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In this vivid ethnography, Paige West tracks coffee as it moves from producers in Papua New Guinea to consumers around the world. She illuminates the social lives of the people who produce coffee, and those who process, distribute, market, and consume it. The Gimi peoples, who grow coffee in Papua New Guinea's highlands, are eager to expand their business and social relationships with the buyers who come to their highland villages, as well as with the people working in Goroka, where much of Papua New Guinea's coffee is processed; at the port of Lae, where it is exported; and in Hamburg, Sydney, and London, where it is distributed and consumed. This rich social world is disrupted by neoliberal development strategies, which impose prescriptive regimes of governmentality that are often at odds with Melanesian ways of being in, and relating to, the world. The Gimi are misrepresented in the specialty coffee market, which relies on images of primitivity and poverty to sell coffee. By implying that the "backwardness" of Papua New Guineans impedes economic development, these images obscure the structural relations and global political economy that actually cause poverty in Papua New Guinea.
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Review:
""From modern production to imagined primitive" is a unique and valuable contribution owing to its geographical focus, its topical attention to gender roles, the complexities of co-operation, and the poorly understood world of commodity distribution. It also deepens our anthropological understanding of the social imaginary and the problematic consequences of identity-based marketing.... West builds on the work of critical geographers to argue convincingly that the specialty coffee industry reproduces troubling stereotypical images while occluding the real history and political economic position of the producers." - Sarah Lyon, "Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute"
"West's account of the production and consumption of PNG coffee is... unbounded.... she does not limit herself to one setting, perspective, or community and focus on how coffee intersects with this. Rather she combines observations.... This imagination is what makes coffee valuable in different ways to the agents involved in its global journey. West's wide-ranging approach points to an important aspect of the overall framing of each book.... [She] is most explicit in thinking through what kind of an analysis she can give in this manner." - Ryan Schram, "Anthropological Quarterly"
""From Modern Production to Imagined Primitive" provides a compelling picture of the people and images that have created the commodity chain of New Guinean coffee, and it will make a stimulating touchstone for future studies on this topic." - David Sutton, "PoLAR"
"["From Modern Production to Imagined Primitive"] is a very powerful account of contemporary Papua New Guinea and global capitalism. It critically examines the fantasy images so known to us through popular media and advertising of commodities and shows how very real consequences these fantasies have. Written in an extremely clear and vivid style, the book makes excellent reading for courses on environmental anthropology, neoliberalism and Papua New Guinea. It critically examines the seemingly well meaning certification schemes, which raise questions among both academics and consumers alike, and this should allow for a wide-based readership. Finally, it simply is a very solid and well written ethnography based on long periods of fieldwork, which gives a thorough account of global coffee markets." - Tuomas Tammisto, "Oceania"
Although many anthropologists have traced paths traveled by speci?c commodities around the world, no study can match the ambition and sweep of Paige West s book.--Daniel Reichman "American Anthropologist ""
A very powerful account of contemporary Papua New Guinea and global capitalism. It critically examines the fantasy images so known to us through popular media and advertising of commodities and shows how very real consequences these fantasies have. Written in an extremely clear and vivid style, the book makes excellent reading for courses on environmental anthropology, neoliberalism and Papua New Guinea. It critically examines the seemingly well meaning certification schemes, which raise questions among both academics and consumers alike, and this should allow for a wide-based readership. Finally, it simply is a very solid and well written ethnography based on long periods of fieldwork, which gives a thorough account of global coffee markets. --Tuomas Tammisto "Oceania ""
This well-written ethnography contributes to several bodies of literature including those on coffee production and commodity chain studies, and ethnographic accounts from Papua New Guinea. It would be useful for graduate or undergraduate courses on globalization, as an example in graduate courses on writing ethnography, and for those scholars studying commodity chains and third-party certification systems. --Rebecca Mari Meuninck "American Ethnologist ""
