As we have been hearing about how to respond to environmental issues and ethical issues for the last few Sundays, I thought that it may help, for those who want to delve deeper, to read the essay that I wrote as part of the “Voices for a Just Society” module for my MA at WTC.
The subject was a something that has been close to the heart of SVC, pretty much from when we started, and I had been thinking through for some time, especially comparing the “Fair Trade”, small business approach as against the “Rain Forest Alliance”, working with big business method. I wanted to look at both and the pluses and minuses of each. Also, lurking in the background was still the nagging question about the whole concept of consumerism.
The essay was long and so, as I have done before, I am serialising it into five parts:
1. Introduction
2. Loving Our Neighbour
3. Working with Big Business
4. Working with Small Businesses
5. Can “Consumerism” be Ethical
So, on we go…
Introduction
The term “ethical” is rather ambiguous, but the Oxford dictionary defines it as, “relating to moral principles…, morally good or correct, avoiding activities or organisations that do harm to people or the environment.”[1] The term “consumerism” is less ambiguous and carries with it many negative connotations. The Oxford Dictionary defines it as, “protection or promotion of the interests of the consumer” or “the preoccupation of society with the acquisition of consumer goods.”[2] Arguably, therefore, the term “ethical consumerism”[3] is a contradiction in terms, but unfortunately, while it is less than ideal, I am unable to find a better one, so I am afraid this is the term I will be using.
Ethical consumerism, for the purposes of this paper, conveys the idea of making it possible for the public to continue in “normal” daily life, while making purchasing and lifestyle choices that are beneficial or, at least, not negative to producers, farmers and workers throughout the supply chain. This must, by definition, mean fair, living wages and conditions, as well as sustainable practices. I would certainly include environmental sustainability within this definition because I consider that it is a justice issue. According to Christian Aid, “climate change is rendering traditional methods to tackle poverty inadequate… by 2020, climate change could leave up to 250 million more sub-Saharan Africans in poverty.”[4]
During recent years, ethical consumerism has become increasingly significant and widely accepted within the UK; where Ethical spending has risen from around £16b in 1999, to £81.3b in 2016.[5] Today, it is normal to find supermarket shelves stocked with Fair Trade-[6], Rain Forest Alliance-certified[7], or other ethically-sourced products, whereas, fewer than twenty years ago it was simply not possible to purchase ethical products in the normal routine of life without seeking out specialist businesses.[8]
Despite this, however, we still live in a world of staggering inequality, which, according to Darren Walker, President at the Ford Foundation, “is the defining social injustice of our age.”[9] We live in a world where the richest 1% own more than half of the world’s wealth and the poorest “70% of working age population, account for 2.7% of global wealth.”[10] More than 200 years after the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act, 1807, there are estimated to be more than 45.8 million people “in some form of modern slavery.”[11] Clearly, whatever we have in place is not enough and there needs to be a monumental shift for there to be anything approaching justice.
In these blogs I will be looking at what should be a Biblical, Christian attitude and position on this and, in the light of that, examining two broad approaches to addressing the issues of the consumer supply chain. The first approach is in working with big business to change their attitudes and practices, while the second would essentially fight against big business by promoting small, ethically-centred enterprises.
[1] Oxford University Press, “Oxford Living Dictionaries,” Oxford Living Dictionaries, 2018, <https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/ethical> (14 March 2018).
[2] Oxford University Press, “Oxford Living Dictionaries,” Oxford Living Dictionaries, 2018, <https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/consumerism> (14 March 2018).
[3] I have taken this term from the Ethical Consumer Research Association Ltd (ECRA), Ethical Consumer (www.ethicalconsumer.org).
[4] Climate Change Campaign, “Climate Change Campaign,” Christian Aid, n.d., <https://www.christianaid.org.uk/campaigns/climate-change-campaign> (14 March 2018).
[5] Ethical Consumer Research Association Ltd (ECRA), Ethical Consumer EC170, Jan/Feb 2018, 48.
[6] www.fairtrade.org.uk.
[7] www.rainforestallianceuk.org.
[8] In the late nineties and early 2000s, our church had to bulk source Fair Trade tea, coffee and chocolate to make available for members to buy because there was no other way of them practically sourcing them.
[9] Shared Value Initiative, “Social Justice is Good for Business,” Shared Value Initiative, 22 April 2015, <https://www.sharedvalue.org/groups/social-justice-good-business> (14 March 2018)
[10] Rupert Neate, “Richest 1% own half the world’s wealth,” The Guardian (UK Edition), 14 November 2017, <https://www.theguardian.com/inequality/2017/nov/14/worlds-richest-wealth-credit-suisse> (14 March 2018). The report shows that the richest 1% went from owning 42.5% in 2008, to 50.1% in 2017.
[11] Global Findings, “Global Findings,” Global Slavery Index, 2018, <https://www.globalslaveryindex.org/findings/> (14 March 2018).
2 Comments
Thanks for sharing. Looking forward to the coming blogs.
It is a great shame that the richest 1% are not urged to share the wealth, I think they should be. By law they should have to responsible to give to certain important issues. Maybe we could start a wave of change that would continue through generations.
Money towards solving the worlds biggest problems and a more even wealth distribution.
Of course there is alot of information there, of different important issues also.
Thanks for sharing matt.