tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18714640155361879962024-02-18T22:03:17.794-05:00KUSIKUY - make yourself happyKUSIKUY means "Make yourself happy" in Quechua - the language of Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador's Andes Mountains. Make yourself happy exploring the lives and experiences of indigenous women working under the Fair Trade model. As a Fair Trade producer, journalist, and academic, I strive to make authentic voices heard in order to create public discussion, grow understanding, and bring about greater justice.Dr. Tamara Stennhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14736650843377088392noreply@blogger.comBlogger89125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1871464015536187996.post-53185842874482131902015-01-11T10:58:00.003-05:002015-01-11T11:07:40.394-05:00Examining Gaps in Justice and Well Being for Fair Trade Women Across Industries<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;">
<b><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">This paper was presented January 5th in Boston, MA at the </span></span>the Annual Meeting of The Allied Social Science Associations, the American Economic Association, the Union for Radical Political Economics and the International Association for Feminist Economics.</b></div>
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<i>This paper will be printed in full in the upcoming edition of Global Journals: GJHSS Volume 14 Issue 9 Version 1.0 - https://globaljournals.org/</i></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt;">Short Description</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt;">: The
$6.8 billion Fair Trade industry holds the premise that producer capabilities
and opportunities are enhanced through FT participation. However,
undifferentiated FT standards and gender-based limitations on engagement impact
how much justice is realized by producers.</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 8.0pt;">Problem</span></b><span style="background: white; color: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 8.0pt;">: </span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Undifferentiated
Fair Trade standards and gender-based limitations on engagement negatively
impact how justice is realized by producers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Solution</span></b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">:
Democratize Fair Trade for greater social-economic justice and sustainability by
using public reasoning to growing collaboration and transparency between Fair
Trade consumers, institutions, producers and government.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Intro - Summary<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Fair
Trade brings economic justice to disadvantaged producers by incorporating
higher wages, environmental protection and education into the cost of
production.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Fair Trade
industry is valued at $6.8 billion with 10% annual growth (WFTO, 2012).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It impacts millions of people, 30% of
whom are women (WFTO, 2013).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fair
Trade guidelines, developed by European and US institutions, are applied to all
production with the expectation that capabilities and opportunities are equally
enhanced.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet they are not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This paper examines through comparative
study how undifferentiated Fair Trade standards and gender-based limitations on
engagement negatively impact how justice is realized by producers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The author suggests that by
democratizing Fair Trade though regular public reasoning sessions targeting
both genders, greater collaboration and reciprocity can be realized resulting
in expanded capabilities and opportunities, economic resilience and an improved
quality of life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Looking at this
as a case study of development policy in general, an argument can be made that
by building gender specific public reasoning into early and ongoing project
design and development, a more just and sustainable outcome can be achieved.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Dr. Tamara Stennhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14736650843377088392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1871464015536187996.post-68193990005817730682014-07-18T22:08:00.000-04:002014-07-18T22:08:54.705-04:00It's About Time<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.652000427246094px;">As seen in the reformer newspaper: <a href="http://www.reformer.com/letterstotheeditor/ci_26148326/letter-box" target="_blank">Brattleboro Reformer</a></span></span><div>
<br /><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.652000427246094px; margin-bottom: 11.326px;">
Editor of the <i>Reformer</i>:</div>
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I earned three Brattleboro Time Trade hours walking in the Fourth of July parade, recently, and made two new friends, one who can help my husband book gigs and the other who can help us clean out a garage. I’ll pay them in the hours I just earned from the parade.</div>
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I time traded my son’s recent Bar Mitzvah spending hours I earned by attending meetings and taking notes, teaching a fellow Time Trader how to use a computer app, providing housing, and helping time traders to build a puppet and props for the 4th of July parade. I used these hours to "pay" for Hebrew tutoring for my son, food servers for our event, and challah bread baked fresh for the ceremony. This cost me a total of 40 hours in Time Trade currency. I would not have been able to afford this if it were not for Time Trade.</div>
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Fellow Time Traders have similar stories. One member is earning time by helping another test and improve raw and fermented food recipes for a new cookbook, a task she loves because it introduces her to new ways of approaching food. She spends her time trade hours getting her bicycle repaired and receiving massages. Kiera King is earning hours by managing the Time Trade social media and is spending them on French lessons and having another time trader catalog a large collection of children’s books which will then be sold on <a href="http://amazon.com/" style="-webkit-transition: 0.1s ease-out; color: #5278ae; text-decoration: none; transition: 0.1s ease-out;">Amazon.com</a>.</div>
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In economics, a time-based currency is an alternative currency where the unit of exchange is the person-hour. This is not a new idea, back in 1832, Welsh industrialist Robert Owen issues Labour Notes in time denominations and later worked with economist John Gray to create a National Chamber of Commerce as a central bank issuing Labour Currency. This was to be used for an exchange for goods and services based on the time it took to make or perform them.</div>
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Today’s central bank for time currencies is global and online. U.S. academic and lawyer, Edgar S. Cahn, created TimeBanks USA, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization established in 1995. Brattleboro Time Trade is a member of TimeBanks USA and houses a custom made online interface that enables members to make exchanges, list needs, offer skills and connect. Operating on just $12,350 a year and with unlimited Time Trade hours, Brattleboro Time Trade has steadily grown into a region hub with 280 members from surrounding towns -- Rutland, Springfield, Putney, Hinsdale, Guilford, Dummerston, Marlboro, Westminster, Bellows Falls, Wilmington, Jacksonville, Whitingham, Townsend and, of course, Brattleboro. Currently the group has raised more than half of its annual budget through dues, donations, fund raisers and grants.</div>
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Worldwide time currencies are gaining popularity as well, and governments are also beginning to support time currency valuing its ability to build social equality and opportunity; though we may not all have cash, we do all have time.</div>
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For more information, visit <a href="http://brattleboro.timebanks.org/" style="-webkit-transition: 0.1s ease-out; color: #5278ae; text-decoration: none; transition: 0.1s ease-out;">http://brattleboro.timebanks.org/</a> or call 802-246-1199.</div>
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<b>Tamara Stenn</b></div>
</div>
Dr. Tamara Stennhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14736650843377088392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1871464015536187996.post-3531844426663557392014-06-15T07:26:00.001-04:002014-06-15T07:34:56.257-04:00Using Play Talking Stick to better understand a graduate programI used a shortened version of the Play Talking Stick workshop with a mixed group of academics: professors, administrators, students and alumni at an international Graduate School in the US. There is rich input and diversity of responses that Play Talking Stick captures when it is used with a diverse group of people from many different organizational levels.<br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria;">What the SIT Graduate Institute means to us.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Cambria;">Participants
in a May 2014 SIT Learning Lunch explored “Play Talking Stick” an ethnographic
research tool developed by <a href="http://graduate.sit.edu/sit-graduate-institute/" target="_blank">SIT (School for International Training) Graduate Institute</a> adjunct faculty, Dr. Tamara Stenn.</span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> </span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">In the spirit of SIT experiential
learning, these participants engaged in a shortened version of the two-hour
Play Talking Stick workshop.</span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> </span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">The
following are the results of this mini-session where participants explored,
“What SIT Means to Me,” through shared monologues and guided group
discussion.</span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> </span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Play Talking Stick
quantifies experiences and identifies patterns and trends.</span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> </span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">Designed for socio-economic study, it
can be used in social research, needs assessments, situational analysis, team
building, and conflict resolution.</span><span style="font-family: Cambria;">
</span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Four participants
were present: a current SIT international student in the management program, two alumni – one foreign
and from the language arts program and the other a US citizen rom the management program, plus an administrator (also an alumna), and a management program faculty
member.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The following is an
analysis of what they found SIT meant to them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is not meant to be a definitive work on what SIT is,
but rather an example of how the tool worked in this particular context.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is interesting to note the diversity
of participants which added to there richness of the responses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For further understanding of what SIT
means to people, a larger study with mixed groups of 12 to 25 participants is
recommended.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A purpose or applied
use for data gathering would also make the exercise more meaningful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Findings<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">More than a
third of SIT’s meaning revolved around the support people felt being at the
Graduate Institute (fig. 1).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Being
at SIT is….</span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">being with other people who are like minded with a shared mentality,”
explained one participant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>“Everybody has a safe platform to express their cause and share their
culture,” explained another.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
idea of support seemed to provide the foundation for the development of
different ideas, which participants referred to with almost a 30%
frequency.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is exemplified in
the following statement: (SIT is…) “t</span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Grande"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">he part of a system that is
working </span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">to create change makers and people who see the world in a little bit
of a different way.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In addition
to new ideas, peace building and world improvement were also closely associated
with the meaning of SIT.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>More the
20% of all conversation mentioned these themes in statements such as, “</span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Grande"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Being
here means supporting a greater grander vision for peace in the world, </span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">a role in
making the world a better place,” and,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>“</span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Grande"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">SIT is an international platform where it has a potentiality
to provide intercultural experience to promote peace in the region.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Participants also associated SIT with
being a place of culture and idea sharing, a theme that emerged with a 14%
relative frequency.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">(Fig. 1)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Talking
Stick responses<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Grande"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Upon listening to each
others’ ideas about what SIT meant, participants engaged in a brief guided
discussion about the challenges faced at SIT.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These included intercultural tensions as complex and varied
cultures were being accommodated and understood at a rapid, low context,
pace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some participants felt that
though diverse cultures were recognized and valued at SIT, it was in the
context of and dominated by, US culture with little effort being made to
genuinely engage in other cultural ways of being.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This tied into the recognition that the short time (nine
months) that students had to engage in their learning put extra pressure on
them, something particularly difficult for international students for whom
English was not their first language.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Language challenges, cultural differences and an accelerated rate of
learning were challenging to participants.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In addition, there were high expectations for results placed
on the students themselves and also faculty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Grande"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Another dynamic that received
some discussion was the tension between career building which brought about
greater earnings, and being “mission driven” where good will rather than pay
was most valued and sought after.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It was asked how the cost of graduate school could be justified when
tuition needed to be paid in dollars and not good will.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The financial challenges of attending
SIT were recognized in this context.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Grande"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">This last dynamic was reflected
in the academic environment at SIT where the application of learning was both exciting
and challenging.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, the leap
from theoretical to practical or applied ideas was a struggle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Participants found that other organizations
were sometimes resistant to new or different ideas learned at SIT.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The challenge of applying new learning also
tied in with the theme of the pursuit of a traditional career with steady
earnings versus working as a pioneer in new areas of development. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Grande"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Benefits to SIT participation
were often the flip side of the challenges, for example, the learning of new
things.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Participants reported
enjoying the experiential nature of SIT and the fact that they had the
opportunity to continuously try out new things and that learning could be
applied<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>to current, past and
future experiences.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Grande"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">It was felt that SIT enabled
participants to open their minds by creating a larger world view, mind set and
understanding.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The term “karma
points” was used in reference to the way that interculturalism and evolving
ideas were embraced and valued at SIT.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The idea of working and learning together was also recognized.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A benefit that many defined was the
ability to contribute to others’ learning and the opportunity to witness the
cultivation of new ideas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is
reflected in Fig. 1 with multiple references to new ideas in the categories
“different ideas” and “shared ideas.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Together these categories represent almost half of all responses.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Grande"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">In conclusion, SIT provides a
diverse cultural experience, a safe place to try out and explore new ideas and shared
interests in peacebuilding and world development.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It holds the challenge of embracing cultural diversity in
the face of a dominant US culture.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>SIT creates a place in which one straddles the complexities of applied learning,
generates new ideas, and balances being mission based with the practicalities
of career building and bill paying.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Grande"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">For more information about
Play Talking Stick, including other examples of how and where it has been used
with other organizations, institutions and in published research, please
contact Tamara Stenn at </span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">tamara.stenn@sit.edu.</span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Grande"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Dr. Tamara Stennhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14736650843377088392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1871464015536187996.post-56384013053408582082014-06-14T10:01:00.001-04:002014-06-14T10:04:33.491-04:00Using "Play Talking Stick" for situational analysis, needs assessment and coalition building.I've spent the last few months using the "Play Talking Stick" ethnographic research tool I created for my doctoral and post doc field research into Fair Trade to see how it works in other settings: non profit, academic and private industry. The research findings from my original study of indigenous women are published in my book, <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Cultural-Political-Intersection-Trade-Justice/dp/1137335270/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1402752220&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=cultural+and+political+interseciton+of+fair+trade+and+jsutice" target="_blank">The cultural and political intersection of fair trade and justice</a></i> (Palgrave, 2013).<br />
<br />
Play Talking Stick is presented as an interactive 2 hour workshop where 8-20 participants sit in a circle and, in native American style, pass around a stick that gives permission for the holder to speak their mind about a particular topic while everyone else listens without interruption or comment. Afterwards, I facilitate participants in processing what was heard and make a list of benefits and challenges the particular topic brings. I later quantify and analyze the original talking stick data using a <a href="http://tamsys.sourceforge.net/" target="_blank">TAMS analyzer</a>. The results are interpreted in context with the facilitated discussion that had followed the talking stick and a report is created. Play Talking Stick is helpful in identifying needs and successes, building a common language, supporting organizational development and team-building and creating places where synergy, celebration and improvement can happen. <br />
<br />
The following is result of Play Talking Stick being used to understand 40 freshman students' experience with a required Quantitative Literacy course they take at Keene State College. In the next few blogs I will post results of graduate students, faculty and administration talking about their experience with their international graduate school program; association members talking about their membership experience; and private corporation administration talk about challenges of silo-ed operations. Some of the names of the organizations have been omitted to protect their privacy.<br />
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Assessing IQL 101 – Measuring Fair Trade,
Sparing 2014<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The 41
active students in the spring 2014 IQL Measuring Fair Trade class spoke openly
about their semester-long classroom experience in April 2014.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The theme was, “what IQL means to
me.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Students each took a turn
speaking about their IQL experience and ideas while others listened.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This monologue was recorded and later
coded based on content and emerging themes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Following the speaking and listening exercise, an
interactive discussion of challenges and benefits that students felt from the
IQL experience ensued.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Data was
recorded and coded for content and context using the Talking Stick method and
the TAMS analyzer software.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
Talking Stick method is an ethnographic research tool I developed to identify
values and challenges in different cultures/situations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It enables people to speak openly about
their experiences in an empowering, non-threatening way using their own voices
and lenses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This gives legitimacy
to their feelings, perspectives and creates a platform upon which further
meaning and understanding can be developed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The following is a quantitative report of the results.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Fig. 1 shows
a wordl of the words used and how often.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYZnAoTC2Fjm7JXyQICM7F-Tkzrvg-bZLAnoJWr-OYFEC6vtJNg63baDqpYPzEu1vbjp0D3hVnazdoZIo08X4VNkksUFXFKnVimmZvQTH8B9vrfOHur6jm0Jdd19j3yrQ91J_-WlyzMOzx/s1600/wordlFT.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYZnAoTC2Fjm7JXyQICM7F-Tkzrvg-bZLAnoJWr-OYFEC6vtJNg63baDqpYPzEu1vbjp0D3hVnazdoZIo08X4VNkksUFXFKnVimmZvQTH8B9vrfOHur6jm0Jdd19j3yrQ91J_-WlyzMOzx/s1600/wordlFT.png" height="260" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria; text-indent: 0.5in;">(Fig. 1) Wordl</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Fig. 2 shows
the main categories which emerged through the Talking Stick activity and the
relative frequency in which they were spoken.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVztJJVtRqdQHCa7h0REx8OXBcNfs0qomc4lPfHKlOGZIUeH2rklC940yviecNH0Wko-7OA8OdpQpea4NwAj6Dx40RHQxfBxxeTK7HQD_8nuPa3NkvoVs2btkl-jm0l4A-cotHeA7QDvA_/s1600/FT+graph.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVztJJVtRqdQHCa7h0REx8OXBcNfs0qomc4lPfHKlOGZIUeH2rklC940yviecNH0Wko-7OA8OdpQpea4NwAj6Dx40RHQxfBxxeTK7HQD_8nuPa3NkvoVs2btkl-jm0l4A-cotHeA7QDvA_/s1600/FT+graph.png" height="240" width="400" /></a></div>
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<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">(Fig. 2)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The
category, <i>knowledge</i> included new
learning (mostly in the context of Fair Trade), a greater understanding (in the
context of previously known statistical concepts which were revisited and
further developed) and the application of knowledge to real world situations or
in other classes. Within the
knowledge category, 58% of respondents referenced the new learning aspect of it
while 27% referenced the building of understanding of already known
concepts. This would be expected
in a multi-disciplinary approach towards statistics where there is knowledge
building taking place on several levels.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The next
category, <i>statistics</i>, referenced in
18% of the monologues, had a positive and negative aspect to it. Half of respondents felt the
interdisciplinary approach of the class diluted the statistical focus of the
material and hindered its application elsewhere. “</span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I am afraid that I do not know enough
statistics now, and now there are other classes I have to take, so what do I
do?” asked one concerned student.
