Christopher M Bacon, V. Ernesto Mendez, Stephen R Gliessman, David Goodman, and Jonathan A Fox (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- August 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780262026338
- eISBN:
- 9780262267526
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262026338.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Environmental Politics
Our morning cups of coffee connect us to a global industry and, also, to an export crisis in the tropics that is destroying livelihoods, undermining the cohesion of families and communities, and ...
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Our morning cups of coffee connect us to a global industry and, also, to an export crisis in the tropics that is destroying livelihoods, undermining the cohesion of families and communities, and threatening ecosystems. This book explores the crisis facing small-scale coffee farmers of Mexico and Central America, the political economy of the global coffee industry, the coffee producers’ response to this crisis, and the initiatives that claim to promote more sustainable rural development among coffee-producing communities. The contributors review the historical, political, economic, and agroecological processes involved in today’s coffee industry and analyze the severely depressed export market that small-scale growers in Mexico and Central America encounters. The book presents a series of interdisciplinary case studies showing how small-scale farmers manage ecosystems and organize collectively as they seek useful collaboration with international NGOs and coffee companies to create opportunities for themselves in the coffee market. The findings demonstrate the interconnections between the livelihoods of farmers, biodiversity, conservation, and changing coffee markets. Additional chapters examine alternative trade practices, certification, and eco-labeling, and discuss the politics and market growth of organic, shade-grown, and Fair Trade coffees.Less
Our morning cups of coffee connect us to a global industry and, also, to an export crisis in the tropics that is destroying livelihoods, undermining the cohesion of families and communities, and threatening ecosystems. This book explores the crisis facing small-scale coffee farmers of Mexico and Central America, the political economy of the global coffee industry, the coffee producers’ response to this crisis, and the initiatives that claim to promote more sustainable rural development among coffee-producing communities. The contributors review the historical, political, economic, and agroecological processes involved in today’s coffee industry and analyze the severely depressed export market that small-scale growers in Mexico and Central America encounters. The book presents a series of interdisciplinary case studies showing how small-scale farmers manage ecosystems and organize collectively as they seek useful collaboration with international NGOs and coffee companies to create opportunities for themselves in the coffee market. The findings demonstrate the interconnections between the livelihoods of farmers, biodiversity, conservation, and changing coffee markets. Additional chapters examine alternative trade practices, certification, and eco-labeling, and discuss the politics and market growth of organic, shade-grown, and Fair Trade coffees.
Peter Dauvergne
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780262034951
- eISBN:
- 9780262336222
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262034951.003.0011
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Development, Growth, and Environmental
This chapter analyzes the turn within mainstream environmentalism toward business partnerships, cause marketing, professional fundraising, and the co-branding of products. The chapter further ...
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This chapter analyzes the turn within mainstream environmentalism toward business partnerships, cause marketing, professional fundraising, and the co-branding of products. The chapter further examines the role of nongovernmental organizations in setting up and running eco-labeling and eco-certification organizations. WWF, also known as the World Wildlife Fund and the World Wide Fund for Nature, is a leader in the nongovernmental embrace of business, markets, and certification as ways to conserve nature and improve environmental conditions. Certification standards, such as those of the Marine Stewardship Council and the Round Table on Responsible Soy, are creating some modest reforms to business practices. NGO-business partnerships, such as the one between WWF and Coca-Cola, are also producing some small-scale benefits. But partnering with business and relying on market solutions risks legitimizing business as usual as well as shifting responsibility for global environmental problems onto consumers, a weak global force of change compared to the forces of unsustainability.Less
This chapter analyzes the turn within mainstream environmentalism toward business partnerships, cause marketing, professional fundraising, and the co-branding of products. The chapter further examines the role of nongovernmental organizations in setting up and running eco-labeling and eco-certification organizations. WWF, also known as the World Wildlife Fund and the World Wide Fund for Nature, is a leader in the nongovernmental embrace of business, markets, and certification as ways to conserve nature and improve environmental conditions. Certification standards, such as those of the Marine Stewardship Council and the Round Table on Responsible Soy, are creating some modest reforms to business practices. NGO-business partnerships, such as the one between WWF and Coca-Cola, are also producing some small-scale benefits. But partnering with business and relying on market solutions risks legitimizing business as usual as well as shifting responsibility for global environmental problems onto consumers, a weak global force of change compared to the forces of unsustainability.
Hamish van der Ven
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- April 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780190866006
- eISBN:
- 9780190866037
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190866006.003.0002
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics, Environmental Politics
`This chapter uses an original dataset comprising information on 123 transnational eco-labeling organizations to probe a series of hypotheses on the conditions for procedurally credible eco-labeling. ...
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`This chapter uses an original dataset comprising information on 123 transnational eco-labeling organizations to probe a series of hypotheses on the conditions for procedurally credible eco-labeling. The hypotheses are divided into three categories that focus on who is governing, where the governance takes place, and what sector or issue area the governance targets. The dataset includes information on best practice adherence across the full population of transnational eco-labeling organizations in 2013. The ensuing statistical analysis casts doubt on neo-Gramscian and rationalist arguments that ownership or sectoral competition are the primary determinants of procedural credibility in eco-labeling. Instead, the regression analyses show eco-labels that are industry sponsored or operating in highly competitive sectors are just as likely to craft credible eco-labels as their independently owned or less competitive counterparts. The statistical results also present a new puzzle, namely, that an eco-label’s presence in multiple markets is strongly and positively correlated with credibility.Less
`This chapter uses an original dataset comprising information on 123 transnational eco-labeling organizations to probe a series of hypotheses on the conditions for procedurally credible eco-labeling. The hypotheses are divided into three categories that focus on who is governing, where the governance takes place, and what sector or issue area the governance targets. The dataset includes information on best practice adherence across the full population of transnational eco-labeling organizations in 2013. The ensuing statistical analysis casts doubt on neo-Gramscian and rationalist arguments that ownership or sectoral competition are the primary determinants of procedural credibility in eco-labeling. Instead, the regression analyses show eco-labels that are industry sponsored or operating in highly competitive sectors are just as likely to craft credible eco-labels as their independently owned or less competitive counterparts. The statistical results also present a new puzzle, namely, that an eco-label’s presence in multiple markets is strongly and positively correlated with credibility.
