The Cultural and Political Intersection of Fair Trade and Justice

Authoring, "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.

This book is about indigenous women, globalization, justice, policy, and Fair Trade.  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.  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.  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.
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.  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.

This book is grounded in Amartya Sen’s theory of justice and Geert Hofstede’s theory of cultural dimensions.  Its distinguishing features are the depth of understanding and personal experience brought to the topic.  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.  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.