Bridging the Gap

Substituting the Neo-colonial Practices in the South with Fair Trade

Abstract

The main argument of the following article is that the neo-colonial nature of international relations between the North and the South contributes to delayed or sometimes even reversed progress in the process of human development everywhere in the world and especially in the so-called South. Whether the conduct of Fair Trade movement measures up to expanding human freedoms, or is it merely one of the most inconspicuous and sophisticated tools of neo-colonial oppression is what the authorís research. Senís criteria for human development and Brundtlandtís definition of sustainable development are taken as ones that the Fair Trade movement should fulfil in order to label it as a means to bridge the infamous North South gap. Only as such the Fair Trade movement can substitute the neo-colonialism.