CAPITALISM, CULTURE, AND COTTON: NEW AGRICULTURAL TECHNOLOGIES IN BURKINA FASO by JESSIE K. LUNA B.A., University of Southern California, 2006 M.A., Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (Geneva, Switzerland), 2012 A thesis submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Colorado in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Sociology 2018 The thesis entitled: Capitalism, Culture, and Cotton: New Agricultural Technologies in Burkina Faso written by Jessie K. Luna has been approved for the Department of Sociology _________________________________________________________ Dr. Jill Harrison _________________________________________________________ Dr. Liam Downey _________________________________________________________ Dr. Lori Hunter _________________________________________________________ Dr. Emily Yeh _________________________________________________________ Dr. Mara Goldman Date_______________ The final copy of this thesis has been examined by the signatories, and we find that both the content and the form meet acceptable presentation standards of scholarly work in the above mentioned discipline. IRB protocol #16-0008 Luna, Jessie K. (Ph.D., Sociology) Capitalism, Culture, and Cotton: New Agricultural Technologies in Burkina Faso Thesis directed by Associate Professor Jill Harrison How is it that there are still black Africans laboring in cotton fields in a system that produces benefits for white capitalists yet regularly puts farmers into debt and harm’s way? In 2016, farmers in the West African country of Burkina Faso produced nearly 700,000 tons of cotton for international markets, and spent well over US$100 million on agricultural technologies in the process. Yet a majority of farmers make very little money, often fall into debt, and expose themselves and their communities to chemical pollution. This dissertation seeks to explain why farmers are taking part in this system. More specifically: Why are small-scale Burkinabè cotton farmers adopting new agricultural technologies that deepen their integration into the precarity of capitalist markets and contribute to rising social and environmental inequalities? To answer this, I conducted eight months of participant observation and 125 interviews with farmers and cotton sector actors. My answer draws on Bourdieu’s cultural sociology, theories of “racialized modernity,” and environmental inequality research to explain and evaluate the dynamics of agrarian capitalism in Burkina Faso. I find that many actors in Burkina Faso are enthusiastic about purchased agricultural technologies (including genetically modified seeds, pesticides, fertilizers, and tractors). I show how a combination of reinforcing political-economic and cultural forces compels Burkinabè farmers to embrace these technologies. First, the global economic system constrains farmer choice, leaving farmers few options other than to try to increase their production of poorly remunerated cash crops. Yet farmers also take part in the distinction politics of Burkina Faso’s postcolonial cultural field, seeking to acquire the symbolic and material status iii of Western, “white” modernity. As people seek to maintain or improve their own status, they justify passing on exploitation and pressure to increase production to other actors, they embrace “modern” technologies, and their families become increasingly individualized and thus reliant on technology rather than family labor. The novel contribution of this dissertation is to argue that aspirations for status within a racialized and unequal global culture have facilitated the expansion of capitalist agriculture in Burkina Faso, and thus – ironically – the deepening of both environmental and economic inequalities. iv This thesis is dedicated to the kori senekelaw (cotton farmers) of Burkina Faso and Mali. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I want to thank the many academic advisors and mentors who have guided my path, offering both encouragement and critical feedback to push me to be a better scholar. Few deserve more praise than my advisor Jill Harrison. Jill, I am infinitely grateful for the many years I have been your student. You have offered your incisive comments on more pages of my writing than you probably care to remember. Throughout, you always pushed me to clarify my thinking and hone my analyses, yet you did so with kindness, humor, encouragement, and always respect. My other advisors have been equally exceptional. Thank you Liam, for the many invigorating discussions over tea at Laughing Goat and the continual push for clear and precise thinking; Lori, for helping me write my first academic paper and offering your enthusiasm; Emily, for always being available to offer thoughtful and