Can a Plantation be Fair? Paradoxes and Possibilities in Fair Trade Darjeeling Tea Certification

dateAdded2024-08-05T05:04:28Z
date2008
itemTypejournalArticle
urlhttps://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1548-1417.2008.00006.x
libraryCatalogWiley Online Library
DOI10.1111/j.1548-1417.2008.00006.x
dateModified2024-08-05T05:04:28Z
rights© 2008 American Anthropological Association
childItem
issue1
creators
  • Besky, Sarah (author)
shortTitleCan a Plantation be Fair?
collections
publicationTitleAnthropology of Work Review
volume29
keyVGUM6AMA
version1014
abstractNoteThis paper explores interactions between the Indian government's colonially inspired Plantations Labour Act and TransFair USA's fair trade standards. Although fair trade makes claims to universalistic notions of social justice and workers' empowerment, what “fairness” means and how it is experienced varies by locale. In this paper, I discuss how state laws and fair trade certification agencies complement and contradict each other on Darjeeling tea plantations. I argue that by reinforcing neoliberal logic, fair trade undermines the state, which has maintained the responsibility of regulating the treatment of workers on plantations. Certification often leads to the dissolution of unions, which are regarded as a barrier to trade.
ISSN1548-1417
languageen
titleCan a Plantation be Fair? Paradoxes and Possibilities in Fair Trade Darjeeling Tea Certification
pages1-9
accessDate2024-05-21T16:43:54Z
extra_eprint: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1548-1417.2008.00006.x
tags