Whose Knowledge Counts? Skills Development in Fairtrade Producer Networks

• In Event: 473 - Section on Political Economy of the World-System Roundtables (one-hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 06. Tourism and Human Capital

Abstract

Fairtrade supports the development of more equitable production and trade exchanges via a system of product certification. After two decades of rapid commercial growth, the Fairtrade label now supports a multi-billion dollar trade network that sells certified products in markets around the world. While this certification system promotes solidarity-based trading arrangements, recent studies are uncovering entrenched inequalities between the various groups operating within the Fairtrade system. Yet there has been little coverage of questions concerning technical support, including the ways in which Fairtrade production networks share knowledge and build skills. This paper provides an exploratory framework to address this gap by connecting theoretical considerations regarding the sociology of knowledge and power with key insights from the skills development literature. Drawing from research with Fairtrade producers in South Africa, we examine how technical support networks generate knowledge and negotiate skills. Findings suggest that skills training represents a primary site for the reproduction of inequality as well as a pivotal point for achieving social transformation. To examine the issues and prospects of skills development in Fairtrade producer networks, we offer an analytical framework that distinguishes between benevolence-based approaches that engage in top-down knowledge transfers, and multi-directional learning strategies that promote commodity network solidarity. Noting that the knowledge, concerns, and skills of Fairtrade producers are key to building trade equity, we present technical support strategies that foster multidirectional knowledge sharing and skills development and conclude by calling for further research in this domain.

Authors

• Jennifer Keahey, Arizona State University

• Siphelo Ngcwangu, Wits University