Trade justice activism is messy, uncertain, nonlinear, all over the place, inspiring, worrying, powerful.
On followthethings.com âshoppingâ has an important double meaning.
On the one hand, it means âto seek or examine goods, property, etc. offered for saleâ.
On the other hand, it means âto behave treacherously toward; inform on; betrayâ or âto give away information aboutâ those goods, property, etc.
Anyone who makes trade justice activism, and anyone who visits this site, is a âshopperâ.
"Whoever said money can't buy happiness, simply didn't know where to go shopping" - Bo Derek.
followthethings.com encourages another kind of shopping.
‘What would you say to the person who made your ⊠?’ A ‘pop the bubble’ icebreaker task for trade justice education Selected poscards from our wesbite’s launch at the Eden Project in 2011 in slideshow above.
If you’re starting out some trade justice education – at any level, and with any students or public you would like to engage – it’s important to assume that they may already know and care about the issues you want to address. A simple way to find out is to a) encourage them to think about a commodity that’s important to them and then b) ask them what they would say to someone working in its supply chain if they had the opportunity. We have written about a couple of times when we have done this – when we launched followthethings.com in the Tropical Biome at the Eden Project in 2011, and when we were invited to introduce trade justice to a class of primary school students in Exeter in 2015. In both cases, this task needed a good prompt. At the Eden Project, the prompt was the Eden Project – the Tropical Biome was stocked with plants that are the sources of everyday commodities and their labelling and the design of the space made these connections. So we set up our card writing station to catch people as they walked by. In the primary school, the teacher asked the students what their favourite foods were, CEO Ian did some ‘who made my stuff?‘ research on a few, showed the class his findings, and the students were tasked to write to a corporation or supply chain worker that was mentioned with their thoughts. There’s always the option, if the writers (and their parents / guardians where appropriate) give their permission, of making this writing public, posting it online, tagging the corporations, asking for replies. The aim of this task is to gently ‘pop the bubble’ of commodity fetishism in order to encourage an appreciation of the work that has gone into making the things that people love to eat, wear and buy. This summary may be enough for you to try this for yourself. But we’ve also re-published a couple of blog posts below about our experiences of trying this out for ourselves.
Page reference: Ian Cook & Joe Lambert (2025) ‘What would you say to the person who made your … ?‘ followthethings.com/what-would-you-say-to-the-person-who-made-your.shtml (last accessed <insert date here>)
“Who made my stuff?” | exampleâ” Gillete Razor Blades A ‘follow it yourself’ detective work task suitable for activists, journalists, filmmakers, artists, researchers, teachers and students CEO Ian’s ‘Traces of labour’ YouTube playlist embedded above. Can be used as a task / lesson taster. The jeans paper mentioned is Hauser (2004)
Behind the followthethings.com website lies a university undergraduate module called ‘Geographies of material culture’ taught be CEO Ian from 2000 to 2025. The first version of the module (2000-2008) encouraged students to do some online detective work to see if they could find out who had made a commodity that mattered to them. He wanted his students to appreciate if and how their everyday lives were made possible – in part – by the work done by supply chain workers elsewhere in the world. He wanted to them to find out, and think, about the responsibilities that they and others had for any trade injustices they found in the process. The results were always surprising, and Ian started to share some of their writing (with permission) with geography school teachers which led Ian and his students being invited to publish some in teacher-facing journals (see Angus et al 2001, Cook et al 2006, 2007a&b). Because this detective work always began in their personal worlds of consumption, Ian was invited to bring this ‘follow it yourself’ approach into a Geographical Association and Royal Geographical Society project called the ‘Action Plan for Geography’ (see Martin 2008, Griffiths 2009). This, in turn, helped the ‘follow the thing’ approach to gain a wider audience after it the GA and RGS wanted it to be included in the 2013 UK National Curriculum for Geography as a means to teach students about trade (see Parkinson & Cook 2013, University of Exeter 2014). Ian taught this approach to trainee geography teachers at the University of Nottingham who tried this out on their placements and wrote #followtheteachers posts for the followthethings.com blog (see Whipp 2013). It was also fleshed out in the ‘Who made my clothes?” online course that Ian co-authored and presented for the Fashion Revolution movement (Cook et al 2017-2018: see here). There’s one main principle in this ‘follow it yourself’ work: if you know how and where to look, you can find a connection between your life and the lives of others who have made anything that matters to you, anything that’s part of your life. There’s been an explosion of journalism, NGO activism, academic research and corporate social responsibility initiatives relating to trade justice since the 1990s that means that there are secondary data sources that you can find, sift and create a story about anything that comes from anywhere – or so it seems. Doing this detective work in groups can encourage diverse learners to share their expertise (e.g. by drawing on their experiences of living in different parts of the world, and being able to research in different languages: see Bowstead 2014). Doing it for younger learners can motivate them to write (e.g. by asking them what they would say to the person who picked the cocoa in their Milky Bar buttons, for example – see Lambert 2015). And doing his kind of thing as an academic researcher can help you to produce ‘follow the thing’ publications (see Taffell 2022). We have updated the advice we gave in the 2000s and set it out below as a three stage process: A – reading the results of other ‘follow it yourself’ research; B – choosing the thing you want to follow; and C – doing the ‘follow it yourself’ detective work to find out who made it for you and the trade justice issues that come with this. To illustrate what this research is like to do, what sources you can find where, and how to find and follow a productive trail, we have researched a new example from start to finish: who made Ian’s pack of Gillette razor blades? Just click â” example to find out.
