"Oil palms are ubiquitous--grown in nearly every tropical country, they supply the world with more edible fat than any other plant and play a role in scores of packaged products, from lipstick and soap to margarine and cookies. And as Jonathan E. Robins shows, sweeping social transformations carried the plant around the planet. By telling the story of the oil palm across multiple centuries and continents, Robins demonstrates how the fruits of an African palm tree became a key commodity in the story of global capitalism, beginning in the eras of slavery and imperialism, persisting through decolonization, and stretching to the present day"--.

• Cover
• Contents
• List of Figures, Graphs, and Maps
• Abbreviations Used in the Text
• Introduction
• 1. The Oil Palm in Africa
• 2. Early Encounters and Exchanges
• 3. From “Legitimate Commerce” to the “Scramble for Africa”
• 4. Oil Palms and the Industrial Revolution
• 5. Machines in the Palm Groves
• 6. African Smallholders under Colonial Rule
• 7. The Oil Machine in Southeast Asia
• 8. From Colonialism to Development
• 9. Industrial Frontiers
• 10. The Oil Palm’s New Frontiers
• 11. Globalization and the Oil Palm
• Acknowledgments
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index
  • A
  • B
  • C
  • D
  • E
  • F
  • G
  • H
  • I
  • J
  • K
  • L
  • M
  • N
  • O
  • P
  • R
  • S
  • T
  • U
  • V
  • W
  • Y
  • Z