with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. I think our class has taken great steps to create a fair trade Chapel Hil, and, in doing so, create the energy necessary to promote fair trade elsewhere in the state and nation. After all, Green argues that individuals themselves must set this precedent by promoting a deeply rooted democracy within their own communities.
ReplyDeleteMadhu Eluri
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ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, the easiest alliances to form are those between institutions of public education and portions of the local business sector. I feel businesses in Chapel Hill, North Carolina recognize that they need to work directly with their customers to be successful. A majority of their customers, and the root of their businesses success, come from the institution of public education that is the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. If the local student population decides that they are only going to shop at fair trade establishments, the businesses will recognize that they need to start selling fair trade products or they will lose business. The alliance that may require the most struggles is alliance on a global scale. The larger group you are working with, the tougher it gets to have total cooperation. When working with international groups you have hurdles that include language, culture and even geography. International alliances take time because of how stubborn countries can be. They are often hesitant to cooperate with other countries unless there is a benefit, often monetary, to them. I feel the alliance between institutions of public education and government may require an intermediary of some sort because in order to get things done you need to have some type of authority. If we could have a representative of higher authority, such as a dean, we may have more success working with the local government. I don’t feel we will struggle attaining support from the local government without a power authority, I feel the more power the individuals who support us have, the greater influence we can have.
ReplyDeleteRyan Flanagan
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ReplyDeleteThroughout this semester, I have learned that fair trade is something that requires so many people. I agree with Green that a public square is not a singular place. Instead there are many social actors, and in our project, that includes retailers, town government, students, etc. I think that the easiest alliances to for our class to form are with the rest of the students on campus, but it will be difficult for us to form alliances with retailers. I am a part of the community outreach team and have participated in getting people to sign our petition. On a liberal campus that aims to solve problems and improve lives, many UNC students have been eager to be a part of our fair trade project. A problem I have faced in getting signatures is that many of them didn't know what fair trade was. This was an opportunity for them to become educated about fair trade and the injustice present in international commerce. In this aspect, they gained knowledge and their place in a democracy was strengthened. They now know the impact that their purchases make and how as consumers, they can participate in a democracy and vote for fair trade. I think that retailers will experience the most struggles. Even if a retailer wants to participate in fair trade, s/he may have to consult his/her regional/national manager. It would be much more difficult to get them to agree to fair trade. There's always the fear that they will lose profits. While this is a sacrifice, retailers have much more to gain. They have can form relationships with people in other countries, and they have the opportunity to participate in the formation of a democratic world.
ReplyDeleteJenny Tang
Fair Trade campaign is tough, and it needs many supports from different agencies. The easiest alliance to form would be institutions of public education and the media. Our class and broader student organizations can easily reach to the media, news report, etc. to spread out the words about fair trade. If it is interesting enough, the media will support the campaign, since the media’s primary purpose is to publicize and make money. The most struggles could be the ones that involve town government and portions of the business sector. One thing that is tough for the campaign is how Fair Trade will really benefit the entire population as a whole in a town. This is a main question a town government will ask and try to see if it is really beneficial. That is why Fair Trade is only possible for certain towns but not for every town. Fair Trade will benefit the product producers for sure since they will get a better paid for what they do, and they will live a better life, work under a more democratic workplace. So Fair Trade campaign is more likely to get approved by the town government if the town is mainly consisted of farmers and original material producers. However, a town government will probably not support Fair Trade campaign if the town is more of an economics based or more of big businesses based. An example would be New York City; a Fair Trade campaign would not like to be successful in New York City due to a large population and more consumers as residents rather than producers. As for business sectors, it is a tough call since they are the ones will mainly sacrifice for the Fair Trade campaign, since they will pay more for the Fair Trade products, which leads to less profits. Even though they will probably be known for possessing Fair Trade products, but consumers are the ones could choose either buy Fair Trade products at a higher price than non-Fair Trade products.
ReplyDeleteSo far for Chapel Hill Fair Trade campaign, I have encountered many rejections from the local retailers, mainly because they are part of a chain business and they are not allowed to provide any specific details about their Fair Trade products. Although a local owned business or retailer would be a better option for the support from business sectors. The best way to link local sphere through global sphere is through the media and many other public institutions of public education. The media could propaganda the good news about Fair Trade to other places around the globe and local institutions of public education could be the ones that organize local campaign, reach to the local retailers and eventually seek for local government’s support. This way local sphere will be linked to global sphere.
Ray Dong
It has become clear throughout the semester, that fair trade and this specific project promoting fair trade involve many different actors and require them to come together from different angles to work in cooperation with one another. Some of these alliances are relatively easy to form, especially living in the town of Chapel Hill. We have quickly gained the support of other students who are generally fairly liberal and eager to jump at a chance to promote social justice. It seems that it is somewhat more difficult however to form alliances between our class and portions of the local business sector. Here, other students and community members are necessary to serve as a sort of intermediary between the class and the business sector. When businesses see that others outside of our class are supportive of fair trade and willing to purchase fair trade products, then businesses will have more incentive to support it as well in order to appeal to their customers. Also, on a global scale it can often be even more challenging and complicated to make the necessary connections between all parties involved. The process that takes goods from the level of production to consumption is often a complex one involving many parties and thus leading to a great deal of disconnect between some of those parties. For example, workers are often not closely linked (both because of geographic distance and a basic lack of communication) to the retailers who sell their products. Fair trade attempts to bridge these gaps, but doing so can be incredibly complicated on a large global scale.
ReplyDeleteWorking with the Fair Trade campaign through our class and former class projects that have been similar in goals, I have learned that the easiest alliances to form are those between local education institutions and local businesses. This is most likely the easiest link formed because it seems that both institutions will benefit from whatever is purposed by the project. For us, by seeking out these "leading towards" or Fair Trade businesses we are offering them a chance to put out a positive advertisement with our class, which will of course spread through the campus. So what do they gain, more business through their aims towards Fair Trade and their partnering with our Fair Trade Campaign. And our class and the university as an institution gets honorable mention for awarding and highlighting and taking an active interest in this public service forum.
ReplyDeleteI think the hardest alliance to form is the link between local education institutions and local government institutions. In my active membership with at least two or three local student organizations that focus on social action or public policy, I have learned that no matter how many times we call, write, stalk our local legislative branch we are just mere voicemails or comment cards to them. We can easily be erased, thrown away or ignored. Though we may reach our local mayor, we may never reach our House of Representative or Senate Representative. It's the most struggle-some alliance form because there is no TRUE confirmation that the link has indeed been formed. To confirm the link one most make many a phone calls, write letters and do much more time-consuming tasks that may still lead to no avail.
After experiencing first hand throughout the semester how difficult it can be to persuade local businesses to become fair trade/how easy it is to be fair trade, I would go so far as to say that alliances with the business sector are some of the most difficult to form. I've been to visit four locally owned small businesses in carrboro and none of them seem to want to have anything to do with fair trade. It's almost as if they are scared to become fair trade because they feel it might turn some customers away. As adamant as i was, they just didnt seem interested.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the easiest alliance to form, it seems, atleast for me personally, that it would be with the institutes of public education. At the elementary school that i am volunteering at, ive talked with a few of the administrators about their cafeteria becoming fair trade and what it means to be fair trade and they've all seemed extremely interested. im in the process of presenting them with additional information of why they should become fair trade and how to do so.
Unlike the small businesses in carrboro, they dont have to worry about what the consumer will think, because their food will be bought everyday regardless. we can only hope that the small businesses will see how important being fair trade is and what it will mean to the communities of chapel hill and carrboro.
In order for our class to be successful in our campaign to get Chapel Hill to adopt a fair trade resolution, we must get allies in the community whether they are students, retailers, residents or government entities. I think that the easiest alliances to form are with the students. UNC-CH is home to a large population of students who have the desire to make a difference. Once educated on the basics about fair trade and how producers are exploited when they are not engaged in fair trade, many students are quick to jump on board. Many of our students are compelled to change the world and fair trade aligns nicely with their desires. Alliances with retailers can be both easy and very difficult. Chapel Hill is home to many independently owned businesses that are already advocating for fair trade. Many of these business owners would love to see Chapel Hill become certified as a fair trade town and are quick to join a larger campaign that supports their mission. Unfortunately, there are also many businesses that are part of large national chains. Even if these businesses support fair trade the individuals who work in these stores often do not have the authority to join a grassroots movement, making it difficult to form an alliance with an individual franchise. Perhaps the most difficult alliance to form is with the government. Next Monday we will face the town hall of Chapel Hill as we petition for the town to adopt a fair trade petition. These government officials have been elected by the people in Chapel Hill and will need to be convinced that this is something that their citizens want. If they are not convinced that a significant portion of Chapel Hill supports fair trade they may not pass our resolution, regardless of what their individual stance on the issue is. To summarize, I think that it is easiest to form alliances with individuals or independent retailers, as they are able to be autonomous in making decisions for themselves. When larger corporations or government structure gets involved this task becomes more difficult because they must think of everyone involved in their sector before making alliances with grassroots campaigns.