These students felt that a course more directed towards general
statistics would be more effective.
“I feel I could have better spent my time maybe taking a stats class or
just a general math course,” explained another student. On the other hand, half of respondents
felt the interdisciplinary approach towards statistics was beneficial. “I think that I learned a degree of
math and how to do real life problems and that it is more enjoyable to learn
math because it is applied to something in real life,” explained on
student. Several students
mentioned the benefits of learning to make excel graphs and write
quantitatively. As a student
stated, “I learned that I could write a quantitative paper.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The <i>Fair Trade</i> category referenced the topic which the IQL was focused
upon. Fair Trade IQL was
approached from the disciplines of economics, sociology and psychology. It included grounded theory and models contained
in the course book, <i>The Cultural and Political
Intersection of Fair Trade and Justice </i>(Stenn, 2013). Students dissected this intersection,
using statistics to prove and/or question common beliefs. All 18 respondents reported a positive experience
with learning about Fair Trade, with comments such as “It was very interesting
learning about Fair Trade.” “I
really liked learning about Fair Trade, I think it's really important.” “The fact that we had to learn about Fair
Trade was great.” However, as noted in the previous category, some felt it
detracted from the statistical nature of the course as seen in the following statement, “…the integration with
the statistics and FT - it was good, but I think it was too much too soon.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The course pedagogy figured
prominently in the Talking Stick results with two tools that students most
often spoke of. One was the use of
teachbacks, where three to five member student teams research and present a
statistical concept to the class with an interactive presentation that
demonstrates the use of the tool (for example calculating the correlation
between the distance of each student’s home from campus and their number of
trips back home per semester). For
a teachback, each student chooses two statistical topics to present and are
grouped with other students also interested in that topic. The two teachbacks are a shared group
grade, based on a rubric, which makes up 20% of the student’s semester
average. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Similar to the split in participant
feedback regarding the preference for a pure statistics class versus an
interdisciplinary approach as seen in the statistics category, the <i>teachback</i> category was equally
split. Half of the students
mentioning teachbacks found them empowering and useful. “I like the teachbacks because if I can
teach something to someone else that's when I know I really have learned how to
do it so with my teachbacks I felt better,” explained a student. Another half found them confusing and
hard to follow. “I thought he
teachbacks were not beneficial,” explained a student. The main point of contention came from the lack of
experience that students had in presenting their statistics topic, and the
speed (too fast) and lack of detail in some presentations. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The other tool was a portfolio
where students presented accumulated assignments in a portfolio for a grade
three times per semester. The
portfolio assignments had all been previously reviewed and presented by student
teams prior to being put into the portfolio, making the portfolios a
presentation of corrected and re-done work. Each portfolio was worth 10% of the students’ grade. In addition students were able to continue
to re-do portfolios that received poor grades or had incomplete work. All students liked the portfolio,
especially the multiple levels of review.
“I liked the portfolios and I liked that we went over it. </span><span style="font-family: Cambria; text-indent: 0.5in;">Four percent of students mentioned
the use of the KSC online text, </span><i style="font-family: Cambria; text-indent: 0.5in;">Making
Fair Comparisons</i><span style="font-family: Cambria; text-indent: 0.5in;">, as being helpful.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">To better understand the data
shared in the talking stick exercise, a discussion about the challenges and
benefits of IQL ensued. One
challenge included creating more support and structure around the teachbacks. A solution was to use the teachbacks as
a review tool rather than a teaching tool. Another challenge was seen in concerns about the statistics
not being general or thorough enough for use in other disciplines. The resulting solution was the use of
worksheets for solving multiple, generic equations and building fluency before
engaging in more critical thinking Fair Trade work. A third challenge related to the way Canvas appeared to
students making finding assignments and files confusing. There were suggestions for better ways
to label files and assignment sin Canvas too so they would be easier to find.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria;">The successes students felt IQL
brought include the their new knowledge about economics, how businesses
operate, Fair Trade, power structures and complexities of trade and its global
aspect. Some said these were
topics they would never have pursued on their own to learn and see the extra
knowledge as a bonus to also learning stats. They report feeling confident in how to identify and
understand Fair Trade and also to recognize bias and misleading information. Students reported
being able to use critical thinking skills, recognize and balance bias, and
build context in which data can be better understood.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">In conclusion, using the Talking
Stick to understand what IQL means to students enables a deeper understanding
of the IQL experience to arise. This
study shows that students are concerned about being successful in college and
relay on the IQL course to build the stats groundwork they need at KSC.</span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span><span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">While there
are many benefits to an interdisciplinary approach to statistics, the data here
shows there also needs to be certain structures put in place to make it work
effectively. Made up of largely
freshman students, it seems a more traditional structure of learning would work
best for IQL students, where lessons are presented in a lecture format with a
text and worksheets with enough repetition to enable fluency to develop first. Then a case study approach that explores
and applies stats to an interdisciplinary topic builds the critical thinking
and applied learning aspect while also growing students’ knowledge of other
subject areas (the “bonus”). The
use of portfolios and multiple reviews seems a good learning tool as are
teachbacks, but used as a topic review rather than an introduction. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">For further questions on this
report, data, findings or other uses.
Please contact Dr. Tamara Stenn tstenn@keene.edu.</span><span style="font-family: Cambria;"> </span></div>
Dr. Tamara Stennhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14736650843377088392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1871464015536187996.post-40634159450157412292014-01-02T07:03:00.003-05:002014-01-02T07:03:43.492-05:00Using the talking stick to understand organizations<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">What NASAGA
Means to me.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Analyzing the results of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Play
Talking Stick for empowerment and connection workshop.<o:p></o:p></i></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
By Tamara Stenn (<a href="mailto:tstenn@keene.edu">tstenn@keene.edu</a>), Dec. 2013</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
For a workshop at NASAGA (North American Simulation and Gaming Assoc.), <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Play Talking Stick for empowerment and
connection</i>, I experimented using an ethnographic research tool I developed
to identify values and challenges in unfamiliar cultures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I used it successfully in training
workshop developed for two different studies and got a better understanding of
how indigenous women experienced Fair Trade in Bolivia – as handicraft artists
and as coffee farmers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Each group
reported data different than what was understood about them previously and what
had been reported in others’ studies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I found the talking stick training enabled people to speak openly about
their experiences in an empowering, non-threatening way using their own voices
and lenses. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This gave legitimacy
to their feelings, perspectives and created a platform upon which further
meaning could be developed.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
I suspected this could be a useful
tool for training needs assessment and community building in the US, especially
in corporate training environments, where outside training was often used to
“fix” something that was wrong.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I felt
trainers did not always know the underlying dynamics of a
department/organization and, like I found in my research, how others understood
the situation was not always the same way the participants did.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">WORKSHOP FINDINGS<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
My NASAGA, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Play Talking Stick for empowerment and connection</i>, workshop was an
experiment to see how this exercise worked in a US environment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The following is a short report of the
results followed by details of how the tool/workshop works.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Feel free to use this yourself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Please tell me how it goes and let me
know if you would like to be contacted for further follow-up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also please contact me to go over these
steps if you are unsure of how it works.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Overall participants found NASAGA
to be a warm, trusting family that supports, nurtures and understands
them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fig. 1 captures the main
themes that came from people’s monologues describing what NASAGA meant to
them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Participants spoke of how
NASAGA is, “<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">home, embracing,
supported” and is a “really incredible positive experience.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Participants spoke of inspiration in
that they received advice, encouragement and guidance from others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One participant explained, “I got all
of the responses back I needed and really good ideas of things to do.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On a personal level a participant
explained, “it is a part of me and I am a part of it.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This sentiment seemed to be shared by
many in the group.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>People felt
supported professionally as well. “The person in front of me actually has the
same dreams and totally gets where I am coming from,” explained one participant
talking about the personal connections, inspiration and spiritual connectedness
felt within NASAGA.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjicFNOUw2ZrfBa-c7II3arHrMFJtbly0LlzlD0LlGQYC6o0USVBVtHfAqRC8_7GVvQmNGRbkZJYuIEEwigUEW9QEARH45AvD_df-RG5xwejUUt3pvBtBsGqb15RrAazorjzO1-2BHyt0f0/s1600/NASAGA.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="197" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjicFNOUw2ZrfBa-c7II3arHrMFJtbly0LlzlD0LlGQYC6o0USVBVtHfAqRC8_7GVvQmNGRbkZJYuIEEwigUEW9QEARH45AvD_df-RG5xwejUUt3pvBtBsGqb15RrAazorjzO1-2BHyt0f0/s320/NASAGA.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="text-align: center; text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="font-size: 10pt; text-align: center; text-indent: 0.5in;">(Fig. 1)
NASAGA, 2013</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Reflecting upon each other’s
experiences, the group identified some shared language about what NASAGA means
to them collectively.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is
connection, belonging, the family one always wanted, welcoming, something to
look forward to, high energy, excitement, comfortable, continuity, a span of integrated
personal to professional interactions, understanding, generosity, sharing,
inspiration, trust, safe, encouragement, big dreaming, real support, a place
that will “help launch” and nurture possibilities, fun on steroids, and a
blast.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The following wordl (<a href="http://www.wordle.net/create">http://www.wordle.net/create</a>) captures all
that was said during the talking stick part of the session (Fig. 2).</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTib9_HLo1h-D5_t6Lz3OGWJh9Lq4huYTGx8wQhsWF6m-wicRppTOACYsNsl3lDQQQ-kvQfEQlUJYNEKCpfxSIGIqNT2tZU79r0-kOe7IwoTy0Mrizfaqp4naTSQ4XcUKRN1_cmLGCA8FS/s1600/wordl.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="175" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTib9_HLo1h-D5_t6Lz3OGWJh9Lq4huYTGx8wQhsWF6m-wicRppTOACYsNsl3lDQQQ-kvQfEQlUJYNEKCpfxSIGIqNT2tZU79r0-kOe7IwoTy0Mrizfaqp4naTSQ4XcUKRN1_cmLGCA8FS/s400/wordl.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 228.65pt;">
<span style="font-size: 10pt; text-align: center;"> (Fig. 2) NASAGA 2013</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Going deeper the challenges of
maintaining a NASAGA connection were discussed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is the cost of the event and also travel, though most
agreed the event price was a “good value.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was also the challenge of taking the time to attend a
NASAGA conference though participants agreed that five to four days were really
essential to have three core days of feeling completely “in it.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Though at times NASAGA can feel
mentally and socially overwhelming, participants felt that there never seems to
be enough one-on-one time with everyone or enough social interactions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most felt that a conference composed of
60 or so extroverted NASAGA members is perfect.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was noted that all of NASAGA seemed extroverted.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Despite the challenges there were
plenty of benefits to be associated with NASAGA.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These include the opportunity to “stay connected with people
we love” and the fun nurturing environment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Participants reported feeling revitalized, encouraged and
that possibilities seemed, possible!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Participants felt they learned a lot, connected with peer mentors, and
acquired new tools to make them more competitive in the marketplace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They reported a positive ROI – for the
investment of time, money and travel angst -<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>noting that, “the best things cost you something.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In conclusion, it was “way worth it!”
as one participant enthusiastically exclaimed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br clear="ALL" style="page-break-before: always;" />
</span></b>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<b>OTHER USES FOR PLAYING TAKING STICK <o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
After experiencing <i>Play Talking Stick </i>participants
brainstormed ways it could be used to support training. It is a good tool for a check-in or
debrief after an activity. It
could be used in a conflict situation to understand better the dynamics of the
situation. It could be used as an
introduction where people share their experiences and feelings, it can be sued
in organizational behavior situations to create a safe environment for sharing,
to have executives and mid managers share thought together or separately and to
build collaboration amongst disparate departments such as marketing and
operations. It is a brainstorming
tool and can also be used with restorative circles.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<b>HOW TO: PLAYING TALKING STICK<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
My Play Talking Stick workshop:
time 1 ½ - 2 hours, number of participants 6-21.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Participants sit in a circle. The activity is introduced. A voice recorder is placed in the
center of the room.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
The talking stick (a 12 inch long 1
inch wide branch or pole) is given to a person to start. The person says their name (or not) and
speaks as much as they want about the topic at hand. All others listen.
When done talking, the speaker passes the stalking stick to the person
to their left. That person speaks
while all listen. The stick is
slowly passed around the circle in this way, with one person speaking and all
else listening. Afterwards the
voice recorder is turned off.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Participants are thanked for
sharing and are then asked to identify the themes they heard emerging from the
exercise. The facilitator writes theses
on a flip chart. Then the
facilitator takes another flip chart paper and divides it in half length-wise
writing “Challenges” on one side. The
group identifies and talks about challenges they are currently facing which the
facilitator jots them down. Then the
facilitator write “Benefits” on the other half and participants together share
what these are (it is always good to end on a positive note).</div>
<!--EndFragment--><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Afterwards the facilitator transcribes
and codes the spoken data from the tape.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Express Scribe is a great free program for transcribing data, <a href="http://express-scribe.en.softonic.com/">http://express-scribe.en.softonic.com/</a>.