Page reference: Ian Cook et al (2025) Who made my stuff? followthethings.com/who-made-my-stuff.shtml (last accessed <add date here>)
Estimated reading time (including example detective work): 80 minutes
“Following the white phosphorus trail” A series of four TV news stories broadcast on Al Jazeera English. Embedded in the YouTube playlist above.
âFollow the thingsâ trade justice activism tends to connect unknowing consumers to the exploited supply chain workers who make the things they buy. But not when it comes to the arms trade. Here, the direction of travel is reversed: itâs this industryâs ultimate âconsumersâ â the people who are killed and maimed by these commodities â that activists are worried about, especially when their use can be considered a war crime. Since Hamasâ October 7th 2023 attack on Israel and the Israeli governmentâs military response (described by many, and denied by Israel, as a genocide), arms trade activists around the world have set out to make public the geographies of the arms trade supplying the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) and to disrupt this via non-violent direct action. They have also sought to hold arms manufacturers, shipping companies, Israeli and other goverments, and the IDF accountable for their actions under international law. But who are the people who make these weapons, where in the world? What do they know about the devastating impacts of their work? How do they feel about this? How do they rationalise it? Whoâs responsible for this death and destruction? Soon after Hamasâ October 7th attack, news reports emerged that accused the IDF of using white phosphorus shells to bomb civilians in Gaza and Lebanon. These shells are designed to light up the sky, and/or to provide a smokecreen, for ground troops to more safely move into an area. Thatâs their permitted use. But if theyâre used to bomb people, thatâs a war crime. White phosphorus burns when it comes into contact with oxygen, and it keeps burning for weeks. Itâs fat soluble so, if it lands on peopleâs skin, it burns and burns. Journalists and arms trade activists could identify where these white phosphorus shells were made from production codes they found on fragments of the shells found in burning ruins. An arsenal in the small town of Pine Bluff, Arkansas, USA, was the source. And not for the first time. In 2008-9, white phosphorus shells from the Pine Bluff Arsenal had been dropped on Palestinian civilians during the IDFâs âOperation Cast Leadâ. The Quatari news station Al Jazeera sent a reporter there and broadcast at least four news stories that followed the trail of white phosphorus munitions there from Gaza. Reporter Mike Kirsch talked to locals, showed them images of Palestinian people burned by munitions made in their town, asked them what they felt about this, asked their mayor what he felt about this. There was a detailed Amnesty International report that he could show them. Were people in this town at least partially responsible for this death and destruction? Was the Arsenal responsible? Was the US government responsible? The IDF? Hamas? Hereâs what we have been able to find.
Page reference: Ian Cook et al (2025) Following the white phosphorus trail. followthethings.com/following-the-white-phosphorus-trail.shtml (last accessed <insert date here>)
Pop the bubble Change consumer behaviour Change corporate behaviour
TACTICS
Target the right brand Show the violence Embody exploitation Include suffering kids Juxtapose extremes Bring managers into view Blame, shame & guilt Hold âem accountable Suggest concrete action Encourage a boycott
RESPONSES
Wow đ„ WTF? Capitalism is sh*t Iâm so angry This is disgusting I gotta do something I won’t buy it Oh shut up Attack your critics Liar! Fraud! LOL capitalism Who to believe? There is no alternative It could be worse
IMPACTS
Now weâre talking Activism is publicised I shop differently now Workers suffer Can’t tell
Corporations exploit workers & environments across the world & consumers benefit from cheap products for which others pay a high price. If more people could see this, they would act differently.
What’s this page?
This is a placeholder intention page that, once finished, will explain this intention, illustrate it with reference to comments taken from relevant followthethings.com example pages, and will give a clickable sense of the tactics, responses and impacts that go with this intention.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipiscing elit. Quisque faucibus ex sapien vitae pellentesque sem placerat. In id cursus mi pretium tellus duis convallis. Tempus leo eu aenean sed diam urna tempor. Pulvinar vivamus fringilla lacus nec metus bibendum egestas. Iaculis massa nisl malesuada lacinia integer nunc posuere. Ut hendrerit semper vel class aptent taciti sociosqu. Ad litora torquent per conubia nostra inceptos himenaeos.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipiscing elit. Quisque faucibus ex sapien vitae pellentesque sem placerat. In id cursus mi pretium tellus duis convallis. Tempus leo eu aenean sed diam urna tempor. Pulvinar vivamus fringilla lacus nec metus bibendum egestas. Iaculis massa nisl malesuada lacinia integer nunc posuere. Ut hendrerit semper vel class aptent taciti sociosqu. Ad litora torquent per conubia nostra inceptos himenaeos.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipiscing elit. Quisque faucibus ex sapien vitae pellentesque sem placerat. In id cursus mi pretium tellus duis convallis. Tempus leo eu aenean sed diam urna tempor. Pulvinar vivamus fringilla lacus nec metus bibendum egestas. Iaculis massa nisl malesuada lacinia integer nunc posuere. Ut hendrerit semper vel class aptent taciti sociosqu. Ad litora torquent per conubia nostra inceptos himenaeos.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipiscing elit. Quisque faucibus ex sapien vitae pellentesque sem placerat. In id cursus mi pretium tellus duis convallis. Tempus leo eu aenean sed diam urna tempor. Pulvinar vivamus fringilla lacus nec metus bibendum egestas. Iaculis massa nisl malesuada lacinia integer nunc posuere. Ut hendrerit semper vel class aptent taciti sociosqu. Ad litora torquent per conubia nostra inceptos himenaeos.
