Abstract
In the proposed research, I will focus on cocoa, science and agricultural practices in Ghana. I will approach the complex history, present and future of cocoa through the lens of a local scientific institution, applying the methods of symmetrical anthropology, as expressed in multispecies ethnography and science and technology studies.
Cocoa in Ghana has gradually reshaped not only the landscape, but also the kinship structure, from matrilineal to patrilineal. This transformation of Ghana through cocoa cultivation (but also of cocoa through Ghana) was driven fundamentally by global capitalism in its colonial form.
While taking the otherness of a plant seriously, I will try to observe the general principles of objectification that weigh upon our common thought process and understanding of the world and the other. Through this approach I can better address not only critical understanding of postcolonial relationships and global scientific processes, but specifically also human prejudices about the world.
The overall aim of the project will be to offer a possibly original insight into the complex world of cocoa-the plant, crop and substance, without which "we cannot live".