The DOI matches its Crossref record; 76 of the 76 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Weak Coffee: Certification and Co-Optation in the Fair Trade Movement
Open accessAbstract
The sociological literature on social movement organizations (SMOs) has come to recognize that under neoliberal globalization many SMOs have moved from an emphasis on the state as the locus of change toward a focus on corpo-rations as targets. This shift has led some SMOs to turn to forms of market-based private regulatory action. The use of one such tactic—voluntary, third-party product certification—has grown substantially, as SMOs seek ways to hold stateless firms accountable. This article explores the case of the international fair trade movement, which aims to change the inequitable terms of global trade in commodities for small farmers, artisans, and waged laborers. Drawing from interviews with a range of fair trade participants, document analysis, and media coverage, the article describes fair trade’s growing relationship with multinational coffee firms, particularly Starbucks and Nestlé. It explores intra-movement conflicts over the terms for and the effects of corporate participation in fair trade, and illuminates tensions between conceptualizations of fair trade as movement, market, and system. The article makes two arguments. First, while fair trade has succeeded partially in reembedding market exchange within systems of social and moral rela-tions, it has also proved susceptible to the power of corporate actors to disembed the alternative through a process of movement co-optation. Second, it argues that co-optation takes a unique form in the context of social movements whose principal tools to achieve social change are certification and labeling: it occurs primarily on the terrain of standards, in the form of weakening or dilution. Keywords: social movements; co-optation; certification; fair trade;
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“Sociological research has established that this resulted in these multinationals effectively co-opting the notion of fair trade.”
From Rethinking open source generative AI: open washing and the EU AI Act (2024) · cites this paper as [26]
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Mascia, M. B., Pailler, S., Krithivasan, R., Roshchanka, V., Burns, D. N., Mlotha, M. J., Murray, D. R., & Peng, N. (2014) · Biological Conservation · doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2013.11.021 · Cited by 231
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Amenta, E., & Polletta, F. (2019) · Annual Review of Sociology · doi:10.1146/annurev-soc-073018-022342 · Cited by 189
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Metadata
- Authors
- Jaffee, D.
- Corresponding author
- Daniel Jaffee
- ORCID
- Daniel Jaffee
- Venue
- Social Problems
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2012-02
- Volume
- 59
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 94-116
- ISSN
- 0037-7791 (ISSN-L)
- 1533-8533
- OpenAlex
- W2274736359
- Cited by
- 188
- References
- 76
- Citations by year
- 2026: 22 · 2025: 12 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 13 · 2021: 15 · 2020: 15 · 2019: 11 · 2018: 18 · 2017: 20 · 2016: 11 · 2015: 16 · 2014: 13 · 2013: 8 · 2012: 2
- FWCI
- 37.10
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- Licence
- cc-by-nc-nd
- Locations
- Social Problems (publishedVersion)
- PDXScholar (Portland State University) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Strategy and Management › Global trade, sustainability, and social impact
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management › Management and Organizational Studies
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Plant Science › Organic Food and Agriculture
- Keywords
- fair trade movement, co-optation, social movement organizations, Starbucks, Nestlé, coffee industry, neoliberal globalization, market-based regulation, smallholder farmers, commodity trade
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