Fourteenth Global Studies Conference

Abstract

In this paper I examine how the process of primitive accumulation has led to evolving forms of dispossession and exploitation, facilitated by multinational corporations (MNCs) in the rubber industry. I begin with an examination of rubber extraction in the Congo under King Leopold II at the turn of the 20th century. This section highlights particularly brutal, violent forms of dispossession and exploitation that took place under the auspices of the Belgian Crown and several concessionary multinationals. Leopold II’s Congo showcases the barbaric underpinnings of primitive accumulation in the rubber industry in its crudest form. The subsequent section shifts to the interwar period with Fordlândia in the Brazilian Amazon. Though less overtly violent, I analyze the increasingly imperceptible mechanisms of dispossession and exploitation employed by the Ford Motor Company. The final case is an investigation of Firestone in Liberia, also taking place during the interwar period. In fact, the case of Firestone in Liberia bears a striking resemblance to the case of Fordlândia in many ways. Despite an abundance of similarities, the fate of the two MNCs diverged significantly. While the Fordlândia plantation closed in 1945 as an economic failure, the Firestone plantation survived and remains open to this day as the world’s largest contiguous rubber plantation. I compare the two cases using a Most Similar Systems Design, and provide an explanation for the divergence between the two outcomes.