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Harry Potter and the Fair Trade Social Enterprise

Jeff Trexler | Saturday 23rd May 2009

This week I've been reading Melissa Anelli's Harry, A History, a revelatory examination of Harry Potter fandom.

Harry, A History illustrates how JK Rowling's fantasy novels gave rise to a vibrant and constructive social network. For instance, Anelli describes the work the Harry Potter Alliance, whose agenda for social change includes persuading the producers of licensed Harry Potter chocolate to adopt rigorous fair trade practices. Anelli also explores such intriguing questions as communal norms and censorship, the adoption of Dumbledore as an icon of gay rights initiatives, the relationship of nonprofit fan groups to corporate publishers and the significance of online fandom as a form of mass collaboration.

Coincidentally, this weekend is also the first LeakyCon, a global gathering of Harry Potter fans in Boston, Massachusetts. Not surprisingly, all proceeds from this convention go to charities--namely, the Harry Potter Alliance and Book Aid International.

Fandom is a phenomenon all too often ignored in social entrepreneurship, yet if you study it carefully you'll find a rich array of initiatives aimed at using using a fictional world to make the world in which we live a better place. For example, Star Trek has inspired its own social ethic, at least one utopian community and any number of charitable initiatives. The Firefly-inspired Browncoats also continue to be quite active in charity well after the cancellation of the show. In fact, the term "science fiction" itself derives from an earlier word, "scientifiction," used to promote science-based fiction aimed at improving society.

More generally, here's the moral of today's story. One of the fundamental principles of social enterprise is breaking down old barriers. The for-profit/nonprofit divide is a conspicuous example, but it should by no means the only wall torn down. Equally important: eliminating the gap between (so-called) high culture and pop culture, an artificial and ultimately unhelpful division that keeps us from reaching our highest potential.

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Rodney North 23 May 2009

What a welcome surprise to see this post about the Harry Potter Alliance and especailly about the effort to get all Harry Potter-licensed chocolate converted to Fair Trade.

A friend and colleague of mine is leading this effort and she only told me about it last week. (I had never heard of the Harry Potter Alliance before). And now I'm reading about it on JustMeans. Small world indeed.