The conflict over naming rights offers insight on grassroots limitations.
You might want to think twice about buying your next latte from Starbucks. Or at least the international agency Oxfam believes you should. The organization is on a mission to strong-arm the world's largest coffee retailer into giving Ethiopian coffee farmers a better deal. The campaign offers an important lesson on why these movements work and, at the same time, why they don't.
According to Oxfam, the Ethiopian government tried to get Starbucks to sign an agreement that would allow Ethiopians to retain ownership of their coffee names. Even though it sounds trivial, the distinct names of Ethiopian coffee - Sidamo, Harar and Yirgacheffe, for instance - offer a distinct advantage in the marketplace. According to Oxfam's statistics, this move could generate an additional $92 million in profit for Ethiopia.
Of course, the agreement would certainly cost Starbucks money. Ninety-two million dollars doesn't just appear out of thin air. Starbucks would end up paying more for Ethiopian coffee because the names give the coffee an added value. The question comes down to where the money should go. On one side, Wall Street investors and the largest coffee retailer in the world. On the other side, Ethiopian farmers who make almost nothing. Then, factor in the knowledge that only 10 percent of the money it costs for a cup of this quality coffee goes to Ethiopians, and the decision is clear.
Sure, the ideal solution would be to give the impoverished nation of Ethiopia exclusive naming rights. But the problem is that most consumers don't care enough to know about where their coffee comes from and how much the people are growing it are paid.
In some respects, one of the best ways for grassroots activists to change the world is for them to give up grassroots activism. This is not to say that this type of activism is ineffective or unimportant; countless examples indicate otherwise. But sometimes we forget that the power to change the world so often exists in the institutions most activists don't dare to associate with - for example, multinational corporations. Somewhere out there, someone drinking fair-trade coffee just cringed.
Source: The Minnesota Daily