RECOMMENDED READINGS
Noel Chellan (2023) The life of capitalism. in his F/Ailing capitalism and the challenge of COVID-19. Leiden: Brill, 180-216
Lilie Chouliaraki (2010) Post-humanitarianism: humanitarian communication beyond a politics of pity. International journal of cultural studies 3(2), 107â126
Ian Cook et al (2002) Commodities: the DNA of capitalism. https://followtheblog.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/commodities_dna.pdf (last accessed 3 June 2024)
Ian Cook & Tara Woodyer (2012) Lives of things. in Eric Sheppard, Trevor Barnes & Jamie Peck (eds) The Wiley Blackwell companion to economic geography. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 226-241
Stephen Duncombe (2012) It stands on its head: commodity fetishism, consumer activism, and the strategic use of fantasy. Culture & Organization 18(5), 359-375
Elaine Hartwick (2000) Towards a geographical politics of consumption Environment & planning A 32(7), 1177-92
Change government behaviour Change corporate behaviour Change citizen behaviour Change consumer behaviour Change the system Show what’s possible
TACTICS
Have a theory of change Join with others Find the unions Bring managers into view Bring politicians into view Bring regulators into view Hold ’em accountable
RESPONSES
Capitalism is sh*t This is disgusting I’m so angry I gotta do something These people are inspiring
IMPACTS
Governments intervene Corporations are punished Corporations change
EXAMPLES
HANDBOOK PAGES
Mangetout UDITA <more to be added>
Workers’ pay & conditions improve
IN BRIEF
Although itâs not always easy to trace a line between individual examples of trade justice activism and improvements in supply chain workersâ pay and conditions, this work does make a positive difference when looked at more broadly.
What’s this page?
This is a placeholder impact page that, once finished, will explain this impact, illustrate it with reference to comments taken from relevant followthethings.com example pages, and will give a clickable sense of the intentions, tactics and responses that go with it.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipiscing elit. Quisque faucibus ex sapien vitae pellentesque sem placerat. In id cursus mi pretium tellus duis convallis. Tempus leo eu aenean sed diam urna tempor. Pulvinar vivamus fringilla lacus nec metus bibendum egestas. Iaculis massa nisl malesuada lacinia integer nunc posuere. Ut hendrerit semper vel class aptent taciti sociosqu. Ad litora torquent per conubia nostra inceptos himenaeos.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipiscing elit. Quisque faucibus ex sapien vitae pellentesque sem placerat. In id cursus mi pretium tellus duis convallis. Tempus leo eu aenean sed diam urna tempor. Pulvinar vivamus fringilla lacus nec metus bibendum egestas. Iaculis massa nisl malesuada lacinia integer nunc posuere. Ut hendrerit semper vel class aptent taciti sociosqu. Ad litora torquent per conubia nostra inceptos himenaeos.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipiscing elit. Quisque faucibus ex sapien vitae pellentesque sem placerat. In id cursus mi pretium tellus duis convallis. Tempus leo eu aenean sed diam urna tempor. Pulvinar vivamus fringilla lacus nec metus bibendum egestas. Iaculis massa nisl malesuada lacinia integer nunc posuere. Ut hendrerit semper vel class aptent taciti sociosqu. Ad litora torquent per conubia nostra inceptos himenaeos.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipiscing elit. Quisque faucibus ex sapien vitae pellentesque sem placerat. In id cursus mi pretium tellus duis convallis. Tempus leo eu aenean sed diam urna tempor. Pulvinar vivamus fringilla lacus nec metus bibendum egestas. Iaculis massa nisl malesuada lacinia integer nunc posuere. Ut hendrerit semper vel class aptent taciti sociosqu. Ad litora torquent per conubia nostra inceptos himenaeos.
Pop the bubble Tell the truth Show capitalist evils Change consumer behaviour Change citizen behaviour
TACTICS
Include emotion Show the violence Embody exploitation Include suffering kids Let the tears flow Bring managers into view Juxtapose extremes Blame, shame & guilt
RESPONSES
Capitalism is sh*t I’m so angry Creeperific I won’t buy it! Who’s responsible? I gotta do something LOL capitalism Nobody cares
IMPACTS
Now we’re talking Activism is inspired Activists are recruited Say no to enquiries
Sometimes showing how & where commodities are made physically disgusts audience members. They feel it in their bodies, it makes them flinch, retch, squirm. Itâs âickyâ & that ick can feed into (in)action.
What’s this page?
