To Boldly Go…Exploring Ethical Spaces to Re-politicise Fair Trade and Ethical Consumption

This paper examines the modern iterations of ethical consumption which, we argue, are dominated by a highly individualised form, “shopping for a better world”, and marginalizes the more overtly politicised and collective approach. This dissociative transformation of ethical consumption is illustrated through the case example of the fair trade movement. We explore two related literatures, geography and politics, to suggest that the (re-)creation of ethical spaces and “individualised collective action” hold great promise for expanding sales, shortening the distance between producer and consumer and reinvigorating the message of reforming and transforming international trade relations.