Tag: Fair Trade

What ‘fair trade’ was originally about: The Haslemere Declaration of 1968

Published on by CIGH Exeter2 Comments

 

Andrea Franc
University of Basel 

When thinking about today’s phenomenon of ‘fair trade’, it immediately brings to mind coffee with the ‘fair trade’ tag, nowadays seemingly found in just about every supermarket. But if we go back to fair trade’s origins in 1968, these same coffee smallholders were nowhere to be found in the burgeoning movement’s founding document, the Haslemere Declaration. So how did we get to where we are today? Continue reading “What ‘fair trade’ was originally about: The Haslemere Declaration of 1968” →

Boycotting Apartheid: the Global Politics of ‘Fair Trade’

Published on by CIGH Exeter2 Comments

Free Nelson MandelaDavid Thackeray

As  a  child  there  were  few  experiences  I  looked  forward  to  more  than  a  trip  up  to  London  with  my  father  to  visit  Hamleys  toy  store  in  the  run-up  to  Christmas.  Rather  unusually  perhaps,  these  visits  to  the  capital  were  also  occasionally  marked  by  a  stop  at  South  Africa  House  to  see  the  Anti-Apartheid  picket  of  the  embassy,  organised  to  call  for  the  release  of  ANC  leader  Nelson  Mandela.  We  had  moved  to  the  UK  from  New  Zealand  a  few  years  beforehand,  and  Dad  would  always  use  such  occasions  to  regale  me  with  proud  memories  of  the  protests  which  greeted  South  Africa’s  notorious  rugby  tour  in  1981.  When  the  Springboks  came  to  our  home  city  of  Hamilton,  a  key  centre  of  Maori  culture,  crowd  protests  led  to  the  abandonment  of  a  test  against  the  All  Blacks.  Another  game  became  a  farce  when  flour  bombs  and  leaflets  were  scattered  over  the  pitch  from  a  light  aeroplane. Continue reading “Boycotting Apartheid: the Global Politics of ‘Fair Trade’” →