Fairtrade International (FTI) sets forth in its theory of change a food future that consists of fair trade, small farmer and farm worker empowerment and sustainable livelihoods for producers in the Global South. The enactment of this socio-technical imaginary, what we call the Fairtrade imaginary, relies upon the construction and maintenance of agencements that use voluntary standards as the means to organise actors and implement rules of engagement. A central component of the FTI agencement is a social premium (the Fairtrade Premium) that consists of an extra amount of money paid by supply chain buyers to certified producer organisations (POs). On the one hand, this premium payment serves as a powerful demonstration of a responsible North-South trading system that benefits the producers. On the other hand, the premium payment is an object of conflict, as northern buyers criticize FTI and producers about a lack of transparency in the use of the Premium. We examine these tensions in the Fairtrade Imaginary in order to understand the role of decision-making in responsibilising trade practices. Empirical case studies of five POs shows that separated decision-making processes increases levels of participation and accountability in Premium use. While organizational independence is an ideal type of responsibility in the Fairtrade imaginary, our findings suggest that the allocation of ‘role-responsibility’ across the system might better strengthen collective responsibility. We conclude that realising better food futures requires strengthening responsibilities for decision-making within POs, rather than pushing for more transparent accounting mechanisms between the POs and Fairtrade International.

公平贸易国际 (FTI) 在其变革理论中提出了一个食品未来，其中包括公平贸易、小农和农场工人赋权以及全球南方生产者的可持续生计。这种社会技术想象的制定，我们称之为公平贸易想象，依赖于使用自愿标准作为组织参与者和实施参与规则的手段的机构的构建和维护。FTI机构的核心组成部分是一种社会溢价（公平贸易溢价），包括供应链买家支付给认证生产商组织 (PO) 的额外金额。一方面，这种溢价支付有力地证明了负责任的南北贸易体系有利于生产者。另一方面，溢价支付是一个冲突的对象，因为北方买家批评 FTI 和生产商在使用溢价方面缺乏透明度。我们研究了公平贸易想象中的这些紧张关系，以了解决策在贸易实践中的作用。五个 PO 的实证案例研究表明，独立的决策过程提高了 Premium 使用中的参与度和问责制。虽然组织独立是公平贸易想象中的理想责任类型，我们的研究结果表明，在整个系统中分配“角色-责任”可能会更好地加强集体责任。我们得出的结论是，实现更好的食品期货需要加强 PO 内部决策的责任，而不是推动 PO 和 Fairtrade International 之间更透明的会计机制。