This is a placeholder response page that, once finished, will explain this response, illustrate it with reference to comments taken from relevant followthethings.com example pages, and will give a clickable sense of the intentions, tactics and impacts that go with it.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipiscing elit. Quisque faucibus ex sapien vitae pellentesque sem placerat. In id cursus mi pretium tellus duis convallis. Tempus leo eu aenean sed diam urna tempor. Pulvinar vivamus fringilla lacus nec metus bibendum egestas. Iaculis massa nisl malesuada lacinia integer nunc posuere. Ut hendrerit semper vel class aptent taciti sociosqu. Ad litora torquent per conubia nostra inceptos himenaeos.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipiscing elit. Quisque faucibus ex sapien vitae pellentesque sem placerat. In id cursus mi pretium tellus duis convallis. Tempus leo eu aenean sed diam urna tempor. Pulvinar vivamus fringilla lacus nec metus bibendum egestas. Iaculis massa nisl malesuada lacinia integer nunc posuere. Ut hendrerit semper vel class aptent taciti sociosqu. Ad litora torquent per conubia nostra inceptos himenaeos.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipiscing elit. Quisque faucibus ex sapien vitae pellentesque sem placerat. In id cursus mi pretium tellus duis convallis. Tempus leo eu aenean sed diam urna tempor. Pulvinar vivamus fringilla lacus nec metus bibendum egestas. Iaculis massa nisl malesuada lacinia integer nunc posuere. Ut hendrerit semper vel class aptent taciti sociosqu. Ad litora torquent per conubia nostra inceptos himenaeos.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipiscing elit. Quisque faucibus ex sapien vitae pellentesque sem placerat. In id cursus mi pretium tellus duis convallis. Tempus leo eu aenean sed diam urna tempor. Pulvinar vivamus fringilla lacus nec metus bibendum egestas. Iaculis massa nisl malesuada lacinia integer nunc posuere. Ut hendrerit semper vel class aptent taciti sociosqu. Ad litora torquent per conubia nostra inceptos himenaeos.
Show capitalist evils Change industry minds Change corporate behaviour Show what’s possible
TACTICS
Target the right brand Hold ’em accountable Include emotion Show both sides Find a character Overlap scenes Juxtapose extremes Use myths & legends Go to court! Show social justice Show how to win Create a character Make the hidden visible Lie to tell the truth Bring politicians into view Bring regulators into view
RESPONSES
Capitalism is sh*t I’m so angry This is disgusting Creeperific Silence your critics Who’s responsible? Guilty as charged That brand deserves credit
So much trade justice activism puts exploited workers centre stage, often as victims or Davids vs. unseen Goliaths. So include / focus on Goliaths, their responsibilities & power to change things.
What’s this page?
This is a placeholder tactic page that, once finished, will explain this tactic, illustrate it with reference to comments taken from relevant followthethings.com example pages, and will give a clickable sense of the intentions, responses and impacts that go with it.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipiscing elit. Quisque faucibus ex sapien vitae pellentesque sem placerat. In id cursus mi pretium tellus duis convallis. Tempus leo eu aenean sed diam urna tempor. Pulvinar vivamus fringilla lacus nec metus bibendum egestas. Iaculis massa nisl malesuada lacinia integer nunc posuere. Ut hendrerit semper vel class aptent taciti sociosqu. Ad litora torquent per conubia nostra inceptos himenaeos.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipiscing elit. Quisque faucibus ex sapien vitae pellentesque sem placerat. In id cursus mi pretium tellus duis convallis. Tempus leo eu aenean sed diam urna tempor. Pulvinar vivamus fringilla lacus nec metus bibendum egestas. Iaculis massa nisl malesuada lacinia integer nunc posuere. Ut hendrerit semper vel class aptent taciti sociosqu. Ad litora torquent per conubia nostra inceptos himenaeos.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipiscing elit. Quisque faucibus ex sapien vitae pellentesque sem placerat. In id cursus mi pretium tellus duis convallis. Tempus leo eu aenean sed diam urna tempor. Pulvinar vivamus fringilla lacus nec metus bibendum egestas. Iaculis massa nisl malesuada lacinia integer nunc posuere. Ut hendrerit semper vel class aptent taciti sociosqu. Ad litora torquent per conubia nostra inceptos himenaeos.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipiscing elit. Quisque faucibus ex sapien vitae pellentesque sem placerat. In id cursus mi pretium tellus duis convallis. Tempus leo eu aenean sed diam urna tempor. Pulvinar vivamus fringilla lacus nec metus bibendum egestas. Iaculis massa nisl malesuada lacinia integer nunc posuere. Ut hendrerit semper vel class aptent taciti sociosqu. Ad litora torquent per conubia nostra inceptos himenaeos.
Reach new audiences Cross cultures Teach economic geography Show capitalist evils Show what’s possible
TACTICS
Choose the right thing Target the right brand Follow the thing Join the dots Find lost relations Humanise things Include emotion Encourage empathy Show the violence Tell a story
RESPONSES
I know how they feel This is so sad I feel sorry for them Wow đ„ WTF? Capitalism is sh*t Who’s responsible? Oh, I get it now Thank you What’s the point? It could be worse I won’t buy it
IMPACTS
Now I know Now we’re talking I get what it’s like It made me want to shop
EXAMPLES
HANDBOOK PAGES
Handprint Ilha das Flores Jamelia – whose hair is it anyway? Mangetout Primark – on the rack <more to be added>
Consumers’ experience of commodities can be personal. Providing comfort, escape, togetherness. This is the bubble of ‘commodity fetishism’ that trade justice activists like to pop. Workers of the world helped to create these experiences. Let’s, at least, acknowledge that!
What’s this page?
