Hemp and the Global Economy: The Rise of Labor, Innovation, and Trade

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Hemp helped not only to define economic development in southern and border-states, it also played a crucial role in agricultural production in the Mid-Atlantic, as well as industrial development in the North-east. From the founding of the nation, the manufacture of American hemp helped monetize the US economy. US hemp producers also established a range modern labor practices, including the identification and training of skilled labor, the use of seasonal workers, and ultimately, the creation of a sliding scale of wages. This book chronicles this history, as well as the contemporary controversy obstructing the production of both industrial hemp and medical marijuana. The analysis concludes with a survey of current industrial hemp projects, including several promising adaptations - as a potential medicine, a bio-fuel, and most promisingly, a reliable source of clean computing fabrication.

Reviews

This book is a readable and important history of the uneven rise and fall of hemp farming and production in theUnited States.Hashim skillfully situates hemp in the larger political, economic, and labor worlds that determined its fate as both a viable crop forAmerican farmers and a marketable resource in the world economy. -- James C. Giesen, Mississippi State University
The approach this book takes and the quality of the work promises to provide a lasting contribution to the literature. Most books on this topic focus on hemp or marijuana, specific historical periods/analyses, or current debates centering on legalization for medical or recreational use (often focusing on one but not the other, i.e. medical or recreational use). Other works focus on hemps industrial applications alone. And, many focus on the moral panics associated with hemp as marijuana and its shift from a legal product to a banned drug. Few, if any, combine all of this and more in scope which this book accomplishes. -- John Asimakopoulos, Professor of Sociology, CUNY

Author Bio

Nadra Hashim is reviewer for the Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development.