Social upgrading or dependency?: Investigating the implications of the inclusion of commercial wine farms within South African Fairtrade certification

Bell, Joshua

Title: Social upgrading or dependency?: Investigating the implications of the inclusion of commercial wine farms within South African Fairtrade certification
Creator: Bell, Joshua
ThesisAdvisor: Matthews, Sally (African studies teacher)
Subject: Competition, Unfair South Africa
Subject: Wine industry South Africa Employees
Subject: Unfair labor practices South Africa
Subject: Fairtrade International
Subject: International trade
Subject: Economic development Moral and ethical aspects South Africa
Subject: Wine industry Moral and ethical aspects South Africa
Subject: Work environment South Africa
Date: 2022-10-14
Type: Academic theses
Type: Doctoral theses
Type: text
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/327155
Identifier: vital:61086
Identifier: DOI 10.21504/10962/327155
Description: The South African wine industry is one of the oldest sectors of the country’s economy, beginning in the early years of South African colonialism in the 17th century through the use of slave and slave-like labour. As an industry that has been defined by farm paternalism and dependency, the South African wine industry has had to demonstrate changes from its history of extreme racial and gendered exploitation to an industry that reflects the democratic values of a new South Africa. Ethical certifications are considered one way through which the post-apartheid South African wine industry can demonstrate that it has moved away from its historical practices and is now characterised by practices of decent work and social transformation. An important certificatory label that allows local wine producers entry into global wine production networks is Fairtrade International. While Fairtrade certification is often reserved for small-scale producers, this certification has been extended to large-scale, commercial producers within the South African wine industry despite its history of farm paternalism and dependency. This research asks if this inclusion promotes decent work through social upgrading or if it offers a platform for the continuation of farm dependency under the guise of ‘Fairtrade’. In this study, social upgrading has been defined through a ‘bottom-up’ approach that prioritises workers’ independence as a key means of improvement. Four key pillars are applied as embodying the concept of social upgrading: regular employment with set working hours; legally enforceable worker rights; social protection through collective and individual bargaining power; and non-discriminatory social dialogue that promotes significant socio-economic progression. A key finding of this research is that practices of dependency and paternalism continue on some large-scale commercial farms, despite their Fairtrade certification. Furthermore, the findings suggest that the benefits that farmworkers receive lock farmworkers into their position on the farm with marginally improved conditions and cease if workers depart from the Fairtrade wine farm. This suggests that, at best, this inclusion of commercial farmers within Fairtrade certification appears to create a top-down form of social upgrading that locks farmworkers into their position on the farm with marginally improved conditions and beneath a glass ceiling of development. At worst, this Fairtrade inclusion facilitates a global poverty network through paternalism and dependency under the guise of ‘Fairtrade’. As a result, where meaningful, bottom-up social upgrading may occur on South African wine farms, the study suggests that this is despite the presence of Fairtrade and not a result of it.
Description: Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Humanities, Political and Interntional Studies, 2022
Format: computer, online resource, application/pdf, 1 online resource (241 pages), pdf
Publisher: Rhodes University, Faculty of Humanities, Political and Interntional Studies
Language: English
Rights: Bell, Joshua
Rights: Use of this resource is governed by the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons "Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike" License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/)

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