ASSESSING THE IMPACT OF FAIR TRADE ON ECONOMIC & SOCIAL RIGHTS: EVIDENCE FROM INDIVIDUAL-LEVEL RESEARCH

Caroline Payne, Ph.D., Department of Political Science, Lycoming College
Alyssa Webb, Department of Political Science, University of Connecticut

 Thursday, March 27^th

12:30pm-2pm
Library Administrative Conference Room, Plaza Level*

Widely publicized to be a responsible and effective way for businesses to improve economic & social rights in developing countries, fair trade has flourished in recent years. Despite an increase in public awareness and consumption of fair trade products, its effectiveness remains untested. Using data from an original survey conducted in the Dominican Republic during the summer of 2012, along with personal interviews, we do just this. Despite the promises associated with fair trade, we find little evidence to support that it has improved economic and social rights for banana, cacao, and coffee workers.

A copy of the associated paper can be downloaded here: http://tinyurl.com/esrg327

 *Below is a link to a map of the library’s plaza level. The administrative conference room is in the area labeled “Administrative Services”. As you walk through that area, the room will be on your left. 

http://lgimages.s3.amazonaws.com/data/imagemanager/44206/plaza.jpg

 

Recent Publications of Chris Jeffords, ESRG Affiliate

Jeffords, Chris, "Constitutional Environmental Human Rights: A Descriptive Analysis of 142 National Constitutions," in The State of Economic and Social Human Rights: A Global Overview, Cambridge University Press, edited by Lanse Minkler, January, 2013.
Available T: http://www.cambridge.org/gb/knowledge/isbn/item6937386/?site_locale=en_GB
An earlier version is also available at: http://www.christopherjeffords.com/Constitutions_Jeffords.pdf

Jeffords, Chris, "Preference-Directed Regulation When Ethical Environmental Policy Choices Are Formed With Limited Information," forthcoming in Empirical Economics. 
Available at: http://www.christopherjeffords.com/Information_Jeffords.pdf

Jeffords, Chris, and Farhed Shah, "On the Natural and Economic Difficulties to Fulfilling the Human Right to Water Within a Neoclassical Economics Framework," forthcoming in Review of Social Economy. 
Available at: http://www.christopherjeffords.com/Water_Jeffords.pdf

Jeffords, Chris, "Constitutional Environmental Human Rights in India: Negating a Negating Statement," Inclusive: A Journal of Kolkata Centre for Contemporary Studies, December, 2012.
Available at: http://theinclusive.org/constitutional-environmental-human-rights-in-india-negating-a-negating-statement
Also available at: http://www.christopherjeffords.com/IndiaCEHR_Jeffords.pdf

Jeffords, Chris, "The Constitutional Environmental Human Right to Water: An Economic Model of the Potential Negative Impacts of Hydraulic Fracturing on Drinking Water Quantity and Quality in Pennsylvania," working paper, January 2013. 
Available at: http://www.christopherjeffords.com/HRtoH2OFracking_Jeffords.pdf

Worth What We Decide: A Defense of the Right to Leisure

ESRG Faculty Member David L. Richards and ESRG Faculty Affiliate Ben Carbonetti have published “Worth What We Decide: A Defense of the Right to Leisure” in the International Journal of Human Rights. The "OnlineFirst" e-version is out now and the print version comes out in January.

 

Abstract:

One of the most routinely philosophically and politically attacked sections of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is article 24: ‘Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.’ Defending against these attacks is important. For example, only the USA and Somalia, among UN member states, are not parties to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). One reason for the USA’s status is political opposition to CRC article 31, which maintains ‘States parties recognize the right of the child to rest and leisure. . ..’ Our article defends article 24 from well-known criticisms. We maintain rights are social constructs and, as evidence of social construction, we provide a genealogy of article 24. We also address the social psychology of rest/leisure and trends in actual state practice.

Talk on 2/3: "Worker Rights in Law & Practice: New Data & Applications"

On Friday, February 3rd, K. Chad Clay, Assistant Professor of International Affairs at The University of Georgia (8/12), and Colin M. Barry, Ph.D. candidate in political science at Binghamton University, will present "WORKER RIGHTS IN LAW & PRACTICE: NEW DATA & APPLICATIONS".

The talk will be held in Dodd Center, Room 162, at 12pm, and is open to the public. 

K. Chad Clay has published his research in The Journal of Politics  and International Studies Quarterly. Colin M. Barry has published his research in Journal of Peace Research and International Studies Quarterly.

Speaker: Katy Gardner

On Tuesday, 11/15, Dr. Katy Gardner will give a talk titled "The Gift of Corporate Social Responsibility: Chevron engages ‘the community’ in Bangladesh" in Beach Hall, Room 404. RSVP is required by November 4th at 4 p.m. (terese.andrews@uconn.edu) The event is co-Sponsored by the Human Rights Institute and the Department of Anthropology.

Dr. Gardner's research examines the cultural and social changes associated with international migration and globalization in Bangladesh, resulting in her monograph Global Migrants, Local Lives: Travel and Transformation in Rural Bangladesh (OUP 1995). She extended her interest in the Bengali diaspora through fieldwork conducted amongst Bengali elders in East London. Her monograph, Age, Narrative and Migration: The Life Course and Life Histories amongst Bengali Elders in London (Berg, 2002) analyses the elders' narratives of migration, ageing and illness in the UK, and suggests that transnational migration can be usefully understood as a gendered and embodied experience.

As part of her interest in transnational migration, Katy has published an edited collection on Transnational Migration and Household Ritual (Global Networks, 2002). Since 2008 Katy has also been working on a project funded by ESRC/Dfid on Mining, Livelihoods and Social Networks in Bangladesh. This has involved returning to her original fieldwork village in Bangladesh, where a multinational company is currently mining natural gas. The project investigates the relationships between transnational migration, global capitalism and resistance, plus the multinational policies and practices of 'Corporate Social Responsibility'.

Speaker: Michael Goodhart

On Friday, November 18, ESRG is pleased to host a talk by affiliate Michael Goodhart, Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Pittsburgh. Professor Goodhart will be giving a talk tentatively titled, "Who is responsible for fulfilling social and economic rights?" which will take place at 12:00pm in Room 162 of the Thomas J. Dodd Center.

He is author of Democracy as Human Rights: Freedom and Equality in the Age of Globalization (Routledge, 2005), contributing editor of Human Rights: Politics and Practice (Oxford University Press, 2009), co-editor of Human Rights in the 21st Century: Continuity and Change since 9/11 (Palgrave, 2011), and author of numerous articles and book chapters.