I use the TAMS analyzer <a href="http://tamsys.sourceforge.net/">http://tamsys.sourceforge.net/</a>
for data coding.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I look for common
themes in what is spoken and identify them by a single word.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That word becomes my code for that
theme.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I mark the text with that
code each time I see that theme being referenced. TAMS then counts these up for
me and pulls them from the text as coded items. This makes it easy for me to
reference the exact phrase that I coded a certain way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is a free TAMS users guide online
too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I then take the TAMS counts
and graph the quantified data using excel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The group conversation that was captured on the flip chart
paper can be analyzed against this core collected data.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One can look for repeated themes or
dropped topics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Items that were
referenced during the talking stick but dropped in the group discussion can
later be revisited to understand why – was the topic not important to the
entire group?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Was it uncomfortable
to talk openly about?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Was it
merely forgotten or understood differently when in the group context?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(It is interesting to note that the
talk of the spiritual aspect of NASAGA was lost in the large group
discussions.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Through <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Play Talking Stick</i>, a more holistic,
integrated, complex picture of an organization, department, or event emerges. </div>
Dr. Tamara Stennhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14736650843377088392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1871464015536187996.post-528008305372739622013-12-29T10:41:00.000-05:002013-12-29T15:30:09.111-05:00Rediscovering our own Suma Qamana<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<div class="MsoBodyText">
The United States was founded on a strong middle class. Since
that time, distribution of wealth has become wildly unequal. We need to return
to ideals advanced by Franklin and Jefferson and influenced by their
observations of indigenous societies, especially The Iroquois. South Americans
also are returning to these ideals, under the Aegis of the Inca <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Suma Qamana</i>.</div>
<div class="MsoBodyText">
Popular indicators measure well-being and success by
economic gain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>According to United
Nations 2012 indicators, the US wins with the world’s highest GDP of $16.2
trillion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet economic gain comes
at a cost; the cost of the environment whose resources and space is used for
production, people exploited for cheap labor, and community which is placed second
to personal gain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Besides great
wealth, the US also has massive inequality.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It boasts the highest child poverty rate in the developed
world with 21% of US children living in poverty according to the Organization
for Economic Co-operation and Development in February 2011, and an
unprecedented accumulation of capital with the top 10% of US households
controlling almost 75% of all wealth as explained economist, Richard
Wolff.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This inequality and
concentration of wealth, and power, is exactly what our forefathers set out to
avoid when forming this country.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText">
The US was founded on principles of represented democracy,
public opinion, shared property and “happy mediocrity,” as Ben Franklin liked
to put it. These ideas were based on the indigenous ways of the Iroquois
Confederacy which Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, John Hancock and many of the
founding fathers knew well and were greatly influenced by.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Iroquois Confederacy, formed more
then 300 years before European settlers first arrived on the continent, united
disparate warring tribes by focusing on collective gains, shared power and
careful deliberation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Iroquois
Confederacy was a democratic, cohesive, sustainable government and trade
structure that met tribal needs and collectively solved challenges.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Over the centuries the US forefathers’
original indigenous-influenced ideals were eroded by greed, a loss of
collective memory as native populations were decimated, and a growing lust for
power and dominance by US leaders.</div>
<div class="MsoBodyText">
By 2006, the Inca descendents of the Andean region were
tired of 500 years of unsuccessful development.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Though they followed the latest neo-liberal capitalist
models, they were continually plagued by high poverty rates which the Economic Commission
for Latin America reported fluctuated from 35% regionally to 70% in rural
areas, and a according to the National Institute of Statistics, had a 7.3%
infant mortality rate in 2007.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So
upon electing a sympathetic indigenous president, Bolivians re-visited the
times when things were better, before the Spanish conquest and colonization, to
the Inca empire and Tiahuanaco era.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This was a time spanning more than 1,300 years with intact government
and sustainable models of being.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Bolivia, being the most indigenous nation in Latin America, has a
vibrant collective memory of governance and culture from that time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many people in rural areas still abide
by rules and guidelines set up during pre-Inca times.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What resulted from this re-birth of indigenous knowledge was
Suma Qamana in the native language of Aymara, or bien vivir in Spanish which
means to live well together.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText">
The US does not have the opportunity to return to a
collective, indigenous memory of how governance was in a time when people were
content and needs met because this memory arguably no longer exists.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, Suma Qamana offers a model
that parallels those ideals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Going
back to the original doctrines and stated intent of our forefathers when
setting up this country one finds many similarities from the Iroquois
Confederacy-inspired government of that time to the ideas of Suma Qamana today.</div>
<div class="MsoBodyText">
There are six basic principles of Suma Qamana several of
which match the principles the Iroquois Confederacy and the US forefathers also
embraced.</div>
<div class="MsoListBullet2CxSpFirst">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Community first (working and thinking
collectively)</div>
<div class="MsoListBullet2CxSpMiddle">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Sufficient not efficient economy (slowing down
and valuing community and nature over time and money)</div>
<div class="MsoListBullet2CxSpMiddle">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Local production – local consumption (similar to
the localvore movement and farmers markets)</div>
<div class="MsoListBullet2CxSpMiddle">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Less is more (having what is needed but not more
than that, no accumulation of excess wealth).</div>
<div class="MsoListBullet2CxSpMiddle">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->We are all part of mother earth (this links all
people as having a shared humanity, making us more alike than not).</div>
<div class="MsoListBullet2CxSpLast">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]-->Owning our health, learning and communication
(this is about shared knowledge and working together to care for each other)</div>
<div class="MsoBodyText">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">As Bruce E.
Johansen wrote in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Forgotten Founders</i>,
</span>the US Constitutional values based on the Iroquois Confederacy are as
follows:</div>
<div class="MsoBodyText">
Represented democracy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of the core principles of the Iroquois Confederacy as
explained by a commission of colonial leaders in 1775 was, “Divided, a single
man may destroy you; united, you are a match for the whole world.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Male leaders were elected by women from
different tribal regions to represent their ideas and beliefs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Leaders returned to the tribe to
consult with the women before any decision was made.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If men did not represent the tribe correctly, they were
removed from power.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This led to
Jefferson writing about retractable governments guided by laws of
impeachment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He advocated for
small states, the size of the original 13 colonies, which allowed public
opinion to function most efficiently.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This ties in with Suma Qamana’s community first principle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Decision making with Suma Qamana comes
from a pre-Inca system of ayllu in Bolivia which has rotating leadership
positions shared by members of communities one is born into and linked with for
life.</div>
<div class="MsoBodyText">
Public Opinion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The Iroquois Confederacy was a bottom-up structure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The public elected the leaders to
represent them and had power to remove leaders they felt were not properly
doing so.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jefferson promoted this
in the First Amendment of the US Constitution.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Personal influence and persuasion were important societal
controls for the Iroquois Confederacy because mis-actions were answered to in
front of the whole community, which one was born into and knew intimately.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This resonates again with Suma Qamana’s
community first principle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Leaders
work for the good of the community not a corporation, lobby group, PAC (public action
committee), or their own personal gain.</div>
<div class="MsoBodyText">
Happy mediocrity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This is a term coined by Franklin which meant striking a compromise
between consumption, competition, and classism with the egalitarian, democratic
ideas of the Iroquois Confederacy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He saw this realized in a strong middle class.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However this could also be interpreted as the Suma Qamana
principle of a sufficient not an efficient economy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A sufficient economy could be a 30-hour week where goods are
competitively produced for a limited time, just enough to meet needs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Workers will produce and earn less and
also consume less.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The US would no
longer be a world leader in GDP but the quality of life would improve in
non-monetary ways as the slowing down creates happy mediocrity, balance for
nature and people, giving all a place to rest and rejuvenate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText">
Shared property.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Jefferson looked at the Iroquois Confederacy’s manner of sharing
resources amongst the entire community and embraced that idea as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He felt the accumulation of property
led to power and dominance that advanced the well being of one at the expense
of all. “Whenever there is, in any country, uncultivated lands and unemployed
poor, it is clear that the laws of property have been so extended as to violate
natural right,” wrote Jefferson.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He was also against inherited wealth which did not exist with the
Iroquois as possessions were redistributed amongst all in death.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This idea of limited accumulation
resonates with the Suma Qamana principles of less is more.</div>
<div class="MsoBodyText">
Under Suma Qamana success is measured not by accumulated
wealth, but by how well the community is doing as a whole.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Community is broadly defined to include
the earth and nature as well as people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>So a thriving town located beside the banks of a polluted river is not
doing well under Suma Qamana, because a community member, the river, is
ailing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When one part of a
community is damaged, it affects the whole.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This way of thinking of the community as being the
responsibility of all can be applied to many situations, for example a person
entering a school and shooting children, would be an indication of the failure
of the community to properly care for its own, to enable a person to feel so
alienated and detached that they lash out against the same community they are a
part of.</div>
<div class="MsoBodyText">
Andean scholars claim that this is the time of pachakuti,
or world change, and Suma Qamana is the model upon which the new world order
can be formed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The United Nations
recognized this model in 2009 and funds research and studies to support
it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Suma Qamana is being taught in
Latin American universities, written about in academic journals, and presented
at world summits. Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador have all adopted parts of it
in their new constitutions and have ministries, think tanks and organizations
supporting civil society in applying these principles to their everyday
lives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>More than 300 years ago a
great enlightenment grew from the Iroquois’ ways of being, influencing many
European thinkers such as Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Thomas More, and Karl
Marx. Today Suma Qamana is capturing people’s imaginations with new ways of
being that are not much newer then our US Constitutional roots.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<div class="MsoBodyText">
Dr. Tamara Stenn is an Adjunct Professor in the
Sustainable Development Program at the SIT Graduate Institute and author
of The Economic and Political Intersection of Fair Trade and Justice
(2013).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She can be contacted at <a href="mailto:tamara.stenn@sit.edu"><span style="color: windowtext;">tamara.stenn@sit.edu</span></a>.</div>
</div>
Dr. Tamara Stennhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14736650843377088392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1871464015536187996.post-88147636710733090402013-12-25T19:25:00.000-05:002013-12-25T19:25:46.882-05:00KUSIKUY in Brattleboro Again!<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
After a two-year
hiatus from the streets of Brattleboro, KUSIKUY Clothing Co.’s irresistible
hand knit alpaca sweaters, hats, scarves and glittens are now back.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Glittens are fingerless gloves topped
with a flip back “hat” that turn them into gloves to keep fingers extra
warm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Formally carried by Save the
Corporations and Sprout, KUSIKUY’s Fair Trade, eco-friendly clothing can now be
found at At the Oasis at 80 Main Street, Brattleboro, Vermont 05301.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7WgzaPKkqYKb-mXTcidpcjf0xUP1QrwPRjdDNJrfne9QaBKOTvjZk__BQ_js3-STYYvLuFEhS-qIPvVv0I1wBr3iagnetfqu0OfhT6ASp-5jxm2inA6fIF3KwcZTyMG7MXQ9IhSZN2E1_/s1600/oasis.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7WgzaPKkqYKb-mXTcidpcjf0xUP1QrwPRjdDNJrfne9QaBKOTvjZk__BQ_js3-STYYvLuFEhS-qIPvVv0I1wBr3iagnetfqu0OfhT6ASp-5jxm2inA6fIF3KwcZTyMG7MXQ9IhSZN2E1_/s1600/oasis.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
Featured items include the classic
Rainbow accessory set (hat, scarf, glitten), once carried by Timberland, and
KUSIKUY’s most popular item celebrating the diversity and colors of the
world;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>a custom designed accessory
set created by At the Oasis proprietor, Anne Senni, done in sage green, powder
pink and sky blue; hand knit cable sweaters; and sumptuous hand woven shawls
with macramé fringes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
“The idea of a
product that is handmade, sustainable, indigenous, and high quality fits our
values,” explained Senni.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“We
carry KUSIKUY because the items are natural products of great beauty and
worth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are heirlooms,” she
added. </div>
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All KUSIKUY items
are created by indigenous women from Bolivia’s Andes Mountains in accordance
with Fair Trade guidelines which guarantee a living wage and dignity to workers
and environmental protection to the community.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In addition, they are made from sustainably harvested
alpaca, a rare luxury fiber which is softer than cashmere, six times warmer
than lambs wool and naturally hypoallergenic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Alpaca has a gorgeous drape and is a durable fiber.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once reserved for Inca royalty, it
lasts through years of regular wear.</div>
Dr. Tamara Stennhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14736650843377088392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1871464015536187996.post-56304297168633707122013-12-25T19:18:00.002-05:002013-12-25T19:18:42.198-05:00KUSIKUY in Korea<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb1s2FnGH-crRIntEkNNVt-ggTf_am1xs8M3rGae96EdLpaRCTkx94geo2KwG6ywKsGjP-_Gsh_c6QbYMDP4_ULeGjIKXJBE8QD-Wd6Qd9H6wxjj_eh09KsGYIFF57so4cKcHyEQA-_sRW/s1600/mera+hatt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb1s2FnGH-crRIntEkNNVt-ggTf_am1xs8M3rGae96EdLpaRCTkx94geo2KwG6ywKsGjP-_Gsh_c6QbYMDP4_ULeGjIKXJBE8QD-Wd6Qd9H6wxjj_eh09KsGYIFF57so4cKcHyEQA-_sRW/s320/mera+hatt.jpg" width="239" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiyL1eo9dc6zgSbmKa_J7bY6F_ZNh4grSftZSRhEDSBvw_9o84QtbOcx0gyiJm9lP3DDP4NlsMcTRfRmnTPsoqRcLzRtHJqPK7QxscQVnwhsLH9batsHE765vWeRNGwKWFm3KAV1sr5gBr/s1600/shalllarge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiyL1eo9dc6zgSbmKa_J7bY6F_ZNh4grSftZSRhEDSBvw_9o84QtbOcx0gyiJm9lP3DDP4NlsMcTRfRmnTPsoqRcLzRtHJqPK7QxscQVnwhsLH9batsHE765vWeRNGwKWFm3KAV1sr5gBr/s320/shalllarge.jpg" width="173" /></a>KUSIKUY Shawls are now available at mera hatt in Seol, South Korea! We hand wove 100 lovely alpaca shawls for mera hatt adding hand knotted macramé trim on each one. The alpaca fiber was sustainably harvested by a Fair Trade herder cooperative and processed in their mill which spins yarn to European quality standards. The shawls are available in a natural light or dark grey.<br />
<br />
Thank you mera hatt for supporting Fair Trade and sustainable development. Dr. Tamara Stennhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14736650843377088392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1871464015536187996.post-90693627967712913222013-12-14T17:15:00.004-05:002013-12-14T17:15:38.242-05:00My book, <i>the Cultural and Political Intersection of Fair Trade & Justice</i>, is now available on kindle.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GAZYYK6/ref=rdr_kindle_ext_tmb" target="_blank">kindle edition</a><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCrVyB6DZcf8UC-_0JXXRS4B8-MpqLCFJNkCV2kQn1MMOa9GqioRbS6o9VwQeSm4oUfcegGd8f624q8_GOvxSk_HqP0UQdxFx4WFTdEBTu8xFdi3K1uzDFVLxZ9Kcabq23u9fJDGUqnJ4_/s1600/bookcover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCrVyB6DZcf8UC-_0JXXRS4B8-MpqLCFJNkCV2kQn1MMOa9GqioRbS6o9VwQeSm4oUfcegGd8f624q8_GOvxSk_HqP0UQdxFx4WFTdEBTu8xFdi3K1uzDFVLxZ9Kcabq23u9fJDGUqnJ4_/s1600/bookcover.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />Dr. Tamara Stennhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14736650843377088392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1871464015536187996.post-24064933806573669662013-08-13T03:15:00.002-04:002013-08-13T03:15:33.696-04:00Content of Fair Trade book<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFb_bepTURUsA4In5mrZbV9bGhz7PjYqj6Zt2OhgNtnuDeaobHcNEvW8F5ZdvqsWxPcGAjTSse4sfPtYjcKYMhKadOKM25MrX1ca7P0o1swo85hOEvYGLgR_4rYdyjj3DKC2ngg_POyCk2/s1600/0001ad.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="494" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFb_bepTURUsA4In5mrZbV9bGhz7PjYqj6Zt2OhgNtnuDeaobHcNEvW8F5ZdvqsWxPcGAjTSse4sfPtYjcKYMhKadOKM25MrX1ca7P0o1swo85hOEvYGLgR_4rYdyjj3DKC2ngg_POyCk2/s640/0001ad.jpeg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: medium;">
Content of my upcoming book: <i>The Cultural and Political Intersection of Fair Trade & Justice</i>. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: medium;">
Due out in Sept. 2013.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-size: medium;">
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Cultural-Political-Intersection-Trade-Justice/dp/1137335270/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1376378016&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=cultural+and+political+interseciton+of" target="_blank">Find it on Amazon.com</a></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Dr. Tamara Stennhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14736650843377088392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1871464015536187996.post-32120427258188501432013-08-05T15:03:00.003-04:002013-08-05T15:03:32.825-04:00Keene State College Increases Sales of Fair Trade Products and Expands Awareness of Sustainability<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.65; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em;">
