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

publicationTitleAnthropology of Work Review
titleCan a Plantation be Fair? Paradoxes and Possibilities in Fair Trade Darjeeling Tea Certification
DOI10.1111/j.1548-1417.2008.00006.x
version1014
collections
dateAdded2024-08-05T05:04:28Z
dateModified2024-08-05T05:04:28Z
urlhttps://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1548-1417.2008.00006.x
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.
creators
  • Besky, Sarah (author)
tags
shortTitleCan a Plantation be Fair?
itemTypejournalArticle
volume29
rights© 2008 American Anthropological Association
keyVGUM6AMA
accessDate2024-05-21T16:43:54Z
date2008
extra_eprint: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1548-1417.2008.00006.x
ISSN1548-1417
pages1-9
libraryCatalogWiley Online Library
childItem
issue1
languageen