Session Title:

Acknowledging Ethical Economies

Session Affiliation:

Economic Geography Research Group

Session Organiser(s):

Sarah Marie Hall (University of Liverpool)

Session 1 Chair:

Sam Scott (University of Liverpool)

Session Abstract:

This session is interested in how knowledge is created, modified, translated and transformed; and, the impact that this has upon business practices and consumer behaviour. How does an initial idea become ‘conventional wisdom’? At what point does knowledge become ethical in practice? How widespread does the uptake of an idea have to be for knowledge to become hegemonic? Whose interests are served by this mainstreaming? And, to what extent does mainstreaming create progressive, radical or conformist forms of knowledge? These theoretical questions will be located via research into ‘ethical economies’ and the way in which sites of production and consumption, as well as the actors within (and possibly controlling) these sites, help to produce and reproduce ‘ethical knowledge’.

Ethical economies first developed in the 1990’s and are now high on the geographical research agenda (McGregor, 2006; Nicholls and Opal, 2005), with particular emphasis on the concept of knowledge as a prerequisite to ethical action (Barnett et al, 2005; Guthman, 2004; Renting et al, 2003). At present, however, we know very little about this ‘ethical knowledge’: how it is formed; how it flows; who or what it encounters; and how it becomes translated or transformed into ethical practices. By ‘AcKnowledging’ ethical economies, the session will address both a general theoretical and specific empirical research gap in Economic Geography.

In terms of specific topics, ethical economies involve:

1. Social and environmental movements (such as ‘Fairtrade’, ‘Organic’ and ‘Local’)
   
2. Management practices (such as supply chain auditing and corporate social responsibility)
   
3. Regulatory regimes (statutory and voluntary)
   

These may be specific to a country or transnational in nature. In addition, there are also other knowledges that may not have been discussed within the discourse of ethical economies, such as family values, health and cultural traditions.

Session 1

Paper 1

Title:

“Together we can help give babies a brighter tomorrow” - Knowledge production and the framing of ‘ethical’ consumption as development

Author(s):

Roberta Hawkins (Clark University, USA)

Presenter:

Roberta Hawkins (Clark University, USA)

Abstract:

A recent television commercial for Pampers (a brand of disposable diapers) depicts a white woman pushing her baby in a stroller along an up-scale city street while window shopping. One by one, women dressed in stereotypical ‘third world’ clothing, apparently from Africa, India, China and Mexico walk past the woman with their own babies in their arms or strapped to their backs. Their babies each wave at the white woman, blow her a kiss or approach and hug her. The white woman smiles knowingly, hugs and waves back at the babies. A celebrity voice-over informs us that by buying this brand of diapers “we can help the world’s babies in need, because, one pack of Pampers equals one life saving vaccine.” “Together” we are told, “we can help give babies a brighter tomorrow.” This commercial promotes the One Pack = One Vaccine initiative between Pampers and UNICEF (an illustrative example of a ‘new’ form of ethical consumption involving collaboration between corporations and development organizations) which supplies a tetanus vaccine to a woman in a developing country with each purchase of a Pampers product in North America, or the UK.

This paper examines the narratives employed in the commercial and campaign promotional materials as well as the discussions surrounding this initiative in the press and on the internet (through blogs on mothering for example). It identifies the ways in which the initiative creates a certain type of ‘ethical knowledge’ by highlighting certain material and discursive connections between the ‘north’ and ‘south’ (such as the connection that women around the world apparently share as mothers) while making other connections invisible (such as the effects of using disposable diapers on human and environmental health). This work concludes by questioning the ways in which the ‘ethical knowledge’ produced through this initiative is employed in framing ethical consumption as development itself.

Paper 2

Title:

Creating the ´Quality´ Market - The Ethics of Direct Trade in the Central American Coffee Industry

Author(s):

Annabel Townsend (University of Sheffield)

Presenter:

Annabel Townsend (University of Sheffield)

Abstract:

Extremely low prices for coffee worldwide over the past two decades have led to an increasing emphasis on alternative trade models, such as FairTrade and Direct Trade certifications, and to ethical and sustainable trading initiatives from private companies, all designed to benefit small scale coffee producers. Incorporated into these schemes are various quality standards and environmental regulations, which have to be met in order to receive the higher prices offered. FairTrade and Direct Trade have had a positive impact on coffee production in terms of working conditions, and to some extent, on coffee prices, but as this paper will demonstrate through ethnographic evidence from Nicaragua and Costa Rica, these schemes have also fundamentally changed the nature of coffee markets in Central America. Contemporary coffee trading now often includes some sharing of knowledge among small scale producers and is beginning to address power inequalities within the commodity network. In order to succeed, farmers need to understand the value and quality of the crops they produce: Direct Trade aims to equip them with this knowledge that has been denied them in the past. This knowledge is empowering in one sense, as it allows the farmers more control over the price of their crop. However, the larger commercial coffee companies still retain their power over the wider commodity chain, using the growing consumer demand for high quality coffee to regulate prices. The growth of ethical trade schemes has required consumers to be more aware of, and more engaged with, the products they are buying, and to share in the knowledge of coffee quality. The result is a very unusual market that is led neither by producer supply nor consumer demand, but by a carefully manipulated desire for 'ethical' and 'quality' coffee.