ReplyDeleteThe alliances that may be easiest to form are in the public sphere between institutions of public education and the media. Often times the media is quick to highlight any action that takes place in schooling, from highlighting local outstanding teachers to large scale school board policy changes such as with “neighborhood schools” in Wake County. Whatever the public school sphere does, the general public wants to know about it and this knowledge is passed along through the use of the media. In a similar vein, it may also be somewhat easy to form an alliance between public education and the business sector. Often times businesses are more willing to sponsor school related events or programs. Also, in thinking about the bigger picture, if the businesses keep the schools happy, they will in turn be keeping their target market of parents happy as well; overall it’s good for business. In efforts in making a fair trade town, it is important to start on the lower levels and work one’s way up the ladder. By starting with schools and businesses, and even the media, pressure can be built against the local government.
ReplyDeleteThe alliances that require the most struggles are any that link with the local government. In general, it is hard to convince the government to make changes unless it follows major protests, boycotts, and most importantly long lengths of time. In thinking of any of the political or social movements throughout American history, or even on campus, it takes a large number of dedicated people who are interested in the topic and a series of events (protests, marches, sit-ins, etc.) to bring about change. And even when the change is agreed upon, it may take even longer to enact the change. One example of this is with the building of the Sonya Haynes Stone Center here on campus. It took 2 years of protest and struggle, and even national media coverage, to get approval for the building of a free standing Black cultural center, and another 8 years to collect the funds. Patience is most important in creating these alliances. Nothing is going to happen overnight and those involved in the proposed change must be willing to be unwavering to their dedication to the cause. That is the TRUE struggle.
The idea of fair trade should easily be accepted by everyone because the concept makes sense and promotes fairness within the global economic climate; however, the implementation of fair trade will cause many implications within trade agreements and corporate dominance. To effectively promote and instill fair trade within a society that is ignorant of the idea, it is important to create alliances and gain support from different sectors of society and the broader public sphere. Having the cooperation of different institutions will benefit the promotion of fair trade on a global scale even if it starts on a local level. I believe that the easiest alliance to form for fair trade is those between local businesses and public education because they are intertwined within communities, especially within communities that are rooted within the education system, such as Chapel Hill. Within these types of communities and towns, students are the one with control because they can dictate where they want to shop and which stores they want to promote, affecting the larger business community. Students, being the younger generation, usually sets trends that can tremendously affect the local, national, and even the global cultures, which will allow businesses to see which types of products they need to have in order for them to be still viable within a globalizing market. Businesses will see that they need to sell fair trade products to accommodate for the demands set by students, if the students understand and stand for fair trade.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I believe that the toughest alliance to form is between public education (students) and the local government. The government, local or federal, often neglects and ignores issues brought up by citizens, especially students. Unless if the ideas and issues presented have an immediate effect on the government and community, the government usually sets them aside to deal with other issues they feel are important. Although it is not impossible to get the government more involved in the promotion of human rights and fair trade, it is not hard to see why it is the most difficult alliance to form.
Indeed the process of establishing Chapel Hill as a fair trade town involves the participation of many different agents. Fair trade involves the alliances of producers of goods, buyers of goods and consumers of goods. However, our quest to establish Chapel Hill as a fair trade town involves forming alliances with townspeople, retail establishments and town council representatives. One of the main arguments of Greens’ book is the importance of strengthening individuals through empowering communities and institutions. Mobilizing institutions in Chapel Hill and community members will ultimately lead to strengthening individual’s interactions through the purchase of fair trade goods.
ReplyDeleteIn our particular quest, I believe there are separate agents that stand to gain and lose in the process of fair trade. Foremost, the producers in third world countries stand to gain the most. They stand to gain fair compensation for their labor and produce, thus gaining a means by which to live a decent life. The retailers of fair trade stand to gain some profit and also the knowledge that they are empowering the lives of many producers in the third world. I would say that the consumers of fair trade have more to lose in this quest. Consumers are paying more for fair trade goods and gaining little as far as quality of product is concerned. Consumers and some retailers of fair trade goods will have to sacrifice monetary resources in exchange for knowing that they are making a difference in the lives of fair trade producers.
I believe the alliances which are most easily formed in our fair trade project are the ones between ourselves and community members / consumers. For them, learning about fair trade and agreeing to support fair trade are small and easy steps they can take to help make a difference. For them, spending a few extra dollars on something they normally buy, for instance coffee, is a small sacrifice for the greater good. Consumers also experience personal satisfaction as a result of their actions supporting fair trade. I believe the alliances between ourselves and retailers are much more difficult alliances. For them, the price of supporting fair trade goods is much higher. They have more to lose than consumers, as their businesses and livelihood depend on sales. Therefore, many well meaning business owners might shy away from the idea of supporting fair trade products for fear of monetary losses.
For my contribution to the fair trade project, I have drafted a resolution for the town of Chapel Hill to pass, committing to supporting fair trade. I believe this alliance will be difficult to establish as the council members are representing the diverse interests of the populace of Chapel Hill. It will not be the same as convincing an ordinary townsperson to support fair trade because these council members are accountable to their constituents for the decisions they make.
-Karyn Shealy
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ReplyDeleteAs I continue to think about what would be the easiest alliance to form, I cannot help but keep coming back to the thought of local businesses and public education because they are so much more easier to connect to as well getting matters complete. Living in a small town such as Chapel Hill, it sort of has a country feeling of everyone knowing everyone and since it has the small town feel, most local business owners work hand in hand with the customers because more than likely it is not a chain business. With the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill making up a large amount of the Chapel Hill community it provides the students with a chance with getting involved in Fair Trade. By being a part of the outreach to retailers group, I know that even though local businesses and public education might be the easiest alliances it is still hard getting the word out and as well signatures of agreement. The alliance that I feel would have the hardest time would be the global market. Fair trade is not an easy job to get done and by having it on a far greater market such as being international makes it more difficult because of different cultures, languages and monetary values. When bringing in the town government or any type of government, I feel that you need an intermediary because of the power that they possess. Town officials are easily able to put aside matters that do not concern them but the intermediary has the power to help them with that situation. The best way to link the global sphere to the local sphere would be by having more power and higher level officials to conduct the mandatory business that is in order.
ReplyDelete-Phillip Scotton
The success and feasibility of any endeavor relies on the cooperation of both individuals and institutions. In the case of our class fair trade project, there a series of relationships that are critical to the success in bringing about "fair economics." To some degree, each of the institutions is required to immerse itself into the "free space" or "public square" for the success of this project to be achieved. Although building relationships is by no means an easy task, there are relative degrees whereby one may estimate the level of effort necessary to make such connections. In the case of the fair trade project, the connections start with the consumer mentality. Until a large faction of a community is motivated to bring about change, the presence of fair trade goods or fair trade economics risks the chance of being overlooked. Our class project deals with this aspect, as well as the retailers and distributors that are found in the Chapel Hill area. Through our petition, town hall meeting, and other awareness campaigns we are affecting our local community to make a change. This is potentially the most difficult task of them all, but is still contingent upon the efforts of labeling companies, international distributors and ultimately the growers/producers. I believe that the easiest alliances to form are the ones that rely on the cooperation of individuals rather than entire groups--so I would say the foreign workers to the labeling agencies. The relationship between labeling agencies and retailers, however, is a more difficult thing to achieve since both are looking at it as a large scale investment. What it boils down to is that, each of these levels are focusing on their own sustainability and livelihood--but the labeling firms and the retailers are also focusing on the living capabilities of foreign workers. Thus the retailers through their dependence on the labeling intermediaries are exerting the most risk and making the biggest sacrifice since it could mean an outright loss or a significant reduction in profit. As for linking the global sphere with the local sphere I can only predict one kind of mechanism that would make the connection between the global and local most clear--deep democracy. Since deep democracy relies on the ACTIVE participation of masses of individuals, its much easier for people in a small rural area to still be connected to those living in sprawling urban centers. In the end it all pans out to being a tale of efficacy in economics and politics and I believe deep democracy (though it is not perfect) addresses the most issues effectively.
