Korporacje transnarodowe a Fair Trade
Transnational corporations and fair trade

Summary/Abstract: Uneven access to the benefits of globalization increases the disproportion between rich and poor regions, which further strengthens the world's poor South and rich North division. The issue which cannot be forgotten when pondering the world's polarization and marginalization of poor countries is the key role of transnational corporations (TNC) which substantially influence the process of globalization, its course, range, as well as - both positive and negative - consequences. The present deliberations aim at analysis and assessment of the importance of TNC in the countries of the South. This background allows to present the Fair Trade movement, which constitutes one form of development assistance provided by the consumers from developed countries to the societies of underdeveloped regions. Although the Fair Trade movement aims at counteracting the negative external effects of globalization (neocolonialism, human rights violation), it nevertheless begins to be exploited by TNC. Bringing giant TNC into the Fair Trade system is a controversial issue, not always perceived positively, and even considered to be in contradiction with the concept of Fair Trade, which is after all aimed against the policies of giant TNC. Undoubtedly, Fair Trade will not solve all economic problems faced by the countries of the South and will not replace the currently existing rules of international trade. Instead, the Fair Trade movement may be regarded as good practices of global governance, and therefore the right step towards a human face of globalization.

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