Bananas and Business
Subtitle: The United Fruit Company in Colombia, 1899-2000
Publisher: NYU Press
Published: February 1, 2005
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 240
ISBN-13: 9780814799345
Subjects: Agriculture & related industries; History of specific subjects; 20th century; Corporate & Business History - General; Business / Economics / Finance; Urabâa, Gulf of, Region; Business & Economics; Latin America - South America; Business/Economics; Colombia; History; Industries - Agribusiness; United Fruit Company; Industries - General; Banana trade; Magdalena (Dept.)
Description: "In this first history of the UFCO in Colombia, Marcelo Bucheli argues that the UFCO's image as an all-powerful force in determining national politics needs to be reconsidered. Using a previously unexplored source - the internal archives of Colombia's UFCO operation - Bucheli reveals that before 1930, the UFCO worked alongside a business-friendly government that granted it generous concessions and repressed labor unionism. After 1930, however, the country experienced dramatic transformations, including growing nationalism, a stronger labor movement, and increasing demands by local elites for higher stakes in the banana export business." "In response to these circumstances, the company abandoned production, selling its plantations (and labor conflicts) to local growers, while transforming itself into a marketing company. The shift was endorsed by the company's shareholders and financial analysts, who preferred lower profits with lower risks, and came at a time in which the demand for bananas was decreasing in America. Importantly, Bucheli shows that the effect of foreign direct investment was not one-dimensional. Instead, the agency of local actors affected corporate strategy, just as the UFCO also transformed local politics and society."--BOOK JACKET.