The Political Ecology of Bananas

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This study of banana contract farming in the Eastern Caribbean examines the influences shaping contract-farming enterprises, including capital, the state, and the environment. Utilizing the framework of political ecology, which emphasizes the connections between political-economic forces and human-environment relationships, the author provides a fresh perspective on the Windward Islands banana industry's history and current state. The work details the various impacts of banana production on peasant laborers in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. It challenges conventional views on three interconnected issues in contract farming and political ecology. First, it analyzes deskilling and the significance of capital and state control over peasant labor. Second, it explores how export-oriented contract farming affects domestic food production and increases food import dependency. Third, it addresses the often-misunderstood issue of pesticide misuse. The findings prompt a reevaluation of broader discussions on industrial restructuring and globalization in relation to agrarian change. Most importantly, the study underscores the need to focus on the "environmental rootedness" of agriculture in political ecology and contract farming research.