Beyond Free Trade ― Alternative Approaches to Trade, Politics and Power

The world of trade policy and trade politics is changing rapidly, reflected in fundamental shifts in global trading patterns and relations of power associated with the 'rise of the South,' and with the burgeoning array of new trade projects, from fair trade to carbon emissions trading. Conventional economic trade theory has generally been unable to account for the political and social forces driving these new directions in international trade, giving rise to growing interest among social scientists from a variety of disciplines in innovative methods for understanding the political, social, ecological, ideological, and economic dynamics of international trade. Beyond Free Trade showcases these new approaches, seeking to destabilize and confront the vision of trade offered by mainstream economics with ones rooted in a messier, more complicated, and power-laden world.

Kate Ervine is Assistant Professor in International Development Studies at Saint Mary's University, Canada. She has published several articles and book chapters on carbon markets and carbon offsetting, climate change, global environmental governance, and biodiversity conservation. She is also the editor of Palgrave Macmillan's Environment, Politics, and Social Change series.

Gavin Fridell is Canada Research Chair and Associate Professor in International Development Studies at Saint Mary's University, Canada. He is the author of Coffee (2014), Alternative Trade (2013) and Fair Trade Coffee (2007), and of numerous articles and book chapters on international trade and development.