" G]racefully written - a pleasure to read ... This is a fine
example of how ethnographic and historical research might be used
to advance our understanding of contemporary globalization." . Marc
Edelman, CUNY, Graduate Center
During the 1990s, the Eastern Caribbean was caught in a bitter
trade dispute between the US and EU over the European banana
market. When the World Trade Organization rejected preferential
access for Caribbean growers in 1998 the effect on the region's
rural communities was devastating. This volume examines the "banana
wars" from the vantage point of St. Lucia's Mabouya Valley, whose
recent, turbulent history reveals the impact of global forces. The
author investigates how the contemporary structure of the island's
banana industry originated in colonial policies to create a
politically "stable" peasantry, followed by politicians' efforts to
mobilize rural voters. These political strategies left farmers
dependent on institutional and market protection, leaving them
vulnerable to any alteration in trade policy. This history gave way
to a new harsh reality, in which neoliberal policies privilege
price and quantity over human rights and the environment. However,
against these challenges, the author shows how the rural poor have
responded in creative ways, including new social movements and Fair
Trade farming, in order to negotiate a stronger position for
themselves in the in a shifting global economy.
Mark Moberg is a Professor of Anthropology at the University of
South Alabama. His research centers on the economic and political
dimensions of rural development in Central America and the
Caribbean. He has published extensively in cultural and applied
anthropology and is the author or co-editor of three previous
books: Citrus, Strategy and Class (1992), Myths of Ethnicity and
Nation (1997), and Banana Wars (2003; edited with Steve
Striffler)."
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