Contenu du sommaire : Autres temps, autres lieux

Scrubland, the world of scarlet - The kermès (vermiculus in medieval Latin) parasitize the "kermès oak"; their dried bodies are used to make scarlet, the most prestigious red dye during the Middle Ages. The harvest of this dyestuff and international trade in it were so profitable that systems were set for managing scrublands in many mediterranean regions so as to favor the proliferation of this scale insect. This species and its natural environment waned and eventually disappeared as cochineal from America in the 16th century and chemical dyes more recently replaced this scarlet.

Cochineal and indigo in Mesoamerica (1770-1870) - This general history of cochineal and indigo in Mesoamerica points out that these two natural dyes made up a significant proportion of agricultural exports in the 18th and 19th centuries. Despite a few similarities between these two productions (e.g., the use of traditional tools and the absence of economies of scale), differences in organizing work had major consequences on the structure of colonial and postcolonial economies in producer regions. Indians produced cochineal by following their own qualitative criteria, whereas white land-owners and mestizo peasants produced indigo mainly in a quest for profits.

Horses in the New World: Cultural histories - Following a brief presentation on the diffusion of horses in North America, the "horse cultures" of four New World tribes are explored: the Blackfoot on the Great Plains, the Navaho in the Southwest, the Guajiros on the Caribbean coast and the Gran Chaco Guaicunis. A few myths elucidate the place of horses in each of these societies; and questions are raised about what has caused the differences observed in these four horse cultures.

Botany and agriculture in Western Europe (1350-1850) - After recalling the hypotheses developed in The Wild and the Sown and criticisms of them, the underlying research options are shown to be coherent. Two specific examples - the diffusion of clover in the Netherlands during the 17th and 18th centuries, and the policy for stimulating the exchange of botanical information in the Napoleonic empire - illustrate the possibility of extending this research. The growth of the international seed market along with the development of a global knowledge of plants and soils shared by botanists and agronomists all over Europe formed the essential conditions for the birth of a new agriculture before the 19th century agrochemical revolution. By shedding light on the flow of information and knowledge underlying the "agricultural revolution", a comprehensive approach to the history of the environment is shown to be worth considering.

The sickle and the scythe. An instance of path dependence - The morphological characteristics of the domesticated cereals have been affected by the techniques of harvest at the time they were domesticated. Wheat was domesticated under the regime of the sickle; oats under the much later regime of the scythe. Because the sickle selected for a comparatively loose attachment of the seed to the stalk, while the scythe for a strong attachment, farmers could not profitably employ the more rapid technique of scything in harvesting the bread cereals without suffering unacceptable loss of seed from spillage. At the same time, there was no reason to employ the sickle to reap oats when they could be more efficiently mowed using the scythe. The simultaneous use of both techniques in harvesting the small grains is a case of path dependence, in which an initial condition - here the difference in the date at which the cereals were domesticated - had long-lasting consequences for the technology and economic organization of the grain harvest.

Rice fields, a "specialized ecosystem"? An example in southwestern China - Since C. Geertz's (1963) study of Indonesian rice-growing systems, irrigation has often been presented as a module of agricultural specialization in contrast with dry rice-farming on cleared land. However, this point of view results from focusing exclusively on the productive aspects of paddy lands while overlooking the fact that they form a polyvalent space associating agriculture, fish-farming, the catching of small animals and the gathering of wild plants. Geertz's thesis of rice fields as a specialized ecosystem is critically re-examined in the light of field work among a people who dwell in the mountains of southwestern China and grow rice on irrigated terraces. In an environment marked by massive deforestation, gathering activities still play a not-to-be-omitted economic role.

Centers of the diffusion of domesticated rice from southeastern Asia to China - Debate still rages about where rice was first domesticated. On the basis of archeological findings from about thirty years ago, these centers were located in southeastern Asia, specifically Thailand. At the time, historical studies laid emphasis on southeastern Asia, where botanical research drew attention to the bountifulness of food plants. More recent archeological diggings at older sites in China have rekindled this debate. They have led to new hypotheses about the centers from which major Austroasiatic (Austronesian and Thai-Kadai) language families spread. Rice raises questions about the history of the settlement of both China and southeastern Asia.

Man and animal in ancient and modern Chinese agriculture - Though ordinarily defined as the association of cereals and of plant fibers for textiles (including silk), Chinese agriculture also reserves an important place for livestock, which is divided among animals for consumption (pigs, sheep and fowl) and work animals (oxen and horses). Contrary to what is usually taken for granted, the passage toward intensive farming has not reduced the importance of livestock. Statistics from the 20th century reveal a "densification" of beasts of burden: in 1995, there was nearly one animal per planted hectare and one animal for four persons working on farms.

"Imbuing the natives": Groundnuts, peasants, agronomists and colonial administrators in Senegal (1897-1950) - In the context of colonial efforts to "modernize" farming in Senegal's groundnut belt, what interactions were spawned between rural, Wolof and Serer, societies and colonial agricultural engineers and administrators? The research and farming practices developed at the Bambey Agronomic Station starkly contrasted with traditional Serer farming in the surrounding area. The strategies for bringing peasant know-how up to par with agronomic knowledge are examined. Some experimental practices at the station were imposed on peasants. At a time when colonial officials had little knowledge of, and little sway over, these local societies, seeding seemed to pro- vide an opportunity whereby officials and experts could instill new farming practices in rural societies, and whereby the latter could be made more permeable to interventions by the colonial administration.

Casual observers of what the Vietnamese call the "American War" are generally surprised to learn that significant rural economic growth took place in the late 1960s and early 1970s. South Vietnam's experience with "Green Revolution" technology, however, demonstrated that economic development is possible even in conditions of acute political instability and low intensity conflict. Highly divisible products for which local demand exists can diffuse into the countryside, improve farm families' lives, and lift a rural economy. Perhaps the most important finding in this essay is that the new technology diffused well beyond the scope of the government program that introduced it, and that both seeds and chemicals crossed military and political frontiers. This has implications for development planning as well as for theory. It supports the old idea that the market at times can diffuse technology more efficiently than a government or NGO development program. And it confirms that peasant farm families in much of South Vietnam grasped opportunities to maximize their incomes within levels of risk they deemed acceptable. Scholars and policy makers may argue the finer points of the Green Revolution, but a large portion of South Vietnam's farm families expressed their support for the technology by taking on increased risk and investing in new inputs during a short, tumultuous period.

The Tuareg: Geographical confines and political constructions (19th-20th centuries) - Western ideas about the nomadic Tuareg are suffused with fascination and admirative incredulity regarding this people's ability to cope with the arid Saharan environment. But they also reflect the myth of a timeless, immutable society that brings to mind medieval feudalism. Tuareg history is, however, complex; and this people's territorial practices are quite political. The flexibility and mobility characteristic of this society have been threatened since the colonial period - thus reducing this people's adaptation strategies. And climatic difficulties have turned into catastrophes. Despite contemporary rebellions, Tuareg society is increasingly forced to change its relation to the territory.