USC Anthropology Colloquium Series Presents: 

Silencing the Present to Cultivate the Future

Alyssa A. L. James, Ph.D (bio)

Postdoctoral Fellow, USC Society of Fellows (Anthropology)

Heritage production and historiography are often known for silencing the past (Trouillot 1995). But what happens to other temporalities? Drawing on ethnographic research on the contemporary effort to revive coffee production in Martinique, I argue that this agricultural heritage project smooths over scientific and social complexities, presenting a simplified narrative of the island's coffee history and its future potential. I examine the conflicts and idealism that surround the cultivation of specialty coffee, delving into the obscured social, technical, and environmental challenges faced by producers and collaborators. This talk explores the complex political role and temporal dynamics of heritage in the Caribbean, showing that not only the past but also the material present and anticipated futures are being silenced.

September 30, 2024

12pm-1:30pm

Irani Hall (RRI) 421

For more information please contact: 

anthro@dornsife.usc.edu

For a link to the flier, please click here.