A World History of Rubber helps readers understand and gain new insights into the social and cultural contexts of global production and consumption, from the nineteenth century to today, through the fascinating story of one commodity.
- Divides the coverage into themes of race, migration, and labor; gender on plantations and in factories; demand and everyday consumption; World Wars and nationalism; and resistance and independence
- Highlights the interrelatedness of our world long before the age of globalization and the global social inequalities that persist today
- Discusses key concepts of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, including imperialism, industrialization, racism, and inequality, through the lens of rubber
- Provides an engaging and accessible narrative for all levels that is filled with archival research, illustrations, and maps
| Acknowledgments |
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ix | |
| Timeline |
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xi | |
| Global Rubber and Tire Companies |
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xvii | |
| Introduction: Why Rubber? |
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1 | (9) |
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8 | (2) |
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1 Race, Migration, and Labor |
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10 | (30) |
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"Wild Rubber" and Early Industry |
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11 | (3) |
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14 | (3) |
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Plantations' Progress: "Rationality and Efficiency" |
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17 | (4) |
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21 | (8) |
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Race and Industry in the United States and Europe |
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29 | (11) |
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2 Women and Gender on Plantations and in Factories |
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40 | (21) |
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Gendering the Jungle and the Plantation |
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42 | (2) |
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Asian Women on Plantations |
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44 | (4) |
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European Women and Racism |
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48 | (2) |
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50 | (2) |
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Gendered Production in the United States and Europe |
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52 | (4) |
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Rubber and Sex in Indochine |
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56 | (5) |
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3 Demand and Everyday Consumption |
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61 | (22) |
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Everyday Consumption on Southeast Asian Plantations |
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62 | (2) |
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Class and Consumption in North America and Europe |
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64 | (4) |
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Race and Consumption in Europe and North America |
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68 | (3) |
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Gender and Consumption in Europe and North America |
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71 | (6) |
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77 | (6) |
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4 World Wars, Nationalism, and Imperialism |
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83 | (28) |
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84 | (2) |
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"See America First" on "Good Roads" |
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86 | (2) |
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88 | (2) |
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Restricting Rubber in the Wake of War |
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90 | (1) |
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American Assertions: Herbert Hoover and US Trade |
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91 | (3) |
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94 | (2) |
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96 | (3) |
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Germany: Colonies and Chemicals |
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99 | (3) |
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World War II and the US Scramble for Rubber |
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102 | (3) |
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Nazi Racism and Buna at Auschwitz |
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105 | (2) |
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Imperialism and Nationalism in the Wake of World War II |
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107 | (4) |
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5 Resistance and Independence |
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111 | (26) |
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Plantations and Resistance |
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112 | (6) |
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Global Economic Crisis and Plantation Labor |
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118 | (2) |
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Success of the Smallholders |
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120 | (4) |
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Plantations under the Japanese |
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124 | (2) |
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Independence and Decolonization |
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126 | (5) |
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131 | (6) |
| Conclusion: Forgetting and Remembering Rubber |
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137 | (5) |
| Suggested Readings |
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142 | (15) |
| Index |
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157 | |
Stephen L. Harp is Professor of History, Professor of French, and Director of Humanities at the University of Akron, USA. He is a social and cultural historian focused on transnational European and world history. He is the author of Au Naturel: Naturism, Nudism, and European Tourism in Twentieth-Century France (2014), Marketing Michelin: Advertising and Cultural Identity in Twentieth-Century France (2001), and Learning to Be Loyal: Primary Schooling as Nation Building in Alsace and Lorraine, 1850-1940 (1998). He resides in Akron, Ohio, the former global rubber capital.
