Arroz e Escravidão

Um book review escrito por Philip J Havik sobre o livro de Walter Hawthorne Planting Rice and Harvesting Slaves: transformations along the Guinea Bissau coast, 1400-1900. A historia de Guinea Bissau é importante para entender o Brasil: "The central hypotheses of the book are that despite forming decentralised communities, the Balanta produce narratives that can be used as tools to reconstruct their past and their involvement in the slave trade, just like Shaw (2002) found in the case of the Temne in Sierra Leone. Secondly, far from being passive victims at the mercy of state-based societies, the Balanta developed their own strategies in order to safeguard their autonomy against external threats. Thirdly, the Balanta took up the challenge and engaged in Atlantic exchange in order to reap the benefits for their communities. Fourth, he maintains that internal divisions along the lines of age and sex shaped their reactions to the regional penetration of the Atlantic slave trade, eventually resulting in revolutionary changes in Balanta society at a social, political and economic level. In the introduction the author remarks that only after several months of interviewing did he discover that the Balanta actually participated in the slave trade. The comment is revealing as so far Balanta involvement in the trade has largely been negated, as they allegedly eschewed the practice while succeeding in keeping Atlantic and African predators at bay until the nineteenth century. Apart from correcting this erroneous trope, by establishing a direct correlation between the slave trade and changes in Balanta society Hawthorne has rewritten a chapter of Balanta history".