Fair Trade Jewelry
Searching the web for "fair trade jewelry" will pull up a number of companies. Fair Trade Jewelry, as certified by the International Fair Trade Labeling Organization, (FLO) does not exist. Yet fair trade, as a concept to the general public, basically translates to a livable wage, fair working conditions and environmental safe guards for the production in cooperatives in the developing world. How much FLO owns the concept of fair trade, which they have certainly developed, is an open question. In labeling their products as fair trade, jewelry producers are expanding or exploiting the concept to the public. Depending upon your perspective, you could view these companies as "fair washing" or as working within the spirit of the fair trade movement. The ambiguity of the current state of this movement will be addressed in a meeting sponsored by the Earthworks Action this upcoming October, 2007. Earthworks Action, which started the "No Dirty Gold Campaign," has laid the ground work for this meeting which will being key players together, through the Madison dialogues. A few small companies are producing artisan or ethnic "fair trade" jewelry in village settings, which come closer to the fair trade concept. More On
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