Sara Jane McCaffrey

Social Movement Organization Leaders and the Creation of Markets for “Local” Goods

Research illustrates that social movements can fuel new markets and that these markets can create social change, but the role of leaders in this process is less understood. This exploratory interview-based study of the localism movement contributes to such understanding. It articulates the relationship of social movement leaders and the legitimacy of their organizations to new market creation. Specifically, leaders in this study engaged in a dual role to legitimize their organizations and to legitimize the movement. At an organizational level, leaders chose strategies that conformed to a conventional organizational model of the social movement organization (SMO) as a business network, much like a local chamber of commerce. At a movement level, the SMO’s level of legitimacy influenced the leader’s choice of strategies to grow a “local” market. These strategies aimed, primarily, to shape consumer purchase behavior and, secondarily, to foster the development of producers’ skills, and only in a tertiary way, to alter the nature of exchange. Finally, this study’s findings suggest a tension between the dual roles that may ultimately challenge the efficacy of the movement.

Does “Local” Mean Ethical? The U.S. “Buy Local” Movement and CSR in SMEs

“Buy Local” campaigns argue that consumers who patronize local firms instead of national chains reap broad economic, social, and ecological benefits for their home communities. These campaigns, which seek to create social change through market forces, imply that “local” means ethical. What ethical claims do localism advocates make for the benefits of local consumption, and how do they verify those claims? And how does the buy-local case inform broader debates on ethical markets? We find that U.S. buy-local organizations routinely focused on marketing concerns and failed to police members’ socially responsible bona fides. We also find that prolocal organizations promoted community cohesion and served an important role in disseminating sustainability information through new networks. We suggest that small- and medium-sized enterprises, which face particular challenges in authenticating claims for their economic and ecological impact, should consider restricting claims to their more specific and more easily verified social impact.

Promoting Ethical Consumption or Protecting Local Elites?Tensions in the US ‘Buy Local’ Movement

‘Buy local’ campaigns argue that patronage of local firms produces economic, social, and environmental benefits for the broader community, but critics charge that localism merely serves to protect ...