When free trade was fair trade

As thousands flock to ‘Fairtrade Fortnight’ events all over Britain later this month, Free Trade Nation, a new book by Professor Frank Trentmann, Director of the Economic and Social Research Council-funded Cultures of Consumption programme, shows that ethical consumerism was already flourishing over a century ago. Then, it was Free Trade that brought millions of Britons onto the streets, promoting peace, justice and democracy.

‘Today, Free Trade is often viewed as the new slavery,’ says Professor Trentmann. ‘Look at the anti-globalisation demonstrations at the WTO and G8 summits. People see Fairtrade as the way to peace and justice. Fairtrade is cool, even sexy, and attracts widespread support from eco-warriors to rock stars. But what people don’t know is that Free Trade was once an equally popular movement, and similarly seen as the path to democracy.’

In Britain one hundred years ago, Free Trade brought together radicals and internationalists, businessmen and working-class women in a popular campaign against protectionism. It was not considered the cold economic doctrine it is today but a liberating movement that became a crucial part of political culture and national identity. It embraced the new world of mass communication and exploited commercial entertainment and advertising in seaside resorts and high streets across the land.

Free Trade Nation, published by Oxford University Press on 28th February, is highly relevant for today’s globalisation debates. It sheds new light on the relationship between citizenship and consumption, arguing that consumerism does not necessarily make people politically apathetic. Indeed, Free Trade turned an appeal to Edwardian consumers into a source of political mobilisation. In the 1910 elections, an unprecedented 87 per cent of the population turned out to vote.

But today’s political commentators are wrong to presume that, given the choice, people naturally flock to Free Trade. According to Professor Trentmann, Britain was a special case. Other democracies, like the United States, were deeply protectionist for a long time. Free Trade triumphed because it went out to win the hearts and minds of the people. And it won them through entertainment and ethics as much as through sound economics.