The Globalization of Agriculture

Peter A. Coclanis makes a strong case for rice as a global market phenomenon before modern globalization. The pursuit of rice as a commodity linked the East with the West in the 18^th century. In the United States, rice became the main agricultural crop of South Carolina, grown by African slaves whose horticultural knowledge made them invaluable laborers. In his presentation, Coclanis explores the economic, historical and social impacts of the “first grain” of 18^th- and 19^th-century commerce.

Coclanis is the Albert R. Newsome Distinguished Professor of History and the director of the Global Research Institute at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is the author of numerous works in U.S. and international economic history, including The Shadow of a Dream: Economic Life and Death in the South Carolina Low Country, 1670-1920 (1989); with David L. Carlton, The South, the Nation, and the World: Perspectives on Southern Economic Development (2003); and Time’s Arrow, Time’s Cycle: Globalization in Southeast Asia over la Longue Durée (2006).

Admission is free.

Photo of Peter A. Coclanis by Donn Young