<em style="line-height: 1.65;">IQL and Sociology Students Research Support and Understanding of Fair Trade and Find More Awareness is Needed in the US</em></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.65; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em;">
Keene State College students, as part of their Introduction to Quantitative Literacy class, issued a report finding that the College continues its sustainability efforts with strong support for fair trade – a means of supporting disadvantaged producers and allowing for the sustainability of their products, culture, workers, and the environment. The report indicates that in 2012, Keene State consumed fair trade products on campus valued at $493,000, which is an 18 percent increase over those sold in the year 2011. The College has also greatly expanded awareness of the issue of fair trade.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.65; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em;">
Dr. Tamara Stenn, adjunct professor in Keene State College’s Sciences and Social Sciences Department, led student research in her Introduction to Quantitative Literacy course. The class teaches students proper analytical skills when examining quantitative data.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.65; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em;">
“The research conducted by my students and the resulting report provided both an important research opportunity and a snapshot of Keene State’s commitment to sustainability,” said Dr. Stenn. “Our study has shown that while fair trade is not yet a prioritized value in our society, there is much to be examined and great potential with the growth of its awareness. I look forward to the possibility of expanding on this research in the future.”</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.65; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em;">
In conjunction with Professor Margaret Walsh’s Sociological Research Methods class, a study instrument was developed and tested in fall of 2011. The next year, students conducted studies of the Keene State College and Keene populations, noting their findings about local knowledge and support of fair trade. The students found that a large percentage of the US population is either uneducated on fair trade or do not feel it is their concern. The study also revealed a growing interest in fair trade through the presence of the internet. The research findings will be featured in a book authored by Dr. Stenn, titled “<em>The Cultural and Political Intersection of Fair Trade and Justice</em>”, which will be released in September of this year.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.65; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em;">
“It’s great to see a growing student interest in fair trade on campus,” said Mary Jensen, Keene State College Campus Sustainability Officer. “The fair trade products sold on campus and the awareness programs run by students and faculty help to address social justice issues that are a core component of sustainability.”</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.65; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em;">
In 2012, the College made great efforts to increase awareness of fair trade, with 11 presentations and events attended by an audience of more than 2,500 people. The total audience attendance in 2012 increased by 72 percent over 2011. In addition, 14 other faculty members at Keene State have brought fair trade discussion into their classrooms.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.65; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em;">
Keene State demonstrates fair trade with its products sold on campus. The Dining Commons uses Aspretto coffee, Diamond Crystal Brand Sugar, and Numi Brand Organic Tea. For every pound of Aspretto purchased, 10 cents is donated to Stop Hunger. Keene State purchased 3,141 pounds of coffee, raising $314 for the Stop Hunger Foundation. Lloyd’s Bean and Bagel supports Equal Exchange Tea and Chocolate, and has sold various fair trade flavors of Green Mountain Coffee. Sodexo also paired up with the Stop Hunger Foundation, which aims to end child hunger. More info: <a href="http://www.keene.edu/news/stories/detail/students-report-findings-from-fair-trade-research/">http://www.keene.edu/news/stories/detail/students-report-findings-from-fair-trade-research/</a></div>
Dr. Tamara Stennhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14736650843377088392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1871464015536187996.post-35106048439288573802013-07-28T17:09:00.000-04:002013-07-28T17:09:12.937-04:00Fair Trade, Long Lasting Clothing And The Squeeze On Student Finances<div class="p1">
<b>By Lisa Crawford</b></div>
<div class="p1">
Fair Trade has come a long way recently. The idea that producers in developing countries could market their products to other parts of the world as anything other than cheap and low quality was seen by many as a non-starter as little as twenty years ago. Nowadays, the Fair Trade ethos has spread throughout Europe and North America, particularly among student consumers. In terms of clothing production, the garments are often hard-wearing and long lasting. Sharp entrepreneurs have quickly latched on to the power of Fair Trade where high quality clothes can often be sold at a premium, whilst offering a good deal for the original manufacturers. <a href="http://www.kusikuy.com/home.php?cat=259"><span class="s1">Hand harvested fleece from free range alpacas</span></a> is the yarn of choice for KusiKuy’s wide range of Fair Trade knitwear including delightful sweaters that are designed to last eight years. What could be a more thrifty and ethical a product - for the financially stretched student - than that? Students from Keene State College certainly seem to be embracing the program, whether it is for ethical reasons or because of the long lasting nature of the products. They claimed this year that <a href="http://kusikuy1.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/fair-trade-retail-grows-18-at-keene.html"><span class="s1">Fair Trade on-campus retail</span></a> had grown 18 per cent.</div>
<div class="p1">
<b>The Ethics</b></div>
<div class="p1">
Of course, one of the appeals of Fair Trade clothing, such as the eight year sweater, is that it has an ethical dimension. Fair Trade certification means that consumers can purchase clothing in the knowledge that they are fostering sustainable development in the producing country. Not only that, they should be aware that a higher proportion of their dollar spend is going back to the producer, as opposed to an anonymous middle man. Farmers who produce the raw material for Fair Trade clothing are also encouraged to develop environmentally friendly measures. Eco-friendly, sustainable and - above all - fairly produced clothes have a unique selling point over other fashion items. If you add to that hard-wearing qualities, the clothing range or product is usually a winner.</div>
<div class="p1">
<b>The Financial Squeeze</b></div>
<div class="p1">
Many new students are simply deferring their financial woes until after they graduate by using loans. <a href="http://www.masslive.com/politics/index.ssf/2013/07/sens_elizabeth_warren_ed_marke_1.html"><span class="s1">Some senators have recently spoken out</span></a> about proposed federal student loan schemes for which interest rates rise after an initial low period, or teaser rate. The necessity of loans for a good proportion of students is not the only way to deal with the financial squeeze, however. The International Student Identity Card allows students to access the same sort of <a href="http://www.money.co.uk/misc/student-discounts/students-clothing.htm"><span class="s1">retail discounts in stores</span></a> around the globe as they can at home. Using student store discounts is one of the most heavily promoted means by which students can reduce their expenditure. Fair Trade retailers need to remember just how price sensitive their student customers are and create more thrifty and longer lasting clothing along the lines of the KusiKuy eight year sweater.</div>
<div class="p1">
<b>Defending The Fair Trade Brand</b></div>
<div class="p1">
Identifying students as the key group for the continued success and growth of the Fair Trade brand in clothing is one thing, but sustaining that growth is another. Products obviously need to be appealing to a discerning target group of consumers who often make their fashion choices very carefully, due to limited funds. Any consumer, student or not, needs to have total confidence in the Fair Trade brand. Labeling of fairly produced clothes needs to be clear, concise and comply with the <a href="http://web.ita.doc.gov/tacgi/eamain.nsf/6e1600e39721316c852570ab0056f719/290cdb039f3f3518852576b300675a9e"><span class="s1">regulations set out by the government</span></a> for textile, apparel, footwear and travel goods. Fiber content and the country of origin are both essential things the label should make clear. Features, such as longevity of design and hard-wearing material, should be pointed out as a market differentiator from regular clothes.</div>
<div class="p1">
<b>Building The Fair Trade Clothing Brand</b></div>
<br />
<div class="p1">
Clothing producers and retailers need only look at the rise in Fair Trade coffee over the last decade to be satisfied there is a real interest in developing the brand. Look at the likes of Dunkin’ Donuts and McDonald’s who have not only begun to offer Fair Trade coffee, but co-branded with it. For many investors Fair Trade offers huge potential if it grows at anywhere near the rate of the now $15 billion organic market. If it continues to produce long lasting products, like the eight year sweater, there’s no reason why it should not. </div>
Dr. Tamara Stennhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14736650843377088392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1871464015536187996.post-42289935814379677962013-07-17T10:44:00.002-04:002013-07-17T10:44:09.570-04:00REGENERATING CAPITALISM ONE COW AT A TIME<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">A regenerative enterprise is like
an apple tree whose main function is to produce offspring, except besides just
producing offspring (seeds) it also produces an abundance of fruit, wood, mulch
and shade from its leaves, and micro-environments amongst its roots.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">It is meeting its main function of
propagation and providing other functions as well.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">The apple tree however, can not achieve propagation alone,
it needs the bees to fertilize its flowers and make viable seeds, worms and
insects to turn its leaf mulch into compost for its roots, and water and
sunlight to grow.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
An example of a regenerative
enterprise is Green Mountain Power’s (GMP) Cow Power program which uses customer
financial support to help equip dairy farmers with anaerobic digesters that convert
cow manure into methane gas which is fed into a gas engine that spins a
generator, creating electricity and heat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The heat is repurposed to keep the anaerobic digester warm and the
electricity is fed into the grid for use by GMP customers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Last year a dozen farms with thousands
of cows participated in the program which was funded at a rate of four cents
per kilowatt hour by individual GMP users and large Vermont companies such as
Middlebury College, Drew’s All Natural and the Killington Resort.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>An example of a farm’s regenerative
output is seen in Green Mountain Dairy in Albany, Vermont which has 1,050 milk
cows producing over 20 million pounds of milk a year and generating about 1.828
million kilowatt-hours of electricity (greenmountainpower.com).<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like the apple tree, a regenerative enterprise cannot do it alone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>GMP relies on the contribution of
farmers, customers and conversion technology to support Cow Power. Unlike
mono-capitalist models where financial gain is the main objective, regenerative
enterprises must exist within a regenerative capitalism system where outputs
are as varied as the apple trees’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>GMP individual and business participants are losing financial capital to
support this model by voluntarily paying a few cents extra per kilowatt, farmers
are losing financial capital through unreimbursed labor, time and space, and
converter technologies are gaining financial capital as their conversion systems
are purchased and used. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
However like apple trees growing
within a complex natural environment, regenerative enterprises operate in capitalism
system that encompasses more than just financial capital.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A regenerative capitalism system is
composed of eight forms of capitalism, according to authors Ethan Roland and
Gregory Landau (http://www.8forms.org).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Besides financial capital, there is also materials capital or raw
materials, social capital or relationships, spiritual capital or a connection
to a greater whole, intellectual capital or ideas and knowledge, experiential
capital from personal experience, cultural capital seen in community, songs,
story and art, and living capital seen in our natural environment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Ironically the way in which these
systems are visually presented in a circle around the nucleus of capital, mimics
the parts of the Andean Cross. I wrote about the Andean Cross in a previous
article about Suma Qamana, a South American model of living well where needs
are met for all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is a parallel
model to regenerative capitalism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The Andean cross is made up of yachay or knowing, munay or loving, ruray
or doing, ushay or power.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Superimposing the regenerative capitalism model on the Andean Cross
creates clusters of similarities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Experiential
and intellectual capital become yachay (knowing), spiritual and social capital
become munay (loving), financial and material capital become ruray (doing) and
cultural and living capital become usay (power – meaning the power of past
histories, place based stories and beliefs).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The commonalities of these two independently created models,
Suma Qamana with its roots in indigenous ways of being and regenerative
capitalism with its roots in permaculture, speak of our shared humanity and
place on a single planet.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Understanding GMP Cow Power as
regenerative capitalism broadens the way one is able to understand the role and
importance of the players in the model.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Where at first there seemed to be solely financial capital winners and losers
now there is more.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The individuals
and businesses financially supporting the program gain living and material
capital as they help support the creation of new energy saving resources and
protect the environment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Farmers
gain experiential and social capital as they share farm management skills and
participate in a project with a greater community.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The companies that supply the conversion systems gain
financial and intellectual capital as they are paid for their expertise. GMP
gains material, social, living, intellectual, and experiential capital as it
uses its expertise and direction to support the project.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is no financial capital gain for
GMP because surplus earnings are redirected to an independently managed Renewable
Development Fund used for education, grants and incentives to support renewable
generation technology and methods.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
A purely financial capital growth
based model is degenerative instead of regenerative, it creates goods and
services solely for financial gain resulting in drained resources, communities,
and environments.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To be
regenerative, the eight forms of capital need to be valued and incorporated in
to our ways of being.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When
companies think regeneratively, new possibilities open up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Waste can be transformed into usable
goods, partnerships form and technologies are shared. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To engage in further conversation about
regenerative enterprises, eight forms of capital and Suma Qamana, please join
author and professor, Dr. Tamara Stenn for a tea and a chat at the Twilight Tea
Lounge on 41 Main Street, Brattleboro, Thursday, Aug, 1<sup>st</sup> from 6-7pm
during the monthly Fair Trade Towns discussion or contact her at <a href="mailto:tstenn@keene.edu">tstenn@keene.edu</a>.</div>
Dr. Tamara Stennhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14736650843377088392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1871464015536187996.post-69817801999004279442013-06-18T06:38:00.001-04:002013-06-18T06:38:09.262-04:00RE-DEFINING THE GOOD LIFE<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;"> Across the Andes
people are leaving their aspirations for the good life, defined as material
gain and influence, choosing instead to live well, or </span><i style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;">Suma Qamana</i><span style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;">, a Quechua term which defines a concept where people
live in harmony with their community, environment and work collectively to meet
their needs.</span><span style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;">Bolivia, Peru and
Ecuador have all adopted the language of </span><i style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;">Suma
Qamana</i><span style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;"> into their national constitutions making it a law to protect the
earth and community.</span><span style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;">This is seen
in Bolivia in the national banning of GMOs, big box stores and in the
development of university degree programs in solidarity economy – a hybrid
economic model that includes monetary and non-monetary transactions with a
focus on justice and sustainability.</span><span style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;">
</span><span style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;">The result is a steady 5% annual growth rate (GDP) in the past three
years.</span><span style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Suma Qamana</i> has its roots in the Andean
way of being which is based on the four points of the<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> Cruz Andino</i>, the constellation known in the Southern Cross.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are four dynamics which guide
actions and provide balance for daily living.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These are <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ushay</i>,
historical power, ancestors; <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">yachay</i>,
knowing; <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">munay</i>, loving and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ruray</i>, doing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The four points of the cross are guided by the belief that
all share a common wisdom regardless of one’s formal education or socio-economic
status and that time is a spiral through which one is constantly moving as
thoughts and actions transform from the future to the present to the past.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is no linear model with a
beginning and end, all are in constant motion and transformation.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
I presented<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> Suma Qamana</i> as a workshop at the recent
Slow Living Summit in Brattleboro.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Participants were invited to map their projects on the four points of
the Cruz Andino.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As participants
began to think of their projects in the context of ancestors, love and power, a
shift occurred. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once disparate projects
took on a new, deeply integrated nuance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>For example, a community garden gifting project in Montpelier took on
new meaning as its <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ushay</i> (power)
rooted in shared wisdom from the past emerged as input from elders on gardening
techniques; <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">yachay</i> (knowing) was experienced
as community members sharing gardening wisdom with each other and opening their
gardens to the each other; <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">munay</i>
(love) took place in the gifting of garden harvests to anyone who wanted them;
and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ruray</i> (doing) was the actual planting
and tending of the gardens.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As in
many of our robust Vermont communities, there are often several groups working
on similar themes of resilience, community building and sustainability.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mapping them together showed where
there was room for partnering, balancing and places for collaboration.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGEauWMkTrM9E2tOqjMKqqbZDzPP3MrtX3rxVK0x1lGVJ1MW-jB_SYw5TBWk3ML1_EAgCkGSgtsyWHou7JqppiICa0RF3KvN8vBiElEYRz5joFWPg29yfRyXEpr2fk5YjOIexODPzJbAvY/s1600/suma+qamanaII.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGEauWMkTrM9E2tOqjMKqqbZDzPP3MrtX3rxVK0x1lGVJ1MW-jB_SYw5TBWk3ML1_EAgCkGSgtsyWHou7JqppiICa0RF3KvN8vBiElEYRz5joFWPg29yfRyXEpr2fk5YjOIexODPzJbAvY/s320/suma+qamanaII.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Suma </i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Times;">Qamana</span></i><span style="font-family: Times;">, developed
by Andean scholars from within the modern capitalist model, does not outwardly
appear radically different from our world today. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The difference, explains <a href="http://www.sidint.net/node/3964" target="_blank">Catherine Walsh</a>,</span><span style="background: white; font-family: Times; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-size: 8.0pt;"> Director at Ecuador’s Universidad Andina Simon Bolivar, </span><span style="font-family: Times;">is that instead of being guided by wisdom as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Suma Qamana</i> is, the capitalist model is guided
