Alastair Smith - PhD Scholar

PhD Working Title

Fair Trade and Public Procurement: Is it possible to facilitate processes of sustainable development by including fair trade products in public procurement frameworks?

Career Experience and Qualifications

Alastair graduated from the University of York in 2004 with a first class honours degree in History and Politics. After a six month period working in the north of England in a mixture of market research and financial management, Alastair travelled to Latin America to apply his experience in the context to micro-business development projects. Among the projects with which he had contact, Alastair spent time with an indigenous jam making project in Quetzatenango in the highlands of Guatemala, and an agro-tourism project in the Sacred Valley, Peru. Specifically, he was involved in consulting local groups on market research and marketing strategies (as well as designing and building the occasional information board).

Returning to the UK in the autumn of 2005, Alastair studied at Queen Elizabeth House, Centre for Development Studies at the University of Oxford, under the ESRC 2+2 studentship program. This course provided an interdisciplinary perspective (Alastair took foundation courses in Anthropology and Economics to compliment his undergraduate train in History and Politics) on a broad range of issues that face the developing world. As part of the course Alastair also completed ESRC accredited methods training.

It was this broad approach that Alastair applied to his dissertation that covered the subject of Fair Trade and its relationship to process of sustainable development. Specifically, the work addressed the applicability of Fairtrade certification to the value chain of garment production. In 2007 Alastair graduated with an MPhil in Development Studies.

After a brief break as a foreign language teacher, Alastair moved to the ESRC Centre for Business Relationship, Accountable, Sustainability and Society, to complete his PhD in association with the School of City and Regional Planning at Cardiff University.

Current Research

Alastair holds a second ESRC studentship, and is currently expanding on his interest in Fair Trade and sustainable development by investigating the viability of the governance system being integrated inside public procurement frameworks for positive effects in the developing world.

Research Interests

This broad interest has remained grounded in a strong interdisciplinary approach and Alastair maintains his interests in:

· Micro economic approaches to decision making in the developing world,

· Poverty, risk and development

· Trade and development

· Macro economic management

· Consumer studies and conceptions of quality and value

Publications

Smith, Alastair M. (2010), "LACK OF RIGOUR IN DEFENDING Fairtrade: Some important clarifications of a distorting account - a reply to Peter Griffiths", Economic Affairs, Vol. 30/2.

Smith, Alastair M. (2009), "Fair Trade Diversification and Structural Change: Towards a broader framework of analysis", Oxford Journal of Development Studies. Vol. 37 No. 4.

Smith, Alastair M. (2009), "Evaluating the Criticisms of Fair Trade: How strong is the argument that consumers and businesses should abandon Fair Trade as a means to socialise their economic decisions?", Economic Affairs. Vol. 19/4.

Smith, Alastair M. (2008), ‘A Response to the Adam Smith Report and A New Way to Think About Measuring the Content of the Fair Trade Cup’. Comment and Analysis Paper. BRASS.

Smith, Alastair M. Fair Trade in the ‘Periphery’: The development of Comercio Justo México and potential lessons for FLO Fairtrade. Comment and Analysis Paper. BRASS.

Conference Papers

"State Power and Private Governance: Negotiating the nature of ‘Fair Trade’ in UK government procurement and beyond", Beyond Individual Consumer Choice: Institutionalising Fair Trade and Public Procurement. ESRC Seminar Series, Kings College, London. 19th April 2010.

Smith, Alastair M. (2009), 'FLO Fair Trade Diversification And Structural Change: Building an alternative theoretical argument'. International Workshop: Fair Trade – A Moral Economy? Does Fair Trade Change the Rules of the Economic Game?, CRASSH Centre, Cambridge University, 22 May 2009.

Smith, Alastair M. (2008), ‘Fair Trade: A governance framework to promote sustainable development?’ Fair Trade Conference, University of Swansea, Wales.
Smith, Alastair M. (2008), ‘Fair Trade and Sustainable Development’, Development Studies Association, Welsh Network of Development Researchers Conference: Perspectives on Development V, Gregynog Hall, Powys, Wales.

Teaching

Alastair has delivered lectures in the following modules:

Local Food and Sustainable Development (MSc.).
Local Food Systems Versus Fair Trade: competing Narratives of Sustainable Development.

Peer-Review

Alastair has acted as a referee for the following journals:

International Journal of Consumer Studies.
Journal of Environmental Policy & Planning

Projects

Fairtrade Foundation. EGALITE, FRATERNITE, SUSTAINABILITE: Why the climate revolution must be a fair revolution
April 2009 - Developed and organised 'Uniting Research, Policy and Practice in Fair
Trade: A Knowledge Exchange Workshop'. St Michael's College. Cardiff.

2009 - Developed and coordinates the Fairness UK network.

Comment and Analysis

Smith, Alastair M. (2010), Responding to Commentary? Changes in the Regulations of the Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International (on defining small farmers and development practice). Comment and Analysis Paper. BRASS
Smith, Alastair M. (2009), Creative Public Procurement of Green and Fair, Local and Global. Comment and Analysis Paper. BRASS.

Teaching

Supervised MSc students during 'live research' project on Fair Trade in Cardiff (Autumn Term 2010).

Other Projects

June 2010 - Report on Cooperation for Fair Trade in Africa (COFTA) Conference 2010. Imani Development, Scotland.

Invited Talks

‘Fair Trade and Co-operatives: A Match Made in Heaven?’ seminar, organised by the Co-operative College, Manchester. The Co-op Bank, 4th Floor, No. 9 Prescott Street, London, E1 8AZ. 25th March 2010.

Fair Trade panel at the Wales for Africa International Development Summit, organised by SIMOD. Holland House Hotel, 24 Newport Road, Cardiff.8th March 2010.

Contact Details

Telephone: +44 (0) 7903 495 906

Email: smitham3@cardiff.ac.uk

The ESRC Centre for Business Relationships,
Accountability,
Sustainability and Society,
Cardiff University,
55 Park Place,
Cardiff,
CF10 3AT