Trade and Sustainability
Fair Trade, Free Trade, & Sustainable Development
Welcome to my website about Trade and Sustainability. This page introduces you to this website. I have started to add photos with mini-stories about the people in them. Please look at the "Photos" page now and come back soon to see what is new!
Announcements: On March 16, 2010 at 6:30 p.m., I will be the featured speaker at a dinner sponsored by the International Law Society- Lansing, Thomas M. Cooley Law School. I will speak on Microfinance - from Local to Global.
On March 26, 2010 in Chicago, at the annual meeting of the Midwest Business Association, I will lead and speak on a panel on "Bringing Sustainability into the Business Law Classroom." Also, I will present a paper on "Mainstreaming Fair Trade." See this website's page on presentations for details!
The purpose of this website: This website is my way of sharing some of my work in trade and sustainability -- I have studied the environmental effects of trade agreements and plans for many years (NAFTA, CAFTA, the GATT, and the Plan Puebla Panama included.) That research has led me to seek ways to make trade more fair and more sustainable for all. As a result, I now study sustainability focusing on the Triple Bottom Line (economy, social equity, and environment), seeking tools to promote sustainable trade. Fair Trade and micro-finance are important tools in that pursuit.
Here are some of my recent research trips & related speaking engagements:
My most recent trip was to the UK in November 2009 to speak at a Fair Trade conference in Coventry and to participate as a delegate to a Fair Tade Conference at the Said Business School, Oxford University. England, in general, is far ahead of the United States in the process of main-streaming Fair Trade.
In October of 2008 I traveled in Ecuador to study Fair Trade and sustainability, focusing on perspectives of indigenous people of the Andes and what we can learn from them.
In September and October of 2007 I did research in Nicaragua where I studied Fair Trade as well as the effects of CAFTA and the Plan Puebla Panama on the people of Nicaragua. I gave a presentation on Fair Trade at the Ben Linder House in Managua, I visited with Fair Trade producers throughout the country, and I visited maquiladoras in Managua's free trade zone.
1997 - 2006, I traveled to Mexico most years to lead a study abroad program AND to study free trade and sustainability. I was introduced to Fair Trade while in Mexico, and Fair Trade has become my passion.
My research leads to my writing my writing (see the pages "Publications" and "Fair Trade and Microfinance"), teaching, public speaking (see the page on "Presentations"), and public service. For example, I am advisor to two active student organizations at Michigan State University. The Spartan Global Development Fund (SGDF) raises funds for micro-loans for small entrepreneurs in developing areas around the world. SGDF started with 4 loans on July 4, 2009, and as of December 1, 2009 exceeded 120 loans. The MSU Students for Fair Trade are active in educating MSU students and members of our Lansing area community about Fair Trade. Of course, they are strong advocates for Fair Trade!
I took the photograph at the top of this page during my 2004 visit to the Galápagos Islands of Ecuador.
Paulette L. Stenzel
Professor of International Business Law
309 Eppley Center, Michigan State University
East Lansing, Michigan 48824
Voice mail: (5l7) 353-3l24
Department office: (5l7) 432-3307
Fax: (5l7) 432-1080
Email: stenzel@msu.edu
