Commodities and anti-commodities. Indigenous production as sustainable practice and resistance against agrarian commercial capitalism in Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean during the colonial era.

Abstract

The introduction of commercial agriculture in colonized regions is generally considered as serving the interests of the colonizers at the cost of local populations, their knowledge and cultural identity. This programme takes a different approach, arguing that changes triggered by colonial introductions of commercial agriculture (?commodity?) included forms of resistance against and creative responses to those changes that led to specific ?indigenous? forms of production (anti-commodity). By investigating and bringing together unexplored expressions and various examples of anti-commodity practices, the programme intends to shed new light on the impact of commercial agriculture in the colonial era and how it has affected agricultural changes in developing nations today.