Book ID: CBB332642896

Cattle in the Backlands: Mato Grosso and the Evolution of Ranching in the Brazilian Tropics (2017)

unapi

Wilcox, Robert W. (Author)


University of Texas Press


Publication Date: 2017
Physical Details: 344
Language: English

Winner, Henry A. Wallace Award, The Agricultural History Society , 2018. Brazil has the second-largest cattle herd in the world and is a major exporter of beef. While ranching in the Amazon—and its destructive environmental consequences—receives attention from both the media and scholars, the states of Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul actually host the most cattle. A significant beef producer in Brazil beginning in the late nineteenth century, the region served as a laboratory for raising cattle in the tropics, where temperate zone ranching practices do not work. Mato Grosso ranchers and cowboys transformed ranching’s relationship with the environment, including the introduction of an exotic cattle breed—the Zebu—that now dominates Latin American tropical ranching.Cattle in the Backlands presents a comprehensive history of ranching in Mato Grosso. Using extensive primary sources, Robert W. Wilcox explores three key aspects: the economic transformation of a remote frontier region through modern technical inputs; the resulting social changes, especially in labor structures and land tenure; and environmental factors, including the long-term impact of ranching on ecosystems, which, he contends, was not as detrimental as might be assumed. Wilcox demonstrates that ranching practices in Mato Grosso set the parameters for tropical beef production in Brazil and throughout Latin America. As the region was incorporated into national and international economic structures, its ranching industry experienced the entry of foreign investment, the introduction of capitalized processing facilities, and nascent discussions of ecological impacts—developments that later affected many sectors of the Brazilian economy.

...More
Reviewed By

Review John Ryan Fischer (July 2018) Review of "Cattle in the Backlands: Mato Grosso and the Evolution of Ranching in the Brazilian Tropics". Environmental History (pp. 665-667). unapi

Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB332642896/

Similar Citations

Book James E. Sherow; James P. Ronda; (2018)
The Chisholm Trail: Joseph McCoy's Great Gamble (/isis/citation/CBB030923330/)

Book Rogers, Thomas D.; (2010)
The Deepest Wounds: A Labor and Environmental History of Sugar in Northeast Brazil (/isis/citation/CBB001211190/)

Book Smith-Howard, Kendra; (2014)
Pure and Modern Milk: An Environmental History since 1900 (/isis/citation/CBB001452074/)

Book Holland, Peter; (2013)
Home in the Howling Wilderness: Settlers and the Environment in Southern New Zealand (/isis/citation/CBB001422258/)

Book John Ryan Fischer; (2017)
Cattle Colonialism: An Environmental History of the Conquest of California and Hawai'i (/isis/citation/CBB872040578/)

Book Jeffrey Hoelle; (2015)
Rainforest Cowboys: The Rise of Ranching and Cattle Culture in Western Amazonia (/isis/citation/CBB772244119/)

Book Sluyter, Andrew; (2012)
Black Ranching Frontiers: African Cattle Herders of the Atlantic World, 1500--1900 (/isis/citation/CBB001421797/)

Article David Pretel; (2023)
Hidden Connections: The Global History of Jungle Commodities (/isis/citation/CBB116320978/)

Book Dan Flores; (2017)
American Serengeti: The Last Big Animals of the Great Plains (/isis/citation/CBB340804889/)

Article Renata Araujo; (2015)
Os Mapas do Mato Grosso. O Território como Projeto (/isis/citation/CBB015099543/)

Book Wilson J. Warren; (2018)
Meat Makes People Powerful: A Global History of the Modern Era (/isis/citation/CBB191901096/)

Book S. Ravi Rajan; Lise Sedrez; (2018)
The great convergence : Environmental histories of BRICS (/isis/citation/CBB556602581/)

Article Hecht, Susanna B.; (April 2019)
Beyond Fordlandia: An Environmental Account of Henry Ford's Adventure in the Amazon (/isis/citation/CBB490890769/)

Book Jacob Blanc; (2019)
Before the Flood: The Itaipu Dam and the visibility of rural Brazil (/isis/citation/CBB961915987/)

Authors & Contributors
Sluyter, Andrew
McVety, Amanda Kay
Blanc, Jacob
Warren, Wilson J.
Araujo, Renata
Sherow, James E.
Concepts
Environmental history
Cattle
Agriculture
Ranching; herding; pastoralism
Cross-cultural interaction; cultural influence
Global history
Time Periods
20th century
19th century
21st century
18th century
17th century
16th century
Places
Brazil
United States
Africa
Tropics
Americas
Mato Grosso (Brazil)
Institutions
Ford Motor Company
Comments

Be the first to comment!

{{ comment.created_by.username }} on {{ comment.created_on | date:'medium' }}

Log in or register to comment