timely feedback; and Mara, for taking on a student you didn’t know, and finding time to help me think in different ways. Your suggestion to re-read Ferguson was particularly pivotal for this dissertation. To all of you, thank you. I have been one of the luckiest Ph.D. students in the world. Thanks also to some of the giants of West African cotton scholarship: Leslie Gray, Bill Moseley, and Brian Dowd-Uribe, who were kind enough to answer e-mails from a young graduate student, to meet me at conferences, and offer me guidance where they could. I feel honored to contribute to their distinguished scholarship. I also appreciate the many folks who gave comments on drafts, papers, and conference talks related to this research: Mathieu Desan, Sanyu Mojola, Joe Bryan, Jenn Bair, Brian Williams, Christina Sue, Rachel Rinaldo, Ben Wisner, and anonymous paper reviewers. I also wish to recognize the inspiration of my earlier academic mentors, including Richard Clinton and my Masters advisor Marc Hufty. vi I was fortunate to receive generous funding support for both the fieldwork and writing stages of this dissertation. Fieldwork was supported by a 2016 Fulbright Student fellowship to Burkina Faso, a National Science Foundation Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement grant [Grant 1602495], and a 2016 CU Boulder Dean’s Grant. Writing was supported by the American Association of University Women’s Dissertation Fellowship (2017). This research would not have been possible without this support. Thanks also to the many folks at CU who helped me write and administer my grants: Christina Norberg, Judith McCabe, and Michael Spires. In Burkina, I had the incredible serendipity of crossing paths again with my former Peace Corps director from Mali, Mike Simsik. Mike opened more doors for me than I could have asked for, and often went considerably out of his way to do so. Thank you Mike. Also thanks to the crew at C4CP, the many kind folks at the U.S. Embassy who supported my research: Brenda Soya, Yolande Kabore, John Corrao, Todd Sargent, Francois Kabore, and others. Professor Gabin Korbéogo at the University of Ouagadougou was generous to respond to an e-mail from someone he had never met asking for a “research affiliation.” Gabin provided continuous support and thoughtful comments throughout my fieldwork. He also helped me find my tireless and intrepid research assistants, Ynes Rouamba and Abdoulaye Sawadogo. Ynes, thank you for thoughtful input and patience. Abdoulaye, you were there for a big part of this journey. Nescafé at 5am, long hot days, hundreds of miles on your motorbike, running out of gas, learning how to use a cow plow, late night meals in Houndé, laughter with Yaba, notebooks of fieldnotes, cooking lessons, and of course our heated debates. I am in no small part a more thoughtful human being and sociologist following our long and engaged debates as we sought to make sense of the world we were observing as well as our disparate worldviews. vii I must also thank my many host families. Ben Traoré, a friend from my Master’s program, generously asked his family to host me during my stay. Joseph helped me touch down, and the Bobo family became my small oasis throughout my fieldwork. Lili, Soumaila, Ami, et les petits – merci pour ce refuge, and the warm home you provided me with. In Ouaga, thanks to Monica Blanc-Gomez and the Veenem crew for opening up their home to me. Also thanks to my fellow Fulbrighters Stewart King and Jean Ouedraogo. Stewart generously housed me when I passed through Ouaga several times during the hot season. I am also immensely grateful to the many, many people who let me into their lives during the course of this research. In Houndé, thanks to the entire Sofitex crew for drawing me into the fold, and for making arrangements to let me follow along. In Kongolekan and Dougoumato 1, I want to thank Paul, Abdoulaye, Yezuma, and the Badoum family for their hospitality. Thanks to the many GPC bureau members who helped me find people to interview. Also the many men and women who fed me, taught me how to farm, and patiently answered my many pesky questions. I also want to acknowledge the life of Dramane Donsah, a farmer who died during my fieldwork in a motorcycle accident. Ala ka si yoro suma. Finally, thanks to my mom and dad, for teaching me how to set my eyes on a goal and take the steps needed to achieve it, and for loving and supporting me all these years, across oceans and time differences and bad cell phone and Skype signals. To Emily Steiner, for your steady friendship and cheerleading when I needed it most. To the people of M’Pedougou, who first ignited my passion for West Africa. Last but not least, Levi. Thank you is not anywhere near enough. You let me leave you