ReplyDeleteAmer Raja
Since I have started to participate on this Fair Trade Campaign with my fellow classmates, I have learned that the easiest alliances to form and build are the alliances between local educational institutions and local businesses. I am on the media committee and I have found that it is easier to build connections and relationships with local media sources. Therefore, I would assume that local businesses that signs the petitions and participates with the Fair Trade Campaign would have been easier to persuade and build those relationships. The local businesses have more to gain from these alliances because they are the ones who receive the direct benefit from the local citizens. Their businesses could have a direct impact depending on how they participate.
ReplyDeleteThe hardest alliances to build are the alliances between educational institutions and governmental institutions and big corporations. These businesses and organization have established their methods for success and are not as willing to change them as the local businesses are. One can write, contact, make phone calls or do any other method of communication but we can appear minute to them and they will not always pay attention to us. Therefore, we must start locally with one or two cities and continue to grow form city to city to city. The more towns and cities we get on this campaign, the more we will see our efforts reach globally. We as the individual workers and fighters must realize that these alliances are not going to happen or form overnight. We must be patient and diligent in our efforts.
Hakeem Salib Rizk
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ReplyDeleteFor Fair Trade to be globally in place, it does require a lot of alliances on varying levels. This is both bad and good. Its on the side that many people have to be aware of the issue to support the issue of people not getting paid fair wages - awareness is key. However, this can also be viewed as problematic because we have to get a lot of people and agencies/businesses/governments involved to support Fair Trade initiatives. With that being said, the easier alliances to form are institutions of education and locals in the area. I'm a part of the retail outreach committee and it is actually fairly easy to talk to customers in stores and sales associates about Fair Trade. Sometimes the managers were not very approachable, but that was expected. Not everyone is going to agree or want to change how they do or get business. And this point brings me to the alliances that would bring the most struggle -- big businesses. There is a lot of bureaucracy and red tape that make it hard to even talk to the person at the 'top' or get change to happen on the lower levels of management.
ReplyDeleteWhen I first thought about how to link local sphere with the global sphere, it was hard to conceptualize. However, I think that each county (or state) should have a subgroup within an international umbrella organization that supports Fair Trade initiatives and is a main source for making sure governments in different countries are making Fair Trade a priority and actually doing something about it (and not just on the 'to-do list'). Also, on the local levels, we can hold who we put in office accountable to the 'promises' they make during their campaign about Fair Trade. These are just a few ideas.
Monica Brunache
As I continue to learn more and more about Fair Trade, I have come to realize that this movement will require the support of all sectors ranging from the public institutions to the local government. I believe that the greatest alliance can be formed between the public institutions and the local businesses. Looking at Chapel Hill, NC from a spectator standpoint, it is apparent to see that the strongest support structure for Chapel Hill lies in the students that compose the university community. The alliance first begins with students building the support of the general student body, and then beginning to branch out to local businesses. If businesses owners are pressured by the demand from the university community for Fair Trade products, then they will quickly adapt their product distribution based on the high competition between local businesses. By building a strong alliance with local businesses, we are building a stronger alliance with the citizens of Chapel Hill that shop at these businesses. I believe that it will take this collective force to began tackling the most difficult task of building a alliance with the local government. Often times when it comes to social activism and public policy, it is difficult to successfully reach out to local officials. Local officials become so tied up in being reelected and preserving their image amongst the majority, that they begin to neglect the needs and the desires of the minority. Since the support for Fair Trade is a rather new movement in Chapel Hill, we compose the minority base of supporters. As the movement continues to grow amongst the university community, citizens of Chapel Hill, and local businesses, we will begin to become a stronger and more cohesive force. If local politicians realize the strong support of Fair Trade within Chapel Hill, they will quickly become a part of it. (Hopefully not just because they want to be re-elected, but because they generally realize the TREMENDOUS benefits that come with Fair Trade). Like Green says, it is important that everyone begins to develop this sense of "somebodiness" so that they feel they are a part of a cooperative community that is making large strides to really make a difference in Chapel Hill and the Global Market Place.
ReplyDeleteThe knowledge that I have acquired thus far, from working on the Fair trade campaign, has permitted me to believe that forming alliances with institutions of public education and local businesses are by far the easiest. Especially in towns like Chapel Hill and Carrboro, most of the retailers/businesses are not chained linked, therefore executive decisions such as fair trade goods come directly from the management on site, not the management that make decisions for chain-linked industries. These businesses also take in a lot of feed back from their consumers, and they have the ability to focus on consumers of a specific geographic region versus those world wide. This makes fulfilling the demands of consumers easier because local business can specifically appeal to the demands of only in Chapel Hill- Carrboro and not those all over the world. Public educational systems are simply formed as well because of the diverse student interest. Students who are not aware of Fair trade can be easily educated by raising awareness on campus. Personally, coming to UNC there were a lot of different sectors in live that I was blind to. Events, and raising awareness in the Pit really brought new interest and ideas about life to my knowledge. Even classes that I have taken at the University have expanded my thought processes about the world.
ReplyDeleteThe hardest alliance to form would be global expansion. The various governments that govern the world, imperialistic urges that still lingers in man, and other aspects such as language barriers are all reasons total cooperation would be difficult. It's already difficult for the world to agree on natural resources and the trade items that their country profits from. The idea of being the wealthiest country, whether its knowledge, natural resources, or money, still exist. Competitions has always being a downside of trade and has kept many countries from developing. I can't imagine countries Uniting globally to agree upon the right method for supporting fair trade and third world countries at the expense of their own economy.
Latosha Phillips
In my opinion, Fair trade is a tough movement towards accomplishing the goal that cause so many different effects on our society. I would say this movement needs so much support from any alliances, such as government, global species and different organizers. It is difficult in America than any other country, I guess because we are hosting so many other cultures and races. This is so hard to educate people equally and bring everybody on a right track.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all we need to educate people logically, why they should participate in fair trade, and how they would do it. After that we can see how diverse our organizers would be, They could be from government, business, educational institution, financial agencies and then the ordinary people includes students, labors and retirements!
So if we understand the concept of fair trade which is technically achieve the greatness of life, then we can have such a big move and motivate the other people who surrounds us and our environment to start a big change. It would work as democracy. We have to be united first and then ready to have the campaign for our motivation and spread it all over the world.
After going to businesses and talking with students to get signatures, I believe that the most difficult task is with the private and public sector. The private sector businesses, especially those that I have came into contact with, seem like they think it will be a large burden to change their incoming products to fair trade products. They already have their usual materials and foods, so don't want to change anything that may deter their original customers. With the public sector, like schools, they seem more inclined to think about it although I don't think they will act on it anytime soon. This is due to the large amount of politics and pricing that goes behind changing thousands of food products and materials... even for one school, let alone an entire county or system.
ReplyDeleteStudents, as usual, and especially at UNC, seem the most open-minded, so it may be helpful to start with the young and incoming people to the business world. Literalistic ideas may help to get the word out about the advantages that fair trade has for the world, and how it is a step for better world equality. Therefore, young people or businesses might have the best chance of going fair trade vs. the sustained private and public sector businesses.
I think that the alliances between the merchant and the consumer are the easiest to form; whereas, the alliances between the town government and the institutions of public education are the most difficult to cultivate. I think that once the merchants understand that there is a demand for Fair Trade goods within our community, it would behoove them to act on consumer demand and begin to carry a larger variety of Fair Trade certified goods. Basic principles of supply and demand dictate that the consumer and the merchant would have an easily cultivatable relationship because they are both so dependant on the other. The merchant’s incentives come from the consumers demands. By showing that there is community support for Fair Trade, merchants are likely to respond to that with an increased inventory of Fair Trade goods. The higher the demand, the more products that are Fair Trade certified we are likely to see in merchants across the town. However, the University and the town government are less likely to be motivated to engage because their corporation with the movement does not dictate their existence. If the town council were to decide that they are not going to pass our resolution, nothing would change. We as students might try again next semester with more evidence to support our cause, but the town council would continue to hold meetings and accept and reject petitions. Government officials need to do what is popular for re-election, but voting against something like a Fair Trade resolution would not pose a threat to them unless every community member was on board. Because it would require us to show the overwhelmingly large community and merchant commitment to Fair Trade, government can be very secure with a decision either way. It is also for us as students to get elected officials to meet with us and discuss the issues of our campaign. I think that in Chapel Hill that tends to be easier than in larger cities, but even so, DJ experienced the Chamber of Commerce rather apathetically. They were not willing to discuss, rather they just wanted to answer questions. I think that this is a great example of how merchants and consumers are eager to speak out about Fair Trade, but government sees it as less important.
