Peak Fair Trade? Reimagining the future of the Fair Trade movement (Ref: RDFC26/SC/NBS/PRICE)

About the Project

Newcastle Business School and the Fair Trade Advocacy Office in Brussels are delighted to offer a Collaborative Doctoral Research Studentship which will conceptualize and support the strategic planning of a new future for the Fair Tarde movement. The project will produce both world-leading scholarship and meaningful policy to support the movement in maintaining its transformative ambitions in a global economy that is increasingly dominated by large corporate actors and turbulent political priorities.

The Fair Trade Advocacy Office works in a unique institutional space that straddles three distinct, but interdependent, spheres. First, they work with political stakeholders by engaging with EU institutions through structured advocacy, policy dialogue and evidence-based lobbying. Second, they influence business, by working with the established Fair Trade movement to embed ethical standards into commercial supply chains, and finally, with NGO’s and with producers in the Global South to ensure they have a voice in decision making. This hybrid position allows the translation of goals surrounding issues of fairness, justice and sustainability, to be integrated into both market practices and regulatory frameworks.

The Fair Trade movement emerged in the late 20th century as an alternative trading system intended to correct structural inequalities in global markets by ensuring fair prices, decent labour standards, and long-term trading relationships for producers in the Global South. Since the establishment of the first certification systems in the late 1980s, Fair Trade has expanded rapidly, becoming embedded in mainstream retail markets.

However, challenges persist for the movement; globally the Fairtrade Premium is no longer growing, having reached a recent peak of €224.4 million in sales in 2022. Critics argue that mainstreaming, for example through the aforementioned changes, has diluted the radical ambitions of the movement and the integrity of the products. Large corporations have increasingly adopted Fair Trade certification or ethical branding strategies without fundamentally altering underlying supply chain structures.

By examining the historical trajectory and current challenges of the movement, the research will identify how legislative efforts may allow Fair Trade organisations to reassert their role as pioneers of ethical and socially just trading systems. This research will contribute to scholarship on ethical markets, social movements, and alternative economic systems. Empirically, it will provide new evidence on the internal dynamics of the EU Fair Trade movement both quantitatively and qualitatively. Theoretically, it will contribute to debates about market mainstreaming, regulatory capture, and the sustainability transition. The project will examine if Fair Trade reached a point of “peak influence”, where its core principles risk being absorbed or displaced by competing market logics.

The research will be undertaken in close liaison with FTAO and the candidate will integrate with the FTAO team in supporting its key strategic objectives, where compatible with the research programme. Therefore, it is envisaged that successful candidate will have knowledge of EU institutions and policy. They will also be supported by an experienced supervisory team as well experts in EU policy and the Fair Trade movement at the FTAO in Brussels.

Academic Enquiries

This project is supervised by Dr Michael Price. For informal queries, please contact michael.j.price@northumbria.ac.uk. For all other enquiries relating to eligibility or application process please use the email form below to contact Admissions.

Eligibility Requirements:

• Academic excellence i.e. 2:1 (or equivalent GPA from non-UK universities with preference for 1st class honours); or a Masters (preference for Merit or above); or APEL evidence of substantial practitioner achievement.
• Appropriate IELTS score, if required.
• Applicants cannot apply if they are already a PhD holder or if currently engaged in Doctoral study at Northumbria or elsewhere.

To be classed as a Home student, candidates must:

• Be a UK National (meeting residency requirements), or
• have settled status, or
• have pre-settled status (meeting residency requirements), or
• have indefinite leave to remain or enter.

If a candidate does not meet the criteria above, they would be classed as an International student.

Applicants will need to be in the UK and fully enrolled before stipend payments can commence and be aware of the following additional costs that may be incurred, as these are not covered by the studentship.

• Immigration Health Surcharge https://www.gov.uk/healthcare-immigration-application
• If you need to apply for a Student Visa to enter the UK, please refer to https://www.gov.uk/student-visa. It is important that you read this information carefully as it is your responsibility to ensure that you hold the correct funds required for your visa application, otherwise your visa may be refused.
• Costs associated with English Language requirements which may be required for students not having completed a first degree in English, will not be paid by the University.
• International applicants (including EU) need to have their own valid immigration permissions to live and study in the UK if they wish to study on a part-time basis as Northumbria University does not sponsor part-time Student Visas.

Applicants will need to be in the UK and fully enrolled before stipend payments can commence.

For further details on how to apply see

https://www.northumbria.ac.uk/research/postgraduate-research-degrees/how-to-apply/

In your application, please include a research proposal of approximately 1,000 words and the advert reference (e.g. RDFC26/…).

Deadline for applications: 30 June 2026

Start date of course: 1 October 2026

Funding Notes

The Full Time studentship is available to Home or EU students and includes a full stipend at UKRI rates (for 2026/27 full-time study this is £21,805 per year) and full tuition fees