This is a placeholder intention page that, once finished, will explain this intention, illustrate it with reference to comments taken from relevant followthethings.com example pages, and will give a clickable sense of the tactics, responses and impacts that go with this intention.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipiscing elit. Quisque faucibus ex sapien vitae pellentesque sem placerat. In id cursus mi pretium tellus duis convallis. Tempus leo eu aenean sed diam urna tempor. Pulvinar vivamus fringilla lacus nec metus bibendum egestas. Iaculis massa nisl malesuada lacinia integer nunc posuere. Ut hendrerit semper vel class aptent taciti sociosqu. Ad litora torquent per conubia nostra inceptos himenaeos.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipiscing elit. Quisque faucibus ex sapien vitae pellentesque sem placerat. In id cursus mi pretium tellus duis convallis. Tempus leo eu aenean sed diam urna tempor. Pulvinar vivamus fringilla lacus nec metus bibendum egestas. Iaculis massa nisl malesuada lacinia integer nunc posuere. Ut hendrerit semper vel class aptent taciti sociosqu. Ad litora torquent per conubia nostra inceptos himenaeos.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipiscing elit. Quisque faucibus ex sapien vitae pellentesque sem placerat. In id cursus mi pretium tellus duis convallis. Tempus leo eu aenean sed diam urna tempor. Pulvinar vivamus fringilla lacus nec metus bibendum egestas. Iaculis massa nisl malesuada lacinia integer nunc posuere. Ut hendrerit semper vel class aptent taciti sociosqu. Ad litora torquent per conubia nostra inceptos himenaeos.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipiscing elit. Quisque faucibus ex sapien vitae pellentesque sem placerat. In id cursus mi pretium tellus duis convallis. Tempus leo eu aenean sed diam urna tempor. Pulvinar vivamus fringilla lacus nec metus bibendum egestas. Iaculis massa nisl malesuada lacinia integer nunc posuere. Ut hendrerit semper vel class aptent taciti sociosqu. Ad litora torquent per conubia nostra inceptos himenaeos.
RECOMMENDED READINGS
Ian Cook et al (2002) Commodities: the DNA of capitalism. https://followtheblog.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/commodities_dna.pdf (last accessed 3 June 2024)
Ian Cook & Tara Woodyer (2012) Lives of things. in Eric Sheppard, Trevor Barnes & Jamie Peck (eds) The Wiley Blackwell companion to economic geography. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 226-241
This is the beginning of the next phase of the followthethings.com project. In 2020, we started to analyse the data we’ve compiled on over 100 examples of trade justice activism on followthethings.com. We’ve been trying to better understand the relationships between its intentions, tactics, responses and impacts. It design has been inspired by the short connected ‘pattern language’ approach taken in the Beautiful… activism books (Boyd 2012, Mitchell et al 2017, Williams et al 2025). While these books set out examples of activism, activists’ intentions, and the tactics and theories they can use, they don’t talk about audiences’ responses to, and the impacts of, this work. We’re trying to work out how trade justice activism works, and what it can do. We want to pass on what we have learned to those who are studying and making new trade justice activism. We have concentrated on films and videos to beging with and can only provide a taste of teh Handbook at the moment. But we’d love to hear your thoughts. See our contact page. Please check back.
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
EXAMPLES
Bananas!* Beautiful clothes, ugly reality Big boys gone bananas!* Blood, sweat & takeaways Dream crazy Employee visualisation appendage Ghosts Girl model Handprint Ilha das Flores Jamelia – whose hair is it anyway? Life of a bullet Maquilapolis Mangetout Primark â on the rack Tackle the shackles The ginger trail The messenger band The true cost UDITA
INTENTIONS
What do trade justice activists want their work to do?
Change consumer behaviour Change corporate behaviour Change government behaviour Cross cultures Educate workers End violence & exploitation Improve pay & conditions Pop the bubble Reach new audiences Show capitalist evils Show whatâs possible Teach economic geography Tell the truth
TACTICS
What actions and strategies do they use to bring their intentions to life?
Add mood music Blame, shame & guilt Bring managers into view Choose an audience Create a character Embody exploitation Encourage a boycott Encourage curiosity Encourage detective work Encourage empathy Encourage feminist solidarities Find & give inspiration Find a character Find the unions Flip the script Follow the people Follow the thing Give workers the mic! Have a theory of change Hold âem accountable Humanise workers Include emotion Include suffering kids Include the digital Involve consumers Join with others Join the dots Juxtapose extremes Lie to tell the truth Make a website Make it familiar Make it funny Make it incomplete Make Music Make the familiar strange Place things carefully Put your bodies in the way Show both sides Show the violence Silence your critics Spend some time Stage a Q&A Start somewhere different Suggest concrete action Target the right brand Tell a story Workers take the mic
RESPONSES
How do audiences respond to this work, the stories it tells, the suggestions it makes?
Attack your critics Capitalism is sh*t Creeperific Guilty as charged I get what itâs like I gotta do something I just cried I know how they feel I laughed my ass off I want to find out more I wonât buy it Iâm humming that music Iâm so angry Itâs so badly made Liar! Fraud! LOL capitalism My hero! Oh shut up Silence your critics That’s racist There is no alternative These consumers are insane These people are inspiring They aren’t experts! This gives me hope This is disgusting This is so sad Who to believe? Whoâs responsible? Wow đ„ WTF?
IMPACTS
What changes does trade justice activism encourage in the world?