ReplyDeleteI would like to comment on the question about the alliances that are the hardest to form. I am one of the leaders of the Retail Outreach committee. At the beginning of our campaign, I would have assumed that the hardest alliances to form would have been the town council and the international alliances. My reason is simply that there are so many hoops to jump through in order to get in touch with people who are involved in politics, both local and international. After having dealt with local retailers, I have found that it is NOT easy to get local retail support either. Yesterday we went to about twelve retailers. Several of the businesses didn't have a manager available for us to speak with; and of the managers that were available, many of the managers didn't have the authority to even fill out a merchant survey. Why have managers on duty to deal with consumers' questions and problems if they aren't able to make any decisions!! This just goes to show that business owners are not in touch with their consumers!! It was so frustrating! I think that educational places are the easiest to form alliances with because students are always looking for new tasks to take on or volunteer hours to kill. Our class is testament to that. :)
ReplyDeleteIt easiest to form alliances when people believe that what they are forming an alliance for is not going to hurt them. Once the different institutions and individuals believe that our goal is worthwhile and the right thing to do, it will be easier to implement Fair Trade. I think that the town government is one of the easiest to form an alliance with as a public institution. Living in a democracy, one of the features is that government must be responsive to the wants of the citizens. The town government must hear what we have to say whether they like it or not. In that regard, we are able to present our case and convince that what we already know, that Fair Trade is the right thing to do and will not harm the town in any way. The media is also an easy alliance to build because journalists are always looking to inform, educate and report on current events. The more highly organized we are, and the more resources we have, the more favorably the media will portray the issue. In some cases, the media can hamper the ability to gain support but at the very least, the media provides publicity. The business community require the most struggle to form an alliance with. Besides the actual workers, the businesses are the most affected. They have to make sacrifices and change the way they do their business. It may turn out to be slightly more expensive for businesses to be Fair Trade and that is why they may be reluctant. It is hard to convince business to change a formula that has been working for them and ask them to incur more costs. Another problem in trying to create alliances with businesses is one that we already discussed, that some of the businesses are franchises and their headquarters is in other states or sometimes in other countries therefore it is hard to effect change from here. Local businesses are more likely to be receptive. In reality, we may not directly gain from Fair Trade but the point of Human Rights and thinking in a global sense is to do things ethically and realize that every person deserves a certain quality of life. Once we move past thinking about personal gains, we can help fight a battle for other people.
ReplyDeleteZanele Mhlaba
I think the easiest alliance that can be formed between the different sectors mentioned above would be an alliance between public education and the media. The media is always searching for new stories and always attempt to cover as many stories as possible. Hence, the Fair Trade Campaign will definitely receive plenty spotlight from the media. The best way to inform any form of public is through the media because the public keeps up with media. But they keep up with it in different forms, so we must be sure to keep up with each form-internet, television, newspapers, radio, blogs, etc. The alliances that tend to require struggle are the alliances with retail because businesses focus on making profit and may not recognize the importance of Fair Trade because of that reason. The actors that stand to gain are obviously the foreign workers but they definitely deserve the gain because they've been at a disadvantage for the longest time. The ones who will have to make sacrifices are retail owners because they might lose profit.
ReplyDeleteI think the easiest alliance that can be formed between the different sectors mentioned above would be an alliance between public education and the media. The media is always searching for new stories and always attempt to cover as many stories as possible. Hence, the Fair Trade Campaign will definitely receive plenty spotlight from the media. The best way to inform any form of public is through the media because the public keeps up with media. But they keep up with it in different forms, so we must be sure to keep up with each form-internet, television, newspapers, radio, blogs, etc. The alliances that tend to require struggle are the alliances with retail because businesses focus on making profit and may not recognize the importance of Fair Trade because of that reason. The actors that stand to gain are obviously the foreign workers but they definitely deserve the gain because they've been at a disadvantage for the longest time. The ones who will have to make sacrifices are retail owners because they might lose profit.
ReplyDeleteMarria Rahim
Personally i think the easiest alliance to form would be between education and parts of local business. Most businesses throughout Chapel Hill seem to know that to be successful in they need to work with their customers to see what they are looking for. Many of these local business rely mainly on the population of our University; this leads many stores to realize their clientele being younger college students. The local student population can heavily way on stores success; if a store is deemed too expensive and the word gets around the store will be looked past by students many times. I think that also if we take the initiative as a collective student group to make more stores fair trade that we can and will be able to. On a global scale it is obviously more difficult to obtain total cooperation in fair trade. Their are many barriers that come into play; such as language geography and culture. INternational alliances are often tough to reach for many reasons, their are many different barrieres that need to be crossed and do take time to reach. I think that one way we can make the institutions of public education and government can be speed along by having a figure head, such as a dean to head the effort. Much of this effort will be put on the shoulders of the younger generation and people like our class to continue to push to get fair trade more well known and appreciated. This process wont change over night and every once of effort we can put into this fight will help.
ReplyDeleteGavin Petracca
Throughout this semester, I have learned just from our interactions in class that fair trade requires a lot of different and motivated individuals. The many social factors such as the retailers, town government, students, etc. all play a significant part in the success of fair trade.
ReplyDeleteThe alliances that I feel would be the easiest to form are in the public sphere between institutions of public education and the media. I am on the media committee in our class and I have realized that it is easier to build and maintain connections with local media sources. Because of this, I think that local businesses that signs the petitions and participates with the Fair Trade Campaign would have been easier to persuade because everyone listens to the radio or reads the newspaper. Often times the media will jump on the opportunity to highlight any action that takes place in schooling. Whatever the public school sphere does or achieves, the general public wants to know about it and this knowledge is passed along through the use of the media. This is also true for businesses and corporations.
The hardest alliances to build are the alliances between educational institutions and governmental institutions and big corporations. I believe this is the case because these large scale organizations are established and would have to more than likely sacrifice a little business or experience some type of change for them to work together. It is much less likely for there to be any type of relationship that can be established to aid in the fair trade efforts. I feel that we are doing a great job as a class working within our separate committees to mobilize and gain the cooperation of several different sectors of the public sphere.
Lorenzo Hopper
I believe the best way to link the global sphere with our local public sphere is to use force in numbers. When local communities show a level of commitment that could potentially influence a business' profitability, that business is more than likely going to adapt to our proposed change. This is not only for the obvious reasons, but also because businesses often want to take part in social change but are afraid of the consequences if their competition does not follow suit. Additionally, many businesses enjoy being on the front end of new trends within society. This is often referred to as being a "first mover", which has a tremendous upside if properly implemented.
ReplyDeleteI think by using our media connections and spreading word throughout campus we can generate enough energy and enthusiasm for Chapel Hill to practice Fair Trade. If we commit OURSELVES (i.e. the campus) then businesses will feel as though they are on the brink of a new movement which sparks their change towards Fair Trade
-Michael Jarvis
Which alliances do you think are easiest to form, and which require the most struggle?
ReplyDeleteFor a campaign like Fair Trade, our class looks to several different sectors of the public sphere for cooperation. The easiest connections to form are between groups that share in the work as well as share in the outcome. An institution such as public education, with passionate students and faculty, has the man-power to reach out and encourage other institutions that may need a shove to get involved (i.e. Town Government/Business). In a class like Soci 490, there are enough driven, intelligent students to utilize available resources and encourage businesses to get involved.
A sector like the media will become more involved as awareness grows. As more members from public education, businesses, and town government come together to address important issues like that of Fair Trade or Human Rights, the word will get out and further awareness will spread.