by dominance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dominance can be
understood as competition with a winner and loser in each type of wisdom
experienced in the Andean model.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For
example <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ushay</i> in a dominance model
can been seen as having power over one’s community, place or past.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The colonial era is an example of a
collective <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ushay</i> of dominance, as colonists
took land and sovereignty from others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Yahcay</i> in a dominance model</span>
is the valuing of certain types of education over others. An example is the higher regard given
to someone with an advanced degree such as a doctor or lawyer than someone with
a high school diploma. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Munay</i> in a
dominance model is a quantitative love recognized by how many partners and
friends one may have; the more Facebook likes on has the better they are. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ruray</i>
in a dominance model is about wealth; those who earn more are seen as better
than those who earn less.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
In a wisdom based
model, these differences exist but are not valued in the same way as the
dominance interpretation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One may
have more friends, earn more or be better educated but they are seen as equal as
a part of the community as someone without friends, a formal education or
wealth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the Andean way of
being, wealth of some is countered by the lack of it in others and makes for a
diverse, balanced community. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For
example a person who is good at earning money might not be good at
gardening.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A person who is good at
gardening might no be good at earning money. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Working together as a community, all needs are met; the
wealthy person can pay gardening expenses and the knowledgeable person can
provide technical skills.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
gardener is not being hired by the wealthy person per se, but rather by
combining wealth and knowledge together, a collective need is met and a spirit
of reciprocity, giving, receiving, and respect is built.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
What would our
community and towns look like if we shared wisdom rather than competing or
struggling alone to meet our needs?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Many organizations are already starting to do this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For more about the Andean ways of
being, Suma Qamana, and community building contact Tamara Stenn <a href="mailto:tstenn@keene.edu">tstenn@keene.edu</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dr. Tamara Stenn is a professor, scholar and trainer of
sustainable development.</div>
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### </div>
Dr. Tamara Stennhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14736650843377088392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1871464015536187996.post-39807838382243715392013-05-30T22:09:00.002-04:002013-08-02T17:07:56.246-04:00Suma Qamana at the Slow Living Summit - June 5-9, 2013, Brattleboro, VT<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b><b>Brattleboro – a represented community</b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
Bolivia, is
defined as the poorest country of the Americas based on their total revenue
produced (GDP) which has doubled in the last decade but still is less than
$5,000 per person per year (CIA Factbook, 2013).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But Bolivians are not impoverished.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Behind the country’s feeble earnings
are creative and collaborative ways of living well which include community
participation, collaboration, barter, self sufficiency and an average retail
mark-up of just 30%, as opposed to the standard 100% used in the US.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So while earnings are low, so are
expenses and what thrives are communities, not markets.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Bolivians call this “Suma Qamana”
or living well, and have written it into their constitution making this way of
being a national law supported by government ministries, universities and
elected officials, all with very little funding.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A recent research trip to the mountainous Bolivian coffee
jungles brought me to the small town of Caranavi, which shared remarkable
similarities to Brattleboro - in the summer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Seeing Suma Qamana in practice in Caranavi, opened my
imagination to how it could be realized in Brattleboro as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The following is a short essay
explaining how.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
In the Yungas
jungles of Bolivia’s Andes Mountains lies the little town of Caranavi. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like Brattleboro, it is nestled in the
hills, beside a river, surrounded by farms and forests and stretching out several
square miles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like Brattleboro,
community members come from many different places.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In this case it’s mostly highlanders looking for new
opportunities and something a bit warmer than their climate change-ravaged
altiplano farms, while in Brattleboro it seems to be flatlanders seeking out
hills and nature.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like
Brattleboro, Caranavi is a busy little hub with the big city four hours away
(La Paz, instead of New York).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Like Brattleboro it is sensitive to the nature surrounding it and
supports the development of small farms and sustainable, organic agriculture.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
As Brattleboro is
known for its artisanal cheeses and farmers’ markets, Caranavi is known for its
Fair Trade, organic coffee grown on small, family farms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Already Bolivia’s coffee capitol,
Caranavi is working to become the organic capital of Bolivia too, heartily
embracing sustainable farming techniques, crop diversification, and
environmental protection.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Residents
petition their national government for organic farming training programs and
request that their mayor support efforts in developing organic certifications and
promoting the region as an organic agro-tourism and healing destination.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like Brattleboro, Caranavi is an
environmental innovator.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For
example, they have an active recycling program in a country where it is still
considered proper to throw trash out the window or leave it roadside while
Brattleboro has curbside composting in a country where it is still considered
proper to throw kitchen scraps into a landfill. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Caranavi, like Brattleboro is peppered with many different
types of business, schools, restaurants and tourism. Caranavi got this way
through its embracement of a system known as Community Economy (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">economia comunitaria</i>) which grew from
Bolivia’s Suma Qamana model of living well (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">bien
vivir</i>), instead of better.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
Community Economy
is a way of organizing and working together so everyone is represented, and has
their needs recognized and met.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>For example, when several dirt roads needed to be repaired and expanded,
the community asked the mayor for the work to be done.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bolivia is a monetarily poor country,
so there was no budget for the job.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This did not faze the community which collaborated with the mayor to find
a creative solution.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In this case,
community members donated labor and materials for road construction and shared
a community usage fee of about $10 each to raise enough capital to purchase
additional supplies and rent heavy machinery. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This provided a win-win for everyone, community members
acquired better roads and the mayor helped the community to meet a need.
Community Economy is not just about projects, it is about a way of being where
people are deeply connected through a democratic process with mandatory
participation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Each community has
bi-weekly meetings with a community member hosting the meeting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This member host then meets monthly
with an annually elected community representative and quarterly with the mayor
and municipal governing board.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This way needs, resources, ideas and relationships are shared and
creative collaboration easily arises.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Reflective of the Andean Cross and indigenous systems of balance, Suma
Qamana, is not just about doing but also about being able, knowing and
loving.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The community organizing
mentioned above reflects this where each community member takes a turn being a
host, shares knowledge and has a recognized place in the community. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
It is inspiring to
see others’ innovative solutions from afar, but imaging it happening here creates
a different experience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If
Brattleboro was organized the way Caranavi was, everyone would be a part of a
community sector with mandatory meetings, projects, and representation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As a town of about 12,000 people spread
out over 32 square miles, Brattleboro could be divided into its three voting
districts with each district represented by a democratically elected annual
volunteer representative.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
district representative would meet bi-weekly with district residents, monthly
with the other two district representatives and quarterly with the Brattleboro select
board.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
Each district
would have about 4,000 people in it representing about 1,000 households.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The households would be organized into 40
community sectors with 25 households in each sector.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There would be a two-tiered model of representation
involving 40 local representatives, or hosts, and the three district representatives.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The local host position would rotate
every six weeks and be shared by each household. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Local hosts would lead mandatory, bi-weekly meetings with their
25 households, most likely meeting in a church, school, business, or community
center. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Following the Caranavi
model, local families would be obligated to participate in the bi-weekly,
hour-long, meetings by sending a family member who was at least 16 years old or
be charged a $20 non-participation fine with funds going into a community
account that members would determine how to spend on an annual basis.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="background: yellow; mso-highlight: yellow;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
After three meetings,
the local host position would go to the next family in line who would fill the
position for the next three turns (six weeks). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>During the community meetings, anything about the community could
be discussed, from neighbors’ health and family news, to new ideas such as Transition
Towns initiatives, to education, taxes, roads, energy resilience, composting,
health, gardens, nutrition, and emergency prepare<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "American Typewriter";">d</span>ness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
The 40 local hosts
would also attend a 90-minute, monthly meeting with their district representative.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This meeting would most likely take
place at the Brattleboro Union High School.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In Caranavi it took place at the Town Hall.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hosts would spend 45 minutes sharing news
from their communities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This sounds
like a short amount of time for 40 people, but because these communities meet
regularly, they are familiar with each others’ news and are mostly receiving
updates rather than presenting new information.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For the remaining 45 minutes, the local hosts would look
on as the three district representatives reported out district needs, news and
events. Organizations and businesses wanting to network with the district communities
would be invited to attend these meetings to see where their interests might
fit. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
The final tier of
participation would take place with two-hour long, quarterly meetings between
the three district representatives, and the Select Board.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like monthly Select Board meetings
today, these could be filmed and aired live to residents via the local cable
channel and internet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Larger
projects and initiatives could be discussed at these events.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Information and communications would travel
both up and down the organization as representatives presented new ideas from
the district to the broader region and gathered new ideas to bring back to
their district communities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
Caranavi, the newspapers and local television channel reported on the quarterly
meetings.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
Caranavi was not
always so collaborative.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ten years
ago the communities were isolated and competitive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By engaging in Suma Qamana and Community Economy the region
learned that all gain when the work and risk is shared by many.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Participants such as 22-year-old
single mother and district representative, Esther Alonqa, report that now members
were not left behind like before and neighbors who rarely saw each other now
enjoy regular contact.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
addition, as she experienced, youth were empowered by their participation and
being given an important place in the community. “Our youth are given access to
leadership roles and a place in which to be respected,” she explained.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Being organized, active and vibrant
like this creates more opportunity. New ideas come forth as there is now a
regular space in which for them to be heard. “Members do not always to agree on
things,” Alonqa stated, “but their ideas and opinions need to be known.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By having a regular space to communicate
together over the long term, these differences become less polarized, other
ideas emerge, as issues are slowly worked out through public discussion.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
Nobel Laureate Economist
Amartya Sen writes of the need for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">public
reasoning</i> in order for justice to take place. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i>Public reasoning is an
open discussion that creates a place for debate and, in time, <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">understanding.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It gives voice to those who are not commonly heard and
creates a sphere of equality where ideas can freely flow (Sen, 2009). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Suma Qamana provides the place for this
discussion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wouldn’t it be
interesting to imagine Brattleboro as bringing forth greater justice through
the engagement in participatory models such as Community Economy and Suma
Qamana?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To learn more about this participate
in Stenn’s session <span style="color: black;">Seeing the Solidarity Economy
through Suma Qamana </span>at the <a href="http://www.slowlivingsummit.org/" target="_blank">Slow Living Summit</a>, on Friday, June 9<sup>th</sup>
at 10:30am in the Marlboro College Tech Center, Room Two East</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.5pt;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Stenn is an author
and researcher in sustainable community development and an interdisciplinary
adjunct professor at Keene State College.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>She is the founder of Fair Trade Towns Brattleboro and Fair Trade Keene
State College as well as slow fashion, natural fiber, handmade clothing company,
KUSIKUY.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">###<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Dr. Tamara Stennhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14736650843377088392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1871464015536187996.post-63939602712183080772013-05-28T11:11:00.002-04:002013-05-28T11:15:22.908-04:00Experiential Spanish Classes Now Forming in Brattleboro, Vermont<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
Experiential Spanish, developed by Dr. Tamara Stenn, is a holistic way of learning language in a context that creates meaning and builds comprehension mimicking how people actually acquire, process, and retain language. Grounded in the pedagogy of “Core Fluency” which guides learners through, “fun, interactive experiences in Spanish, personalized, real conversations, interactive storytelling, and comprehensible readings,” Experiential Spanish also incorporates visual arts, nature, cooking and music into its curricula (<a href="http://corefluency.com/">corefluency.com</a>, 2013). Its structure comes from grounded theory in second language acquisition that states, “the learning of rules might be seen as a recycling process gradually leading to their internalization” (<a href="http://telesecundaria.setab.gob.mx/pdf/ingles/Ingles_Antologia06.pdf#page=45">Aramayo Prudencio</a>, 2006). The recycling process means that lessons are designed around a grammar structure and vocabulary that participants engage in and re-use, figuring out the rules and words in the process. Worksheets and written instruction are also provided to help facilitate learning.<br /><br />Stenn, a native English speaker, developed the Experiential Spanish method based on her own Spanish-as-a-second-language acquisition experience and her studies in experiential learning at the <a href="http://www.sit.edu/">School for International Training</a>. She shares 20 years of Spanish language experience, having lived and worked in Bolivia with travels to Mexico, Spain and Nicaragua. Stenn, a professor at Keene State College, teaches conversational Spanish to both adults and children from beginner to intermediate levels. Jill Stahl, Director of Arriba Spanish writes of Stenn, “She was consistently positive and upbeat, determined to make the experience of learning another language as fun and memorable as possible.”<br /><br />Experiential Spanish classes are now forming in the Brattleboro area. Groups of three to five meet for one hour, two times a week, for six weeks and cost $180 each. Private tutoring rates are $25 an hour. Contact Tamara for more information at 802-254-2273 or tstenn@keene.edu. Classes can be held at her Marlboro, VT home or off-site.<!--EndFragment-->Dr. Tamara Stennhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14736650843377088392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1871464015536187996.post-57084178817966623032013-05-16T19:58:00.003-04:002013-05-16T19:58:58.431-04:00Info sharing - thanks!What a great project I was included in. It gives a new meaning to reciprocity, while KUSIKUY is working hard to provide Fair Trade transparency and info., students are working to give me access to interesting and meaningful info. Here's the scenario:<br />
<br />
<div class="p1">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
Kayla works with teenagers in an after school boys and girls club on a project about being more organic. One her students, Jenny, came across the KUSIKUY page while doing some research on the subjects and found some useful information what was helpful for their project. Part of the project requirement is that if a teenager finds a resource they also have to reach out to that person and thank them while giving them good information to share in return. This is the site that Jen found to share with KUSIKUY: <a href="http://www.blankstyle.com/articles/guide-organic-food-clothing-and-more" target="_blank">project link</a></div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
Thank you Jenny for your sharing - we particularly LOVED the organic clothing links. Great info. and good reading!</div>
<div class="p1">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
-Tamara</div>
Dr. Tamara Stennhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14736650843377088392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1871464015536187996.post-79412786848845339642013-05-13T06:53:00.003-04:002013-05-13T06:53:47.331-04:00Fair Trade retail grows 18% at Keene State College
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<span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 12.0pt;">When not fair Trading, researching and writing, I teach introduction
to Quantitative Literacy (IQL), part of the core curriculum at Keene State
College (KSC). The course
objective is to teach students to develop proper analytical skills when
researching, examining, and presenting numerical data. Applying basic statistics to data helps
to create greater meaning.
