Collectible Action's Effect on International Trade

Individuals and Hegemonies: There Effects on International Trade Through Collective Action

The role of collective action on trade is unquestionable. If even a small group of people begin to boycott a certain brand or product, the effect is felt around the globe because of the intertwined nature of international t

Another angle to the question of the consequences of group action is that sometimes individuals realize that they are participating in collective action, but feel like there is nothing they can do to change or limit the effects of the collective action. When this mentality sets in, everyone is simply going along with the crowd assuming that someone else is in charge. What these individuals do not realize is by taking this philosophy they are what is giving power to the collective action. There is no leader in collective action. It is the group that forms from the mandates of the individuals that gives collective action life. However, individuals assume that the responsibility of the collective action is not their own because surely someone else is causing these things to happen. In regards to change, a person may see every day on the news stories of the suffering of citizens that live and work in another country that supplies products for a dominate nation, and never consider that their actions (of purchasing these goods) are creating this situation. They assume that someone else is to blame and someone else has caused these conditions to exist. This denial of personal responsibility in the eyes of an individual participating in collective action can cause harm in international trade, but it can also allow international corporations to commit human rights violations because if the individual does not understand, recognize or take responsibility for the results of the collective action, they will never see the need for change, or fairness of trade. One exception to this is the recent change in the international coffee market. Some corporations have begun offering “Fair Trade” coffee that supposedly is grown and produced in an economic and human rights climate that is fair to the local citizens where the coffee is produced. These corporations argue that if consumers are educated on what the effects of their collective actions are on international trade, that they will make the ethical decision, and in this case, purchase the coffee that was produced through “Fair Trade” practices. Although the success of these enterprises is yet to be determined, it stands to reason that in this case consumers are at least asked to change their collective action and become part of a group that is trying to make international trade more ethical

The actions of individuals are only one piece of how international trade is affected by collective action. Hegemonic states provide a wealth of opportunity for either type of disruptive collective action. As hegemonies are dominant by definition, they generally possess far greater resources to support them in collective actions. (Chomsky 1998) Inciting a collective action wherein most of the participants are ignorant of the ultimate goals, free-riding and therefore acting irrationally is feasible for a state with institutions devoted to producing propaganda and enforcing laws. (Happel 2004) Once again, consider the idea of trading with a country that is not providing citizens with basic human rights. This scenario is even more relevant in regards to how a hegemony controls international trade. This example of negative effects from a collective action taken by the ignorant citizens of a hegemony are the ever-present human rights violations committed by first-world countries who outsource production to states lacking labor laws. Cheap labor and lower-cost finished goods are beneficial to the dominant, hegemonic state. States being taken advantage of by hegemonies are subject to the pollution, health problems and other externalities of unregulated industry. Ultimately, this will decrease productivity. Just like the consumers choosing to purchase goods from companies supplying products despite the human rights violations of those companies, a hegemony can support these violations much more so than an individual can. It logically fol

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