Certified Products (Fair Trade or Organic)

The trade in goods certified to achieve certain social or environmental goals or standards is the mirror image of the boycott. Whereas the boycott uses social ostracism to obtain its goals, certified schemes try to use the power of the consumer to bring into being products that embody a goal desired by those who are purchasing the good. These products are simultaneously a product that can be used by the consumer in the present and also a symbol of a possible future. Although recently brought into focus by organic foods, Fair Trade products, demands for No Sweat labels, and various ecolabels such as the Rainforest Alliance, the concept has its roots in the 19th century. The British antislavery movement promoted sugar that had not been ...