Sunday, February 12, 2012

Seeking Post Doc Funding for Fair Trade Study

I am embarking on some post doc research in Peru/Bolivia using ethnographic study and economic theory to measure the differences that country support and gender create in Fair Trade.  This will build on my doctoral research on the effect of Fair Trade on indigenous women in the Andes region.

The rules are the same globally, but different countries support Fair Trade producers in different ways I will do a comparative study of indigenous alpaca knitters in the same Andean region of Bolivia/Peru.  Peru invests more money than Bolivia does in rural economic development and the alpaca industry in particular.  As a result, Peru has a much more vibrant and productive alpaca clothing market than Bolivia does.  Does Fair Trade need to be more country/region specific in its rules? 

Also I want to study how families benefit differently (or not) if the principal Fair Trade member is a male or female.  I suspect that men spend their Fair Trade earnings more on capital investments (equipment, land, larger projects) and women spend their earnings more on the children.  I will do a comparative study of Bolivian Fair Trade families with moms working in crafts versus dads working in agriculture (chocolate, coffee). 

I'm looking for about $6,000 to cover travel and lodging expenses and to pay two helpers (in country).  The study is from May 2012 - July 2012.  I am seeking donations and/or suggestions of where I could go for such funding. 

I now have a publisher interested in the project which is good.

Please respond for more info. Thanks!

Tamara Stenn, DA
Keene State College
Adjunct Professor: Integrative Studies, Fair Trade, Management, Economics

"To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness." Howard Zinn

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