This article builds on the concept of «humanitarian exploitation», as developed by Nick Dines and Enrica Rigo (Rigo, Dines, 2017; Dines 2023), in order to analyse two ethical brands in Foggia established by national retailers and local NGOs in an attempt to address the exploitation of migrant farmworkers. Studying humanitarian exploitation reveals that the humanitarian management of migrant labour is instrumental to maintain low labour costs. Applying this concept to brands reveals significant challenges due to the different roles of firms and governance actors. Nevertheless, this expansion underscores the shared moral geographies of humanitarianism and its counterproductive effects. Crucially, it enables us to explore the economic dimension of humanitarianism, as brands charge higher prices based on consumers’ concern for migrant suffering, with the additional cost trickling down the supply chain. These private regulatory initiatives demonstrate how humanitarianism has entered the sphere of the market, and the concept of «humanitarian exploitation» helps to explain the implications of this shift.
Gavriel Nelken (Sat,) studied this question.