The Value of Genres for Uncovering Counter-Hegemonic Voices in North-South Relations: Social Representations of Artisans in a Burkinabe-Slovenian Fairtrade Partnership

Abstract

A critical approach to social representations is particularly relevant in North-South relations as hegemonic representations often reproduce their dominating structures. In this article, I explore potentials for challenging such power inequalities. I argue that the context of fairtrade partnerships can open a space for articulating counter-hegemonic representations of Southern actors. I investigate hegemonic and counter-hegemonic representations of artisans within a Burkinabe-Slovenian fairtrade partnership and trace different voices representing the artisans through an ethnographic approach that integrates diverse methodological genres. After mapping statements about the artisans by different actors in these genres, I analyse the artisans’ portrayal between hegemonic and counter-hegemonic representations with regard to the labour division, dependencies and valuation of their craft in the partnership. These findings suggest that even though actors in the fairtrade partnership reproduce hegemonic representations in some genres, they also challenge them and provide counter-hegemonic alternatives in others.