Paper 3

Title:

Deconstructing Ethical Consumption

Author(s):

Sarah Marie Hall (University of Liverpool)

Presenter:

Sarah Marie Hall (University of Liverpool)

Abstract:

Ethical economies, with their transparent production practices and informed, knowledgeable consumers, first developed in the 1990’s, at the height of the ‘moral turn’ (McGregor, 2006; Nicholls and Opal, 2005). To date, ethical production processes have dominated the study of ethical economies, although more recently there has been an increased interest in ethical consumption practices, in both academic research and wider social considerations. This paper seeks to engage critically with recent studies regarding ethical consumption (and ethical production), arguing that ethical consumption has been reduced to set of specific buying practices (devices such as Fairtrade, local and organic goods) that are thought to be emblematic of what it is to be an ‘ethical consumer’ (Barnett et al, 2005; Guthman, 2004; Renting et al, 2003). Similarly, ethical consumption has only previously been researched in terms of shopping habits and market projections, and not as an everyday practice.

Therefore, this paper aims to open up the discourses of ethical consumption, by deconstructing the terms and practices that define an ‘ethical consumer’. Using ethnographic research with families, this paper argues for the need to recognising other values and consumption practices as ‘ethical’ in nature. To do this, this paper will attempt to redefine the existing parameters of ‘ethical consumption’, so as to create room for a more inclusive debate, in terms of the products, practices and consumers that are recognised within ethical economies. In particular, this paper argues that further attention needs to be paid to the role of everyday consumption practices as being ethical, rather than those practices that adhere to a prescriptive list of products and actions.

Paper 4

Title:

Global Responsibilization in Business Schools: A Governmentality Perspective on the Principles for Responsible Management Education

Author(s):

Nikodemus Solitander  (Hanken School of Economics, Finland)

Martin Fougère (Hanken School of Economics, Finland)

Presenter:

Nikodemus Solitander (Hanken School of Economics, Finland)

Martin Fougère (Hanken School of Economics, Finland)

Abstract:

The voluntary ethos of the business-driven Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) movement is becoming increasingly pervasive at global governance level, primarily through agenda-setting initiatives such as the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and the UN Global Compact (GC). This acceptance of the ‘values of global social responsibility’ has served to institutionalize the idea of corporate citizenship, itself an attempt to construct a reality where the corporation is made a ‘responsible citizen’ that truly cares for its stakeholders. Consistent with these trends, business schools are transformed into sites that are meant to responsibilize subjects and mediate the values of global social responsibility. Recently, an international task force – backed by the United Nations - launched the Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME), which was largely inspired by the GC. The PRME framework consists of six principles dealing with the implementation and transfer of the ‘values of global social responsibility’ within business schools. PRME is closely linked to accreditation bodies such as EQUIS and AASCB, who are now putting increasing emphasis on the ‘accountability’ of business schools, calling for CSR and ethics to be included in the curriculum. In this paper we focus on how PRME is designed to responsibilize different subjects: proactively responsible management education faculty members; business academic institutions as 'good citizens'; students as future businesspeople ('future generators of sustainable value for business and society', as formulated in principle 1); and plenty of other ‘stakeholders’, including business corporations. We show how the PRME initiative is meant to directly affect the conduct of administrators and faculty members – through what we refer to as ‘first-order governmentality’ – who in turn are meant to convey the values of global social responsibility to students and other stakeholders, thereby constructing new subject positions for them – a practice we refer to as ‘second-order governmentality’. We argue that the inherent ambiguity that characterizes PRME and its core concepts leads to a 'weak governmentality' – at least at this early stage – which potentially opens up spaces for re-articulations of what ‘social responsibility’ should consist of, along notions of accountability and regulation. We conclude by discussing the possibilities of using action research as a means to potentially redirect the meaning of social responsibility in management education and opening up CSR for normative critique.

Paper 5

Title:

Discussant

Presenter:

Alex Hughes (University of Newcastle)