Readers must be grateful for this rich look at the Gimi people and for West s challenge to analyze the images attached to them and to coffee. --Robert W. Thurston "Social Analysis ""
This fine study could be useful in anthropology courses, area studies of Pacific culture, and courses on food studies, as well as a satisfying accompaniment to many hot cups of coffee. --Larry Lake "Contemporary Pacific ""
West provides an excellent ethnography that covers a wide variety of issues regarding coffee production in Papua New Guinea. Her analyses are complex and her research detailed. This work is of great value to increasing our understanding of Papua New Guinea as well as the creation of the imagined primitive in order to sell coffee. --Amy E. Harth "Electronic Green Journal ""
About the Author:
"West's account of the production and consumption of PNG coffee is... unbounded.... she does not limit herself to one setting, perspective, or community and focus on how coffee intersects with this. Rather she combines observations.... This imagination is what makes coffee valuable in different ways to the agents involved in its global journey. West's wide-ranging approach points to an important aspect of the overall framing of each book.... [She] is most explicit in thinking through what kind of an analysis she can give in this manner." - Ryan Schram, "Anthropological Quarterly"
""From Modern Production to Imagined Primitive" provides a compelling picture of the people and images that have created the commodity chain of New Guinean coffee, and it will make a stimulating touchstone for future studies on this topic." - David Sutton, "PoLAR"
"["From Modern Production to Imagined Primitive"] is a very powerful account of contemporary Papua New Guinea and global capitalism. It critically examines the fantasy images so known to us through popular media and advertising of commodities and shows how very real consequences these fantasies have. Written in an extremely clear and vivid style, the book makes excellent reading for courses on environmental anthropology, neoliberalism and Papua New Guinea. It critically examines the seemingly well meaning certification schemes, which raise questions among both academics and consumers alike, and this should allow for a wide-based readership. Finally, it simply is a very solid and well written ethnography based on long periods of fieldwork, which gives a thorough account of global coffee markets." - Tuomas Tammisto, "Oceania"
Although many anthropologists have traced paths traveled by speci?c commodities around the world, no study can match the ambition and sweep of Paige West s book.--Daniel Reichman "American Anthropologist ""
A very powerful account of contemporary Papua New Guinea and global capitalism. It critically examines the fantasy images so known to us through popular media and advertising of commodities and shows how very real consequences these fantasies have. Written in an extremely clear and vivid style, the book makes excellent reading for courses on environmental anthropology, neoliberalism and Papua New Guinea. It critically examines the seemingly well meaning certification schemes, which raise questions among both academics and consumers alike, and this should allow for a wide-based readership. Finally, it simply is a very solid and well written ethnography based on long periods of fieldwork, which gives a thorough account of global coffee markets. --Tuomas Tammisto "Oceania ""
This well-written ethnography contributes to several bodies of literature including those on coffee production and commodity chain studies, and ethnographic accounts from Papua New Guinea. It would be useful for graduate or undergraduate courses on globalization, as an example in graduate courses on writing ethnography, and for those scholars studying commodity chains and third-party certification systems. --Rebecca Mari Meuninck "American Ethnologist ""
Readers must be grateful for this rich look at the Gimi people and for West s challenge to analyze the images attached to them and to coffee. --Robert W. Thurston "Social Analysis ""
This fine study could be useful in anthropology courses, area studies of Pacific culture, and courses on food studies, as well as a satisfying accompaniment to many hot cups of coffee. --Larry Lake "Contemporary Pacific ""
West provides an excellent ethnography that covers a wide variety of issues regarding coffee production in Papua New Guinea. Her analyses are complex and her research detailed. This work is of great value to increasing our understanding of Papua New Guinea as well as the creation of the imagined primitive in order to sell coffee. --Amy E. Harth "Electronic Green Journal ""
Paige West is Associate Professor of Anthropology at Barnard College, Columbia University. She is the author of Conservation Is Our Government Now: The Politics of Ecology in Papua New Guinea, also published by Duke University Press, and a co-founder and co-editor of the journal Environment and Society.
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
- PublisherNot Avail
- Publication date2014
- ISBN 10 0822394847
- ISBN 13 9780822394846
- BindingUnknown Binding
- Number of pages336
- Rating
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