Colour of Paradise

Here we go again. Kris Lane’s book the Colour of Paradise has brought the concept of labor, and by extension humans, as a commodity to the forefront of my ponderings (serfs and slaves, first mentioned ix).

But first, Lanes book pulls in aspects of the commodities trade we have not discussed thus far in the course. His description of the Asian markets and trade routs of European ships and land-based traders have peaked my interest. When he describes land-based Asian traders and trade in the land locked cities of Aleppo and Shiraz (x), is he referring to the Silk Road? I would like to know more about that and whish he would have expanded on the land routs. Lane also briefly mentions a link between several commodities that were transported with emeralds as ‘filler’ in the cargo bays because they were small and easy to hide turning a reasonable profitable voyage into an immensely profitable voyage.

Lane, also mentions Islamic gift giving culture. He as away of showing respect and ‘knowing’ your status [in the hierarchy] (p152) and he goes on to point out how this for of gift giving was not always repaid as he describes a letter of credit that was never honored and continues to explain these are the ‘start up costs of the jewel business in south Asia’ (p153). This idea of gift giving in order to gain favor has not completely died in Asia, more specifically China. Today it is known as Guan-xi and it is simply a part of the business process.    

Back to labor as a commodity, Lane touches on Amerindian Serfs and African slaves in the preface and again in the introduction (p13) he notes their role. In chapter three he notes how mine owners called for subsidized slaves. To my point of humans as an extension of labor as a commodity, Lane describe an order from Philip II to Alvaro Cepeda de Ayala to send 100 enslaved Africans to work the Kings mine in exchange for his post as provincial governor of Muzo (p80). On page 90 he states encomienda bought slaves, there is also discussion of armed slaving expeditions in Angola organized by Meneses (p113) [this sounds like ‘mining’ for slaves].  The last reference I’ll make here is that “enslaved Africans were critical to the success of Colombia's emerald mines” (p87). Lane, like Mintz in Sweetness and Power, does not sugar coat the fact that slaves and the slave trade were significant contributors to the production of emeralds. All these references point to one thing in my opinion, and that is the trade of slaves be it Amerindian serfs or enslaved Africans provided labor and economic value to the mine owners and slave traders directly but also to every participant in the commodity web. The presents of low cost labor provided a lower cost product and left room for the middlemen to mark up the product and earn a significant profit.