Supplementing these stats with researched background information creates
a context in which the data can be understood. The following is a summary of findings from the latest KSC Anual Fair Trade Report which was developed as a dual-class group project where all
students participated in teams to research and measure Fair Trade on the KSC
campus. We used Canvas and
in-class meeting time to organize our data, store our work, and coordinate the
development and editing of multiple drafts. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</v:rect><![endif]--><b><span style="font-family: Copperplate; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">HIGHLIGHTS
OF THE YEAR<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 12.0pt;">Total suggested retail value of
Fair Trade products sold on campus: $493,050, an 18% increase over the 2011
figures.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 12.0pt;">Total number of Fair Trade
presentations and events: 11 delivered to or participated in by a total audience
of approximately 2,504 people. Though there were 15% less events, there was 72%
more total attendance.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 12.0pt;">Total number of KSC professors
using Fair Trade in the classroom: 14 <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 12.0pt;">Total number of courses where Fair
Trade is mentioned: 13</span></div>
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<b style="text-indent: 35.45pt;"><span style="font-family: Copperplate; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<span style="text-indent: 35.45pt;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma;"> </span><span style="font-family: Copperplate; font-size: 18pt; font-weight: bold;">A Brief History of Fair Trade at KSC</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Minion Pro';">Fair Trade had become a big part of KSC.<span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Minion Pro';">The first Fair Trade
product on the KSC campus was Green Mountain coffee in 2008. In early 2010, Sodexo began carrying
Equal Exchange chocolate and tea in response to student requests. Sodexo also began offering the Aspretto
Fair Trade coffee line that they had developed themselves at the Dining Commons
later that same year. The next
year, the Bookstore stocked Fair Trade t-shirts for the first time. </span><span style="font-family: 'Minion Pro';">Fair Trade was an idea that was spreading through-out
the student body, and it was enough of one to have motivated students to form a
Fair Trade Club. By 2012 Fair Trade retail value had topped $500,000. The year
2013 saw the introduction of two new Fair Trade products, Numi Tea and Maine
Root Soda, with Fair Trade apparel soon to come as well.<span style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Minion Pro';"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 35.45pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Minion Pro';">Here's some visual highlights:</span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQLIrdGElLe884sdqM2NyXddG5TMZu1mwjnfb2MZmQlf8fbrfYHWns-oowq33E_j3GfOKwbwLFRdXHT-dwrdgkhIJsiMBU-A0VwHE4pvbaXKnmMCxGR8UAbmWI5rHB6c9JQHrdjkl871mN/s1600/Untitled.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="187" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQLIrdGElLe884sdqM2NyXddG5TMZu1mwjnfb2MZmQlf8fbrfYHWns-oowq33E_j3GfOKwbwLFRdXHT-dwrdgkhIJsiMBU-A0VwHE4pvbaXKnmMCxGR8UAbmWI5rHB6c9JQHrdjkl871mN/s320/Untitled.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIqkEWPccXmdFtuX9DDr5FFIUWazo_lMbh84F1RkC25ZLX9gHzMIqsrulqmniXeZkKzCsqnBEs20p8GAkKWKKsWBzNAnaq3A0U1oBbQ7UnPaopyj8m69I9YnyvesdbUi4re2Jf4Q1JCKNn/s1600/Untitled1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="193" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIqkEWPccXmdFtuX9DDr5FFIUWazo_lMbh84F1RkC25ZLX9gHzMIqsrulqmniXeZkKzCsqnBEs20p8GAkKWKKsWBzNAnaq3A0U1oBbQ7UnPaopyj8m69I9YnyvesdbUi4re2Jf4Q1JCKNn/s320/Untitled1.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTSVynqHZlXn3D9Q1U1v2lR2mZkQS3mOyFk1UvzVXmR-t5IejkYgieih2yv4g2O0oMWB5jDnJPAlxLaUu3bw-vUdlfIhxgGA1FEys5CvwYNN5A42B900EPcEvZUJFl-2966KjEM8NALkQB/s1600/Untitled2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="193" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTSVynqHZlXn3D9Q1U1v2lR2mZkQS3mOyFk1UvzVXmR-t5IejkYgieih2yv4g2O0oMWB5jDnJPAlxLaUu3bw-vUdlfIhxgGA1FEys5CvwYNN5A42B900EPcEvZUJFl-2966KjEM8NALkQB/s320/Untitled2.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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For a full copy of the 17-page report (in a dpf file). Please contact Professor Tamara Stenn at: tstenn(at)keene.edu.</div>
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<!--EndFragment-->Dr. Tamara Stennhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14736650843377088392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1871464015536187996.post-85453198404231847402013-04-10T13:55:00.001-04:002013-04-10T13:55:02.590-04:00The Cultural and Political Intersection of Fair Trade and Justice: Managing a Global IndustryMy new book is due out in September, 2013: The Cultural and Political Intersection of Fair Trade and Justice: Managing a Global Industry published by Palgrave Macmillan.<br />
<br />
I am seeking endorsers and funders for further research into Quinoa in December 2013 ($5,000 sought). Please contact me if you are interested (tstenn (at) keene.edu).<br />
<br />
Here's the (unedited) PREFACE:<br />
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">This
book is a journey deep into the depths of Fair Trade exploring first the
phenomenon of Fair Trade, how it originated and developed, who the players are today,
and the different ways in which Fair Trade is understood and engaged in on a
global level. This macro-view of
Fair Trade includes economic and development theory and examines the concept
and goals of Fair Trade as an institution. The book then moves into a micro-view of Fair Trade as it is
applied in Bolivia. New ways of
understanding and realizing Fair Trade emerge as Bolivian culture, history and
people converge to build a unique context in which trade takes place. Delving even further into the Fair
Trade experience, indigenous Andean women engaged in two different types of
Fair Trade, handicrafts and agriculture, are studied in a deeply personal
ethnographic account of Fair Trade’s impact on women’s lives. The book culminates in a theoretical
analysis of women and leadership and cultures’ affect on management and
outcomes. Woven throughout the
journey is the theme of justice with glimpses of how it is enhanced and not,
within the Fair Trade context.
Many twists and turns emerge as Fair Trade and justice is experienced
and understood in different ways. I,
as the author, am a US based 15-year veteran of Fair Trade with a long personal
connection to Bolivia through my children’s family and work. Throughout this book, I strive to
present an authentic view of events and concepts, honor the experiences of
people and place, and present an honest analysis of the dynamic changes
sweeping across Bolivia affecting Fair Trade, women and ways of being.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Life
is an interdisciplinary experience.
In the spirit of living, this book too is written in an
interdisciplinary style enabling the phenomena of trade to be understood
ethnically, socially, politically, economically, interculturally and from a
gender perspective. Grounded
theory is presented from the academic disciplines of management, economics and
anthropology. This text presents
many jumping off points for further analysis and exploration. Interactive exercises are presented at
the end of each chapter to prompt greater exploration into a theme or phenomena
and enable connections to arise between theory, self and community. The text is
written in four parts. The
following explains how each part is broken down by chapters and exercises.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 200%;">
<b>Part I<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Part
I presents a macro view of Fair Trade and builds the platform upon which one
can examine the idea of fairer trade and justice. It creates language, context and breaks down complex issues
of trade into four pillars; government, producers, consumers and institutions,
enabling trade to be understood from multiple perspectives. These multiple perspectives are
analyzed and supported by Amartya Sen’s ideas of justice. The overarching theme of Sanskrit’s <i>niti</i> and <i>nyaya</i> justice are introduced in Part I; <i>niti</i> being the detailed, concise idea of justice enforced through
laws, rules and regulations and <i>nyaya</i>
the broad view of justice realized through intention, context and multiple
perspectives. In addition Sen’s
concepts of plural grounding, a way of looking at a situation from different
sometimes conflicting perspectives and seeing it as a whole; comparative
broadening, a method of deeply understanding something by comparing it to
something that it is not; and public reasoning, the creation of space for
diverse and rarely heard voices to be heard are applied throughout Part I to
create a language and context in which justice can be discussed throughout
subsequent Parts as well. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">More
specifically, Part I is broken down into five chapters, the first is the
history of Fair Trade with an exercise exploring commonalties and traits of
Fair Trade’s early pioneers. The next
four chapters focus on the four pillars that collectively enable Fair Trade to
exist. Each pillar is presented
independent of the others, with its own analysis and exercises designed to
deepen one’s awareness and understanding of Fair Trade and justice. Chapter Two focuses on Fair Trade
institutions, their different approaches, and challenges faced by the industry
as Fair Trade scales up. The
question as to whether Fair Trade is exclusively for small producers or if large
land holders can also participate is presented as well as a discussion about
the justice of large corporations carrying Fair Trade brands without being Fair
Trade themselves. The Chapter Two exercise enables participants to engage in a
“fishbowl” discussion to explore different perspectives of Fair Trade and
growth. Chapter Three introduces the
theory of rational choice and explores the rationality of Fair Trade engagement
by consumers and the challenges they face. Concepts such as akrasia, bounded rationality and sustained
reasoning are explored as consumer motivation is unpacked and looked at from a
justice perspective. The Chapter
Three exercise presents an opportunity for readers to engage in an ongoing
consumer study of Fair Trade.
Chapter Four is about Fair Trade producers and creates a socio-economic
and cultural context in which Fair Trade can be experienced. Sen’s capabilities approach is applied
making the manner in which Fair Trade is accessed and understood by producers,
and the consequence of this relationship, become important. The subsequent exercise engages readers
in active, online research of producers with analysis and critical
thinking. Chapter Five presents
the role of government and policy in supporting justice within a producer or
consumer country both in the trade arena and amongst citizens in general. Sen’s idea of a functioning democracy
is presented here and tied in to justice.
The Chapter Five activity enables participants to develop a functioning
democracy using public reasoning to more deeply understand and resolve a
pre-determined problem. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 200%;">
<b>PART II <o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Part
II takes the global phenomena of Fair Trade and closely examines it in the
context of Bolivia and the indigenous women working in Fair Trade. A combination of the author’s
personal experience, case studies, ethnographic study and historical data crate
a rich depiction of the dynamics and contradictions of Fair Trade in
Bolivia. Bolivia is similar to
many countries in the developing world in that it has high poverty, poor
education and a lack of infrastructure and industry. It is different in that the people share strong cultural
beliefs, embrace indigenous rule and take a deeply democratic approach towards
governance. Fair Trade guidelines
however are the same across countries and gender. Part II presents a micro-view of Fair Trade examining its
effects within the context of Bolivia’s indigenous women, an understudied
though important population of Fair Trade. Part II chapters present a political history and context for
understanding Bolivia and Fair Trade in the Andean region, developing a close,
personal view of Bolivia’s indigenous Fair Trade women. Chapter Six introduces the Andean
concept of Suma Qamana, good living for all. Indigenous organizational units of <i>minka, mita, ayllu</i> and <i>ayni</i>
are introduced as well as an examination of the steps that led to the
re-emergence of this ancient system of governance. Neoliberal reforms, development policy, and decentralization
are explored here. The Chapter Six
exercise entails participants exploring their own local governance, its
function and roots. Chapter Seven
extends beyond Bolivia and looks at emerging models of South American Fair
Trade, <i>Comercio Justo</i>, and how they
are realized through trade alliances and constitutional reforms that center on
sustainability and collective well being rather than personal gain. The parenthesis man is presented as a way
in which to understand motivation in the context of the Social Solidarity
Economy, a world-wide model of greater economic collaboration, sustainability
and mutual gain. The Chapter Seven
exercise focuses on the discovery and mapping of the Social Solidarity Economy
in ones own community and is linked to a global mapping project.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 200%;">
<b>PART III<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Part
III presents a detailed ethnographic study of the roots and heart of Fair
Trade, the indigenous women themselves. Not always visible from within the
family home and often not present in leadership roles, women producers are
easily overlooked and the least studied and known part of Fair Trade. The author’s deep connections to
Bolivia’s indigenous women and Andean ways of being gives readers access to a
world not always seen by outsiders.
Part III contains studies of women in two types of Fair Trade,
handicrafts and agriculture, and creates a broader view and deeper
understanding of how Fair Trade is experienced in different contexts. In addition, it looks specifically at
women’s leadership at a time of revolutionary change in Bolivia; one marked by
indigenous rule and the emergence of women’s rights spelled out and protected
by a new national constitution.
Chapter Eight engages ethnographic study, participatory rural appraisal
and methods of thick description to capture the lives of Bolivia’s indigenous
women knitters in the highlands.
Themes of migration, climate change and gender empowerment arise as the
women define the effect of their Fair Trade participation in their own
words. The Chapter Eight activity
enables readers to apply participatory rural appraisal methods to better
understand or respond to a need within their own community. Chapter Nine takes readers to
jungle mountainsides where indigenous women Fair Trade coffee growers work with
small family cultivations. The
history and impact of development is studied in the context of coffee as Bolivia’s
new Fair Trade coffee quickly became a multi-million dollar industry. The women describe their struggles to
realize their own identity within the collective of the family and identify, in
their own words, the effect that Fair Trade farming has on their lives. The Chapter Nine activity applies
comparative broadening to explore differences in business models from the
highlands cottage industry of the knitters to the jungle co-operatives of the
coffee farmers. Chapter Ten
presents a comparative analysis of the experience of indigenous women from the
same cultural group, working under identical Fair Trade guidelines, within the
same country but in different industries, handicrafts versus agriculture.
Issues of female deprivation, poverty and identity are explored. Sen’s capabilities approach is applied
to women’s functionings to understand where and how Fair Trade enables justice
to be realized for women in both industry sectors. The Chapter Ten activity invites participants to “adopt” a
Fair Trade producer group and conduct research into producers’ own experiences
with Fair Trade and how it affects them.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 200%;">
<b>PART IV<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Part
IV takes a step back to provide a specific look at women’s leadership and
intercultural management within the context of Bolivia and Fair Trade, thus
completing the full Fair Trade experience. Chapter Eleven examines Bolivia’s women leaders within both Fair
Trade industries; handicrafts and agriculture. It looks at the recent history of women’s leadership theory,
development, training and the understanding of feminism and how this plays out
in Bolivia. Through personal
histories and in-depth interviews two different approaches towards women’s
empowerment emerge. Women’s Fair
Trade leadership extends into the political arena as well as Fair Trade leaders
take on national leadership roles through the work and support of the
Constitutional Assembly and Bolivia’s new indigenous led government. Women’s engagement in Sen’s
functioning democracy and public reasoning support revolutionary change and
reshape Bolivia. The Chapter Eleven
exercise introduces Open Space Technology and guides readers in using the tool
to engage others in public reasoning to create greater understanding around a
controversy within their own community.
Chapter Twelve introduces the work of Gert Hofstede and his cultural
dimensions. By understanding the
cultural differences between Fair Trade’s producer and consumer countries,
greater justice can be realized.
Engaged in comparative broadening differences in power distance,
uncertainty avoidance, individualism, masculinity and long term orientation
result in trade and gender challenges.
Sen’s Capabilities Approach is applied here too to broaden ones
understanding of the role that interculturality plays in growing justice. The final activity introduces
participants to the Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity (DMIS) and
engages the use of intercultural assessments such as Edward Hall’s high context
and low context ways of being.
