The Darjeeling Distinction: Labor and Justice on Fair-Trade Tea Plantations in India (Volume 47) (California Studies in Food and Culture)

Nestled in the Himalayan foothills of Northeast India, Darjeeling is synonymous with some of the finest and most expensive tea in the world. It is also home to a violent movement for regional autonomy that, like the tea industry, dates back to the days of colonial rule. In this nuanced ethnography, Sarah Besky narrates the lives of tea workers in Darjeeling. She explores how notions of fairness, value, and justice shifted with the rise of fair-trade practices and postcolonial separatist politics in the region. This is the first book to explore how fair-trade operates in the context of large-scale plantations. Readers in a variety of disciplines—anthropology, sociology, geography, environmental studies, and food studies—will gain a critical perspective on how plantation life is changing as Darjeeling struggles to reinvent its signature commodity for twenty-first-century consumers. __The Darjeeling Distinction__ challenges fair-trade policy and practice, exposing how trade initiatives often fail to consider the larger environmental, historical, and sociopolitical forces that shape the lives of the people they intended to support. Nestled in the Himalayan foothills of Northeast India, Darjeeling is synonymous with some of the finest and most expensive tea in the world. It is also home to a violent movement for regional autonomy that, like the tea industry, dates back to the days of colonial rule.

In this nuanced ethnography, Sarah Besky narrates the lives of tea workers in Darjeeling. She explores how notions of fairness, value, and justice shifted with the rise of fair-trade practices and postcolonial separatist politics in the region. This is the first book to explore how fair-trade operates in the context of large-scale plantations.

Readers in a variety of disciplines—anthropology, sociology, geography, environmental studies, and food studies—will gain a critical perspective on how plantation life is changing as Darjeeling struggles to reinvent its signature commodity for twenty-first-century consumers. The Darjeeling Distinction challenges fair-trade policy and practice, exposing how trade initiatives often fail to consider the larger environmental, historical, and sociopolitical forces that shape the lives of the people they intended to support. Cover 1 Title 8 Copyright 9 Contents 12 List of Illustrations 14 Acknowledgments 16 Notes on Orthography and Usage 22 Introduction: Reinventing the Plantation for the Twenty-first Century 26 1. Darjeeling 64 2. Plantation 84 3. Property 113 4. Fairness 138 5. Sovereignty 161 Conclusion: Is Something Better Than Nothing? 196 Notes 206 Bibliography 230 Index 248 A 248 B 248 C 249 D 250 E 250 F 250 G 251 H 252 I 252 J 253 K 253 L 253 M 254 N 254 O 254 P 255 R 255 S 255 T 256 U 257 V 257 W 257 Z 258 Introduction : Reinventing The Plantation For The 21st Century -- Darjeeling -- Plantation -- Property -- Fairness -- Sovereignty -- Conclusion : Is Something Better Than Nothing?. Sarah Besky. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Content: Introduction : reinventing the plantation for the 21st century -- Darjeeling -- Plantation -- Property -- Fairness -- Sovereignty -- Conclusion : is something better than nothing?