COMMODIFICATION, PRIVATIZATION AND FAIR AND FREE TRADE OF WATER, FOOD AND NATURAL RESOURCES IN MICHIGAN AND GLOBALLY

• Sponsoring Institution: State Agricultural Experiment Station
• Project Status: COMPLETE
• Funding Source: STATE
• Reporting Frequency: Annual
• Accession No.: 0208849
• Project Start Date: Oct 1, 2006
• Project End Date: Sep 30, 2011
• Program Code: [(N/A)]- (N/A)

Recipient Organization
MICHIGAN STATE UNIV
(N/A)
EAST LANSING,MI 48824

Performing Department
SOCIOLOGY

Non Technical Summary
SITUATION: 1) Restructuring of agriculture and falling farmgate prices hurt small commodity farmers both in the US and the global South. 2) Large (mainly European) consortia are increasingly focused on privatizing the provision of municipal drinking water in the US, which is presently 85 % public. Concomitantly, the global bottled water industry is increasingly developing high-capacity wells and plants in groundwater-rich regions, including Michigan. 3) Expanded agreements on trade in services within the rubric of the World Trade Organization (WTO-GATS) pose new challenges to the exercise of domestic sovereignty to regulate to protect environmental quality and human health. PURPOSE: 1) This project examines the potential effectiveness of fair trade arrangements and certification to provide small farmers in Michigan, and their counterparts in the global South, with access to higher-value markets by more direct links to consumers who value social justice, local consumption and sustainability. 2) It also explores (a) the dynamics of privatization of drinking water infrastructure in the U.S. and in Latin America, (b) social movements that have arisen in response to planned or actual privatizations, and (c) new forms of water management that have emerged in the wake of a deprivatization trend across Latin America. 3) The project also explores the potential impact of an expanded WTO-GATS regime on natural resources and environmental protection, particularly the ability to control resource flows (such as water) within state and supra-state boundaries (e.g., Great Lakes Compact).

Animal Health Component

50%

Research Effort Categories

Basic

50%

Applied

50%

Developmental

(N/A)

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
112	0210	3080	10%
604	5010	3080	10%
604	6210	3080	10%
606	0210	3080	10%
606	5010	3080	10%
606	6099	3080	10%
606	6120	3080	10%
802	6099	3080	10%
803	5010	3080	10%
803	6120	3080	10%

Knowledge Area
803 - Sociological and Technological Change Affecting Individuals, Families, and Communities; 112 - Watershed Protection and Management; 604 - Marketing and Distribution Practices; 606 - International Trade and Development; 802 - Human Development and Family Well-Being;

Subject Of Investigation
6120 - International economy and sectors thereof; 6210 - Farmer cooperatives; 0210 - Water resources; 6099 - People and communities, general/other; 5010 - Food;

Field Of Science
3080 - Sociology;

Keywords

fair trade

certification

commodity

cooperatives

political economy

water resources

privatization

commodification

free trade

wto

gats

sovereignty

sustainability

michigan

latin america

Goals / Objectives
The fair trade portion of this project builds upon previous research on the social, environmental and economic benefits of access to certified fair trade markets for small coffee producers in Latin America, which is forthcoming as a book (Jaffee, 2007). I will extend the focus of my research to include domestic agricultural producers, examining the extent to which both the principles and formal structures of fair trade certification (reduction of intermediaries, development of high-value markets focused on "conscious consumers" who place value on the social and environmental conditions of production)are being or can be applied to small producers in Michigan and the U.S. This expands upon a previous article in Rural Sociology (Jaffee, Kloppenburg and Monroy, 2004). While fair trade has to date been framed exclusively as a system linking southern producers of primary tropical commodities more directly with socially responsible consumers in the North, many sustainable food initiatives within the United States are also intended to achieve the same kind of progressive producer-consumer linkages. I suggest that a more expansive application of the term fair trade to encompass agrofood initiatives within both North and South as well as between North and South has considerable analytic and practical utility. The other two portions of the project are new research areas for me, and as such will be exploratory in nature. The privatization and commodification of natural resources typically understood to be part of the "commons," such as water, is a concern to many observers from three different perspectives: 1) a social justice standpoint (maintaining and expanding equity of access to life-sustaining resources); 2) the shifting and contentious boundary between the public and private spheres under policies of economic liberalization; and 3) the question of environmental impact. In the case of drinking water, a few large (mainly European) consortia are increasingly focused on privatizing the provision of municipal drinking water in the US, which is presently 85 % public. Concomitantly, the global bottled water industry is increasingly developing high-capacity wells and plants in groundwater-rich regions, including Michigan. Finally, expanded agreements and new rules on "trade in services" within the rubric of the World Trade Organization (WTO-GATS)--a treaty that is binding on member nations--pose new challenges to the exercise of sovereignty (at the levels of nations, states and localities) to regulate to protect environmental quality and human health. This project explores (a) the dynamics of privatization of drinking water infrastructure in the U.S. and in Latin America, (b) social movements that have arisen in response to planned or actual privatizations, and (c) new forms of water management that have emerged in the wake of a deprivatization trend across Latin America. The project also examines the potential impact of an expanded WTO-GATS regime on natural resources and environmental protection, particularly the ability to control resource flows (such as water) within state and supra-state boundaries (e.g., Great Lakes Compact).

