Dr. Gavin Fridell

Assistant Professor, Politics
Trent University

According to Politics Professor Gavin Fridell, behind every cup of coffee, the fate of thousands of coffee-growing families hangs in the balance.

“The market is not our most ethical institution,” he states, adding rhetorically, “Is it right that consumers in North America have the ability to make life or death decisions for small coffee producers in Latin America?”  Although this may sound drastic, Prof. Fridell’s research has shown the real impact of fair trade policies on those who grow tropical commodities for Canadian and American consumers. 

In the case of coffee, approximately 670,000 independent producers are now fair trade certified by the Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International; however this represents only three per cent of the total number of coffee-growing families in the world. “Although some coffee growers are experiencing the benefits of fair pricing, the lion’s share of coffee growers remain obstructed from ever benefiting in the same way due to entrenched power structures in the coffee industry,” Prof. Fridell explains.

This disconnect between consumers and producers and the environment is what drives Prof. Fridell to explore the political and ethical side of fair trade systems, from global market regulations to corporate social responsibility policies. He is also very interested in the impact social justice movements have on the economy, and the selective ways corporations and governments respond to these pressures.

“We need to be ethical as citizens too, not just as consumers,” explains Prof. Fridell.  “We are limited in the ways we can use our purchasing power ethically because corporations engineer consumer choices. We need to act ethically through our state so government policy determines how we interact and trade with other countries, not just corporate interests.”

Prof. Fridell’s work is gaining increased attention as people seek to better understand how fair trade systems really work. This is a positive trend, as Prof. Fridell believes that only with proper access to information can one make ethical choices.

“Trent has many students who are really into fair trade,” says Prof. Fridell.  “They’re very keen to understand the complexity behind the issues. My goal is to show them the politicized aspects of fair trade that others don’t think are political.”  Prof. Fridell notes how pleased he was to see Trent students put their values in action by successfully instituting an ethical purchasing policy for the University, making Trent one of only two universities in Canada to accomplish this feat. 

Effectively bringing about this kind of change in a cooperative and principled way encapsulates Prof. Fridell’s understanding of how to create a more ethical society.  “Democracy is the key to ethics,” he states.  “The more democratic our political process is, the more ethical it will become.”

Prof. Fridell brings a rich interdisciplinary background to his teaching and research role as assistant professor in the Politics Department at Trent University.  After earning his B.A. in Environmental Design and an M.A. in World History from the University of Manitoba, Prof. Fridell studied political science at York University where he received his Ph.D.  Complementing his broad academic spectrum is his international experience conducting first-hand research with fair traders in Mexico and the Netherlands, as well as travelling to Costa Rica and Tanzania to study other political movements.