Browsing by Author "Raynolds, Laura, advisor"

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Enhancing workplace standards in cotton garment manufacturing: analyzing fairtrade and global organic textile standards in India
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2025) Kadyan, Sneha, author; Raynolds, Laura, advisor; Taylor, Pete, committee member; Luna, Jessie, committee member; Snodgrass, Jeffrey, committee member
Historically, the cotton garment trade has been characterized by internationally exploitative relationships. Within this context, voluntary certifications have sought to improve the working lives of cotton factory garment workers around the world. This study focuses on the case of India, which is a major global producer of cotton garments with substantial problems in ensuring sound workplace standards for workers. It examines the development and role of voluntary certification as transnational multistakeholder governance frameworks that seek to advance sustainable development in international trade. This research uses qualitative methodology to examine the role of voluntary standards from the perspective of managers, analyzing the complexities in the adoption and implementation of two well-known voluntary standards, namely, Fairtrade International Textile Standard and Global Organic Textile Standard within garment factories in India. It highlights the evolutionary growth of these standards in India, their potential and contribution to sustainable production and manufacturing, and the role of responsible leadership in global trade. By highlighting how voluntary certifications are operationalized in real world settings, this study contributes to the growing literature on the purpose and impact of voluntary standards in garment factories in India.
Open Access
Representation and partnership: a case study of the worker committee on fair trade certified farms in the Ecuadorian cut-flower industry
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2011) Schelly, Erica, author; Raynolds, Laura, advisor; Murray, Doug, committee member; Stevis, Dimitris, committee member
This thesis explores the effectiveness of the worker committee on fair trade certified flower plantations in Ecuador in an effort to identify the challenges and opportunities for fair trade in its goal to facilitate worker representation and empowerment on large-scale enterprises. Representation starts by giving workers an institutional mechanism through which they can join management in the discussion of fair working conditions. The worker committee serves as this mechanism on certified farms in Ecuador. Empowerment implies that workers have the power to instigate change in order to improve working conditions. Providing worker empowerment is problematic in this context due to the structural limitations of the worker committee. Nonetheless, the extent to which the worker committee can provide representation and communication between workers and management may serve as an important step in the process towards worker empowerment. In order to understand the potential for representation on flower plantations, it is important to acknowledge that the flower industry and the actors involved are operating in a market that favors rationality and productivity. I employ Weber's notion of formal rationality to help situate this discussion. Formal rationality is the governing force behind the rise of modern society and its institutions; including the modern global economy. Formal rationality allows for efficiency and calculability, but also leads to an impersonal world where the needs of individuals are sidestepped in order to create a system of productivity. The goal of this study is to demonstrate how management's drive to rationalize production in order to survive in a competitive flower industry has the potential to both constrain and enable the process toward worker empowerment. For flower producers, the drive to differentiate makes certification an attractive option. Certified farms in turn, provide the institutional space for worker representation and communication with management. This paper argues that representation is a precondition for the type of empowerment that workers ultimately need, but does not assume that representation and empowerment are synonymous. Specifically, this study looks at the potential benefits and limitations of the worker committee in its effort to facilitate representation and communication. It addresses two research questions. What are the rationalization processes that impact the lives of workers and managers? To what extent does the worker committee serve as a forum for communication between workers and managers to promote representation?
Open Access
The Fairtrade Access Fund: does linking ethical investment with Fairtrade certification enhance credit outcomes for small farmers?
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2017) Weeks, Nefratiri, author; Raynolds, Laura, advisor; Lacy, Michael G., committee member; Bernasek, Alexandra, committee member
The Fairtrade Access Fund is a new ethical investment fund established to work with smallholder farmer cooperatives certified or becoming certified by Fairtrade International. How does the Fairtrade Access Fund fit in with current financing schemes in the developing world? Does the Fairtrade Access Fund's connection with Fairtrade International certification and ethical finance standards enhance the important positive aspects of credit access for smallholder farmers? Does the connection with Fairtrade Standards mitigate the potential risks inherent in debt finance? My study employs an economic sociology and political economy theoretical framework. It traces the certification requirements of Fairtrade International and analyzes how they intersect with the key institutions of ethical finance in order to answer the main research questions. The research includes information on both investors and recipients of the Fairtrade Access Fund and evaluates whether the fund differs from current forms of finance already available to some smallholder farmers. In sum, my findings indicate that linking ethical finance with Fairtrade certification schemes does enhance credit outcomes for smallholder farmers. Further, Fairtrade certification works as an important mechanism of risk management for ethical lending institutions.