NO ALTERNATIVE: PARTICIPATION, INEQUALITY, AND THE MEANINGS OF FAIR TRADE IN NICARAGUA by JOSHUA B. FISHER A DISSERTATION Presented to the Department ofAnthropology and the Graduate School ofthe University of Oregon in partial fulfillment ofthe requirements for the degree of Doctor ofPhilosophy March 2010 11 University of Oregon Graduate School Confirmation ofApproval and Acceptance of Dissertation prepared by: Joshua Fisher Title: "No Alternative: Participation, Inequality, and the Meanings ofFair Trade in Nicaragua" This dissertation has been accepted and approved in partial fulfillment ofthe requirements for the degree in the Department ofAnthropology by: Lynn Stephen, Chairperson, Anthropology Philip Scher, Member, Anthropology Aletta Biersack, Member, Anthropology Lise Nelson, Outside Member, Geography and Richard Linton, Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies/Dean ofthe Graduate School for the University of Oregon. March 20, 2010 Original approval signatures are on file with the Graduate School and the University ofOregon Libraries. iii © 2010 Joshua Bryan Fisher IV An Abstract ofthe Dissertation of Joshua B. Fisher for the degree of Doctor ofPhilosophy in the Department ofAnthropology to be taken March 2010 Title: NO ALTERNATIVE: PARTICIPATION, INEQUALITY, AND THE MEANINGS OF FAIR TRADE IN NICARAGUA Approved: Dr. Lynn Stephen This dissertation research takes an ethnographic perspective on competing notions of"fairness" in the first vertically-integrated garment production chain in the world that is certified as fair trade. In sharp contrast to the straightforward images ofsocial justice that are so common on the consumer end of fair trade, the dissertation demonstrates that relations of fair trade production, distribution, and consumption are complicated by ideological disjunctures, by different experiences ofwork and labor, by unequal access to capital and political opportunity, by asymmetrical power, and ultimately by disparate concepts of economic justice. Organized as a commodity chain analysis, this dissertation is based on sixteen months ofmulti-sited, ethnographic research in Nicaragua, funded by the National v Science Foundation (NSF), with four separate fair trade organizations: a faith-based NGO from North Carolina called the Center for Sustainable Development, a well-known Michigan-based fair trade retailer called Clean Clothes Organics, and two Nicaraguan producer organizations, including a women's industrial sewing cooperative (The Fair Trade Zone, which is the first worker-owned organization in the world to gain free trade zone customs certification), and an industrial cotton spinning plant called Genesis. The research shows that, from the standpoint ofproduction and distribution, conflicts frequently emerge over the terms, conditions, and meanings of labor, business contracts, extra-contractual relations, participation in decision-making, and the definition of roles. Producers, moreover, often have no alternative but to accept the terms ofmore powerful groups under duress ofpoverty. Theoretically speaking, this dissertation contributes to an understanding of alternative economic formations, including fair trade and cooperatives. In this vein, I argue that the idea of fair trade as an "alternative" to conventional trade is a problematic rhetorical move that tends to obscure the fact that all aspects of trade-production, distribution, and consumption-are not only inherently political, they are also riven with the complications of mediating between disparate cultural meanings, social positionalities, and political, economic, and social inequality. I recommend revisioning the relationship between the economy, the state, and various spheres of society in light of the insights of substantivist economics, feminist political economy, and ethnography. Vi CURRICULUM VITAE NAME OF AUTHOR: Joshua Bryan Fisher PLACE OF BIRTH: Anchorage, Alaska DATE OF BIRTH: October 29, 1981 GRADUATE AND UNDERGRADUATE SCHOOLS ATTENDED: University of Oregon Bucknell University DEGREES AWARDED: Doctor ofPhilosophy in Anthropology, 2010, University ofOregon Master of Science in Anthropology, 2006, University ofOregon Bachelor ofArts in Physics and Anthropology, 2004, Bucknell University AREAS OF SPECIAL INTEREST: Economic and Political Anthropology Development Cooperatives Feminist Theories and Methodologies PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: Adjunct Professor, Department ofAnthropology, Northwest Christian University, 2010 Research and Administrative Coordinator, The Americas in a Globalized World: Linking Diversity and Internationalization (Big Idea), University of Oregon, 2009-10 Vll Instructor/Graduate Teaching Fellow, Department ofAnthropology, University of Oregon, 2009 Instructor/Graduate Teaching Fellow, Department ofAnthropology, University of