220114 On Haciendas, Plantations and Agribusiness. Land and Wealth in Latin America since the early 19th Century (S) (WiSe 2025/2026)

Latin America is the world region with the most unequal distribution of land worldwide. This seminar will take a closer look at the historical genealogy of land concentration since the 19th century. The focus will be on various topics: economic dependency and the cultivation of cash crops (sugar, coffee, bananas, cocoa, soy and palm oil as well as coca, marijuana and opium poppies); socio-historical relations of exploitation; the ecological consequences of monocultures; political influence and state formation; the social reproduction of the land-owning elite and the elite's cultural self-image. These topics will be examined using examples from the region.

Literaturangaben

Bibliography (very short selection…)

Büschges, Christian. Familie, Ehre und Macht. Konzept und soziale Wirklichkeit. Stuttgart.1996.

Edelman, M. (2018). ‘Haciendas and Plantations’: History and limitations of a 60-year-old taxonomy. Critique of Anthropology, 38(4), 387-406. https://doi.org/10.1177/0308275X18806567

Fernández Milmanda, Belén (2025). Agrarian Elites and Democracy in Latin America. Cambridge: Cambridge UP.
Oxfam (2016). Unearthed: Land, Power and Inequality in Latin America. Oxfam International.