Biotechnologie, Agronomie, Société et Environnement (Jan 2006)
Le coton bio et/ou équitable : réel avenir ou effet de mode ?
Abstract
Organic cotton and/or « fair trade »: a real future or just a passing fashion? Fair trade and organic cottons can be presentedas 2 of the solutions to the current cotton market crisis; fi rst, because their price can reach 20% above market; secondly becausetheir cultivation and transformation contribute to the sustainable development of the production countries. Actually, organicand fair trade standards demand a drastic reduction in the use of chemical pesticides while encouraging the implementationof social concerns and the creation of development projects. At the global level, only small quantities of fair trade and organiccotton are produced. The market for this cotton is a niche market, so small in fact; that the issue of whether this type of cottonhas a real future or is only a passing fashion that will soon disappear can be raised. From a sociological perspective we can tryto contribute to the debate by considering that the market for those cottons is « constructed » and by paying attention to thesociotechnical networks that allow the production and the marketing of those cottons. We argue that consumers are the centralelement of these networks. This gives to the consumersʼ expectations and to the norms that guarantee organic or fair tradequality a key role for explaining changes in the networks and market perspectives. The paper is based on 2 research works. Astudy of Belgian consumersʼ expectations for sustainable « jeans » (2003) and a study of the dynamics of fair trade which waspartly based on Indian fair trade networks and group work with consumers (2005). The situation in India is very different fromthe African one. However, because of an important integration of both networks, the Indian case can raise questions that arealso relevant for the African networks. Among them, we wish to underline the importance of socio technical devices that allowthe existence of the long term commitments which are necessary for the survival of fair trade and organic networks.
