Will Low is Professor of Sustainable Business Practice, having joined RRU in 2006 to provide leadership in developing courses in sustainability in the business school. Will is an internationally recognized for his research which has helped to define the field of fair trade studies. His research interests span sustainable consumption and production, including the fair trade movement, marketing to ethical consumers, labour rights, and alternative food networks.
Experience
Will has over 30 years experience teaching and conducting research across a variety of disciplines – economics, public policy, business and society, and sustainability. He has taught at universities in Canada, New Zealand, the UK, Australia, the USA and Thailand. Besides academic roles, he has also worked as a senior economist in the BC provincial government and as a consultant to international organizations such as Oxfam, the ILO and World Fair Trade Organization.
Education
1997
PhD in Economics
London School of Economics, UK
1988
Fellow, International School for Economic Research
Università degli Studi di Siena and Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Italy
1982
Master of Arts in Economics
University of British Columbia
1981
Bachelor of Arts in Economics (1st Class Honours)
University of British Columbia
Publications
Kajzer Mitchell, I., Low, W., Davenport, E. and Brigham, T. (2017), Running Wild in the Marketplace: The Articulation and Negotiation of an Alternative Food Network. Journal of Marketing Management 33(7-8), 502-528. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0267257X.2017.1329224
Davenport, E. and Low, W. (2013), From Trust to Compliance: Accountability in the Fair Trade Movement. Social Enterprise Journal 9(1), 88-101. https://doi.org/10.1108/17508611311330028
Davenport, E and Low, W. (2012), The Labour Behind the (Fair Trade) Label. Critical Perspectives on International Business 8(4), 329-48. https://doi.org/10.1108/17422041211274200
Low, W. and Davenport, E. (2009), Organisational Ethics and Marketing Fair and Ethical Trade. Journal of Business Ethics 86 (Supplement 1), 97-108. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-008-9763-7
Sayers, J.G., Low, W. and Davenport, E. (2008), Te Warewhare: The Impact of The Warehouse on Māori in Kaitaia, Kerikeri and Motueka, University of Auckland Business Review 10(2), 36-43.
Low, W. (2008), Dance of the Veils: conceptualizing commercial fairtrade, Économie et Solidarités 37(2), pp. 90-108. http://www.ciriec.uqam.ca/pdf/numeros_parus_articles/3702/ES-3702-07.pdf
Low, W. and Davenport, E. (2007), To Boldly Go…Exploring Ethical Spaces to Re-politicise Fair Trade and Ethical Consumption, Journal of Consumer Behaviour 6(5), pp. 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1002/cb.226
Low, W. and Davenport, E. (2006), Mainstreaming Fair Trade: Adoption, Assimilation, Appropriation, Journal of Strategic Marketing 14(4), pp. 315-328. https://doi.org/10.1080/09652540600947912
Low, W. and Davenport, E. (2005), Has the Medium (Roast) become the Message? – the ethics of marketing fair trade in the mainstream, International Marketing Review 22(5), pp. 494-511. https://doi.org/10.1108/02651330510624354
Low, W. and Davenport, E. (2005) Postcards from the Edge: Maintaining the “Alternative” Character of Fair Trade, Sustainable Development 13(3), pp. 143-153. https://doi.org/10.1002/sd.275