An anthropologist explores organic cotton farming in India and whether it produces as much cotton as conventional methods.
Tracing 75 years of Israeli war photography, an anthropologist explains how images that reframe disproportionate violence as proof of victory have intensified in the war on Gaza that erupted in 2023.The African island nation played a central—but little-known—role in the rise of the global sugar trade based on enslaved labor. To uncover this past, a team launched the country’s first archaeological research.
An older boy, still dressed in his school uniform, helps his family pluck organic cotton after school. Pressured by local parents, an organic NGO in this village subsidizes the cost of a three-wheeled autorickshaw to ferry children to and from school. A faded mural from a short-term development project explains a series of benefits from pesticide-free management. While enthusiastically received in the moment, many of these short-term initiatives lose steam over time because they are not designed to adapt to changing conditions in the field.
Going organic meant Korianna and his neighbors had to adapt to significantly lower cotton yields. But they made sure the switch came with other perks that helped make up for the loss. By buying into a version of environmental development that appeals to consumers in the growing market for organic and ethical clothing around the world, farmers can gain subsidized work and, importantly, new kinds of social clout.
Organic distributors sell these harvests by telling consumers they are helping farmers who are isolated, poor, and in crisis. This narrative is not misleading. Korianna, like most in his village, belongs to the Dalit community, comprised of members of historically disenfranchised Hindu castes. Many organic development groups recruit Dalit farmers, along with Adivasi farmers—But the story is complicated.
And even farmers in North India who initially benefited from the Green Revolution have struggled to make a decent living recently—a point made clear byMonocultures of cotton and other crops encourage agricultural extraction, which reorders soil composition, plant diversity, human labor, chemical investments, land leases, drilled water, and the farm economy itself into a series of investments to maximize yields.
Besides, going organic brought other harvests to these communities: seeds, training, farm equipment, water pipelines, interest-free loans, and more. These perks came from NGOs, like the one Korianna worked for, or through the connections and government programs that NGOs facilitated.
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