Activism is inspired Activism is publicised Activists are recruited Audiences are empowered Canât tell Corporations are punished Corporations change Debts are paid off Governments intervene I shop differently now Now I know Now we’re talking Workers suffer Workersâ pay & conditions improve
ADVICE TO FILMMAKERS
How students have used this handbook to criticaly anaylse trade justice activism
Primark – on the rack Mangetout Ilha das Flores Blood, sweat & takeaways Girl model Ghosts UDITA
INGREDIENTS
INTENTIONS
Reach new audiences Pop the bubble Change consumer behaviour Change corporate behaviour Improve pay and conditions Show what’s possible
TACTICS
Hold ’em accountable Blame, shame & guilt Lie to tell the truth Start somewhere different Involve consumers Humanise workers Find the unions Find a character Give workers the mic! Encourage empathy Juxtapose extremes Suggest concrete action Encourage feminist solidarities
RESPONSES
Attack your critics Liar! Fraud! Wow đ„ WTF? I’m so angry This is disgusting Guilty as charged I just cried I gotta do something Who’s responsible? These people are inspiring
IMPACTS
Now we’re talking Corporations change I shop differently now Workers suffer Activism is inspired Debts are paid off Workers’ pay & conditions improve
“Get people to reflect, not recoil“
By Abbie Gollings
IN BRIEF
Student Abbie Gollings has taken the ‘Geographies of material culture’ module at the University of Exeter. She’s been watching trade justice documentaries, analysing the comments on their followthethings.com pages, and making sense of them using a draft copy of ‘The followthethings.com handbook for trade justice activism’. She knows a thing or two about how trade justice documentaries work and what they can do. She’s been asked to imagine meeting a filmmaker who’s planning a new trade justice documentary. What advice could she give? Consider the emotions your work could evoke in its audiences. Which ones will encourage them to act in ways that could improve workers’ pay and conditions? And maybe start with the workers first? What’s her theory of change? What activism are they involved in. How could a filmmaker help?
More about this page.
We are slowly piecing together a followthethings.com handbook for trade justice activism and are publishing draft pages here as we write them. This is an ‘advice’ page. The main text is an example of student work from the ‘Geographies of material culture’ module which followthethings.com CEO Ian ran at the University of Exeter in the 2024-25 academic year. Students watched 8 films, and read their pages on followthethings.com (with the expeption of an unfinished film called The ginger trail). They were asked to pair the comments brought together on each of the films’ followthethings.com pages with the appropriate ingredients phrases (naming their intentions, tactics, responses and impacts – show in bold below) being drafted for the Handbook. Using these phrases as a pattern language (see FAQs), students were tasked to work out how specific intentions (e.g. improve workers’ pay & conditions) needed specific tactics (e.g. flip the script) to generate different kinds of responses (e.g. this is disgusting), which could generate different kinds of impacts (e.g. audiences are empowered). [NB pages about each of these ingredients are coming soon] At the end of the module, students were asked to imagine that they had met someone who was about to make their first trade justice documentary. Drawing on what they had learned in the module, what advice could they give them on how to make it effective?
Question
How can I make an effective trade justice documentary?
Answer
Screenshots from the Handbook.
‘Effectiveâ means many things: matching impacts to intentions, getting people talking. But you can do more. Effective documentaries can lead to action; the ultimate goal: improve workersâ pay and conditions. I assume this is your aim. But not just as a temporary âlifeboatâ (Kister and Wenner, 2024) – you want long-lasting change. Iâve watched some trade justice films. Some missed this mark. But they all point towards it. You can learn from them.
Start ambitious. Change corporate behaviour. Expose how they exploit workers, shame them into action. Corporations can change structurally – improve pay and conditions! This is what Primark on the Rack attempted. Posing as buyers, narrator McDougallâs team went to hold Primark accountable for âits illegal labour activitiesâ (Maroney; 190-1; in Adley et al., 2025), capturing footage of young boy Mantheesh working illegally on Primark garments in India. This scene caused outrage. Primark became the âposter boyâ for child labour (Cook et al., 2018; 483, in Adley et al., 2025) đŹ
Screenshots of Mantheesh testing sequins in Primark – on the rack.
Primark caught? Nope! They fired back. Attacked their critics. âLiar! Fraud! The footage is fake!â I didnât know who to believe. Commenters argued over whoâs right. This pivotal scene of Mantheesh became about everything but his struggles. Backfire! Panicking, Primark abruptly closed the three factories blamed of outsourcing and child labour. Rid themselves of the problem, leaving âhundreds of garment workers in an even worse position than beforeâ (Arnott; 36; in Adley et al., 2025). Workers suffer.
Thanks to the film, ”good daysâ for Mantheesh have come to an abrupt endâ (Hunt; 22, in Adley et al., 2025). đł . This is the opposite of its intention. Iâve used this example to show you how impactful film can be – and how risky. DONâT lie to tell the truth. Workers mightsuffer.
Screenshots from the Handbook.
SO.. letâs start smaller – a different angle. Target consumers. Try to change consumer behaviour. If you want people to rethink where their stuff comes from, pop the bubble. All activists need to shine light on the hidden realities (Duncombe, 2012). Cook and Woodyer (2012) explain how the âfetishâ of commodities hides the hands making them. So, as Boyd says (2012; in Duncombe, 2016, 122), you must make âthe invisible visible.â Showing the workers juxtaposing extremes can do this – it gets people questioning without blame, shame or guilt – which clearly didnât work for Primark on theRack.
