Demystifying Fair Trade in France: The History of an Ambiguous Project

Nil Özçağlar-Toulouse (), Amina Béji-Bécheur (), Matthieu Gateau () and Philippe Robert-Demontrond ()
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Nil Özçağlar-Toulouse: LSMRC - Lille School of Management Research Center - ULR 4112 - SKEMA Business School - Université de Lille
Amina Béji-Bécheur: IRG - Institut de Recherche en Gestion - UPEM - Université Paris-Est Marne-la-Vallée - UPEC UP12 - Université Paris-Est Créteil Val-de-Marne - Paris 12
Matthieu Gateau: CGC - Centre Georges Chevrier. Ordre et désordre dans l'histoire des sociétés (UMR5605) - UB - Université de Bourgogne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
Philippe Robert-Demontrond: CREM - Centre de recherche en économie et management - UNICAEN - Université de Caen Normandie - NU - Normandie Université - UR - Université de Rennes - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique

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Abstract: In France, Fair Trade arrived on the scene in the late twentieth century, and since then has passed through several experimental phases before becoming an enduring ''realistic'' economic alternative. To understand the transformation, this article defines Fair Trade as a social construct issues and tensions of which change depending on the point of entry. By conducting a secondary analysis of several data sets from varied sources, including documentary material, interviews, and observations , the authors trace the history of Fair Trade in France, define its introduction as a system, describe its institutionalization, and contribute to a greater understanding of how its ideals have changed and become more professional over time. The analyses reveal that the term ''Fair Trade'' has become ambiguous, spanning divergent and conflicting ideas and projects, including opening and closing conventional market systems and alter-globalization and anti-globalization.

Keywords: networks; institutionalization; history; professionalism; alter-/anti-globalization Fair Trade; France (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2010
Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://ube.hal.science/hal-01598067v1
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Published in Journal of Business Ethics, 2010, 92 (S2), pp.205-216. ⟨10.1007/s10551-010-0579-x⟩

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-01598067

DOI: 10.1007/s10551-010-0579-x

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