Banana capital : science, stories, and poison at the equator / Ben Brisbois.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Brisbois, Ben, author.

Series:

Digestions (Regina, Sask.)

Digestions

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Banana trade--Health aspects--Ecuador--History.

Banana trade.

Banana trade--Environmental aspects--Ecuador--History.

Pesticides--Health aspects--Ecuador--History.

Pesticides.

Public health--Ecuador--History.

Public health.

Political ecology--Ecuador.

Political ecology.

Ecuador--Environmental conditions.

Ecuador.

Ecuador--Social conditions.

Ecuador--Economic conditions.

Physical Description:

xiv, 346 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

Regina, Saskatchewan : University of Regina Press, [2025]

Summary:

"Explores the far-reaching impacts of pesticides in Ecuador's banana industry, tracing their roots through more than a century of history in the banana-producing Americas. At the southern end of Ecuador's la costa region lies the city of Machala, the self-described "Banana Capital" of the world. There, farmers and workers experience alarming health effects associated with widespread pesticide use in banana production, compounded by precarious and unsafe working conditions. Banana Capital: Stories, Science, and Poison at the Equator reveals the often grim realities of daily life in banana-producing parts of the world and, beyond that, seeks to understand and address these challenges. Ben Brisbois's search for solutions leads him back to the 19th-century origins of banana production in the Americas and through over a century of imperialism, bloodshed, ecological devastation, diverse workforces, and not-so-diverse bananas. Along the way, however, attempts by powerful Northern corporations and their government allies to extract wealth from Latin American territories and bodies prove vulnerable when met with resistance mounted by workers, Latin American nations, and the ever-unpredictable natural world. Banana Capital issues an urgent call to action, unveiling the power dynamics of life in the banana industry--dynamics vividly experienced by workers in ways that are rooted in significant relationships to communities, the land, and neocolonial power structures. Ultimately, the book provides a roadmap toward social justice and sustainability in the uncertain future of banana production. Ben Brisbois is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Social and Preventive Medicine of the Universiť de Montřal's School of Public Health. He lives in Montreal."-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Introduction

Part 1: 1870-1960; Chapter 1: El pulpo; Chapter 2: Race to the Equator; Chapter 3: Bananas, environments and histories; Chapter 4: Beyond its control; Chapter 5: The very, very tropical Equator; Chapter 6: The parakeet in the plantation

Part 2: 1961-2000; Chapter 7: An insult; Chapter 8: Cavendish ecologies; Chapter 9: Empire's Guinea Pigs; Chapter 10: El fruto del neoliberalismo; Chapter 11: Healthy resistance

Part 3: 2001-2003; Chapter 12: A la costa; Chapter 13: Twenty-first-century socialism and contemporary forms of slavery; Chapter 14: A question of culture; Chapter 15: The illness of the century; Chapter 16: El gringuito; Chapter 17: Same joke, different clown; Chapter 18: Plagas; Chapter 19: The bananthropocene

Part 4:Green futures; Chapter 20: Stories; Chapter 21: Evidence I: regulating the litigating toxics; Chapter 22: Evidence II: epidemiology; Chapter 23: Shopping; Chapter 24: Noticing; Chapter 25: Plotting.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Other Format:

Online version: Brisbois, Ben. Banana capital.

ISBN:

9781779400352

1779400357

9781779400345

1779400349

OCLC:

1452743148

Publisher Number:

90101418435