Table of Contents

Acknowledgments vii
Introduction / Mark Moberg and Steve Striffler 1
1. A Global Fruit
The Global Banana Trade / Laura T. Raynolds 23
Banana Cultures: Linking the Production and Consumption of Export Bananas, 1800–1980 / John Soluri 48
United Fruit Company in Latin America / Marcelo Bucheli 80
2. Central and South America
One Hundred Years of United Fruit Company Letters / Philippe Bourgois 103
Responsible Men and Sharp Yankees: The United Fruit Company, Resident Elites, and Colonial State in British Honduras / Mark Moberg 145
The Logic of the Enclave: United Fruit, Popular Struggle, and Capitalist Transformation in Ecuador / Steve Striffler 171
"The Macondo of Guatemala": Banana Workers and National Revolutions in Tiquisate, 1944–1954 / Cindy Forster 191
The Threat of Blackness to the Mestizo Nation: Race and Ethnicity in the Honduran Banana Economy, 1920s and 1930s / Darío A. Euraque 229
3. The Caribbean
Discourses and Counterdiscourses on Globalization and the St. Lucian Banana Industry / Karla Slocum 253
The St. Vincent Banana Growers' Association, Contract Farming, and the Peasantry / Lawrence S. Grossman 286
Conclusions: Dialectical Bananas / Allen Wells 316
Bibliography 335
Contributors 361
Index 363

Promotional Information

Essays examine the history of banana-producing areas of Latin America and the Caribbean in comparative perspective, asking why different regions developed distinct patterns of property and labor mobilization.

About the Author

Steve Striffler is Associate Professor of Anthropology and Latin American Studies at the University of Arkansas and the author of In the Shadows of State and Capital: The United Fruit Company, Popular Struggle, and Agrarian Restructuring in Ecuador, 1900–1995 (Duke University Press), winner of the Labor Section of the Latin American Studies Association’s 2003 award for Best Book.

Mark Moberg is Professor of Anthropology at the University of South Alabama. He is the author of Myths of Ethnicity and Nation: Immigration, Work, and Identity in the Belize Banana Industry and Citrus, Strategy, and Class: The Politics of Development in Southern Belize.

Reviews

"The new anthology Banana Wars sheds light on the complexities of the industry's social and economic history, deconstructing the already familiar images of the muscular United Fruit Company and its 'banana republics' and moving beyond them." --David Glenn, CHE "With this fine volume, the banana joins sugar and coffee as starring actors in the international drama of world trade, domestic social formations, and the creation of power... Banana wars still simmer in various guises. At a time when globalization is greatly affecting our lives and our politics, this book is particularly compelling."--Steven Topik, American Historical Review "This book is one of the most substantive academic pieces of work on the banana industry in Latin America and the Caribbean to appear in recent years."--Frank Ellis, Journal of Latin American Studies "The editors have assembled an excellent collection covering a variety of topics across a broad expanse of time and space... [T]he range of perspectives and methodologies provides something for every taste, ranging from a standard business history to a study of discourse and counter-discourse on globalization. The result is entirely satisfactory, a great addition to the scholarship on the banana industry that is much more than a study of the United Fruit Company."--Paul Dosal, The Americas "[T]his collection offers a fascinating and valuable panorama of the history of and current challenges facing the different actors involved in the production of bananas. It makes a welcome addition to the growing interdisciplinary area of commodity-system studies."--Aviva Chomsky, Hispanic American Historical Review "[A] superb set of insights... Collectively, the contributors illuminate the specific national or regional intersections of ecology, economics, and politics in the banana business."--Lisa Markowitz, Gastronomica "[T]he essays construct a rich and challenging whole that is greater than the sum of its parts, and I have to confess I was riveted. The collection works ... both for those already familiar with Latin American and Caribbean history and for those entirely new to the banana."--Dana Frank, Labor "[The book's] message and analyses are important for assessing how banana production has transformed the political, social, cultural, economic, and environmental landscape of several countries in Latin America and the Caribbean... The authors ... have shown that truth often lies in the details... [An] impressive collection."--Lester D. Langley, International History Review "[F]ascinating..."--Peter Luetchford, Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute "[T]his book will appeal to a wide range of readers beyond historians. Those who are interested in the changing role of labor groups, the dubious actions of powerful banana corporations, and the involvement of government agencies in mediating commodity production and the terms of its sale also will find the book of value... [A] notable addition to the literature on United Fruit Company and provides further theoretical understanding for the commodity-chain framework."--Ian Read, Enterprise and Society "Banana Wars provides us with a detailed account of its historical and current importance... In describing the history, sociology, and current state of the banana export trade in the Americas, this book illuminates a sector of agricultural development that has important lessons to teach agricultural scientist and historians... [A]gricultural historians will find it a rich lode of information on the origin and current state of the banana trade."--Hans Christian Wien, Agricultural History "[T]he book can be recommended for its success in highlighting the diverse nature of the banana trade in the Americas, and the complex and fluid set of relationships that have underpinned the industry over the last century."--Peter Clegg, Bulletin of Latin American Research