Commodities and Colonialism: The Story of Big Sugar in Indonesia, 1880-1942

摘要

In the period covered by this book, Java was the second-largest exporter of sugar after Cuba. Its 180 factories constituted the largest industrial complex in Southeast Asia, feeding consumer markets stretching from Karachi to Tokyo. India was the largest consumer of Java sugar between 1905 and 1931. The Java sugar industry and its shift away from European markets at the turn of the twentieth century goes against the grain of the traditional narrative about colonial producers of primary products for western markets. Taking a cue from Fred Cooper's book Colonialism in Question, Roger Knight illuminates the nuances and complexities of colonial sugar production. Knight begins by introducing the Taikoo sugar refinery as one of the largest in the world. It started operations in Hong Kong in 1884, importing Java sugar and further refining it to cater to a growing demand for white crystalline sugar among Asia's urbanites. The year 1884 is also significant because it marked a collapse of global sugar prices, from which the Java factories emerged, aided by metropolitan banks, as a tightly knit state-of-the art industrial conglomerate.