Undertaking this project to turn Chapel Hill/Carrboro into a Fair Trade town will absolutely take the work of all on both a local and a global scale. Recently, I read a book about grassroots organizing between Mexican NGOs and NGOs found at the border. The author mentioned very briefly a poster that stuck in her head. It read “Think Globally, Act Locally.” I think this same sentiment can be used to discuss how we can best link the local sphere to the global sphere. The task of making the world adhere to fair trade policies is often overwhelming, which can deter some people from participating in the movement. If you think that you won’t be able to see change in your lifetime, you’re often not motivated to even try. I think the idea of thinking globally and acting locally, though, gives a more plausible and realistic framework for how to go about doing all grassroots work, including fair trade. I think the idea that we’re adopting (turning one city into a fair trade city) fits this model precisely. If we can slowly change one person’s mindset, which in turn changes one business’ model, and eventually changes one town’s practices, sooner or later the idea will spread even further, state-wide, nationally, and hopefully eventually internationally. This model is also much more accessible than top-down models of change where government mandates are made, which often is a much more lengthy and difficult process to go through.
ReplyDeleteFair trade is a simple campaign, yet requires dedication from each person/group committed to the vision. There are easier bonds to form on some levels and others require more of a concrete commitment and unification in goals. For example, on a liberal college campus such as UNC, a lot of students are interested in rights for every citizen and would be interested in the Fair trade ideology and campaign. Getting individuals who care heavily on others rights to sign on to Fair trade is, relatively speaking, easier than getting corporations who represent a wide range of opinions to sign on. Corporations have to have a similar vision with that of Fair trade to be able to represent every person in the company. If goals of the board align with the main goal of Fair trade, it is possible to take on this commitment.
ReplyDeleteYasmeen Zamamiri
Building alliances between different sectors of the public sphere is critical to increasing support and awareness of fair trade. Luckily, as students at UNC, we are positioned in a small, empowered, and forward thinking community in Chapel Hill and Carborro. Furthermore, the saturated population of students and faculty provide a contingent of people who can support fair trade and influence the community. Because of these reasons, I believe connecting the public education sector with businesses in the community. With the UNC population compromising a huge portion of consumers in Chapel Hill, if classes like Soci 490 can instill awareness about fair trade and persuade others to purchase fair trade, businesses will be forced to respond, or else lose business. Beginning on a smaller scale, like Chapel Hill, can serve as a stable platform for future and more difficult steps. The hardest alliance to forge will be growing fair trade awareness outside of Chapel Hill. Trying to penetrate a larger audience and businesses requires gaining media attention (which can be achieved in Chapel Hill with connections to The Daily Tarheel and student organizations), possible government compliance, and support from organizations and companies who take a capitalistic approach, favoring profits without regard for fair trade. Additionally, moving outside of Chapel Hill and onto a global scale presents problems involving cultural differences. Because of these competing agendas (capitalists vs human rights, ex: fair trade), a mediator such as government or international alliances. Moving forward, people from Chapel Hill can start to write their state politicians asking for their support. This type of movement cannot happen quickly, but must be approached like our class has done; start small and have high aspirations.
ReplyDeleteTommy D'Alessandro
For my part of the fair-trade project I was responsible for interviewing member(s) from the Chapel Hill Chamber of Commerce. Going into this I thought it would be simple; I’d ask my questions, he or she would respond and I would just present this information in a paper or present my findings to the class. What I found was a very interesting relationship between the town politics of Chapel Hill, journalism, as well as the interest of the Chamber. I was able to set up an interview with the Vice-President of the Chamber but before we got started, he wanted to know in what context he would be quoted or how the Chamber would be represented. Before this question was asked I didn’t think of myself as an investigative journalist but that is how I was perceived. Instead of having an interview we decided that it would be best if I just submit questions to the Chamber and they respond back with their answers.
ReplyDeleteI found this exchange to be interesting because, as Green lays out in her argument, the public square is imperative in helping to push social change initiatives. The struggle I came across was rooted in the politics of town government. In reading about the position that Mr. Klein holds as Vice-President of the Chamber, one of his tasks is to act as the liaison between the Chamber and the Town Counsel. At that point I realized and understood why Mr. Klein would be hesitant to answer my questions, unsure of how they would be used when we present our resolution before the Council. In the Chapel Hill Chamber of Commerce Packet I received, it further outlines Mr. Klein duties, “As issues arise, Chamber staff develop a position based on feedback from members and then speak before governing bodied, voicing your [business’s] views.”
I think this overall experience speaks to what the business community of Chapel Hill has to gain or lose by the Town Council accepting our resolution to become a fair-trade town. Although the resolution is broad now, I would hope that it would slowly require more growth from the town in terms of implementing more stringent rules in making fair-trade more broadly known and accepted in Chapel Hill. On a national level, I can’t imagine all time and necessary work, loop holes, and people you would have to talk to in order to make the US a “fair-trade country”. Linking the local sphere to the global would require people to understand that fair-trade promotes the idea of a bond/solidarity between producer and consumer and each person in the chain is helping the other prosper in their daily life. By providing good coffee you are building a brand that clients will stick with and by customers buying fair-trade coffee you are providing someone with a living wage as a business owner.
Working in the Fair Trade Campaign requires help from many different areas and groups of people. In order for Fair Trade to be successful, businesses, public institutions, local communities and councils must work together. The project involves a lot of thoughtful planning and effort. It is crucial to form a team that can help us brainstorm different ideas that will catch our target audience and make sure we get the supporters we need. I think that the easiest alliances to form are with the local community and businesses, especially small independent stores. It is easy to persuade these individual businesses because they don’t have to worry about getting permission from the head of a large corporation. Larger corporations and franchised businesses are tougher to reach because they do not have the authority to make the decision for the entire chain, and usually there are many people involved and many networks that an idea has to pass through before officially making a change. This is a process that could take a while. Since individual businesses are small and can make decisions for themselves, it is easier to contact them directly. Another alliance that is easy to form is with local councils. These local city councils are more likely to respond to our campaign than the state government or a higher level of government because they are closer to us and therefore easier to reach. By providing them with information and a petition of signatures, city councils are more likely to take action. Another easy alliance to form is with local residents and students here at UNC. Students are easy to educate and are more motivated to participate in projects like this. The best way to reach them is through the use of media. Using resources such as flyers, brochures, and posters, it’s simple to spread information across a vast area and quickly gain students’ interest. Once they have been educated, students are likely to start spreading the word themselves about the campaign and start helping out. In order for our efforts to reach a global level, we must first work locally and move our way up.
ReplyDelete-Nadeen Al-Ghandour
The "public square" is not a sigular commodity. Gaining the support from several different sectors like comunity support, government suport, media support, business support, etc. is crucial to help expand Fair Trade. Reaching all of the public spaces will allow Fair Trade to be spread throughout various different sectors. Spreading Fair Trade through all of the public spaces will allow many different individuals and public spaces to be contacted. The best way to connect the local sphere to the global sphere is to start out small in a local community and spreading Fair Trade to as many public spaces as possible. Promoting Fair Trade throughout all of the public spaces will allow various individual to learn about Fair Trade and its benefits. Starting local and then spreading the idea through other communities will allow an expansion of people learning about Fair Trade. Eventually, Fair Trade will be spread through many public spaces in a single commodity and then it would reach a national recognitiona and then the global sphere. Success of Fair Trade can be done so by staring at a local level then dpreading to the global level, but contacting all public spaces is crtical in order to contact various individuals.
ReplyDeleteIf I knew what the best way for the local sphere and the global sphere, then I would basically have the answer for the Fair Trade campaign. However, I would like to talk about the question: Which alliances do you think are easiest to form, and which require the most struggle?
ReplyDeleteI believe that the easiest alliances to form are on the smallest levels. For example, it is incredibly easy for alliances to be formed between people in our class and others around campus, but it is incredibly hard for us to make alliances with international label makers. I feel like sometimes they look at is as if we are little kids and they are the adults. This is why forming our smaller alliances first is crucial in our success. There is much to be said about the term strength in numbers. Once we have enough numbers, than these people will take us seriously. It makes it so hard for us to cooperate with these larger companies because they have their own objectives, which is to make money, and we are essentially stopping them from maximizing they profit due to these fair trade agreements. Our small alliances job is to help these Global alliances realize the price of Human Rights.
