Fair Trade and a Global Commodity

Peter Luetchford

Description

Fair trade is widely regarded as a universal good. This fascinating anthropological study takes a closer look at a coffee-growing community and cooperatives in Costa Rica - and subjects the fair trade movement to critical scrutiny.



As with conventional coffee, Western demand for organic fair trade produce is largely met by more affluent individuals with larger landholdings. As a result, it is caught up in the conflicts of interest and resentments that are part of the coffee industry as a whole. Ultimately fair trade fails to escape divisions that characterise other forms of production and consumption.



All growers are united in their criticism of the high margins accumulated by regional and transnational processors and exporters. Sustainability, just rewards and social cohesion have formed part of the world view of these agricultural communities for decades. This book shows how there is much common ground between the worlds of the commodity grower and the priorities of the fair trade movement - if not necessarily always in the ways we might suppose.
Acknowledgements

Acronyms And Proper Names

Glossary Of Spanish Terms

Introduction; Approaching Fair Trade: Coffee In Costa Rica

1. Creating Cooperatives: The Welfare State, Coffee, And Fair Trade In Costa Rica

2. Sowing Progress And Contesting Development In The Tilaran Highlands

3. Farming For The Global Economy: 'Playing' And 'Juggling' In The Market

4. Landowners And Labourers: Uncertainties, Strategies And Tensions In The Labour Process

5. Working Nature, Working The Market: Sustainability And Organic Agriculture

6. Envisioning Autarky: The Family And The Farm

7. Civil Society: Local Development And The Limits Of Government

8. Creating And Contesting Value: The Earth, Labour, And Exchange

Conclusion: Fair Trade And Moral Economies

Notes

Index

Sujets

• Social Science
• Sociologie, société et politique
• Development studies
• General officer
• Anthropology
• Development
• General
• Social
• Culture
• Costa Rica

Informations

• Publié par: Pluto Press
• Date de parution: 20 novembre 2007
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781783713684
• Langue: English

