Drawing from module materials, analyzing how Fair trade consumption Essay

Drawing from module materials, analyzing how Fair trade consumption shapes the ethical experience of its users. How does this pa - Essay Example Thus, the essence of Fair Trade Consumption is not just to desire to be ethical, but to believe in the concept of ethical behavior for both the corporations and individuals, to approve of such ethical behavior and to demand that such behaviors be displayed by the business community (Simon, 2007 p18). The concepts of both demand and approval therefore shape the focus of this organizational form, where the demand of any corporate product is made based on the self-approval of the necessary ethical compliance. Fair Trade Consumption demands that we, as the ethical players should not just desire to be ethical, but that ethical behavior should be the basis of all consumptions we make and a fundamental feature of what we think as self, not just as a fair practice, but out of self-approval (Simon, 2007 p23). Fair trade consumption is an organizational form that serves to shape the ethical behaviors of both the producers and consumers, as well as that of all the organizations and agencies tha t operate in between, through creating a partnership that is based on dialogue, mutual respect for all parties and transparency (Bryant & Goodman, 2004 p344). Oxfam is an example of a firm operating under the Fair trade consumption umbrella, which has opened over 750 charity shops for selling second hand clothes, books and other items, for the mere purpose of ensuring to reach the less disadvantaged, while also enhancing the environmental conservation efforts (Clarke, et al., 2007 p585). While the organization of Fair trade consumption could be perceived as political mechanism that is not compatible with the business goals and objectives, the truth is that this organizational form has helped to shape who individuals believe they are, through a process referred to as Ethical Selving (Shreck, 2005 p18). For example, the Fair trade Movement has been working towards raising awareness among the consumers, regarding the negative effects of their non-ethical purchasing, to enable such cons umers exercise their purchasing powers responsibly and positively, through supporting the organizations, business entities and corporations that are enhancing developmental sustainability through corporate social responsibility and caring for the environment (Doherty & Clarke, 2012 p297). This campaign has been geared towards enhancing conventional international trade, which is based on the precepts of transparency, dialogue and respect for all the stakeholders in trade. The organizational form of Fair trade consumption does not seek to enhance responsible trading of the trading partners through trading activities only, but also through campaigns for raising awareness, geared towards ensuring that ethical business standards are not just a preserve of the partners within the Fair trade consumption organization, but the same should hold both locally and internationally (Williams, 2013 p17). The purchase and consumption of Fair trade products does not only serve to present the individu al buyer as one who cares about the implications of poor business practices, but to define the individual as an ethical person (Bird & Hughes, 1997 p167). Therefore, through purchasing Fair trade products, the individual purchasers tend to rebrand themselves as ethical, and that fact with time sinks