Looking behind the Label Global Industries and the Conscientious Consumer [Paperback]

What does it mean when consumers shop with a conscience and choose products labeled as fair or sustainable? Does this translate into meaningful changes in global production processes? To what extent are voluntary standards implemented and enforced, and can they really govern global industries? Looking behind the Label presents an informative introduction to global production and ethical consumption, tracing the links between consumers' choices and the practices of multinational producers and retailers. Case studies of several types of productswood and paper, food, apparel and footwear, and electronicsare used to reveal what lies behind voluntary rules and to critique predominant assumptions about ethical consumption as a form of political expression.

Tim Bartley is Associate Professor of Sociology at The Ohio State University. He is co-editor of Regulation & Governance, an interdisciplinary, international journal focused on the past and present of industry regulation and the changing character of governance within and across countries.

Sebastian Koos is Assistant Professor of Corporate Social Responsibility, Department of Politics and Public Administration, University of Konstanz

Hiram Samel is Associate Professor of International Business, Sa?d Business School, University of Oxford.

Gustavo Setrini is Assistant Professor of Food Studies at New York University.

Nik Summers is a PhD candidate in Sociology at Indiana University.

Ultimately, the book moves readers away from individualistic stances on saving the world through buying 'socially responsible' products, to a much more critical sociological perspective by forcing us to look at how our political and economic structures can be the deepest source of international human rights violations and environmental degradation.

Brand Aid: Shopping Well to Save the World by Lisa Ann Richey and Stefano Ponte (University of Minnesota Press, 2011). ISBN 9780816665464.

Recommended.