Abstract:
This thesis answers some important questions about how Fair Trade is experienced and
perceived by some Northern sellers, consumers, activists, advocates, practitioners, and an
importer. As it relates to sellers, I focus only on small scale independent businesses (i.e. I do not
include large corporate businesses in my interview sample). Fair Trade works to establish a
dignified livelihood for many producers in the South. Some of the most important actors in the
Fair Trade movement are the people who buy, sell, and/or advocate for Fair Trade in the North.
Fair Trade is largely a consumer movement which relies on the purchase of Fair Trade products.
Without consumers purchasing Fair Trade products, retailers providing the products for sale, and
activists raising awareness of Fair Trade, the movement, as it is presently constituted, would be
non-existent. This qualitative research is based on 19 in-depth i.nterviews with nine interviewees
involved with Fair Trade in Canada. I focus on benefits, challenges, and limitations of Fair
Trade in the context of their involvement with it. I describe and analyze how people become
involved with Fair Trade, what motivates them to do so, what they hope to achieve, and the
benefits of being involved. I also describe and analyze how people understand and deal with any
challenges and limitations associated with their involvement with Fair Trade. I also explore
whether involvement with Fair Trade influences how people think about other products that they
purchase and, if so, in what ways. I focus mainly on the commodity of coffee, but my discussion
is not limited to this single commodity. Interviewees' experiences with and participation in Fair
Trade vary in terms of their level of involvement and interest in the broader Fair Trade
movement (as opposed to just participating in the market component). This research reveals that
while Fair Trade is a small movement, sellers, consumers, and activists have had much success
in the advancement of Fair Trade. While challenges have not deterred interviewees from
continuing to participate in Fair Trade, analysis and explanation of such challenges provides the
opportunity for Fair Trade practitioners to develop effective solutions in an effort to meet the
needs of various Fair Trade actors.
