Abstract
How much do misleading representations matter? This article examines carefully constructed narratives of engagement in 'sustainable' cocoa production initiatives, which fail to mention one of the actual key drivers: the need to shore up production in the long term in an embattled sector. Consequently, representations also downplay the need for systemic change, reproducing the power asymmetries they claim to change. The research seeks to establish to what degree public-facing communication differs from underlying priorities in terms of forefronting altruism over necessity, and whether this is problematic for the initiatives' overall outcome. Through semi-structured interviews, focus-group discussions, documentary analysis and participant observation in Latin America and Europe, it reviews relations in two cocoa sustainability initiatives with environmental foci. Crucially, the research establishes a link between representations, underlying priorities and the degree to which they (re)produce pre-existing power asymmetries between global North and global South, private sector and other stakeholders in the industry, speaking to a variety of political ecology questions. It argues that public-facing, altruism-focused communication distracts from the sector's underlying systemic issues: the emphasis on altruism works to reduce pressure to transform power asymmetries and omnipresent inequalities.
Highlights
How much do misleading representations about sustainability matter? Given the omnipresence of communication and sustainability, there are few actions in any way related to corporate, social or environmental responsibility which public-sector, private-sector and civil-society stakeholders will not advertise as 'sustainable' (Adams 2009)
The objective in selecting four different methods was drawing on data from diverse sources cognizant of their provenance and intended audience (Barrientos 2002; Laws 2003; O'Laughlin 2007), aiming to establish the priorities governing stakeholder engagement, the representations used in public-facing communication, and underlying power relations to engage with broader debates on sustainability
This article has analyzed representations that stakeholders have deployed within cocoa sustainability initiatives, linking them with underlying priorities as well as to the power dynamics governing these exchanges
Summary
Given the omnipresence of communication and sustainability, there are few actions in any way related to corporate, social or environmental responsibility which public-sector, private-sector and civil-society stakeholders will not advertise as 'sustainable' (Adams 2009). This article posits that public representations of harmony between different stakeholders' understandings of 'sustainability' distract from and even perpetuate underlying inequalities and power asymmetries between global North and South, which matters given actors' resulting unequal ability to influence decision-making (Elgert 2012). The diversity of cocoa actors from the public sector, private sector and civil society contribute a considerable spectrum of what socio-economic, commercial and environmental issues are considered paramount to attain 'sustainability.' Amid this fluidity of underlying priorities (Raynolds 2009), actors' public-facing representations about sustainability shape perceptions of buyer-producer relations. An analysis of both drivers and representations of sustainability offers insights in terms of the power dynamics allowing some actors, but not others, to project
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