Screenshots from the Handbook.
Mangetout and Ilha das Flores did this. But you canât just throw any scenes together.Bloomfield and Sangalang (2014) helped me get this – youâve gotta show the relationship between the scenes, like cause and effect, or moral contrast – so people connect the dots themselves. Leave space for imagination (Cook et al., 2007; 118). Like how Mangetout juxtaposes middle class diners who ate mangetout âbetween outbursts of smug crassness, [as] the African pickers were being treated as slavesâ (Holt, p.5; in Cook et al., 2025). Meanwhile Mark Dady, Tesco manager, smiles over his workers. It showed how Tesco policy exploits workers who completely rely on them, ignorant of their struggles, giving more attention to the vegetable than those producing it. Tesco werenât explicitly blamed – viewers drew âtheir own depressing conclusionsâ (Truss, np, in Cook et al., 2025) about how the workers were treated. I was so angry!
Screenshots of Mark Dady, Tesco buyer, visiting the farm (top left), Blessing Blessing Chingwaru, the farm’s chief mange-tout picker (bottom left) and the UK home counties dinner party guests eatinjg and discussing mage-tout farming in Zimbabwe: all from Mangetout.
Ilha das Flores also juxtaposed extremes showing the tomato-connected lives of workers, animals, and consumers. For some, it hit hard – âimpossible not to shed tears while watchingâ (Anon; 17; in Pavalow, 2025). Wow đ„ WTF? I was shocked seeing dead bodies, children eating scraps a family had previously deemed inedible. But the shock didnât lead me anywhere. If you look at Chouliaraki (2010), she explains this problem. She says when films show suffering too graphically or abstractly, they risk fetishising all over again. It becomes a spectacle of disgust (Lissner, 1981; 32, in Chouliaraki, 2010). I felt bombarded.
Screenshots from Ilha das Flores.
So, same technique, totally different outcomes. Emotions can work against you â ïž . Ilhadas Flores left people feeling disgusted – by the end âI just felt like being sickâ (Redroom Studios, np; cited in Pavalow, 2025). Disgust can make your audience recoil (RyynĂ€nen, Kosonen, and Ylönen, 2023). Someone said âthe holocaust images made me stop watchingâ (@andrewsharpe2587, np, in Pavalow, 2025). Not exactly the spark you need to fuel activism.
Screenshots from the Handbook.
But anger you can work with! Anger at Mangetoutâs revelations inspired activism. Read Micheletti and Stolle (2008, p.749) to understand this emotional mobilisation. They explain how strong emotions like anger can drive change consumer behaviour and change corporate behaviour. Thatâs an effective outcome! Unlike disgust, anger is intentional (RyynĂ€nen, Kosonen, and Ylönen, 2023). Mangetout was effective because, as Brown and Pickerill (2009) explain, there was somewhere to aim it: Tesco. Tesco felt pressured to join the Ethical Trading Initiative. Corporations have changed! SUCCESS!! đŻ You see there are different ways to apply pressure. Different emotions get different responses. Get people to reflect, not recoil.
Targeting consumer audiences seems to be effective – you can target them other ways! Try to change consumer behaviour. Kahn (2016) explains that consumers are more responsible than ever – the solution to fast fashion problems! Make them feel they gottado something.
Screenshots from the Handbook.
Involving consumers can be a powerful way to show them how to change. Blood Sweat andTakeaways tried this by taking 6 British food lovers to âwalk-a-mileâ in workersâ shoes in Thailand and Indonesia (Cuthbertson; 46; in Clarke et al., 2025). Millions watched – it reached new audiences and opened viewersâ eyes: âI never gave much thought to where my food comes fromâ (Lynn, np, in Clarke et al, 2025). But the show failed to tell viewers how to help – âboycott tuna or buy more of it?â (Sutcliffe 2009 np, in Clarke et al., 2025).
đ€ What was the point? Instead, it focused on participantsâ personal journeys, like Manosâ emotional revelation and apology to the workers shown below. It didnât push for social change (Gupta and Fawcett, np, in Clarke et al., 2025), and letting consumers ‘play at’ being workers only extended the gap between âus’ and âthemâ (Yang, 2017; 61).
‘I have to apologize … I need to change.â British food lover Manos apologies to Indonesia fishermen in Blood, sweat and takeaways.Screenshot from the Handbook.
You must TELL consumers what to do (Haug and Busch, 2016). Explicitly link consumer habits with workersâ lives. In Primark on the Rack, a young woman is shown video evidence of children working on a top from Primark that she owned. She was shocked! Guilty as charged! Trust in Primark – gone. âItâs the end of the affairâ says McDougall (Panorama, 2008; 48:43). Consumer behaviour changed đ . people said they’d shop differently now đ . Did they?
Screenshots of journalist Mark Heap shows a British consumer some foilm footage of the children who made her top, in Primark – on the rack.
I felt guilty too. All those times Iâve ventured to Primark for another cheap top. But what about the factory owners Iâd seen? The childrenâs parents? Whoâs responsible? I started justifying my actions, Iâm a student. I canât afford to shop elsewhere. âHow dare that reporter incline towards that woman [shopping] in anyway that itâs her fault for buying clothes from Primarkâ (Maddox 2008 np; in Adley, 2025). Young (2003) explains this response. Guilt is backwards-looking, people get defensive (Bartky 2002; in Yang 2017) and angry. Instead of collective action, blaming a consumer caused resentment and refusal to take responsibility (Young, 2003). I came to a dead end. But then I returned to Young (2003). She says you want to show people that itâs everyoneâs responsibility.Y ou need to show them how to make a difference, but donât blame. Guilt isnât always effective.
