The Case against Cheap Bananas: Lessons from the EU-Caribbean Banana Agreement

This article examines the dismantling of the EU-Caribbean banana agreement and how its decline has been justified by economic critics drawing on dubious knowledge about the benefits of free trade and the negative effects of ‘preferential’ trade. Based on a historical assessment of the banana agreeme...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Critical sociology 2011-05, Vol.37 (3), p.285-307
Main Author: Fridell, Gavin
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agreements
Antipoverty Programs
Bananas
Caribbean
Criticism
Development
Development Strategies
Economic Conditions
Economic underdevelopment
Efficiency
European Union
Free Trade
International political economy
International Trade
Knowledge
Marginality
Political Economy
Poverty
Power
Social Class
Social classes
Social justice
Underdevelopment
World Trade Organization
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Summary:This article examines the dismantling of the EU-Caribbean banana agreement and how its decline has been justified by economic critics drawing on dubious knowledge about the benefits of free trade and the negative effects of ‘preferential’ trade. Based on a historical assessment of the banana agreement, it provides a critique of the claims of the economic opponents and argues that their assertions are based largely on the speculative assumptions of the free trade ‘power/knowledge regime’ and not the historical, power, and class conditions under which bananas are produced, traded, and sold. Taking these considerations into account, the banana agreement, despite its shortcomings, was a model of ‘social efficiency’ that demonstrates the benefits of preferential treatment to support development and poverty alleviation among otherwise marginalized communities in the global South.
ISSN:0896-9205
1569-1632
DOI:10.1177/0896920510379447