Sugar Sovereign Summary

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Review of Sugar Sovereign: Industry and Environment in Hawai’i “Sugar Sovereign” is not just a book, but a significant piece of academic work that contributes to the fields of political ecology and environmental anthropology. Author Carol A. MacLennan examines the growth of the sugar industry in Hawai’i and the intersectional impacts on the island’s landscape. Beginning with the first Polynesian settlers that arrived in Hawai’i around 1000 AD to the present day, MacLennan discusses at length how Native Hawaiians (Kanaka Maoli or Kanaka) development and agricultural practices created a fertile environment for the establishment of the sugar industry. Woven throughout this book are the layers: Carol A. MacLennan is a highly respected anthropologist …show more content…
The impacts of Kanaka Maoli and European and Western capitalists should be clearly distinguished. This is not to say the impacts of Kanaka Maoli before contact were insignificant, but instead to contextualize for a greater level of nuance. This book is beneficial for readers both inside and outside academia. Those interested in political ecology would benefit from the detailed investigation of human and nonhuman interactions and the inherent political implications of these relationships. Specifically, the focus on a single industry as it developed in an isolated environment could provide a framework for reviewing the impacts of distinct industries. For example, one could use this text as a guideline for studying the maple industry in New England or the Tyson chicken egg factories in Mississippi. Environmental anthropologists would also benefit from this text. The inclusion of indigenous scholars' contributions, the narratives around the indigenous and immigrant labor force, the architecture of power created by sugar capitalists, and the impacts of this on the culture of Kanaka Maoli, plantation cultures, and various immigrant cultures provides significant context to fill gaps related to specific …show more content…
Economists could then consider ways to reduce the neoliberal capitalist influence on global markets and consider community economies similar to that practiced by Kanaka Maoli before European contact. In conclusion, “Sugar Sovereign: Industry and Environment in Hawai’i” is a carefully crafted investigation of the complex relationship between the sugar industry and the ecological, cultural, and social change on the island. This book significantly increases our understanding of political ecology by contextualizing the damage in both the environmental and economic sectors that have shaped and continue to shape Hawai’i. The book provides great depth and comprehensiveness, but could benefit from more engagement with Indigenous narratives to fully capture the experience of Kanaka Maoli. Despite this, MacLennan’s work is an important and necessary resource for academics, policymakers, and anyone who is interested in the dynamic relationships created through industrial agriculture and its impact on island
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