CAPAS RESEARCH PROJECT - Frank Uekötter The End of the Plantation: An Apocalyptic Scenario of the Global South
Plantations have been a pillar of food production throughout the modern era, but they were perennially embattled on multiple fronts, and the natural environment was a particular source of troubles. Every monoculture faced a biological challenge that threatened commercial production, and often a multitude thereof. Coping with these threats left its mark in minds on and beyond the site of production, and this project seeks to explore the mental repercussions of perennially embattled plantations. What does it mean to explore plantation fears as apocalyptic tropes? Do they intertwine with other popular horror scenarios, or do they remain isolated and distinct? Do apocalyptic scenarios resonate along commodity chains, or should we see plantation fears as phenomena of rural life? In a wider context, the project raises the question about an apocalyptic divide between urban and rural populations.