The Deepest Wounds

A Labor and Environmental History of Sugar in Northeast Brazil

By Thomas D. Rogers | Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press

About the book

In The Deepest Wounds, Thomas D. Rogers traces social and environmental changes over four centuries in Pernambuco, Brazil’s key northeastern sugar-growing state. Focusing particularly on the period from the end of slavery in 1888 to the late twentieth century, when human impact on the environment reached critical new levels, Rogers confronts the day-to-day world of farming — the complex, fraught, and occasionally poetic business of making sugarcane grow.

Renowned Brazilian sociologist Gilberto Freyre, whose home state was Pernambuco, observed, “Monoculture, slavery, and latifundia — but principally monoculture — they opened here, in the life, the landscape, and the character of our people, the deepest wounds.” Inspired by Freyre’s insight, Rogers tells the story of Pernambuco’s wounds, describing the connections among changing agricultural technologies, landscapes and human perceptions of them, labor practices, and agricultural and economic policy. This web of interrelated factors, Rogers argues, both shaped economic progress and left extensive environmental and human damage.

Combining a study of workers with analysis of their landscape, Rogers offers new interpretations of crucial moments of labor struggle, casts new light on the role of the state in agricultural change, and illuminates a legacy that influences Brazil’s development even today.

Editions of The Deepest Wounds

Hardcover
ISBN 9780807834336
Paperback
ISBN 9780807871676
EBook
ISBN 9780807899588
EBook
ISBN 9781469603902
EBook
ISBN 9798890885340
EBook
ISBN 9798893134278

Read an Excerpt

In The Deepest Wounds, Thomas D. Rogers traces social and environmental changes over four centuries in Pernambuco, Brazil’s key northeastern sugar-growing state. Focusing particularly on the period from the end of slavery in 1888 to the late twentieth century, when human impact on the environment reached critical new levels, Rogers confronts the day-to-day world of farming — the complex, fraught, and occasionally poetic business of making sugarcane grow.

Renowned Brazilian sociologist Gilberto Freyre, whose home state was Pernambuco, observed, “Monoculture, slavery, and latifundia — but principally monoculture — they opened here, in the life, the landscape, and the character of our people, the deepest wounds.” Inspired by Freyre’s insight, Rogers tells the story of Pernambuco’s wounds, describing the connections among changing agricultural technologies, landscapes and human perceptions of them, labor practices, and agricultural and economic policy. This web of interrelated factors, Rogers argues, both shaped economic progress and left extensive environmental and human damage.

Combining a study of workers with analysis of their landscape, Rogers offers new interpretations of crucial moments of labor struggle, casts new light on the role of the state in agricultural change, and illuminates a legacy that influences Brazil’s development even today.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is The Deepest Wounds about?

In The Deepest Wounds, Thomas D. Rogers traces social and environmental changes over four centuries in Pernambuco, Brazil’s key northeastern sugar-growing state. Focusing particularly on the period from the end of slavery in 1888 to the late twentieth century, when human impact on the environment reached critical new levels, Rogers confronts the day-to-day world of farming — the complex, fraught, and occasionally poetic business of making sugarcane grow.

Renowned Brazilian sociologist Gilberto Freyre, whose home state was Pernambuco, observed, “Monoculture, slavery, and latifundia — but principally monoculture — they opened here, in the life, the landscape, and the character of our people, the deepest wounds.” Inspired by Freyre’s insight, Rogers tells the story of Pernambuco’s wounds, describing the connections among changing agricultural technologies, landscapes and human perceptions of them, labor practices, and agricultural and economic policy. This web of interrelated factors, Rogers argues, both shaped economic progress and left extensive environmental and human damage.

Combining a study of workers with analysis of their landscape, Rogers offers new interpretations of crucial moments of labor struggle, casts new light on the role of the state in agricultural change, and illuminates a legacy that influences Brazil’s development even today.

What core themes, tropes, or subjects are explored in The Deepest Wounds?

History and Archaeology > History > History of the Americas

Where can I read a sample of The Deepest Wounds?

You can read an official preview of the few pages here https://www.book2look.com/book/9780807834336

How long is The Deepest Wounds and how many pages does it have?

The Deepest Wounds has 320 page(s)

Who is/are the Author/s of the book The Deepest Wounds?

Thomas D. Rogers

Who is the Publisher of the book The Deepest Wounds?

The University of North Carolina Press

What are the ISBN numbers for the physical and digital editions?

The Deepest Wounds is available as hardcover(ISBN 9780807834336) and paperback(ISBN 9780807871676) and ebook(ISBN 9780807899588) and ebook(ISBN 9781469603902) and ebook(ISBN 9798890885340) and ebook(ISBN 9798893134278)

Where can I buy The Deepest Wounds online or support local independent bookshops?

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Where can I buy The Deepest Wounds?