Will ethical shopping save the world? Can informed consumer decisions tackle poverty in the developing world? The idea that we can ‘make a difference’ while doing our grocery shopping is central to campaigns such as the Fairtrade Foundations’ Change Today, Choose Fairtrade. On the high street, ethical products are all the rage: Topshop, Oasis and Marks and Spencer have been quick to boast their ‘ethical’ credentials; supermarket stocks of organic food are on the rise and no one will be seen without their fair-trade latte. Spending on ‘ethical’ products in Britain now outstrips sales of cigarettes and alcohol. There are even ‘ethical’ credit cards, financial products and ‘ethical investment’ opportunities.
But does buying the right brand really have an impact on the living standards of the poor in the developing world? Or does ethical shopping have more to do with Western guilt-ridden moral posturing? Is ethical shopping at least better than nothing, a morally worthwhile alternative that reminds us of our responsibility to others? Or does the idea that we can only have an impact on the world through our consumption choices just lower our horizons?
 | Jenny Davey deputy City editor, The Sunday Times |
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 | Rob Lyons science and technology director, Academy of Ideas; convenor, IoI Economy Forum |
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 | Julia Hailes MBE sustainability consultant; author, The New Green Consumer Guide |
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 | Professor Kate Soper professor of philosophy, Institute for the Study of European Transformations, London Metropolitan University; co-editor, Counter-Consumerism and Its Pleasures; ESRC/AHRC Cultures of Consumption award-holder for 'alternative hedonism' research project |
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 | Dr Maria Grasso lecturer in politics and quantitative methods, Department of Politics, University of Sheffield; author: Generations, Political Participation and Social Change in Western Europe |
| Dr Maria Grasso lecturer in politics and quantitative methods, Department of Politics, University of Sheffield; author: Generations, Political Participation and Social Change in Western Europe | |
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 | recommended by spiked |