Role plays and simulations enable participants to re-enact cultural
challenges identified in Hofstede’s dimensions and understand them differently
with a deeper intercultural knowledge.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">I
hope readers find the book insightful and thought provoking. It has broadened my way of viewing trade,
consumerism, community and sustainability and gives me new ways in which to
approach growth, development and conflict. I feel I am better able to refrain from passing judgment too
quickly and have learned to value taking the time to seek out seldom heard
voices and listen, letting different ideas emerge to today’s challenges and
helping all of us to move towards greater justice. Thank you for taking this journey with me. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">-Tamara</span></div>
Dr. Tamara Stennhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14736650843377088392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1871464015536187996.post-81460844055338844832013-04-05T23:07:00.003-04:002013-04-05T23:14:59.241-04:00KUSIKUY discounts at the North American Alpaca ShowKUSIKUY's new Fall/Holiday 2013 Prophecy Collection is up and running: <span style="color: #0000ee;"><u>http://www.kusikuy.com/product.php?productid=16744&cat=255&page=1</u></span> <br />
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<img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOuavNvytVuLift0D-s8c2oFbaPXBBde7WaIHm7-WxBKgETFpU2DIUf_p9IgnvkBuBBVOO9ZNZ90DdZGrZ3aLJCErN91uhWT0gHtOMdfTOtdWLVcI3LmT-vipNwjYhAuKSRd31tAp1l-jw/s320/CABLETUNICLARGE.jpg" width="306" /></div>
So is the Play Fair children's line: <a href="http://www.kusikuy.com/product.php?productid=16605&cat=256&page=2">http://www.kusikuy.com/product.php?productid=16605&cat=256&page=2</a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxLU0i2mjMcHj6VKQ6nQIRu7iVwauDyGsh3bCe34RLA2LaggH71mQAI3Z36UrJkvOECadRzaBimtUiZjpXoFTm1snS1GWX9YeriEp7et-fZBKfJXdNklAVPCfTJ7JcAf7Pr9X7Vei6i1aO/s1600/rainbowlsmallPDF.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxLU0i2mjMcHj6VKQ6nQIRu7iVwauDyGsh3bCe34RLA2LaggH71mQAI3Z36UrJkvOECadRzaBimtUiZjpXoFTm1snS1GWX9YeriEp7et-fZBKfJXdNklAVPCfTJ7JcAf7Pr9X7Vei6i1aO/s1600/rainbowlsmallPDF.jpg" /></a></div>
We've been getting great reviews from our customers and industry people on these new designs. Find KUSIKUY in baby boutiques, eco-shops, women's boutiques, outdoor stores, yarn shops and alpaca farm stands. <br />
<br />
Visit us live and get a up to 50% off on overstock KUSIKUY items at the North American Alpaca Show show this weekend - eco-ethical alpaca is great for Alpaca Farm Stores! <a href="http://www.naalpacashow.com/NAAS/">http://www.naalpacashow.com/NAAS/</a>Dr. Tamara Stennhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14736650843377088392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1871464015536187996.post-25253331973860544522013-02-03T19:11:00.001-05:002013-02-03T19:16:12.259-05:00Storytelling - Meet a young coffee farmer<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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</style><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1871464015536187996" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1871464015536187996" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1871464015536187996" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1871464015536187996" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1871464015536187996#editor" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1871464015536187996" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a> The following
are the experiences of Bolivia’s women coffee farmers in this time of new
opportunity and difficult change.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ester Julia Quispe</i> is an imaginary
(though typical) indigenous woman coffee farmer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her story is based on the compilation of real data,
experiences and stories.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ester
Julia Quispe is 18 years old.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She
came to Caranavi as a baby on her mother’s back.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her mother and father had moved do the area from Sorata.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her father worked in the mines there,
but it was dangerous work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
family was looking for a new life and so they came to the Yungas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Twice in her life, Ester traveled with
her family back to Sorata, eight hours away, and visited her grandma and aunts
and cousins.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is different
living on the high, cold altiplano.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Ester prefers Caranavi, though she does like traveling through the city
of La Paz there is so much happening there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ester’s mother convinced her one aunt to move the
region.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She and her husband live
just down the road from Ester, so does her father’s mother.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ester’s father is part of Union Pro-Ago
one of the larger coffee associations in the area.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She remembers when there was no coffee and the family grew
coca.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was easy to pick the
leaves to dry and sell them in the local market.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were light and the bushes were not very high.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Coffee was different.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She needed a pole to bend down the
branches to pick off the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">guinda</i> or
cherry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She could only pick the
red ones and as they filled her bag, it became heavy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then she had to grind them through the de-pulper machine and
let them set before spreading them out to dry on the high tables.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a lot of work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They still grew coca in the
summer,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>coffee was a winter crop,
but not as much as before.</div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: .5in;">
Her parents
want her to marry and have her own farm but she does not want to do that
yet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She tends to her plot of
coffee though often she does not weed it enough or harvest in time and her
coffee is not that good and the birds eat it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She spends her days helping at the coffee association,
Pro-Agro with Cecilia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She likes
to keep track of the orders and is learning accounting from Cecilia, another
coffee farmer who took accounting classes at an institute in La Paz.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her mother calls her lazy when she sees
the meager coffee coming from her daughters’ plot and her former classmates
laugh.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“How can you be working at
Pro-Agro when you have no coffee?” they tease her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most classmates she does not even see anymore, just at the
soccer tournaments against the other colonies or at market in the town of
Caranavi on Wednesdays.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a
long time since she was in school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The local school only went to eighth grade and her parents did not want
to send her to the high school in Caranavi almost two hours away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now with the new laws it was different
all parents had to send their children to school or they would loose their end
of the year stipends $300 to cover the costs of school supplies and uniforms
for the year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: .5in;">
Ester has
three brothers and a sister.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Juan
was almost 20 and wanted to go to La Paz to study business administration but
his father said that he needed to stay and help with the farm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He wants Juan to be a farmer like the
sons of the other members of Pro-Agro.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>All of the fathers are pushing for their sons to get more land and farm
in the Yungas like they did.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Juan
wants to do other things.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His cousin
Harry went to Argentina and works in a factory making t-shirts for $200 a
month.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Juan wants to go to
Argentina with Harry next time he comes back to visit (fig. 1).</div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">(Fig. 1) Home for a vacation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>(Photo: Stenn, 2012)</i></div>
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<td style="padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 225.9pt;" valign="top" width="226"><div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: normal;">
<i>Twenty-year-old Juan Jose
(Pepe) Alanoqa, the son of coffee farmers, home from his clandestine work in
a Buenos Aires, Argentina clothing factory.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is an undocumented worker and spends about 60 hours a
week, making about $.83 an hour, take-home pay.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is housed and fed at the factory.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With few expenses, and little time to
spend his earnings, Pepe saves almost $200 a month.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He feels the work, though tiresome, is worthwhile because
he is saving money, meeting new people, and building a future for
himself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He says the food is
good and he even has an Argentinean girlfriend who works in the same
factory.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Each year, thousands of
Bolivians cross the borders to work in factories in Argentina.</i></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: normal;">
<i>This is Pepe’s first time
back in over a year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The factory
closed for winter vacation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
will be returning to Argentina in just a few days.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is a three day tip by bus. Half of Pepe’s vacation time
was spent traveling. He is not sure if he will come back to farm coffee.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Right now he is enjoying Argentina
and his work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He makes almost as
much as his parents do in a year.</i></div>
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<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: .5in;">
Her sister
Lourdes is 16 and always teasing the boys.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She dreams of living on her own coffee farm, having
children, and being like her mom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>“That’s what everyone does,” she tells Ester, when Ester questions her
on why she does not want to do something more.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ester finds this dull and boring, why would anyone just want
to sit on a farm all day she asks?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Ester’s mom wants to know why Ester is always so ambitious, why can’t
she just be calm and little by little with the farming life gets better.</div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: .5in;">
Little Jack is
eight and never sits still.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is
always running after his soccer ball and kicking it at the chickens.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Life is just one big game for him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her aunt calls him the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">diablito</i>, little devil.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His grandmother is always giving him
extra oranges and sweet fruits to eat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He’s a good coffee picker though and often picks as much as his big
sister, Lourdes.</div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: .5in;">
Baby Emma is
six and just starting school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She
walks to the two-room schoolhouse with her brother each morning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They sit at tables in rows and copy
what the teacher draws on the board.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They go home for lunch and help with coffee if it is coffee season.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She likes her class.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And teacher.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are 15 other students in it. (Fig. 2).</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: normal;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">(Fig. 7)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A coffee farmer
stands by her nursery. (Photo: Stenn, 2012)</i></div>
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<i>Coffee seeds are protected
from the sun and animals while being maintained in a humid environment under
a low tent of ferns.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Being
germinated during the winter dry season, this coffee nursery needs to be hand
watered each day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: normal;">
<i>Taking three months to
germinate, coffee seedlings grow slowly, reaching coffee producing maturity
after five years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A plant will
produce coffee for 10 years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There is an ongoing rotation of old and new coffee plants and the use
of nurseries to maintain a steady supply of new plants.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: normal;">
<i>Coffee earnings have doubled
since Fair Trade come to the region 10 yeas ago besides maintaining their
current production, farmers are expanding their coffee plots.</i></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
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<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: .5in;">
She remembered
that her mother had some other children between Lourdes and Jack but they
died.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That was a bad time when
there was a lot of water problems, the health post was not set up yet and the
dengue fever came.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She remembered
being sick often.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now with their
latrine things seem to be better.</div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Esters’s family lives together in their
two room adobe home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One room is
for storage and the farming equipment, machetes, the de-pulper, food sacks with
rice and the other is where they all live.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes Juan sleeps in a hammock but mostly they share the
three beds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sleeping head to
toe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She sleeps with Lourdes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometime Emma climbs in too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their house has a dirt floor and they
just got a solar panel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now there
is light in the evenings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
children use it to do their homework.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Her mother speaks of buying a television, though they would need a tall
antennae too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They listen to the
radio and she helps Jack with his math homework.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The kitchen does not have electricity though.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She cooks there with her mother,
pealing potatoes and making soups with yucca and chicken.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes there is no meat and they
just eat the soup with vegetables.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There is always fruit; mangoes, oranges, bananas, avocados.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The family will harvest these to sell
at market too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ester likes going
to the market.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is a fun time to
run into old friends from school and see what is happening in the outside
world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is when she will stop
by the Pro-Agro offices in town and look for Cecilia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Cecilia understands how Ester wants to do something more
than farm.</div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: .5in;">
There are new
leadership training programs from FECAFEB that Celica tells her about.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Soon the women will be able to be
members of the coffee associations too, not just have a membership through
their husbands like most did.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They
would be invited to attend the coffee meetings and expected to speak and
participate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The leadership
training classes will help them to prepare for this and teach them they will be
able to make decisions and learn how things work in the association. </div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: .5in;">
Ester begins
the day helping her brothers and sisters get ready for school while her mother
makes the morning tea and heats up last night’s soup.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After the children have eaten, she will sweep the area and
gather up clothes for her mother to wash.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Her mother likes washing clothes, she says he swish swish of the water
calms her nerves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Este thinks it’s
all of the years her mother spent in the Altiplano without much water that
makes her like water so much.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>After she sweeps the dirt floors and makes the beds, Ester gathers wood
for the cooking fire and makes lunch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>She sits on a low wooden stool on the dark kitchen’s dirt floor, feeding
small sticks into the adobe stove that is build on the floor, holding up a
blackened aluminum pot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: .5in;">
The coffee
season runs from May until August.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>During these months, Ester raises even earlier, eating a quick 5am
breakfast before going out with her father and Juan to pick coffee from the
family’s 12 acre plot from 6am until 10am.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then she will return to cook lunch for the family, eat and
clean, and spread out last night’s fermenting coffee on the drying tables to
dry for the day (fig. 3).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her
brother and sister return from school for lunch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ester and her entire family head out to the fields from 2pm
to 6 or 8pm to pick even more coffee.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>On a good day, she picks about three lattas of coffee cherries (60
pounds).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They return home, de-pulp
the coffee by hand grinding it in a mill that removes the fleshy fruit, leaving
just the bean, and leave the beans to ferment over night.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then they eat dinner and prepare for
bed.</div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">(Fig. 3)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maria Elena
Hilari drying her coffee. (Photo: Stenn, 2012)</i></div>
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<i>Once hand de-pulped and
fermented over night, wet coffee beans are spread out on low, net covered
tables for drying.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The nets let
air circulate underneath, drying the coffee more evenly and quickly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The raised tables keep the coffee off
the ground, provides a space for air circulation, and keeps dust and animals
out.</i></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: normal;">
<i>The drying process is
important in maintaining the quality of the bean.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Women stay close to the houses when their coffee is drying
so they can check the readiness of the bean.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When it is dry enough, as indicated by the bean color, the
coffee is put into 220 pound (1 quintal) sacks for the association(Union
Pro-Agro) to trnsport to la paz for a second drying.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: normal;">
<i>Maria Elena has a red tub of
poor quality beans she hand selected from the coffee on the ground to her
right.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once in la paz, coffee is
graded and a price assigned by the FECAFEB to each family.</i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: .5in;">
Sometimes her
father is at a meeting, or traveling to El Alto, La Paz to oversee the coffee
drying facility they are installing there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes Ester travels to La Paz with him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is exciting to be out in such a
different world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She likes the
drying facility too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The big
equipment is exciting and scary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They are still installing it so she is not sure how it will work
yet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She helps to rake the beans
on the large, cement drying patio.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Each community has their own elected supervisor who travels to El Alto
to stay with the community’s beans while they dry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ester has on a winter coat on and wraps her head in a scarf
to protect her face from burning in the sun’s harsh rays.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is winter and the top of Mount
Illimani looms, covered in white glaciers in the distance (Fig. 4).</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: normal;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">(Fig. 4) Raking the Coffee. (Photo: Stenn, 2012)</i></div>
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<i>Union Pro Agro’s coffee
undergoes a second drying on the cement patios of their processing plant in
El Alto, La Paz, 10,000 feet above the jungles where this coffee was
grown.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The sacks identify which
farmer’s coffee is being dried.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Here coffee undergoes another quality check before being milled to
remove the thin, dry, outer husk, packed in burlap export shipping sacks, and
sold to global markets.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Twenty-one tons of Fair Trade and organic green coffee passed through
here for export in 2011.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mount
Illimani’s 21,000 foot peaks loom in the background<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once home to the world’s highest ski slope, the slope
closed in 2007 when climate change caused the glacier to melt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bare areas of rock are seen in the
photo.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Illimani, meaning “golden
eagle” in Aymara, used to be pure white.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The evening sun hits it, turning it gold and pink.</i></div>
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<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: .5in;">
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1871464015536187996" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1871464015536187996" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1871464015536187996" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1871464015536187996" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1871464015536187996#editor" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1871464015536187996" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: border-box; background-image: none; background-origin: padding-box; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat; background-size: auto auto;">Susana, the head of the gender
development program of FECAFEB, the export organization that</span> Pro-Agro is
a part of came to visit the EL Alto plant one day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Esther watched her walking around and talk</span>ing to the men,
checking with the engineers and technicians like she was their boss.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She wanted to be like that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To walk up to the men and talk to them
like a boss.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead she found
herself waiting to be told what to do by them, though with her girl friends she
could be the boss easily.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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She asked Susan
at lunch if it were true that they were going to have a leadership training
program for women.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She said it was
and that this would be their third program.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She invited Ester to sign up to be a director of Pro-Agro.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Each FECAFEB member needed to have a
woman on their directorate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She
thought Ester would be a good director.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>As a director, she would get leadership training which she would then be
able to offer to the other women in her region.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That sounded perfect to Ester.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her friends were always shy to speak up in meetings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The men would laugh at them or make
faces.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then the woman would get
shy and not say anything more. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes
the women had really good ideas too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But the men made it hard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They said they liked the women to speak and they would listen to the women.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But they did not make it easy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ester felt shy and so did her friends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes after a meeting, the boys would
tease the girls about what she had said.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It is a form of terrible harassment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She had to ask her father and he had to talk to the other people
in Pro-Agro.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ester was young, but
many of the young people were taking on leadership roles in the coffee, or else
they were leaving.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The young
people had more education than their parents and understood how things worked
with the foreigners better.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
Ester
felt she would have a good chance to be offered the director position.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If not, Susan said here was also a
gender officer position.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These new
positions were being created to help their organizations have enough women in
them like the other Fair Trade organizations did in other countries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ester was glad the Fair Trade was here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She already had ideas that she thought
would help Pro-Ago.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She wanted to
roast the coffee and sell it at trade shows and have more tourism with
foreigners visiting the families growing coffee, and even have a coffee shop in
the town and the city where tourists could drink their coffee.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She though that just selling the green
coffee beans for export was not enough. She saw the visitors come and knew that
they sold her coffee for much more in their own countries after they roasted
it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She wanted to get a roaster
and grinder for the cooperative so they can sell their coffee like this too.</div>
Dr. Tamara Stennhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14736650843377088392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1871464015536187996.post-83603795189437232762013-01-06T18:01:00.001-05:002013-01-06T18:11:54.401-05:00Fair Trade Consumer Study - Demographic: Age<style>
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-<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Copperplate; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">FINDINGS</span></b><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma;">There
was a rich and interesting collection of data created by this study.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The following is a breakdown and
explanation of some of the more compelling findings from the study as authored
by student teams who spent the semester collecting and analyzing the data.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To receive a pdf of</span><span style="font-family: Tahoma;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma;"> the complete report</span> or an excel copy of </span><span style="font-family: Tahoma;">the
original data, please contact Dr. Stenn: tamara (at) keene.edu. </span><span style="font-family: Tahoma;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>More information
is available from the data than what is presented here.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Copperplate; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">DEMOGRAPHICS</span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Copperplate; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Age</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma;">Of
637 people surveyed, 67% were younger than the age of 30. Of the younger than
30 population, 44% made their own household buying decisions while 88% of the
respondents over the age of 30 made their own buying decisions. This can be
explained by the fact that many people under the age of 29 may still live with
their parents or are financially dependent on their parents and their parents,
rather than them, are making the household buying decisions.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1871464015536187996" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1871464015536187996" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><span style="font-family: Tahoma;">According
to a the National US Fair Trade Consumer Study, most of the fair trade is
purchased by people in their 50’s (Fig. 2). In fact people in their 50’s are
almost three times more likely to buy fair trade than people in their teens. Of
the people 50-59 years of age surveyed, 26% said they always seek out fair
trade when they go shopping, while only 10% of people aged 19 and under said
they sought out fair trade. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOxum4xm2HRFksTXnVI_6Z-T_N7EpYwgomlrGHYHjNZiAQv8k1T2KcjyIOrfclTC9CAbs3NyaetEd-Li9k6xvZCOHAC_Ef6S5-TazV2BswVC9jS2mRewlEY5lFX47qAES3iXnIaI7xlhTU/s1600/fig2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOxum4xm2HRFksTXnVI_6Z-T_N7EpYwgomlrGHYHjNZiAQv8k1T2KcjyIOrfclTC9CAbs3NyaetEd-Li9k6xvZCOHAC_Ef6S5-TazV2BswVC9jS2mRewlEY5lFX47qAES3iXnIaI7xlhTU/s400/fig2.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Fig. 2</span></div>
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Based on the US Fair Trade Consumer
Survey in all age groups, the most frequently purchased Fair Trade product is
coffee, except for the 50 to 59 year olds, as they purchased chocolate just as
much as coffee. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The second most
popular Fair Trade product for people under the age of 40 to purchase is
chocolate, though people over 40 seem to enjoy bananas and handicrafts more.