Screenshots from the Handbook.
So avoid responses that will backfire. Your doc could be more effective by humanising workers. Get people talking about them. Youâve learnt about emotional responses – which ones should you evoke? Here you could turn to Kemp (2025) who explains that empathy can motivate helping behaviour and catalyse action (Nash and Corner, 2016). You want action! So encourage empathy.
Screenshots from the Handbook.
The unintentional popularity of Girl Model shows that finding a character can really effectively connect an audience to workers struggles through empathy. âIt became âessential viewing for adolescent girlsâ (Burr, 2012, np; in Hambly et al., 2025) because people had been emotionally impacted. Aspiring model Nadya (13) is carted off to Tokyo with hope for a better life, and money for her family. But these promises dissolve and the glamour and gloss of the industry was stripped away (Kermode, 2012, np, in Hambly et al., 2025). The images show her real emotions under the fake glamour. Ijustcried âI wanted to give Nadya a hug, because I felt her painâ (DisturbedPixie, np; in Hambly et al, 2025).
Screenshots of Nadya Vall modelling and crying IRL, in Girl Model.
The rawness of disappointment touched a nerve. Canning and Reinsborough (2012) explain that your audience cares more when they relate. So you could include relatable characters to engage your audience. Point your camera towards the workers and it becomes an âempathy machineâ (Jackson in Nals, 2018; 135). But there was nothing I could for Nadya. I was invested but at a dead end. But Ghosts shows how empathy CAN effectively inspire action.
Ghostsfinds a character: Ai Qin. We follow her closely as she migrates to the UK for better wages and work. But she becomes trapped in a modern slave system. She repeatedly suffers. She cries and then⊠I cried.
Screenshots of modern slave Ai Qin in Ghosts.Screenshot from the Handbook.
My emotions mirrored hers (Nals, 2018). Her plight comes up to you like an unforgiving tide (Keak np; in Allen et al., 2025). You want to help her. Some viewers said that showing her ordinary emotions brought her closer to ‘us’ bridging a ‘gulf’ between viewer and subject (Brass; 346; in Allen et al., 2025), but I felt like I was framed in an oppressor vs oppressed dynamic (Bardan, date; in Pereen, 2014; 44). She was a victim, the audience are saviours (Pereen, 2014; 44). Ghosts ends with the Morecambe Bay tragedy: Ai Qin survives, but viewers learn the victims’ families struggle with debt. Broomfield established the Morecombe Bay Victimâs fund (OâKeeffe 2006; in Allen et al., 2025) and emotionally-connected viewers, now cast as saviours, donate to clear these debts. Debts are paid off.
So if you encourage empathy and suggest concrete action you can drive effective change. But this help was temporary. And empathy donation relationships rely on the colonial gaze being maintained (Hall, 1992; in Chouliaraki, 2010) which is part of the problem. Your film can use empathy to get immediate change, but you need to switch it up to improve workers pay and conditions long-term.
Screenshots from the Handbook.
Individualising and blaming consumers and corporations can undermine your goal. An effective doc must promote trade justice without endangering workers. So start somewhere different. Let workerstakethe mic. Like UDITA (Arise) did. Following 5 female union workers, it shows whatâspossible: powerful, collective action – âwomenâs hope and commitment to create better conditions for the next generationâ (Spooner; 32, in Barker et al, 2025). These people are inspiring. Empowered workers showed how resistance is already improvingpay and conditions (Siddiqi, 2019). They had a voice – and knowing best how the garment industry should change (Khan, 2016), they can tell us what they want – (OâNeill, np; in Barker et al, 2025).
Left: screenshot from UDITA. Right: screenshot from the Handbook.
I could no longer excuse ignoring how my t-shirts are made because â[T]he actual garment workers themselves are saying that they want us to shop consciously. WE CAN DO ITâ (Gregory, np, in Barker et al., 2025). It shows that the workers donât need âsavingâ – Primark – On the Rack showed how victimising workers can harm their interests (Siddiqi, 2019), moving beyond the âusâ and âthemâ divide. Before, I was encouraged to be a guilty consumer . Now I was encouraged to be a feminist insolidarity – an important move for audiences to make because it shows the collective responsibility we all have – that workers need to resist too (Young, 2003; 42).
Screenshot from the Handbook.
After so much despair, witnessing their resilience gave me hope. Your film can help apply pressure in the right places. Find the unions and help them to improve pay and conditions. Inspire viewers to work collectively. Make it forward-looking (Robin Zheng, 2019). Show there is an alternative, and you will make real change.
Left: screenshot from UDITA. Right: screenshot from the Handbook.
So to improve pay and conditions: target consumers and corporations, but be cautious â ïž . Get people talking about the workers, and mobilise emotions like empathy and anger into concrete action. Collate these ideas – have a theory of change and apply pressure from different angles. Like UDITA, give workers opportunity to show whatâs possible to give the audience hope, a sense of togetherness.
Screenshot from the Handbook.
SOURCES
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