EconPapers    
Economics at your fingertips  
 

Ethical Trading and Socioeconomic Transformation: Critical Reflections on the South African Wine Industry

David Bek, Cheryl McEwan and Karen Bek
Additional contact information
David Bek: Department of Geography, University of Durham, Science Site, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE, England
Cheryl McEwan: Department of Geography, University of Durham, Science Site, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE, England
Karen Bek: Department of Sociology, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, England

Environment and Planning A, 2007, vol. 39, issue 2, 301-319

Abstract: Newly emerging ethical trade practices in the South African wine industry are examined as a way of engaging with debates about the ability of alternative trade approaches to facilitate meaningful opportunities for socioeconomic development in the global South. The South African wine industry has undergone rapid restructuring since the end of apartheid in order to meet the demands of international markets. However, transforming racially skewed ownership and skill patterns is proving a particular challenge. In this paper we outline some of the initiatives that have been introduced to stimulate socioeconomic change within the industry. By utilising analytical tools such as commodity chains, networks, and cultural approaches we demonstrate that a complex array of forces is driving change on the ground. Such forces include national imperatives derived from the legacy of apartheid and the concerns of consumers in the global North. We conclude by considering the types of local and global constraints that need to be challenged if these initiatives are to be successful in facilitating meaningful socioeconomic transformation within the wine industry.

Date: 2007
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

Downloads: (external link)
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1068/a3831 (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:envira:v:39:y:2007:i:2:p:301-319

DOI: 10.1068/a3831

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Environment and Planning A
Bibliographic data for series maintained by SAGE Publications ().

 
Page updated 2025-03-19
Handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:39:y:2007:i:2:p:301-319