Hanging by a Thread: Cotton, Globalization, and Poverty in Africa » (New Edition)

William G. Moseley is an associate professor of geography at Macalester College in Saint Paul, Minnesota. He is the author of two editions of Taking Sides: Clashing Views on African Issues; and coeditor of The Introductory Reader in Human Geography: Contemporary Debates and Classic Writings and African Environment and Development: Rhetoric, Programs, Realities.

Leslie C. Gray is an associate professor of environ mental studies at Santa Clara University. She has published articles on environment and development in journals such as World Development, Africa, African Studies Review, Development and Change, Geoforum, and Geographical Journal.

The textile industry was one of the first manufacturing activities to become organized globally, as mechanized production in Europe used cotton from the various colonies. Africa, the least developed of the world’s major regions, is now increasingly engaged in the production of this crop for the global market, and debates about the pros and cons of this trend have intensified. Hanging by a Thread: Cotton, Globalization, and Poverty in Africa illuminates the connections between Africa and the global economy. The editors offer a compelling set of linked studies that detail one aspect of the globalization process in Africa, the cotton commodity chain.

Preface and Acknowledgments

Contributors

Introduction: Cotton, Globalization, and Poverty in Africa William G. Moseley Moseley, William G. Leslie C. Gray Gray, Leslie C. 1

Part I Global Cotton, Local Crises

Chapter 1 Producing Poverty: Power Relations and Price Formation in the Cotton Commodity Chains of West Africa Thomas J. Bassett Bassett, Thomas J. 35

Chapter 2 Cotton Production in Burkina Faso: International Rhetoric versus Local Realities Leslie C. Gray Gray, Leslie C. 65

Chapter 3 Mali's Cotton Conundrum: Commodity Production and Development on the Periphery William G. Moseley Moseley, William G. 83

Chapter 4 The Decline of Bt Cotton in KwaZulu-Natal: Technology and Institutions Marnus Gouse Gouse, Marnus Bhavani Shankar Shankar, Bhavani Colin Thirtle Thirtle, Colin 103

Part II Organizing Cotton: National-Level Reforms and Rural Livelihoods

Chapter 5 The Many Paths of Cotton Sector Reform in East and Southern Africa: Lessons from a Decade of Experience David Tschirley Tschirley, David Colin Poulton Poulton, Colin Duncan Boughton Boughton, Duncan 123

Chapter 6 Cotton Production, Poverty, and Inequality in Rural Benin: Evidence from the 1990s Corinne Siaens Siaens, Corinne Quentin Wodon Wodon, Quentin 159

Chapter 7 Rural Development Is More Than Commodity Production: Cotton in the Farming System of Kita, Mali Dolores Koenig Koenig, Dolores 177

Chapter 8 Cotton Casualties and Cooperatives: Reinventing Farmer Collectives at the Expense of Rural Malian Communities? Scott M. Lacy Lacy, Scott M. 207

Part III Alternate Futures: Genetically Engineered and Organic Cotton

Chapter 9 Genetically Engineered Cotton:Politics, Science, and Power in West Africa Jim Bingen Bingen, Jim 227

Chapter 10 Organic Cotton in Sub-Saharan Africa: A New Development Paradigm? Brian M. Dowd Dowd, Brian M. 251

Conclusion: Hanging by a Thread: The Future of Cotton in Africa Leslie C. Gray Gray, Leslie C. William G. Moseley Moseley, William G. 272