The surprising story of the wine industry’s role in the rise of French Algeria and the fall of empire.
“We owe to wine a blessing far more precious than gold: the peopling of Algeria with Frenchmen,” stated agriculturist Pierre Berthault in the early 1930s. In the last decades of the nineteenth century, Europeans had displaced Algerians from the colony’s best agricultural land and planted grapevines. Soon enough, wine was the primary export of a region whose mostly Muslim inhabitants didn’t drink alcohol.
Settlers made fortunes while drawing large numbers of Algerians into salaried work for the first time. But the success of Algerian wine resulted in friction with French producers, challenging the traditional view that imperial possessions should complement, not compete with, the metropole. By the middle of the twentieth century, amid the fight for independence, Algerians had come to see the rows of vines as an especially hated symbol of French domination. After the war, Algerians had to decide how far they would go to undo the transformations the colonists had wrought—including the world’s fourth-biggest wine industry. Owen White examines Algeria’s experiment with nationalized wine production in worker-run vineyards, the pressures that resulted in the failure of that experiment, and the eventual uprooting of most of the country’s vines.
With a special focus on individual experiences of empire, from the wealthiest Europeans to the poorest laborers in the fields, The Blood of the Colony shows the central role of wine in the economic life of French Algeria and in its settler culture. White makes clear that the industry left a long-term mark on the development of the nation.
"Meticulous and colorful…White’s lucidly analytical narrative, with its focus on the social rather than the economic or technical dimensions of the subject, is very compelling…A major achievement in a growing field, this book succeeds admirably as a contribution to both French and Algerian history." - Journal of Modern History
"White describes the economics of the Algerian wine business in revealing detail." - Literary Review
"With the publication of Owen White’s magisterial study, we have a comprehensive overview of the vine and wine in Algeria that makes use of new archival collections and new methodological approaches…An essential read for anyone interested in French wine, environment, race, and the aggressive capitalism of imperialism." - Social History
"White brilliantly unveils the remarkable story of how Algeria became the world’s fourth-largest wine-producer, before the industry’s post-Independence reduction to insignificance…A fascinating and important study which may be warmly recommended to all those with an interest in the complex legacy of France’s colonial presence in Algeria." - French Studies
"Handily brings together a history of wine—from unpromising beginnings, through phylloxera and the subsequent surge in production, to the travails of the interwar years and the eventual demise of viniculture—with a history of settler colonialism and all its contradictions…White has performed an admirable job and has served up a monograph that is scholarly in the best sense but also a real pleasure to read." - Journal of Wine Economics
"White traces France’s role in turning a largely Muslim country into a powerhouse wine producer before abandoning the vines when the country gained independence in 1962. Told with energy and riveting detail, it’s a fascinating—and sobering—tale that touches on issues of politics, race relations, economics and environmental sustainability that remain integral to the conversation around wine today." - Wine and Spirits
Формат: Скан PDf
“We owe to wine a blessing far more precious than gold: the peopling of Algeria with Frenchmen,” stated agriculturist Pierre Berthault in the early 1930s. In the last decades of the nineteenth century, Europeans had displaced Algerians from the colony’s best agricultural land and planted grapevines. Soon enough, wine was the primary export of a region whose mostly Muslim inhabitants didn’t drink alcohol.
Settlers made fortunes while drawing large numbers of Algerians into salaried work for the first time. But the success of Algerian wine resulted in friction with French producers, challenging the traditional view that imperial possessions should complement, not compete with, the metropole. By the middle of the twentieth century, amid the fight for independence, Algerians had come to see the rows of vines as an especially hated symbol of French domination. After the war, Algerians had to decide how far they would go to undo the transformations the colonists had wrought—including the world’s fourth-biggest wine industry. Owen White examines Algeria’s experiment with nationalized wine production in worker-run vineyards, the pressures that resulted in the failure of that experiment, and the eventual uprooting of most of the country’s vines.
With a special focus on individual experiences of empire, from the wealthiest Europeans to the poorest laborers in the fields, The Blood of the Colony shows the central role of wine in the economic life of French Algeria and in its settler culture. White makes clear that the industry left a long-term mark on the development of the nation.
"Meticulous and colorful…White’s lucidly analytical narrative, with its focus on the social rather than the economic or technical dimensions of the subject, is very compelling…A major achievement in a growing field, this book succeeds admirably as a contribution to both French and Algerian history." - Journal of Modern History
"White describes the economics of the Algerian wine business in revealing detail." - Literary Review
"With the publication of Owen White’s magisterial study, we have a comprehensive overview of the vine and wine in Algeria that makes use of new archival collections and new methodological approaches…An essential read for anyone interested in French wine, environment, race, and the aggressive capitalism of imperialism." - Social History
"White brilliantly unveils the remarkable story of how Algeria became the world’s fourth-largest wine-producer, before the industry’s post-Independence reduction to insignificance…A fascinating and important study which may be warmly recommended to all those with an interest in the complex legacy of France’s colonial presence in Algeria." - French Studies
"Handily brings together a history of wine—from unpromising beginnings, through phylloxera and the subsequent surge in production, to the travails of the interwar years and the eventual demise of viniculture—with a history of settler colonialism and all its contradictions…White has performed an admirable job and has served up a monograph that is scholarly in the best sense but also a real pleasure to read." - Journal of Wine Economics
"White traces France’s role in turning a largely Muslim country into a powerhouse wine producer before abandoning the vines when the country gained independence in 1962. Told with energy and riveting detail, it’s a fascinating—and sobering—tale that touches on issues of politics, race relations, economics and environmental sustainability that remain integral to the conversation around wine today." - Wine and Spirits
Формат: Скан PDf
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