The labor of land

Contemporaryland grabsand agricultural investments have generated huge attention. The transformations in land tenure, production and social reproduction in the aftermath of land rushes have generated arichliterature. A central question is aboutlabor, and its implications for structural transformation andagrarian futures.

Extraversion, exports and the labor question

In Senegambia, the intersecting pressures of food, land, and capital were historically linked to the quest for new labor and cash crops (cotton, then groundnut, followed by fresh fruits and vegetables) in frontier markets for Europe. Some of these transformations have been widely documented by Egyptian economistSamir Amin, Senegalese historianBoubacar Barryand American historianSven Beckert. In 1819, the Ndiaw Treaty between France and the leaders of the Waalo Kingdom (in northern Senegal) was signed, allowing France toset up three agricultural bases in northern Senegal for export. This agricultural colonization…