Keith R. Brown

The Problem with Fair Trade Coffee

Many people purchase fair trade certified products because they trust that doing so makes a difference in the lives of small producers around the world. Sociologists Nicki Lisa Cole and Keith Brown discuss how changes to certification policy have modified the meaning of fair trade in a way that has troubling implications for small coffee farmers.

Focus Groups and Methodological Reflections Conscientious Flexibility in the Field

This article discusses the methodological issues and pragmatic dilemmas confronted by a group of researchers conducting focus groups composed of people with disabilities. As an initial component of a mixed-method, longitudinal research project, the intention was to gather perceptions of the ways in which recent policy initiatives shape the lives and employment experiences of people with disabilities. We present the methodological design issues we encountered in planning and conducting the focus groups with the hope that our reflections inform future qualitative research designs involving people with disabilities.

Framing a Fair Trade Life: Tensions in the Fair Trade Marketplace

In October of 2005, over 750 consumers, store owners, and activists attended the first national FT conference, entitled ‘Living a Fair Trade Life’, in Chicago, IL. Pauline Tiffen, author, activist, and founding member of the North American Fair Trade Alliance, gave the keynote address and explained how ‘the market’ should be reframed as a place where people come to interact and actively make decisions: Conventional wisdom now suggests that ‘the market’ is a neutral, uncontrollable force, immune to morality or persuasion, and not to be blamed for the harmful impact of certain trade practices. I suggest we all view ‘the market’ as ‘the marketplace’ where people come to buy and sell their goods, and where people — not some invisible, unaccountable force — decide what is acceptable and saleable.