Project Methods
This research is situated broadly within frameworks of political economy and political ecology. My work on fair trade in agricultural commodities forms part of a vibrant academic discussion around the political economy of agro-food systems. The exploratory research into the commodification and privatization of water, and on the environmental and social effects of free trade agreements focused on trade in services, will draw broadly from both political ecology (with a focus on the contestation of access to commons resources), and new social movements approaches that examine the development of transnational networks between non-governmental groups, activists and other civil society actors. Methodologically, the project will utilize both qualitative (commodity chain analysis, multi-sited ethnography, document analysis, participant and non-participant observation) and quantitative (survey) approaches. It will initially involve extensive interviews with participants at multiple levels on each of the three sub-topics: farmers, members of citizens groups, environmental organizations, and other non-governmental groups, regulators, WTO officials, US trade negotiators, industry representatives, and others. It will also utilize analysis of NGO, industry, governmental and WTO reports and other primary data. The study will also involve commodity chain analysis of both water and fair trade agricultural production, trade and consumption. Finally, I will develop and conduct surveys with participants, most likely in each of these sub-topic areas (e.g., small agricultural producers; consumers of privatized, public and de-privatized water utilities; environmental regulators and citizen activists).

Progress 10/01/06 to 09/30/11

Outputs
OUTPUTS: MEDIA INTERVIEWS REGARDING RESEARCH ON THIS PROJECT: April 3, 2007: Interviewed/featured in report aired statewide on Michigan Radio's "Environment Report" (and aired regionally on many additional public radio stations by the Great Lakes Radio Consortium). May 26, 2007: Live interview on KCBS-FM radio, San Francisco. June 18, 2007: Live interview on "A Public Affair," WORT-FM radio, Madison, WI. July 26, 2007: Live interview on WLNZ-FM radio/cable TV, Lansing, MI. September 18, 2007: Interview on "The Morning Show," KPFA-FM Radio, Berkeley, CA. October 24, 2007: Interviewed for news article about fair trade coffee in Capital Times (Madison, WI). INVITED PUBLIC PRESENTATIONS REGARDING RESEARCH ON THIS PROJECT: Public presentation, discussion and book signing at Schuler Books, Okemos, MI. July 10, 2007. Public presentation, discussion and book signing, Madison, WI. July 19, 2007. Presentation to Okemos Presbyterian Church, Okemos MI, October 15, 2007. University of Iowa, Anthropology Department Colloquium. October 26, 2007. PRINT MEDIA ARTICLES FEATURING RESEARCH ON THIS PROJECT: July 27, 2007: My research featured in article in Chronicle of Higher Education Review. (See publications for this and additional print media coverage.) PARTICIPANTS: 1) Daniel S. Jaffee (P.I.) 2) M. Margaret Robinson (Graduate Research Assistant, Spring 2007). 3) Sana Ho (Graduate Research Assistant, Fall 2007). Both graduate research assistants (Ph.D. candidates in Sociology) received training and professional development opportunities in the process of their work on this project. TARGET AUDIENCES: 1) General public audiences (consumers, policymakers, non-governmental organizations, etc.) in Michigan and midwestern states. (reached through public speaking engagements, news articles in print media, broacast media interviews) 2) General public audiences (consumers, policymakers, non-governmental organizations, etc.) nationally and internationally. (reached through book published by University of California Press, broadcast media interviews) 3) Academic audiences (researchers, faculty, graduate and undergradate students, etc.) in Michigan and nationally. (reached through article in Chronicle of Higher Education Review, broadcast media interviews, invited lectures) PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: No major modifications made.

Impacts
1) Book based on research in this project was published by University of California Press in 2007. Book was distributed internationally, and is currently in a second printing (over 4,000 copies in print to date). It is currently being translated into Spanish for eventual Spanish-language publication. 2) Two graduate research assistants were hired, for one semester each, to work directly on research on this project, laying the foundation for journal articles in preparation. RAs conducted research and literature reviews on privatization and commodification of water and other commons resources in Michigan, the Great Lakes, and nationally; and on fair trade and other sustainable agrifood trading and certification initiatives. 3) Several journal articles currently being drafted based on the research in this project; will be submitted for publication in academic journals in the areas of rural sociology, food and agriculture, environment and natural resources.

Publications

• Jaffee, Daniel. 2007. Brewing Justice: Fair Trade Coffee, Sustainability, and Survival. Berkeley: University of California Press.
• Castanier, Bill. 2007. "Coffee Fix: MSU Professor Evaluates Fair Trade System." Lansing, MI: City Pulse (July 5).*
• Goldstein, Evan R. 2007. "Deconstruct This: Fair Trade." The Chronicle of Higher Education Review. July 27.*
• Welch, Lynn. 2007. "Equal Taste: Just Coffee Grows as Fair Trade Soars." Madison, WI: Capital Times (October 24).** [* Article focused exclusively on research in this project. ** P.I. is quoted in article.]