Extrait

FAIR TRADE AND A GLOBAL COMMODITY
Anthropology, Culture and Society
Series Editor:
Dr Jon P. Mitchell, University of Sussex
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FAIR TRADE AND A GLOBAL COMMODITY
Coffee in Costa Rica
P ETER L UETCHFORD
First published 2008
by PLUTO PRESS
345 Archway Road, London N6 5AA
and 839 Greene Street,
Ann Arbor, MI 48106
www.plutobooks.com
Copyright © Peter Luetchford 2008
The right of Peter Luetchford to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Hardback
ISBN-13 978 0 7453 2699 3
ISBN-10 0 7453 2699 4
Paperback
ISBN-13 978 0 7453 2698 6
ISBN-10 0 7453 2698 6
PDF eBook
ISBN-13 978 1 8496 4372 6
Kindle eBook
ISBN-13 978 1 7837 1369 1
EPUB eBook
ISBN-13 978 1 7837 1368 4
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This book in printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin.
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CONTENTS
Acknowledgements
Acronyms and Proper Names
Glossary of Spanish Terms
Introduction: Approaching Fair Trade: Coffee in Costa Rica
1
Creating Cooperatives: the Welfare State, Coffee, and Fair Trade in Costa Rica
2
Sowing Progress and Contesting Development in the Tilarán Highlands
3
Farming for the Global Economy: ‘Playing’ and ‘Juggling’ in the Market
4
Landowners and Labourers: Uncertainties, Strategies and Tensions in the Labour Process
5
Working Nature, Working the Market: Sustainability and Organic agriculture
6
Envisioning Autarky: the Family and the Farm
7
Civil Society: Local Development and the Limits of Government
8
Creating and Contesting Value: the Earth, Labour and Exchange
9
Conclusion: Fair Trade and Moral Economies
Tables
Notes
Bibliography
Index
To Helen, Alex, and Nathan, who came with me, and Eva and Isabel who arrived later.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
During the writing of this book I have accumulated debts too many to mention, some intellectual and some personal. First and foremost it would not have been possible to write without the people of El Dos, Costa Rica. Their generosity in adopting my family into their lives was a humbling experience that we will never forget. I am similarly indebted to all the cooperative staff and managers in the Coocafé group. In particular, Juan Carlos Alvarez Ulate opened many doors and is an inspiration in his work. The spirit of openness and transparency of the Costa Rican people we came to know has led me to use real names, only obscuring identities when I feel discretion is necessary. Many who touched our lives deeply appear between the pages, and this book is my small testament to them.
Intellectually, my greatest debt is to my supervisors and mentors at the University of Sussex. Richard Wilson believed in me and supported my project from the start. Jeff Pratt has guided me through difficult times with sensitivity and compassion. His support has been unwavering, and his wisdom during our shared intellectual journey is an inspiration – he has become a true friend. Over the years numerous other people have contributed to the genesis of the book. I especially wish to thank James Carrier, James Fairhead, Jon Mitchell, Sutti Ortiz, Geert de Neve, David Lewis, David Mosse, Jock Stirrat and Pete Stewart for the encouragement, guidance and help they have given me in various guises and at different times. Comments on and gentle criticism of some of the material has been made at seminars, conferences and workshops at Sussex, the LSE, Goldsmiths and Oxford Brookes. Fieldwork was made possible by a generous grant from the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research, and the British Academy and the Nuffield Foundation generously offered funding for a return visit.
Finally, my family have helped and supported me in different ways and at different times. Mark Luetchford deserves special mention for planting the seed in the first place, and for remaining a great friend and brother. His energy, enthusiasm, optimism and commitment is awe-inspiring and infectious. Helen had the courage to pursue the Costa Rican adventure, and without her this book would never have seen the light of day. She, along with my children, has taught me more about life and love than words can tell. This book is dedicated to them.
ACRONYMS AND PROPER NAMES
Asociación de Desarollo Integral :
Integrated Development Association
Asociación Latinoamericana de Pequeños Caficultores :
Latin American Small Coffee Farmers Association
ATO:
Alternative Trade Organisation
BNCR:
National Bank of Costa Rica
BANCOOP:
Cooperative Bank
CAE:
Agro-economic Consultancy
CCMC
Central American Consortium for Cooperative Marketing
Coocafé:
Coffee Cooperative Consortium of Guanacaste and Montes de Oro
Coopeldos:
Coffee and Multiple Services Cooperative of El Dos de Tilarán
Fedecoop:
Federation of Coffee Cooperatives
FODESAF:
Family Development Fund
Icafé:
Institute of Coffee
IMAS:
Institute of Social Security
Infocoop:
Institute for the Promotion of Cooperatives
MAG:
Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock
PLN:
National Liberation Party
R.L.:
Responsibilidad Limitada (Limited Responsibility)
VIVIENDA:
National Government Sponsored Housing Programme
GLOSSARY OF SPANISH TERMS
a medias :
a sharecropping system whereby half the product from the land goes to the landowner and half to the landless labourer
adelanto :
the first payment, or ‘advance’ made by the processor on delivery of coffee
aguas mieles :
the contaminated water that remains after wet-processing of coffee
argullo :
cartel or ‘trust’
asociado :
cooperative member
ayote :
a root vegetable
beneficio :
coffee-processing plant
brete :
shackles or fetters
broza :
the fruit pulp that remains after removal of the coffee bean
en cereza :
coffee still in the fruit or cherry
café oro :
processed coffee before it is toasted
cafetal :
coffee grove
cafetalero:
coffee farmer
cajuela :
box used to measure picked coffee in the field = 20 litres
campesino :
rural person who makes a living from agriculture
caña :
sugarcane
canasta :
basket (into which coffee is picked)
chamol :
a root vegetable
colones :
Costa Rican unit of currency ($1 was worth about 520 colones in 2007)
criba :
a revolving cage used to separate different qualities of coffee during processing
despulpador :
processing machine that removes the fruit from the coffee b