2013/02/05 by Gregory T. Cushman · 293 citations
Social Sciences · #Pacific and Southeast Asian Studies #Guano #Commodification #Industrialisation #Latin Americans #Commodity #Economy #Geography #History #Political science #Economic history #Development economics #Archaeology #Economics
paper · doi:10.1017/cbo9781139047470
published in Cambridge University Press eBooks (Cambridge University Press)
openalex publication_date 2013/02/05 · openalex created_date 2022/05/11 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/02
For centuries, bird guano has played a pivotal role in the agricultural and economic development of Latin America, East Asia and Oceania. As their populations ballooned during the Industrial Revolution, North American and European powers came to depend on this unique resource as well, helping them meet their ever-increasing farming needs. This book explores how the production and commodification of guano has shaped the modern Pacific Basin and the world's relationship to the region. Marrying traditional methods of historical analysis with a broad interdisciplinary approach, Gregory T. Cushman casts this once little-known commodity as an engine of Western industrialization, offering new insight into uniquely modern developments such as environmental consciousness and conservation movements; the ascendance of science, technology and expertise; international relations; and world war.