World-System and the Environment: Debating the Coffee Expansion in Rio Claro, São Paulo (1870-1900)

Abstract

The transition from the feudal mode of production to the capitalist mode of production was characterized, among other things, by the colonization and subjugation of colonies by their respective metropolitan powers. A result of this was the very division of international labor, which separated the countries engaged in international trade into two main groups: dependent/peripheral countries and central countries. In this division, as a product of this historical process, Brazil became a dependent country, producing and exporting agricultural products, including coffee, to the capitalist center. In this context, important questions arise to be analyzed: how did this production take place in Brazilian territory, and more specifically, what were the impacts of the form of agricultural production expansion in the country? Additionally, it is necessary to discuss the center-periphery relations in this process. To do so, the first step is to understand how Brazil's position as an "outward-oriented" economy conditioned the way in which the coffee culture expanded. In particular, it is necessary to focus on how the extensive expansion of coffee, conditioned by dependence, was responsible for environmental damage in the country, especially deforestation. This will be done through bibliographic research and theoretical grounding about the historical development of capitalism, the concept of dependent capitalism, articulated with the examination of the coffee agricultural expansion in Rio Claro through the collection and compilation of data from 1870 to 1900.