Situated knowledge and the EU sugar reform

A Caribbean life history

Bibliographic Data

ID8360593
AuthorsPamela Richardson‐ngwenya (0000-0003-4518-1055, University of KwaZulu-Natal, corresponding author)
Year2013
Volume45
Issue2
Pages188-197
Publication date2013-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueArea (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0004-0894 • E-ISSN: 1475-4762
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/area.12011
OpenAlexW1507620071
LanguageEN
Citations received8
References cited35

This paper draws inspiration from an elderly sugarcane farmer in B arbados, M r Thompson, who took part in a participatory video ( PV ) project and informal life history interviews with the author in 2007. The author mobilises M r Thompson's life history as a situated account of the influence of the European Union ( EU ) sugar regime, considering how this trade regime and the local state‐owned sugar industry have been implicated in his life. It is demonstrated how Europe's wide‐reaching trade agenda is embodied in both the life history and the living present of a particular individual. Tracing the story of M r Thompson, the paper draws heavily on his own words and audio‐visual presentations. From these video‐based expressions, we glimpse relations between a personal history, a set of embodied encounters and a broader (post)colonial legacy. M r Thompson evokes an alternative understanding of sugar in B arbados, acting as a counterpoint to claims that promote neoliberal reform. Charting the experiences of one person, the paper suggests, offers a useful and valid position from which to critique the EU sugar reform at large. Finally, the paper discusses how a methodological coupling of PV and life history interviewing provided a valuable tool for engaging with and expressing situated knowledges

Citizen journalism · Economics · Embodied cognition · Epistemology · European union · International trade · Political science · Situated · Sociology · Agriculture, Land Use, Rural Development · Computer Science · Law · Migration, Ethnicity, and Economy · Rural development and sustainability

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