Banana Wars
Subtitle: Power, Production, and History in the Americas (American Encounters/Global Interactions)
Contributors: Laura T. Raynolds (Contributor); Philippe Bourgois (Contributor); John Soluri (Contributor); Marcelo Bucheli (Contributor); Lawrence Grossman (Contributor); Steve Striffler (Editor); Mark Moberg (Editor)
Publisher: Duke University Press
Published: November 2003
Language: eng
Format: Paperback
Number of pages: 364
ISBN-13: 9780822331964
Subjects: Agriculture & related industries; Cultural studies; International trade; Government & Business; Business / Economics / Finance; Business & Economics; United Fruit Company; Business/Economics; Mexico; The Americas; History; Industries - General; Anthropology/Ethnography; History, U.S.; Latin American Studies; Banana trade; Caribbean Area; South America
First sentence: Bananas represent one of the most widely traded agricultural goods in the world with annual exports valued at roughly five billion dollars (FAO 2001).
Description: Reveals how the banana industry marshaled workers of differing nationalities, ethnicities, and languages and, in so doing, created unprecedented potential for conflict throughout Latin American and the Caribbean. The frequently abusive conditions that banana workers experienced, the contributors point out, gave rise to one of Latin America's earliest and most militant labor movements. Responding to both the demands of workers' organizations and the power of U.S. capital, Latin American governments were inevitably affected by banana production, some of which asserted their sovereignty over foreign fruit companies, but more often became their willing accomplices. With several essays focusing on the operations of the extraordinarily powerful United Fruit Company, the collection also examines the strategies and reactions of the American and European corporations seeking to profit from the sale of bananas grown by people of different cultures working in varied agricultural and economic environments. [publisher web site].