Extending Ethical References within the Capability Approach: Lessons Drawn from Fair Trade Practices

Few studies have made the link between the practice of solidarity-based initiatives, such as fair trade, and the capability approach, even though the latter would seem to provide the analytical framework needed by the solidarity economy to theoretically assert itself as an alternative mode of development for interdependent economies in crisis. The capability approach advocated by A. Sen and M. Nussbaum, as part of a theory of justice, allows such analytical comparison. It should thus broaden its current terms of reference concerning responsibility with regard to freedom of action, choice, and the capacity for collective action, in the form of collective or individual agency.