Episode Details

Daniel Rood, author of In the Shadow of the Great House, traces how the plantation system evolved globally, with Cubabecoming a sugar powerhouse using industrial steam technology after the Haitian Revolution. In modern Brazil, multinational corporations like BP and Cargill run "mammoth sugar farms" using unfree contract labor for ethanol production. Similarly, California's agricultural boom relied on the Bracero program and guest workers who lacked political rights. This modern planter class continues to prioritize investor profits over the stability and rights of their laborers. (15)
1867