The third most purchased Fair trade Product vary differently from age group to
age group, with people 19 and under buying packaged food, 20 to 29 year olds
buying bananas, 30 to 39 year olds buying packaged food and household items
(tied), 40 to 49 year olds buying handicrafts, 50 to 59 year olds buying
packaged foods, 60 to 69 year olds buying bananas and 70+ year olds buying
flowers. The least bought products by all the age groups totaled together were
flowers and tea. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The study also provided insight into
who was familiar with the concept of fair trade (Fig. 3).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As in Fig. 2, the 50 to 59 year olds
came out on top showing the most knowledge of Fair Trade. </span><span style="font-family: Tahoma;">Of the younger than 30 population, 44% made the
household buying decisions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thirty-three
percent of the survey sample were older than 30. Of them, 88% made their own
buying decisions. </span><span style="font-family: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The lower knowledge of Fair Trade for people under the age
of 19 and above the age of 70 could be due to many people in these age
categories not making as many buying decisions as the people in the categories
in between. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcXZTf_NUjusXlPDI17yxq7GI57AS28Pg6n1vmNaUSyHAoFOSUntTs9-zJS1xwVfMig1YV0kJ1rFFaEG43YEIvnOwNQCji_7qiprS9Fe26KU8KQruYK0DXwUfm0a6COQng2ZNXT22-8Ub7/s1600/fig3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcXZTf_NUjusXlPDI17yxq7GI57AS28Pg6n1vmNaUSyHAoFOSUntTs9-zJS1xwVfMig1YV0kJ1rFFaEG43YEIvnOwNQCji_7qiprS9Fe26KU8KQruYK0DXwUfm0a6COQng2ZNXT22-8Ub7/s400/fig3.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-no-proof: yes;"></span><span style="font-family: Tahoma; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Fig. 3</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma;">Fig
4 gives an overall comparison by age of respondents’ familiarity, commitment
and engagement with Fair Trade.</span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1871464015536187996" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1871464015536187996" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2IxQfh5Y0EOnoRe-OT5vjL5_xnDs3HhFq2kpdbUwo9GlVh5OvDGDcniLS78nMStrWo8ZRNfNLdwLtOW-NsCYpo7Bmq57bttQgbkBma-Jx2H0fgqs4Ch2bjAD7bCl7pTKZ_DYSctEwMCCc/s1600/fig4.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2IxQfh5Y0EOnoRe-OT5vjL5_xnDs3HhFq2kpdbUwo9GlVh5OvDGDcniLS78nMStrWo8ZRNfNLdwLtOW-NsCYpo7Bmq57bttQgbkBma-Jx2H0fgqs4Ch2bjAD7bCl7pTKZ_DYSctEwMCCc/s400/fig4.png" width="400" /></a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1871464015536187996" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1871464015536187996" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Copperplate; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-no-proof: yes;"></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Copperplate; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"></span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-fareast-font-family: "ヒラギノ角ゴ Pro W3"; mso-fareast-language: HI; mso-font-kerning: .5pt;">(Fig. 4)</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<i><span style="color: black; font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-fareast-font-family: "ヒラギノ角ゴ Pro W3"; mso-fareast-language: HI; mso-font-kerning: .5pt;">NOTE: Other demographics studied include gender, occupation, income, where live, and use of media. Contact Dr. Stenn for a copy of the full report. </span></i><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Copperplate; font-size: 18.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "ヒラギノ角ゴ Pro W3"; mso-fareast-language: HI; mso-font-kerning: .5pt;"> </span></b>
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Dr. Tamara Stennhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14736650843377088392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1871464015536187996.post-31371469165751189812012-12-21T14:50:00.003-05:002012-12-21T15:13:53.452-05:00Happy Pachakuti<span class="" id="result_box" lang="en"><span class="hps atn">Bolivia invites the world to celebrate a new beginning today on the eve of summer solstice; a time of Pachakuti. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="" id="result_box" lang="en"><span class="hps atn">Pachakuti - Quechua for "earth changes" refers to a time of radical change and transformation. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="" id="result_box" lang="en"><span class="hps atn">Foretold by Mayan and Andean traditions, Bolivian president Evo Morales, welcomed the arrival of </span></span><span class="" id="result_box" lang="en"><span class="hps atn">Pachakuti </span></span><span class="" id="result_box" lang="en"><span class="hps atn"><span class="" id="result_box" lang="en"><span class="hps atn">with traditional ceremony</span></span> which included a week of preparation as the sacred light was lit on Siriki Island and brought to other islands across Lake Titicaca in a traditional reed boat. Yesterday, December 20th the fire arrived at the sacred Isla de la Luna (Island of the Moon). Today Morales climbed Mount Pachataka on the Isla del Sol* (Island of the Sun) for a sacred cleansing ceremony and, upon his descent, announced the time of Pachakuti. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="" id="result_box" lang="en"><span class="hps atn">*According to Andean tradition, the Island of the Sun is the birthplace of humanity. The daughter of the moon, and son of the sun, emerged from the caves, rising from the lake and joining hands, and thus life began.</span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDJq6HIC7pOxBSeZowWip-dACpYi5ipVFkKM44wzMlwwjjN68qwY5I5WTSXsx1lEkYeM5QfwBE-VnQPD05rdTaneb5CGqF5Z-OWLumAATi_jAbgNXWX9P4nSKZSuqx8d_QGLSP9KmZcgk0/s1600/evosolstice.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDJq6HIC7pOxBSeZowWip-dACpYi5ipVFkKM44wzMlwwjjN68qwY5I5WTSXsx1lEkYeM5QfwBE-VnQPD05rdTaneb5CGqF5Z-OWLumAATi_jAbgNXWX9P4nSKZSuqx8d_QGLSP9KmZcgk0/s320/evosolstice.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">President Evo Morales makes an offering and welcomes Pachakuti in traditional ceremony at the Isla del Sol, Bolivia.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span class="" id="result_box" lang="en"><span class="hps atn"> </span></span><span class="" id="result_box" lang="en">He stated, "<span class="hps">December 21st</span> <span class="hps">is the day</span> <span class="hps">of the</span> <span class="hps">start of</span> <span class="hps">Pachakuti, an</span><span class="hps"> awakening</span> of <span class="hps">the world to the</span> <span class="hps">culture of life</span>. <span class="hps">The beginning</span> <span class="hps">of the end</span> <span class="hps">of wild capitalism</span> <span class="hps">and</span> <span class="hps">the transition</span> <span class="hps">of times of </span><span class="hps">violence</span> <span class="hps">between</span> <span class="hps">humans and</span> <span class="hps">nature to a</span> <span class="hps">new era</span> <span class="hps">where humankind</span><span class="hps"> is </span>in<span class="hps"> unity</span> <span class="hps">with Mother Earth</span> <span class="hps">and all</span> <span class="hps">live together in</span> <span class="hps">harmony and balance with</span> <span class="hps">all of the</span> <span class="hps atn">cosmos."</span></span><span class="" id="result_box" lang="en"><span class="hps atn"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="" id="result_box" lang="en"><span class="hps atn">Morales explained</span></span><span class="" id="result_box" lang="en"><span class=""> that</span> <span class="hps">the "crisis</span> <span class="hps">of capitalism" </span><span class="hps">marked by</span> <span class="hps">social</span> <span class="hps">inequality</span><span class="">, poverty, hunger</span>, <span class="hps">dehumanization</span> <span class="hps">and exploitation</span> <span class="hps">of human resources</span> <span class="hps">around the</span> <span class="hps">world</span> <span class="hps">came to an end</span>, <span class="hps atn">"</span>by the hand <span class="hps">of the peoples</span> <span class="hps">of the world</span>."</span><span class="" id="result_box" lang="en"><span class="" id="result_box" lang="en"><span class="hps atn"> He went on to state,"</span><span class="">We are</span> <span class="hps">at a turning point</span> <span class="hps">in defining the</span> <span class="hps">future of our planet,</span><span class="hps"> the responsibility that</span> <span class="hps">we</span> <span class="hps">assume is in our hands."</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="" id="result_box" lang="en"><span class="" id="result_box" lang="en"><span class="hps">We join with the KUSIKUY knitters and all our wonderful customers and supporters to celebrate this new time of Pachakuti together, and to remember our special place in our global community. We welcome in a new era of "communitarianism" where we celebrate our shared global identities and give thanks for the precious resources the Earth Mother, Pachamama, has shared with us. Happy "earth change" to all.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="" id="result_box" lang="en"><span class="" id="result_box" lang="en"><span class="hps">Quotes source: <a href="http://www.lostiempos.com/diario/actualidad/nacional/20121221/evo-anuncia-al-mundo-fin-del-capitalismo-y-el-inicio-de-una-nueva_196462_418677.html" target="_blank"> Los Tiempos</a> newspaper, Bolivia </span></span> </span>Dr. Tamara Stennhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14736650843377088392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1871464015536187996.post-58402020924678524222012-12-13T14:37:00.005-05:002012-12-13T14:37:57.658-05:00CONSUMER STUDY - INTRODUCTION
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<span style="font-family: Tahoma;">The following are excerpts from a 2012 US National Fair Trade Consumer Study conducted by my students at Keene State College and Fair Trade USA. Please contact me for more info. and the complete study report. Tstenn@keene.edu</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Tahoma;">INTRODUCTION</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Tahoma;">Though
the largest consumer country in the world, the US has a very low per-capita
consumption of certified Fair Trade products.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If all of the millions of dollars of Fair Trade product
consumed in the US in 2007, were divided by the total number of US consumers,
it would come out to each person spending just $3.15 for the entire year - about
the cost of a single cup of Fair Trade coffee (Fig. 1).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Consumers in Switzerland spent about
$27.31 each Fair Trade products that year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is unknown why this is the case.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is it that US consumers are leery of
Fair Trade’s claims for fairness? That they are unaware of the human rights
violations and environmental damages that occur in conventional trade? Or as
this study found, that they feel Fair Trade is “not my concern?” </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Fig. 1 (Krier,
2007, P. 19)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Tahoma;">This
study begins to shed light on who the US consumer is and what their views and
role in Fair Trade purchasing is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
takes into account other studies conducted in Europe which identified
differences in consumer approaches towards Fair Trade based on age, perceived product
availability, and place of residence (Low & Davenport, 2007, Srivastava,
2009).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To date, there has not been
a comprehensive study of Fair Trade and consumers in the US.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This study, though not a comprehensive
measurement of all consumers, starts a conversation. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Tahoma;">There
is a strong occupation, age, and place bias as 54% of respondents were
students, 67% were under the age of 29, and 66% lived in a small city, town, or
rural area.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The purpose of the
study is to create a greater understanding of Fair Trade consumerism in the US
by indentifying challenges, emerging trends, and motivation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A demographic approach was taken as
consumers were looked at by age, gender, occupation, income, and place of
residence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The following are the
highlights of the many insights that they survey provided about the minds and
motivation of the US consumer.</span></div>
Dr. Tamara Stennhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14736650843377088392noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1871464015536187996.post-40627834193187247302012-11-25T17:08:00.001-05:002012-11-25T17:17:03.322-05:00The Cultural and Political Intersection of Fair Trade and JusticeAuthoring, "The Cultural and Political Intersection of Fair Trade and Justice," an academic text for Palgrave publishing, UK. Manuscript due Feb. 1, book due out by Sept. 2013.<br />
<br />
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This book is about indigenous women,
globalization, justice, policy, and Fair Trade.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is a comparative study of Fair Trade and its effect on Bolivia’s
Andean women working independently in handicrafts and those working
collaboratively in agriculture.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
takes place at a time when Bolivia’s new constitution recognizes the rights of
women for the first time and Fair Trade has grown to become a multi billion
dollar, global industry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
author presents an ethnographic study of the effects of Fair Trade on
indigenous women, as reported by the women themselves, and seeks to develop a
deeper understanding of Fair Trade, globalization, culture, and policy in
building justice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
Fair Trade is a global model of commerce
based on transparency and respect where disadvantaged producers, from poorer
countries create products for export to wealthier countries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is developed and promoted by a
global network of Fair Trade institutions and their members and supported by
consumers who often have an ethical motivation to purchase a Fair Trade
product.<br />
<br />
This book is grounded in Amartya Sen’s
theory of justice and Geert Hofstede’s theory of cultural dimensions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Its distinguishing features are the
depth of understanding and personal experience brought to the topic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The book originated from the author’s 15
years of working with indigenous Andean women in Fair Trade and being asked by
the women if Fair Trade was fair.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The author took this question to heart and what ensued was a three-year
journey across the Andes Mountains and through government ministries, literature
and research reports, to capture, define, and understand, the justice of Fair
Trade.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dr. Tamara Stennhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14736650843377088392noreply@blogger.com0