Because I have personally worked in Retail Outreach as a leader of the team, I would like to talk about these relationships and the way in which they are organized. I know that many people in Chapel Hill already support Fair Trade and there is definitely a retail market of fair trade goods that is larger than I thought it would be before we started (I hadn't heard of most of the places, and I had never been to them). The fact that there are so many in the Chapel Hill area is encouraging and wonderful, but after visiting many merchants I have really discovered that it is not easy at all to form alliances with retailers who are not already interested in and participating in Fair Trade. While I have had a great time making these visits and learning more about the places in our community that do support Fair Trade, pretty much all of the merchants that we went to either already support Fair Trade very wholeheartedly or had absolutely no interest in talking with us about our campaign. I think this is probably because, as a couple of people told us, they don't even know what it is and often don't have the time to start up a long conversation about the principles of Fair Trade. I think that the number of merchants who offer fair trade products in Chapel Hill is exciting and great, and I hope that this number will continue to grow as people learn more about Fair Trade and what it actually means/involves for their business.
ReplyDeleteWith that being said, I don't think just simply approaching any business in the community is the best method of gaining merchant support for Fair Trade. By outreaching to the community and networking with the merchants that are already interested/supportive (and actually know what Fair Trade is) we will be able to spread the word at an even more grassroots level to create more interest and greater demand from the public so that merchants will then "want" to become interested in Fair Trade. If we outreach to the business owners as consumers and people in the town first to educate them about Fair Trade and its benefits, then I believe that more merchant support will follow.
Thus Far this semester, I have learned that Fair Trade entails that we, as consumers, care about the treatment of the individuals that are producing the goods that we purchase. This idea of Fair Trade implies an idea of deep democracy. However, in order for Fair Trade to be successful we have to strengthen the relationship between communities and social institutions, which in turn will give them the tools necessary to supply deep democracy (Green). Based on that knowledge, I feel that it is easiest to make alliances between institutions of public education and locally-owned businesses in order to move towards Fair Trade.
ReplyDeleteI feel that those two sectors of the public sphere are the easiest to make alliances between because they are the ones that we have most access to. As college students, we have the ability to raise a campaign and have it be acknowledge by others outside the college community. However, our ability to be heard is sometimes limited by the different politics that govern things. While it may take a long time to make an alliance with a large corporation, it is easiest to make an alliance with locally-owned businesses.
The locally-owned businesses are ideal because we have an opportunity to discuss issues about Fair Trade with the owner of the business. In addition, several local-businesses aim to help the community in which they are located. Thus, it is easier to get them to care about issues such as Fair Trade which affect them. Furthermore, making an alliance with local-businesses is easier because we do not have to worry about the many policies that larger corporations tend to have. While it is easiest to make an alliance between educational institutions and locally-owned businesses, I feel that it is hardest to make an alliance between educational institutions and governments.
I feel that it is hardest to make an alliance between those two sectors because of the long-standing policies that the government has had in place when it comes to trade. I personally believe it is hard for some governments to see that by becoming involve in Fair Trade the lives of the people behind the products will be improved. I feel that revenue is a big factor in the governments' reservations in seeing that point. However, if we are able to show them that Fair Trade is a better option, not only for the workers that are producing the goods, but also for the consumers, then an alliance between educational institutions and governments would be easier to acquire.
Overall, I feel that it is easiest to make an alliance with sectors that we have the most access to. However, in order for Fair Trade to work, we need the aid of the more powerful sectors. While the more powerful sectors may pose a bigger challenge, with diligence we can show them how Fair Trade can be beneficial for everyone.
Fair trade should be universally accepted, and not thought of any less than other rights, like rights to education. However, capitalism and greed impede fair trade from being universal. Too many lobbyists and corporations control the governments and highly influence these policies. In the campaign for fair trade, we have found how difficult it is. The easiest alliance to form is colleges and the media. There are many students that are advocates for fair trade, and they have access to the media. This is a bidirectional relationship where the students’ voices are heard and the media gets a story. The students want to raise awareness about fair trade, and the need for reform. By spreading the word, they can get many more students involved. As the numbers increase, so does the strength of the movement. The media also can unify the groups that have this similar goal of achieving universal fair trade. another benefit is that the media can create propaganda about how necessary fair trade is, and if it is backed by universities they can sway corporations to become fair trade friendly. The media benefits because their job is to present stories that are interesting and the public cares about. They make money by having stories that people care about. Many of our classmates are having trouble with the campaign because many retailers have been turning them down. This is mostly because they are part of a chain business and are not allowed to arbitrarily become fair trade.
ReplyDeleteThe public “square” in my opinion is more like a public web. Public life ranges from the individual level to the government sphere, which is at times so large that it seems to transcend society. Everything is interconnected: the powers and will of one group will always affects the other. Starting a change at the individual level is the easiest. For the most part, every person is an autonomous unit and feels the responsibility for themselves. They do not have overarching rules or a bureaucracy to answer to, so getting an individual to commit to something such as signing a petition for Fair Trade is a relatively easy thing to do. However, the simplicity of the act is undone by the minority of the effect. Getting an individual to commit to Fair Trade is not an impressive feat to policy makers because it requires minimal support and minimal sacrifice. It would take hundreds or thousands of signatures to make a difference.
ReplyDeleteGetting government agencies or large businesses on the side of Fair Trade would have the biggest impact, though it is the hardest achievement. Businesses and agencies feel that they are answerable to a lot of different people, so it is easy for them to deny their endorsement on the fact that you can’t please everyone. But having these groups as our allies in the public sphere is the most powerful relationship we can establish to cause real change.
The good news is that since we live in a democracy, a widespread change at an individual level will eventually cause change at the group level. Businesses and government agencies are answerable to the votes and the dollars of each individual, and if there are enough individuals that demand something, there will be change. This takes a long time, but the more effectively that people learn to use deep democracy, the sooner this change will happen.
-Steve Ortiz
ReplyDeleteI think in the fight for social change the place most receptive to anyone’s efforts would of course be locally. In our case this would be our institution of public education (UNC-Chapel Hill). We have a grass roots advantage of being amongst our peers with the ability to relate and speak towards their concerns and for t hem to understand ours. It also seems that college students are always the most compassionate demographic for social justice aside from those who are directly effected by it. The next would probably be the closest to a local level and so forth (town government, local businesses, local media, ,etc). The most difficult would be the international or national labeling agencies followed by the retailers and distributors. These are multi-billion dollar conglomerates whose inability to relate to an oppressive experience has desensitized them to the consequences of their operations.
I think all of these alliances can benefit to varying degrees with the help of an intermediary. There is always a door that needs to be opened so an opportunity can be seized and therefore someone always to look for who has a key to work that door. If you are remotely separated from the oppressed workers who strive to help then that would be a situation where an intermediary would benefit by communicating concerns, conditions, needs, and efforts. By knowing their situation you can structure your efforts to be the most effective. The next best intermediary would be one between these corporations and the people. Someone with a larger public platform would amplify the impact of your message greatly. This is what the corporations would fear is the reach of the message and information which could mobilize resistance to their operations through the boycotting of their products or services.
The actors who would stain to gain are the oppressed who would be fairly compensated for their work. The ones who would have to sacrifice in the process is the consumer by boycotting a product that they may have an affinity to in order to get the corporation to sacrifice their excessive profit in the name of humanity. The best way nowadays to link the local sphere to the global sphere is through the internet without a doubt. Social networking , E-Mail, electronic advertisements, Online Media , and File Sharing amongst many other modes of electronic communication has tremendously raised the capabilities of one individual’s efforts. In that sense the barrier between global and local can be eliminated through these interconnected avenues to create one GLOCAL environment where one’s efforts could have an impact to a location across the world almost as quickly as it does to a situation across town.
-Steve Ortiz
Mobilization of the public sphere and its many different sectors are extremely vital for any campaign to be successful, certainly Fair trade. The can all link together as well to work cohesively. For example, a public institution can bring awareness and support to and local community and thus can spread to a larger community. By having a public institution support Fair Trade it brings more credibility to the cause and helps more people become convinced of its merit and nature. Moreover, the effects of this impact on a public institution can gain a larger affect on a local government, which will only expand the cause. As people in the local government become aware of a cause it will expand to local businesses and independent entrepreneurs that will expand the cause if they feel there can be a profitable and ethical benefit in the movement. Ultimately, this can all be linked to the media which will be forced to document and report the effects of such a movement, thus creating a bigger stir and awareness for such a cause like Fair Trade.
