Banana Wars: Power, Production, and History in the Americas

Striffler, Steve and Mark Moberg (eds.). Banana Wars: Power, Production, and History in the Americas. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2003.

Since the end of the nineteenth century, bananas, along with coffee and sugar, were the principal commodities responsible for integrating most Latin American and Caribbean nations into the global economy. Although the majority of the world's bananas are produced and consumed in populous nations such as Brazil, India, Mexico, and Indonesia, the majority of bananas produced for export to US and European markets (25 percent of global production) come from Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. Steve Striffler, an associate professor of anthropology at the University of Arkansas, and Mark Moberg, a professor of anthropology at the University of South Alabama, have compiled a remarkably coherent volume that examines the role of the banana in Latin American and Caribbean history from a variety of disciplines. Although bananas were not exported out of Latin America in quantity until the end of the nineteenth century, by the beginning of the twentieth century a small group of businessmen encouraged the expansion of banana production and made the banana a global commodity. As such, the authors contend that the banana "has transformed more of Central America, the Caribbean, and South America than any other commodity" (p. 1). The creation of large banana enclaves in Latin America caused profound political, economic, cultural, ecological, and demographic changes.

The book was initially inspired by a panel organized by Striffler at the 1998 meeting of the American Anthropological Association. Perhaps the most interesting observation to be gathered from reading this book is the fact that, although numerous Latin American and Caribbean countries experienced extensive banana production, the historical experience and impact of banana production has varied widely throughout the region. As such, the collection of essays in the book stresses the "profound differences in social, cultural, economic, and political processes and experiences" experienced by the banana producing nations (p. 1). Collectively, the authors dispel the myth of the hegemonic power of US multinational corporations. The authors explain that even the United Fruit Company (UFCO), the "most powerful and infamous" expression of foreign investment, was unable to dictate policy to Latin American nations (p. 2). Frequently, Latin American nations lured the US multinational corporations to invest in their so-called banana republics.

The variation in terms of methods of labor control, land ownership, labor conflict, production organization, and state participation in the banana industry is made evident by the authors when they examine the three major regions of banana production (Central America, South America, and the Caribbean) in Latin America. Central America is the region of Latin America where the foreign banana companies made their first attempt at establishing tropical banana empires. In Costa Rica, Panama, Honduras, and Guatemala, the giant US multinational corporations (UFCO and Standard Fruit), which dominated the banana market in the United States, established large banana plantations. It was here that the foreign companies had the most influence over local governments. On the banana plantations, "national sovereignty was nominal at best" (p. 5). To counteract the negative image of foreign domination, beginning in the 1970s, the multinationals began to divest themselves of their vast estates and contract banana production out to local producers, while still controlling the exportation of the bananas. In his informative essay, Marcelo Bucheli, who lectures in history at Stanford University, provides an in-depth look at the role of UFCO. Cindy Forster, who teaches history at Scripps College, examines the impact of worker ethnicity in Central America, specifically Guatemala. She reveals mat English-speaking blacks were imported to work the Atlantic coast plantations, while Indians and mestizos were employed on the Pacific coast plantations. Dario Euraque, who teaches history at Trinity College, examines the role of ethnicity in banana production in Honduras.

The Caribbean banana production experience is the exact opposite of the Central America experience. In the Windward Islands, production centered on small land holdings cultivated by a single family. Although a few foreign-owned plantations once existed, production has consistently been based on small-scale production. Although production has been in the hands of local producers, exportation has been dominated by two European companies (Fyffes and Geest Industries, which sold its banana marketing interests in 1999 to a consortium run by the Windward Islands Banana Development and Exporting Corporations (WIBDECO) and Fyffes). Lawrence Grossman, a professor of geography at Virginia Tech, contends that the control of banana production by small farmers on St. Vincent has created possibilities for resistance for the banana producers. Although the St. Vincent government, via WIBDECO, plays a large role in banana production, Grossman points out that local producers have recently begun to resist government policy. Karla Slocum, assistant professor of anthropology at the University of North Carolina, examines a similar process in St. Lucia. Both authors point out the economic importance of banana exports to the United Kingdom to St. Vincent, St. Lucia, and Dominica.