This paper considers how the long history of scholarship on forestry commodities in Asia and more recent STS contributions offer fertile ground for comparison and engagement with the Amazonian region, with particular focus on the marketization of the aguaje palm fruit (Mauritia flexuosa).
Paper long abstract:
This paper considers how the long history of scholarship on forest commodities in Southeast Asia as well as more recent contributions of STS and multispecies ethnography offer a fertile space for comparison and engagement with the Amazonian region. In particular, this paper focuses on the sociality and materiality of the aguaje palm fruit (Mauritia flexuosa) and its ongoing transformation from a prized local foodstuff in lowland Peruvian Amazon to a global superfood. The commodification of aguaje is being heralded as a win-win solution for both the region’s post-Covid economy as well as environmental conservation but to date its ‘unruly’ characteristics seem to resist smooth incorporation into capitalist regimes. Rather, the fruit is largely semi-wild and harvested by felling, spoils rapidly after harvest, and oxidises easily during processing. By drawing on multispecies ethnography, decolonial and feminist STS literature from the Asia-Pacific, this paper seeks to contextualise the aguaje in historical entanglements between the Asia-Pacific and the Amazon as well as highlight opportunities for contemporary engagement in studying the social life of technology.