Ethical Consumerism and the British Fair Trade Movement in the Late Twentieth Century: assessing the role and significance of Christian NGOs.

Keywords: fair trade; faith; Christian NGO; development; market; aid; moral economy

This paper deals with the historical dimensions of political consumption in the twentieth century and traces the rise of the ethical consumer from the 1960s. The main focus of the research is on the emergence of the fair trade consumer movement in Britain. This paper will specifically look at the role of Christian NGOs, (particularly CAFOD, Christian Aid, Methodist Relief and Development Fund, SCIAF and Tearfund), on the identity and formation of the fair trade consumer movement in Britain. The paper will explore both the critique of consumer morality within Christian theology and the attempts by Christian NGOs to persuade consumers to recognise their wider responsibilities in the market-place. In the 1960s, Christian NGOs were amongst the vanguard of civil society’s condemnation of the global disparity between North and South. They questioned their historical role as mere benefactors of charity or alms and attempted to find long term development solutions. In so doing, they looked to address the underlying causes of global poverty, which were to be found in the ‘secular’ concerns of social, economic and political policy. Ultimately, Christian NGOs sought to broaden their critique of ‘rich Christians in an age of hunger,’ to engage with British society as a whole. These debates will be considered in the wider context of a shift in development theory from ‘Aid to Trade’. This paper also seeks to engage with broader themes such as: secularisation, the moral economy and globalisation.