Tag Archives: international politics

Coffee, Globalisation, "Race"

I’m usually a bit careful before jumping on the soapbox, but this is quite interesting. It’s from the blog for Black Gold, a documentary about the global coffee market.

The Trials of Daryl Hunt deals with national racism in the US justice system and [Black Gold] deals with the globalised racism maintained through a rigged international economy that undermines any sense of economic justice for the developing world, in particular Africa

Heard about Black Gold on the CoffeeGeek podcast. Haven’t seen the movie yet but comments about it in that podcast make it to be a powerful movie about the plight of coffee farmers, but with some flaws. The point remains (and is well-made by CoffeeGeek Senior Editor Mark Prince) that this story needs to be told, that people need to realise what is going on.

Usually, “Black Gold” refers to petroleum more directly than to coffee. Interestingly enough, coffee is (as coffee people are fond of saying) the second most-traded commodity after oil. And brewed coffee is usually black, or at least dark. So the title seems fitting, if a bit ambiguous. Going further with that stream of consciousness, we can think about skin colour and skin tone, which are used to identify “racial” groups by some people. It might have been on the minds of the documentary’s producers, as they do mention Africa and racism.

This in a context in which some people seem to think that Africa’s economic status relates more indirectly to internal politics, lack of business acumen, and kinship (i.e., Africans themselves) than to global trade or politics. We definitely need a broad discussion of the “Dark Continent” stereotype. And, yes, we do need to touch upon the issue of racism. It’s there and it has a deep impact on the world in which we all live.

Food for thought? Thought for food.

Adding It Up

Been thinking. Yes, it’s dangerous. But it does happen to any of us.

Starting up with my own comments about Yu Koyo Peya and Jared Diamond’s Collapse. It’s no secret that Diamond’s approach often clashes with the anthropological tendency toward critical thinking. But still…
From The Matrix, Agent Smith saying that humans are a disease. The YKP on-screen message that “civilization” (however defined) is the disease. A further claim could be that a specific civilization is a disease. Fun to think about. Where does it lead us, exactly? And, really, what do we mean by “civilization” in those cases? State-level “democracy” based on the illusion of national identity and individual autonomy, and motivated by market economy? And that’s all so important why, exactly? After all, there are alternatives of different types and in different places

Haven’t read Diamond’s books but it’s quite likely that Collapse in fact describes the decline of a specific social model. Actually, to a Québécois, the recent tribute to Rémy Girard’s career makes the analogy even more salient. Some have asked what year the U.S. were stuck in. Some date between 410 and 476 would be many people’s guess. But it could be later.

It might be the end of Occidentalism. Or, simply, perceived radical changes based on a series of significant events.

It reminds me of a well-known Swiss novel and a movie made about it. English-speakers would likely think of Chicken Little. Again, windmills and shelters.
Many events are connected to these times. From the end of the Cold War to Hurricane Katrina. From a climate of terror and paranoia to the rise of Chindia. From the Washington Consensus to notions of terrorists and freedom fighters,

There’s no conspiracy. Just a bunch of loosely linked social changes on a rather large but still very limited stage.
What are we to do?

Look further than the end of our collective nose?