Although research into fair and alternative trade networks has increased significantly in recent years, very little synthesis of the literature has occurred thus far, especially for social considerations such as gender, health, labor, and equity. We draw on insights from critical theorists to reflect on the current state of fair and alternative trade, draw out contradictions from within the existing research, and suggest actions to help the emancipatory potential of the movement. Using a systematic scoping review methodology, this paper reviews (...) 129 articles and reports that discuss the social dimensions of fair and alternative trade experienced by Southern agricultural producers and workers. The results highlight gender, health, and labor dimensions of fair and alternative trade systems and suggest that diverse groups of producers and workers may be experiencing related inequities. By bringing together issues that are often only tangentially discussed in individual studies, the review gives rise to a picture that suggests that research on these issues is both needed and emerging. We end with a summary of key findings and considerations for future research and action. (shrink)

Fair and ethical trade is often criticized for being highly gendered, and for institutionalizing the ethical values of consumers, the priorities of NGOs and governments, and most of all, food retailers. But little is known about how women smallholder farmers experience diverse ethical standards, or whether and how standards reflect their values, local cultural and environmental contexts, or priorities for achieving sustainable livelihoods. Linking gender, smallholder livelihoods and global ethical trade regulations, this book reveals that multiple understandings of social justice, (...) environmental sustainability and well-being - or ethicality - exist in parallel to those institutionalized in ethical trade schemes. Through an in-depth case study of smallholder subsistence and French bean farming in Kenya, the book grounds the analysis of livelihoods, gender and ethical trade in women smallholders' perspectives, links the macro level of markets with the micro level of livelihoods, and engenders relations of power, structure and agency in food networks. It brings together disparate bodies of theory to illustrate the knowledge, strategies and values of women smallholder farmers that are often beyond the scope of ethical trade regulations. It also provides a challenging new vision for doing food systems research. (shrink)