Seduced or Sceptical Consumers? Organised Action and the Case of Fair Trade Coffee

This article brings together research on political consumerism, social movements and markets to analyse the phenomenon of fair trade coffee. It does this to demonstrate the influence of organised consumers in shaping markets, and to show that people are not inevitably individualised and seduced by the power of corporate marketing. The case of fair trade coffee is used because of the pivotal role of coffee in the global economy. \'Organised consumers\' are treated as comprised of three inter-connecting, fluid, components: an activist core, responsible for building the campaign and its alternative trade networks; a widely dispersed alliance of civil society and social movement organisations, articulating the connections between trade justice, human rights and wellbeing; and an \'outer edge\' of quasi-organised consumers acting as part of a largely imagined group by using economic capital to express cultural and political values. Despite saturated markets, and oligopoly among suppliers in a highly rationalised supply chain, such consumer movements have been instrumental in an emerging new trade paradigm, which has influenced the business and product strategies of trans-national corporations. The creation, and rising sales, of Fair Trade products are evidence of the role of consumers as sceptical actors, challenging consumerism and the ethics of a supply chain which impoverishes coffee farmers. Although the future trajectories of fair trade campaigns and products are uncertain, their growth indicates that people continue to draw on sources of social identity beyond that of \'consumer\'.Consumption, Consumers, Fair Trade, Coffee, Social Movement Organisations

Value for money:Local authority action on clean energy for net zero

Local authorities are well placed to realise co-benefits of integrated local energy systems; however, in the UK they have no statutory energy mandate. Planning and developing clean energy are discretionary, and persistent budget reductions, combined with the lack of strategic direction from the UK government for more localised energy provision, limit local capacity, expertise and resources. Nevertheless, some local authorities have led energy initiatives but have been unable to stimulate investment at the pace and scale required to align with net zero greenhouse gas targets. Using evidence from such initiatives, this paper discusses the institutional changes needed to enable local authorities to act. It examines existing climate and local energy plans, and their integral socio-economic value. Using this evidence, investment opportunities from locally led net zero programmes are identified. EU technical assistance funds provided a particularly successful route to local energy developments: based on value of investment secured against initial funding, it is estimated that GBP 1 million technical assistance funding to every local authority would lead to GBP 15 billion investment in local energy. Other potential funding innovations are assessed and the paper concludes with recommendations for policy and resource measures needed to convert local ambition into clean energy and energy saving investment at scale

Making useful knowledge for heat decarbonisation:Lessons from local energy planning in the United Kingdom

Heat decarbonisation is challenging in many countries, but few studies address its ‘wicked problem’ qualities and the implications for producing useful knowledge. This paper elucidates the challenges by applying insights from science and technology studies, especially Callon’s concept of knowledge ‘frames’, to explain the fate of a prominent UK innovation – the EnergyPath Networks (EPN) and Local Area Energy Planning (LAEP) tool of the Smart Systems and Heat programme. The aim of the tool, which coupled an engineering model with local planning, was to provide authoritative knowledge to support local decision making. However, after six years of piloting with local authorities the future take-up of EPN and LAEP remained uncertain, for two key reasons. First the techno-economic knowledge frame encountered numerous overflows emanating from more potent political-economic and technological perspectives governing local priorities. Second the framing of local decision making neglected the marginality of energy planning at local government level. Our analysis shows the problems that arise when lab-based research and development prematurely frame energy system problems, before encountering societal and political contexts of use. Problem definitions and solutions for heat decarbonisation based predominantly on technical–economic knowledge lack requisite authority to progress this wicked problem, and must become more context-responsive