The Political Ecology of Shaded Coffee Plantations: Conservation Narratives and The Everyday-Lived-Experience of Farmworkers
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2021
Keywords
Conservation narratives, shade-grown organic coffee, farmworkers, plantation labor, political ecology ofagriculture
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.1080/03066150.2020.1713109
Abstract
Shade-grown coffee conserves biodiversity and often improves peasant livelihoods in Latin America. However, farmworkers have been overwhelmingly overlooked, despite being a vulnerable and marginalized actor in the coffee production chain, facing food and labor inequalities. This ethnographic research explores how farmworkers perceive biodiversity conservation in labor-intensive organic coffee systems. I examine the tensions that arise when conservation narratives meet the everyday-lived-experience of farmworkers, emphasizing material and symbolic effects on farmworkers' lives. Through questioning shade-grown organic coffee as a just imaginary, I expose contradictions and trade-offs of biodiversity conservation in labor-intensive systems, relevant as we transition to more sustainable food systems.
Was this content written or created while at USF?
No
Citation / Publisher Attribution
The Journal of Peasant Studies, v. 48, issue 6, p. 1284-1303
Scholar Commons Citation
Jiménez-Soto, Estelí, "The Political Ecology of Shaded Coffee Plantations: Conservation Narratives and The Everyday-Lived-Experience of Farmworkers" (2021). School of Geosciences Faculty and Staff Publications. 2430.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/geo_facpub/2430
