From Doing Good to Launching a Movement

Women in business were clearly not the norm in 1946. Nevertheless, inspired by compassion, tenacity and an unwavering commitment to provide social and economic justice to enterprising artisans and social entrepreneurs, Edna Ruth Byler not only excelled at marketing handiwork of impoverished people around the world, the social enterprise she established and that would evolve into the international non-profit Ten Thousand Villages spurred a world-wide fair trade movement. As a founding member of the World Fair Trade Organization, WFTO, and a long-standing member of the Fair Trade Federation, FTF, Ten Thousand Villages remains an innovative leader within the movement it launched. Serving as a global network of fair trade organizations and enterprises, the WFTO enables producers, artisans and social entrepreneurs to improve their lives and communities through fair trade. WFTO amplifies the individual voices of these enterprising producers, advocating and advancing the concept of fair trade. Comprised of businesses and associations fully committed to fair trade, the FTF ensures fair wages and good employment opportunities to the economically disadvantaged, those most at risk of being exploited, unemployed, underemployed and/or perpetually locked into cyclic poverty.

Recognized as the "father" of modern economics, Adam Smith is credited as the world's first economist to propound the concept of free trade, followed by other innovative thinkers, eminent economists and activists such as John Maynard Keynes and David Ricardo. Free trade concepts coupled with social and economic justice, in turn, generated greater interest in fair trade and the present-day fair trade movements led by activists such as David C. Korten. The establishment of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, GATT, back in 1947, however, was a pivotal shift to boost global trade across markets. GATT was succeeded by the World Trade Organization, WTO, which was established in Geneva, Switzerland in 1995 as an outcome of the Uruguay Round negotiations. The WTO has since received both high acclaim and severe criticism for its role in directing global markets. In the years subsequent to the notorious Battle in Seattle during the WTO Ministerial Conference in 1999, free trade and fair trade have catapulted front and center in the news as well as in the collective consciousness. Free trade and fair trade have thus transcended economics, becoming a global social issue, particularly as it relates to the extremely disadvantaged and disenfranchised people of the world.

Protestors and activists opposing the WTO, favoring fair trade concepts, believe the very organization created to enhance global markets has actually limited its initial intentions by primarily serving the agenda of multi-national corporations at the expense of the world's most impoverished people and communities. In a series of rulings, the WTO struck down measures that would actually help the poorest of the poor and protect the environment, while advancing health and safety issues to instead promote the interests of private, predominantly American-based companies. "The WTO seems on a crusade to increase private profit at the expense of all other considerations, including the well-being and quality of life of the mass of the world's people," explains Friends of the Earth International campaigner Ronnie Hall, noting "It seems to have a relentless drive to extend its [own] power."

By design, free trade provides a coordinated system of trade policy(ies) ensuring all traders the right and opportunity to conduct and transact business without interference from government or governmental agencies. According to the law of comparative advantage, free trade policy provides mutual benefits to trading partners from different countries or regions in transacting the trade of goods and services. Under a free trade policy, prices are intended to reflect authentic supply and demand, thus serving as the sole determinant of resource allocation, as opposed to other types of trade policy in which the allocation of goods and services among trading countries can be unduly influenced to create artificial prices. Such artificial prices are generally the result of protectionist trade policies, whereby government intervention in the market through price adjustments and supply restrictions impacts prices and the overall cost of doing business in a global economy. Such government interventions have the potential to increase or decrease the cost of goods and services to both producers and consumers.

Conversely, Fair Trade has evolved to become a sophisticated, organized social movement, centered on a market-based approach to facilitate trading conditions for producers in developing countries while promoting sustainability. The Fair Trade movement advocates higher prices to producers to diminish worker exploitation, offering living wages and safe working conditions through set social and environmental standards. Focused primarily on exports from developing countries to developed countries, (most commonly handicrafts, coffee, cocoa, sugar, tea, bananas, honey, cotton, wine, fresh fruit, chocolate, flowers and gold), Fair Trade has redefined how many organizations as well as consumers do business.

Despite exceptional advances made possible by the Fair Trade movement, as of 2010, multiple layers obstructing free enterprise and social enterprise remain in a global market dominated by multi-national corporations. The emergence of new social enterprises, NGOs and international non-profits has served to recognize, serve and give voice to enterprising artisans in impoverished communities adversely affected by such obstacles. Edna Ruth Byler and countless other social entrepreneurs through the years have beamed an intense spotlight on the dire need to elevate all enterprising artisans, but have their efforts been sufficient? Has the social enterprise sector as a whole been effective in raising awareness of the need to have trade policies that truly benefit everyone without bias? Are consumers savvy enough of the impact of their purchases and buying choices to support more social enterprises that help improve the lives of disenfranchised artisans? How should social enterprise pattern its activities to protect the most vulnerable laborers and artisans? How can international trade policies be reconstructed to represent the interest of all enterprises and entrepreneurs, irrespective of financial or political clout? And lasting, what role should social enterprise as a sector play in bringing about a more equitable global economy?

Check out my next post, Free Trade vs Fair Trade, to see the impact the Fair Trade movement and social enterprise has had on producers, workers and artisans in the poorest communities.

Photo Credit: Wikipedia