Latin American History Commons^™

Landscapes Of Freedom And Inequality: Environmental Histories Of The Pacific And Caribbean Coasts Of Colombia, Shawn Van Ausdal

Shawn Van Ausdal

In this comparative environmental history, we examine the divergent trajectories of Colombia’s coastal forests since the mid-19th century. In the Pacific lowlands, natural resource extraction by a black peasantry altered the forested landscape but did not transform it completely. Left by the white, merchant elite in charge of the extractive process, this post-emancipation society maintained their territorial independence and avoided significant internal differentiation. Racial divisions, however, signaled the continuation of disparities that had their origin in slavery and colonialism. In the Caribbean, by contrast, the expansion of cattle ranching better integrated the region into the nation, but at the expense …

Vacas Y Pastos: Creación De Paisajes Ganaderos, Shawn Van Ausdal, Robert W. Wilcox

Shawn Van Ausdal

No abstract provided.

Productivity Gains And The Limits Of Tropical Ranching In Colombia, 1850-1950, Shawn Van Ausdal

Shawn Van Ausdal

Contrary to the common assumption that Colombian ranchers were uninterested or unable to improve their cattle operations before the 1950s, this article provides evidence of slowly rising productivity indices from the mid-nineteenth century. These improvements were based on the diffusion of African grasses, new breeds of cattle, barbed-wire fencing, and better ranch management. However, despite such gains, Colombian ranchers failed to break into the international beef trade; their productivity levels did not rise sufficiently to compete against major exporters such as Argentina. Nonetheless, the gains they made suggest that this failure was not simply rooted in the backward and non-productive …

Labores Ganaderas En El Caribe Colombino, 1850-1950, Shawn Van Ausdal

Shawn Van Ausdal

No abstract provided.

Potreros, Ganancias Y Poder. Una Historia Ambiental De La Ganadería En Colombia, 1850-1950, Shawn Van Ausdal

Shawn Van Ausdal

Este artículo examina la expansión de la ganadería entre 1850 y 1950 en los bosques de tierra caliente en Colombia. También explora el papel de la introducción de pastos africanos en el desarrollo de potreros, con énfasis en el mejoramiento de la productividad. Finalmente, el artículo sugiere que prestar mayor atención a los costos y a la mano de obra en la formación de potreros podría llevar a reexaminar algunos estereotipos comunes con respecto a la ganadería (por ejemplo, que el ganado era principalmente un medio para controlar el territorio). Esto, a su vez, debe ayudarnos a entender mejor la …

The Logic Of Livestock: An Historical Geography Of Cattle Ranching In Colombia, 1850-1950, Shawn Van Ausdal

Shawn Van Ausdal

This dissertation examines a significant yet little understood economic activity in modern Colombian history: cattle ranching. The importance of cattle stem from their role in the settlement of the country’s lowlands, the conflicts around property rights, and the proportion of capital dedicated to ranching. Because scholars have paid it little heed, most reproduce a common misconception about the logic of livestock: that it was principally driven by a range of ulterior motives – from satisfying cultural status to a source of political power; and from establishing territorial control to either a speculative investment or a hedge against risk – rather …

Los Ajiacos Colombianos, Shawn Van Ausdal, Juliana Duque

Shawn Van Ausdal

No abstract provided.

When Beef Was King. Or Why Do Colombians Eat So Little Pork?, Shawn Van Ausdal

Shawn Van Ausdal

This article seeks to understand why Colombians, compared to many other Latin Americans, have traditionally eaten so much more beef than pork. The article first points to the development of a culinary tradition that favored beef. The bulk of the argument, though, centers on the fact that, historically, beef has been substantially cheaper than pork. This price difference, in turn, is rooted in the low productivity of Colombian agriculture, which made corn, often used to fatten hogs, expensive. Additional factors that favored beef include a receding agrarian frontier, a small hog population, the various advantages of cattle, a conflict–ridden history …

Ni Calamidad Ni Panacea: Una Reflexión En Torno A La Historiografía De La Ganadería Colombiana, Shawn Van Ausdal

Shawn Van Ausdal

No abstract provided.

Un Mosaico Cambiante: Notas Sobre Una Geografía Histórica De La Ganadería En Colombia, 1850-1950, Shawn Van Ausdal

Shawn Van Ausdal

No abstract provided.

¿Cuál Geografía?, Shawn Van Ausdal, Claudia Leal, Alejandro Guarín

Shawn Van Ausdal

A review of the conception of geography in two books written by economists: John Gallup, Alejandro Gaviria and Eduardo Lora, América Latina: ¿condenada por su geografía? (Banco Mundial y Alfaomega Colombiana, 2003); and

Santiago Montenegro, Sociedad abierta, geografía y desarrollo (Norma, 2006).