The No-Nonsense Guide to Fair Trade (No-Nonsense Guides)

Rating:
Summary: Fair book at best on a crucial topic
Review: This is the weakest of the seven no-nonsense guides I have perused so far. Unless you already know quite a bit about fair trade (including the specific examples used in the book) the book is very confusing. To be honest, I am surprised this got past the editors at New Internationalist and Verso. The first chapter, on Chiapas, Mexico, is utterly nonsense (in direct violation of the series title!). It does, however, get a little clearer from there on.
My other complaint is that the author portrays fair trade as a something of a panacea solution to the ills of the non-western world, at least right up until the last chapters. Fair trade, at best, will be one small part of a much larger solution to the disparities between the rich and poor of the world. This book gives something of a disingenuous "good news" feel, as for now, while fair trade is creating some opportunities for a lucky few in the Global South, what it's been really effective at is producing a target niche market for guilt-ridden consumers in the North. Don't get me wrong, we should all feel guilty about our complicity in the problems of the South, and buying fair trade is one small thing each of us can do. But my hunch is that there are folks out there who feel like they're "saving" the world through fair trade purchasing, making it for some, no doubt, yet another conscience-tonic for the well-off.