ReplyDeleteThe easiest to form are most likely institutions of public education and a town government, mainly because they add so much more support and merit to an organization. If a legitimate university or town council is supporting a cause more people and citizens will pay more attention to its and its goals. Portions of the business sector may be much more difficult because people may only choose to support a cause if they can benefit form it financially, not necessarily if it is moral. In addition, not all causes are financially profitable for individuals regardless of their moral importance.
The best way to link the local and global sphere is to gain enough support in the local sphere and to reach out to the global sphere. The retailers, distributors, foreign workers will be more inclined to deal with a cause or movement if there is a sufficient movement that is demanding change or business in a local sphere. Thus it is vital to establish a strong local sphere in order to gain awareness on a global scale, and to make it worth people's time in the global network. By creating the local sphere strong enough there will be enough media attention and coverage, which would be an effective link between the local and global spheres.
--Michael Dauer
It is certainly easier for me to say which bonds are the most difficult to forge, and I believe they are those between the community and its officials. It is sad that this would be the most difficult considering many town officials are elected by the people to be representative of the people, however, they often lose touch with their constituencies which is one of the biggest challenges that we will face in trying to get the council to pass our Fair Trade petition. One of the easiest kinds of relationships to form is students with other students or individuals. Our greatest ally in attempting to make Chapel Hill Fair Trade is in garnering the support of as many individuals as possible. I realize that is what we are doing with the petition, but that also means we need a ton of people to show up at Town Hall on Monday, and maybe even start a protest or a rally. It is possible that motivated individuals can make a difference and make the out of touch officials listen to them, but it takes a much bigger voice then what I believe we have mustered so far. Making change happen is difficult, especially in a time when the government is more concerned about doing things just for themselves, so we really have to make them listen and realize that Fair Trade is something our town really wants.
ReplyDelete-Chelsea Glenn
There are many different groups involved in fair trade and make it happen, I agree with Green when she says that a public square is not a singular place. I think for our project in class the easiest alliances to form will be within the community outreach. It is a lot easier to get people to sign the petition individually than to get retailers to sign it because they aren’t necessarily going to give up how they produce and sell things because we let them know there is a better way than unfair labor. I think that in saying this, retailers have more to gain but the individual will be more willing to make a sacrifice. Retailers cannot always just sign the petition on the spot and say yes. Usually they have to speak with managers and others involved in the company and could possibly lose profits from their business if they chose to be involved in fair trade, but it is a risk they should take. The retailers would gain the most from fair trade because they are directly involved with products and are the ones deciding whether or not they purchase them fair trade. So if we could convince them to do so they would be helping people all over the world, and making a difference and to me the sacrifice seems worth it. In the long run it would pay off for them knowing they were making a difference in the world.
ReplyDeleteIt would be easier to form an alliance between the public education sphere and the media. If all the students on this campus would rally behind this cause like we do when we support our athletic teams, we would have a formidable force that could help turn the university into a fair trade school. This would in turn get the attention of the media because other schools would be trying to act on this revolution. The local media being as active as they are would cover this story and make it attractive to the public and draw them in. Media then has the ability to travel across the internet and other channels to other areas.
ReplyDeleteThe hardest areas to connect would be between the education and government spheres. We as students don't have the pull to reach people in government as well as a person that is older and more established in the community. We get responses but they unfortunately don't take us very seriously unless we have more prominent figures pulling for the same cause.
Journal 5
ReplyDeleteI think the alliances between local governments or the business sector might the most difficult to create as a link with public education. Many times governmental or business interestes are at odds with public education on different human rights campaigns, since the former two sectors are based on gaining votes or money. Maintaining the status quo is often most comfortable for those in charge, and if decision-makers cannot see an immediate benefit or profit in supporting human rights campaings they may be unenthusiastic about forming an alliance with students and other community members. I think linking public education to the media might be the easiest alliance to form, although still extremely problematic at times. In my experience as a student organizer, the media can be a wonderful ally to get the word out to business targets, community members, and activists alike on a particular campaign. The media is crucial in this regard. However the way a particular journalist interprets and portrays a campaign or organization's goal can depend on his or her personal and political views. Blatant bias in the media can weaken its alliance with public education and student activists. However, though they may be difficult to create, alliances between local governments, business sectors, the media, and public education are crucial if any change is to take place on a local and global level.
--Darine El-Sourady
I believe that alliances between local voluntary proactive patrons and their local merchants/retailers are the easiest to foster. The local patrons could have tremendous impact on the decisions of whether to sell/advertise certain products, such as sweatshop merchandise or fair trade merchandise. Local patrons could influence their neighborhood shops, because in order for the merchants to continue making money they would have to cater to their patrons and what they desire, thus I feel as if there is the possibility for more contact, understanding, and change through these relations. In regards to institution that is the hardest to form I believe that between the foreign workers and international/national labeling agencies. I believe this to be true, because of the fact of the sizable number of sweatshops still existing in the world. I feel as if often foreign workers do not get a chance to have their voice heard and respected, especially in poorer countries in which democracy is not prevalent and human rights are only doled out to those who already have advantages.
ReplyDeleteChelsea Journigan
I think the question of linking local and global spheres is very interesting. The outcome of global relationships can bring new and innovative ideas that we have never seen before, but I am slightly skeptical of international communication. I do not think that it is possible to have a truly global sphere without complete honesty and a lack of hostility. From what I see today, different countries and cultures feel so much hostility and difference of opinions that a true partnership does not seem possible at this time.
ReplyDeleteThe idea of a global sphere being linked with local spheres would give us so many opportunities, but if one country can not communicate among its own members, how is it supposed to communicate with other countries? My belief is that a country should be able to include all its people (legal citizens or not) and give each one the same opportunities and rights before it can be expected to enter an international global sphere.
I feel so negative in this response, but truthfully I am quite hopeful that we can form global spheres around local spheres. I just feel that global communication is quite complicated and we must be able to successfully link local citizens before we can attempt a global sphere.
Throughout my time in the Human Rights class, it has become significantly apparent that creating and maintaining a fair trade campaign takes a lot of effort. In agreement with Green, “The public square is no singular place….” Within the public space, many alliances exist. It seems from experience in this course that similar local figures are the types of alliances that are easiest to form because they are not controlled by large corporate heads. A campaign is more likely to witness positive feedback if they try to form alliances with small private business or locally controlled areas because they will have the chance to sit down one-on-one with the owners or retailers and discuss the political agenda at hand. Larger corporate businesses and chains are the types of alliances that are difficult to form. This is because many of the managers that run the corporate chain businesses fell that they have no authority to speak on behalf of the company. This is a prime example of the lack of deep democracy within retail chains. It is because of the lack of deep democracy that an intermediary would need to be present before an alliance could be formed with these types of businesses. Throughout the process of creating and maintaining a Fair Trade campaign, there are many actors involved in the deeply democratic process. The actors that are likely to gain are those such as the workers in other countries, retailers, producers, and customers. It is important to mention that each and every actor will more than likely have to compromise on certain stances such as wage, production cost, quality, and quantity. The actors that are most likely going to face sacrifices are those who are working so hard to get everything in place so that Fair Trade product can be readily available in stores and other areas. These actors include campaign members and business owners. For example, the business owner may have to get rid of its second best selling coffee to make room to afford to carry Fair Trade coffee in their coffee shop. There are many factors involved in such a project, but the most efficient way to act globally is to start at the local level.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThroughout my time in the Human Rights class, it has become significantly apparent that creating and maintaining a fair trade campaign takes a lot of effort. In agreement with Green, “The public square is no singular place….” Within the public space, many alliances exist. It seems from experience in this course that similar local figures are the types of alliances that are easiest to form because they are not controlled by large corporate heads. A campaign is more likely to witness positive feedback if they try to form alliances with small private business or locally controlled areas because they will have the chance to sit down one-on-one with the owners or retailers and discuss the political agenda at hand. Larger corporate businesses and chains are the types of alliances that are difficult to form. This is because many of the managers that run the corporate chain businesses fell that they have no authority to speak on behalf of the company. This is a prime example of the lack of deep democracy within retail chains. It is because of the lack of deep democracy that an intermediary would need to be present before an alliance could be formed with these types of businesses. Throughout the process of creating and maintaining a Fair Trade campaign, there are many actors involved in the deeply democratic process. The actors that are likely to gain are those such as the workers in other countries, retailers, producers, and customers. It is important to mention that each and every actor will more than likely have to compromise on certain stances such as wage, production cost, quality, and quantity. The actors that are most likely going to face sacrifices are those who are working so hard to get everything in place so that Fair Trade product can be readily available in stores and other areas. These actors include campaign members and business owners. For example, the business owner may have to get rid of its second best selling coffee to make room to afford to carry Fair Trade coffee in their coffee shop. There are many factors involved in such a project, but the most efficient way to act globally is to start at the local level.