Oregon, 2008 Technical Director, Laboratorio Organizacional del Terreno, Vientos de Paz, 2007 Graduate Teaching Fellow, Department ofAnthropology, University of Oregon, 2005-07 Research Coordinator, Center for Development in Central America, Ciudad Sandino, Nicaragua, 2004-05 GRANTS, AWARDS AND HONORS: St. Clair Drake Travel Award, Society for the Anthropology ofNorth America, American Anthropological Association, 2009 Doctoral Research Fellowship, University of Oregon, 2008-09 Cressman Prize, Department ofAnthropology, University of Oregon, 2009 Malcolm McFee Award, Department ofAnthropology, University of Oregon, 2008 National Science Foundation Dissertation Improvement Grant, "Participation, Inequality, and the Making of Fair Trade as a Social Movement in the U.S. and Nicaragua, National Science Foundation, 2008-09 Sasakawa Young Leader Graduate Fellowship for International Research, Oregon University System, The Nippon Foundation, 2006-07 Conference Travel Award, Department ofAnthropology, 2006-07 Conference Travel Award, Department ofAnthropology, 2004-05 Graduate Research Award, Department ofAnthropology, University of Oregon, 2005-06 Graduate Student Research Support Grant, Center for the Study ofWomen in Society, University of Oregon, 2004-05 Meerwarth Research Award, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Bucknell University, 2003-04 Bucknell University Prize in Anthropology, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, 2003-04 PUBLICATIONS: Fisher, Joshua In press Building Consciousness: The Organization Workshop Comes to Nicaragua. The Anthropology ofWork Review. viii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The nature of anthropological knowledge is such that it always reflects the intellectual labor ofso many that have gone before, not just the thinkers ofthe anthropological discipline but also those whose knowledge we seek to represent. For making this dissertation a reality, I want to express my sincere appreciation to those who shared their stories, who helped me think through difficult concepts, and who gave me much needed council and direction. I would first like to thank all ofthe cooperative members from The Fair Trade Zone and Genesis cooperatives, without which this dissertation would not exist. Your persistence in the face of so much adversity has been a constant source ofinspiration in my work, and I can only hope to have done justice to the story. I would also like to thank the Center for Sustainable Development and Clean Clothes Organics: your desire to do good by strangers and to dedicate your lives to the ongoing project ofsocial justice is truly a model for living in this world, and I am truly humbled for having the opportunity to work with you. I would also like to thank my committee for their help in making this dissertation a reality and for instilling in me a respect not only for the pursuit ofknowledge but also for working to build ethical relationships in the process. Lynn Stephen deserves a great deal of credit for the example that she has provided for me and for the important course corrections in my development as a scholar. To Aletta Biersack, as well, I owe much IX more than I can ever repay. Your keen insight and the sheer amount oftime and effort that you gave over to me are far more than I deserve. Finally, I would like to thank the National Science Foundation, the Tokyo Foundation, and the Center for the Study ofWomen in Society at the University of Oregon for grant support during the fieldwork portion ofthis dissertation. x Father Oscar Romero wrote: Es una caricatura de amor cuando se quiere apafiar con limosnas 10 que ya se debe porjusticia, apafiar con apariencias de beneficencia cuando se estafallando en la justicia social. El verdadero amor comienza por exigir entre las relaciones de los que se aman 10 justo. It is a caricature oflove to try to cover over with alms what is lacking in justice, to patch over with an appearance ofbenevolence when social justice is missing. True love begins by demanding what is just in the relations ofthose who love. The following is dedicated to the women and men ofThe Fair Trade Zone and Genesis cooperatives, as well as the many people who have dedicated their lives to seeking true justice. Xl TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page I. INTRODUCTION 1 Commodity Chain Analysis................................................................................... 5 Methodology and Fieldwork........... 10 Chapter Summary.................................................................................................. 14 Notes 17 II. THE THREE-LEGGED STOOL 18 Forming an "Intentional" Community.......................................... 23 The Move to Nicaragua 44 Sustainable and Participatory Development.........................................................