Corn and Capitalism: How a Botanical Bastard Grew to Global Dominance

Author:   Nancy L. Westrate ,  Nancy L. Westrate
Publisher:   The University of North Carolina Press
Edition:   New edition
ISBN:  

9780807854372


Pages:   288
Publication Date:   31 March 2003
Format:   Paperback
Availability:   In Print   Availability explained
This item will be ordered in for you from one of our suppliers. Upon receipt, we will promptly dispatch it out to you. For in store availability, please contact us.

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Corn and Capitalism: How a Botanical Bastard Grew to Global Dominance


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Overview

"Exploring the history and importance of corn worldwide, Arturo Warman traces its development from a New World food of poor and despised peoples into a commodity that plays a major role in the modern global economy. The book, first published in Mexico in 1988, combines approaches from anthropology, social history, and political economy to tell the story of corn, a """"botanical bastard"""" of unclear origins that cannot reseed itself and is instead dependent on agriculture for propagation. Beginning in the Americas, Warman depicts corn as colonizer. Disparaged by the conquistadors, this Native American staple was embraced by the destitute of the Old World. In time, corn spread across the globe as a prodigious food source for both humans and livestock. Warman also reveals corn's role in nourishing the African slave trade. Through the history of one plant with enormous economic importance, Warman investigates large-scale social and economic processes, looking at the role of foodstuffs in the competition between nations and the perpetuation of inequalities between rich and poor states in the world market. Praising corn's almost unlimited potential for future use as an intensified source of starch, sugar, and alcohol, Warman also comments on some of the problems he foresees for large-scale, technology-dependent monocrop agriculture."

Full Product Details

Author:   Nancy L. Westrate ,  Nancy L. Westrate
Publisher:   The University of North Carolina Press
Imprint:   The University of North Carolina Press
Edition:   New edition
Dimensions:   Width: 15.60cm , Height: 1.70cm , Length: 23.50cm
Weight:   0.430kg
ISBN:  

9780807854372


ISBN 10:   0807854379
Pages:   288
Publication Date:   31 March 2003
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Professional and scholarly ,  Undergraduate ,  Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print   Availability explained
This item will be ordered in for you from one of our suppliers. Upon receipt, we will promptly dispatch it out to you. For in store availability, please contact us.

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Reviews

Arturo Warman's study of maize elegantly documents how a domesticated New World plant could deeply affect Old World farming and eating habits and the lives and pleasures of countless human beings. The genius of Native American farmers made the whole world their beneficiaries. - Sidney W. Mintz, author of Tasting Food, Tasting Freedom


"""Arturo Warman's study of maize elegantly documents how a domesticated New World plant could deeply affect Old World farming and eating habits and the lives and pleasures of countless human beings. The genius of Native American farmers made the whole world their beneficiaries."" - Sidney W. Mintz, author of Tasting Food, Tasting Freedom"


Author Information

The late Arturo Warman was an anthropologist and the former minister of agrarian reform in Mexico.

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