Certifying Virtue

The panel was prompted by Duke Chapel's current exhibit "Faces of Freedom," a display of photos of children taken out of child labor by GoodWeave. GoodWeave helps remove children from labor positions, places them in schools, and certifies that carpets from South Asia have been made without child labor. While GoodWeave is to be lauded for its attempt to effect change in the carpet industry, its approach also prompts some questions that extend beyond its particular organization. Some of the questions this panel addressed included:

• To whom are certifiers accountable and whose interests do they represent?
• How does certification compare with other means of securing human rights or environmental sustainability or other desired goals?
• Is the market the best way to achieve social change?

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• virtue
• certification