ReplyDeleteThe success of Fair Trade requires participation from all sorts of actors in the system, but the participation of some is easier to ensure than the participation of others. For instance, it is easy to gain the support of students and others who are similarly positioned as consumers because it takes much less involvement and effort for them to make the ethical choice to support the Fair Trade movement.
ReplyDeleteLocal businesses on the other hand are much harder to form relationships with and gain support from; this is due, in large part, because they have to make a more impacted decision. Instead of just considering the moral aspect of going Fair Trade, they must consider the feasibility and the profitability of joining the movement. In considering these factors they have to remember that this is their livelihood and the livelihood of their employees. They have to rely on the promises of the not-as-committed consumers that they will purchase Fair Trade products in order to keep the stores afloat, which takes a great deal of faith.
Another alliance that is difficult to form is with the local government. This can prove quite difficult because they have to consider the needs of both the common people and the commerce of the town. Sometimes, it can be quite difficult to reconcile these two groups and come up with one comprehensive policy in support of the Fair Trade movement.
One thing can be said for all of these alliances, they are intertwined and logistically easier to make on the local rather than the global level. No matter the difficulty, one thing is sure, that Fair Trade is a morally upstanding system that is worth the struggle to implement.
In an ideal world, Fair Trade would not be an issue at hand. This practice would simply exist without question because it’s the right and ethically thing to do. However, that clearly is not reality. Unfortunately, many fail to see the importance of enacting Fair trade policies. Factions, such as our class, must work to bring this issue to the forefront. In doing so, their efforts may or may not be met with opposition from the various institutions mentioned above.
ReplyDeleteI feel there is definitely a link between the institutions mentioned above. The support from just of these can greatly influence the cooperation of another. I believe the alliance between Fair Trade and institutions of public education is the easiest to form. By nature, individuals in this age-range are typically more open to varying efforts/causes. The University of North at Chapel Hill in particular is well-known for its liberal student body. With over 630 student organizations, a large portion of theses focus on topics related to humans rights, democracy, and/or activism. In my opinion, this is a prime location to enlist the support of passionate, caring, proactive students.
Conversely, the alliance between a Fair Trade campaign and production agencies would be the most difficult to establish. This group of individuals benefits most from taking advantage of the often unrepresented workers. Clearly, they have much at stake and will likely find it difficult to end their unfair business practices. Though it may difficult, I do not feel it’s an impossible task. As previously mentioned, pressure from other institutions (such as institutions of public education) positively could influence production agencies to reevaluate their means of production and compensation.
The easiest alliances to create will be the ones between those people or organizations that have the same ideals, goals, and/or struggles. It would only make sense for them to unite in solidarity because there is strength in numbers. In this way, they would be more effective in achieving their goals and/or overcoming their predicaments. The hardest alliances to form will be the ones with those that have different goals and focuses. For example, an alliance between group focused on human rights and a group focused on profits. The friction happens because a lot of times satisfying human rights needs gets in the way of maximizing profits. On the same token, the alliances I've identified as easier are easier to form because they have more win, whereas those that are harder to form are harder because one party doesn't have much to win, and sometimes feel the alliance would be a loss. The best way to evolve and link the local sphere to the global sphere is through governmental relations. There are already institutions in place, such as the United Nations, that would allow for effective and relatively effortless implementation of local ideals on a global level.
ReplyDelete-Steven Quintero
Connecting institutions in the public sphere for the purpose of implementing practices of Fair Trade poses a distinct challenge for each individual link in the chain leading to a Fair Trade world. Whether it is the promise of a small business to participate only in ethical business practices and trade that is officially Fair or the implementation by a large governing body of a policy to only import and export products that are certified Fair Trade, the connections between public institutions, from the local to the global, become imperative in the dream of making this world a world of responsible, ethical, sustainable and FAIR trade. Each link is equally important and represents a necessary step in this progressive journey; however, some alliances are easier to form than others.
ReplyDeleteThanks to bureaucratic red tape, getting the complete cooperation of any large government with Fair Trade practices is and will continue to be extremely difficult. Unlike a small business owner or a personal shopper who, upon deciding to conform strictly to Fair Trade standards when it comes to their consumer habits, can easily implement and maintain this decision, a large government is not as easily or readily able to do so. A large government is not easily or readily to reform any policy for that matter. Furthermore, there is not a singular alliance a large institution like a government can make when trying to tackle an ideal like Fair Trade. A small business owner can easily work exclusively with Fair Trade producers, but a government cannot even feasibly do that (which would be a huge number of alliances in itself) without having several other institutions (especially public lobbies) come together in order get this policy passed in the first place. Then other important alliances the government already has, like its relationship with public schools or with the domestic and international agricultural sectors, have to be drastically altered. Where at least one side of an alliance is a large institution, public or private, unfortunately there is never going to be a direct way to implement Fair Trade within the junction: intermediaries will always be necessary. These intermediary connections just add time onto the fulfillment of an ideal Fair Trade World and thus seem to hinder progress, however I do not see how it would be possible to make any progress at all without them,
Which alliances do you think are easiest to form, and which require the most struggle?
ReplyDeleteTo be a movement, the cause must involve many bodies, including individuals and groups, to be successful in making a positive change. The same is the case with that of Fair Trade. Because there are so many phases and factors involved, there also must be quite a few alliances intertwined to do just work for the local and greater of communities.
Alliances are not always simple to form, let alone, maintain. Those that I would say are easiest to form are alliances that deal in the same are of the production like. If two parties are well versed on a particular aspect but on a different level or scale their communication of thoughts, ideas and actions toward a common goal are simple. For example, the local Food Lion would have a very open line of communication with the corporation. Regarding Fair Trade, if the local store sees that people are gravitating toward items that are fair trade certified they will be able to document and improve their carrying of those products. Within this example is also another easily formed alliance, the consumer and the grocer. Consumers can simply voice a concern or praise to the local grocer, which will eventually make it to those who make larger decisions.
Of those alliances that are difficult to form regarding Fair Trade, I would have to say that the connection to the public is the most interesting. People need to be educated by many different means; however, those who are knowledgeable have a difficult time gaining interest because of the "fad-like" preceded reputation of such a movement. Groups who are all activists in the Fair Trade sector must connect and continue to expand their grasp with community members so that they can inform others.
In the struggle to create a successful campaign for Fair Trade, I believe, the alliance that was easiest to form was that with students who represent part of a public education institution. As undergraduate students at UNC, most students pursue a liberal arts education which opens them to diverse topics in the classroom and therefore creates a universal appeal to their educational experiences and also the formation of their own belief systems. Already many students serve as activists for some facet of the campaign for Human Rights whether they recognize their work as such or not, so to engender support for Fair Trade is not as difficult. It is not at all hard to make students understand the global benefits of fair trade, and the idea that every person should receive a fair wage for their goods and services seems almost common sense. Additionally, because students can see no significant harm to their own well being from supporting Fair Trade they do not have any serious objections. The greatest obstacle with students is simply how to get them to actively participate in the campaign for Fair Trade beyond just agreeing with or voicing support for the campaign.
ReplyDeleteThe most difficult alliance to form is that with businesses and corporate institutions, however, I do believe that Chapel Hill and Carrboro as a whole are probably some of the most open and “human rights” friendly towns around. Many local businesses have already made a commitment to sell some fair trade products; however, getting larger franchised businesses to take the same stand for fair trade proves to be very difficult. For only reason, local owners of franchises have very little to do with how the business is actually run, what products are bought, sold, and promoted in their company. Additionally, promoting fair trade also means an economic loss often for the business because supporting fair trade means a commitment to paying a fair and just wage for the goods and services the business receives. To change this fact, the mindset of the business owner must first be changed from profit oriented goals to something greater.
Nicole McClain