Agricultural Development in Colonial Minahasa and Global History

2018 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 16K03001
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Historical studies in general
• Research Institution: Keio University
• Principal Investigator: Ota Atsushi 慶應義塾大学, 経済学部(三田), 准教授 (50634375)
• Project Period (FY): 2016-04-01 – 2019-03-31
• Keywords: 農業開発 / コーヒー / ココヤシ / スラウェシ / 蘭領東インド / 植民地経済

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In colonial North Sulawesi, coffee was produced under the Cultivation System, while coconuts were cultivated on the spontaneous will of local people. Previous studies have understood that they were produced under very different economic systems, reflecting a general trend to understand the Cultivation System and the following liberal economy as very different and discontinued phases. This research, however, argues that the production of these two cash crops were strongly related to each other, from the following reasons. Early demand for coconuts emerged from the coffee-producing region; Roads and other transportation facilities were organized under the Cultivation System for the smooth transportation of coffee, but transporters made use of them for coconuts; people came to possess lands individually and exclusively through coffee cultivation, and they later made use of their lands for coconut cultivation.

Free Research Field

東南アジア史

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究は、今まで断絶したものと捉えられていた蘭領東インドの強制栽培制度と農民による自主的な輸出作物生産を、互いに強く連関するものと捉え直した。強制栽培制度の中にも農民が自らの利益拡大に努める機会があり、政府が主導して整備したインフラ（道路など）は、その後の農民主導の輸出作物生産にも大きく貢献した。政府による強制と農民の自主性を峻別する視点は、現実の把握のために有効ではない。歴史的に確かめられたことは、政府主導のインフラ整備は、民間の需要や起業家精神と結びついた時に高い効果を生むことである。政府による労働強制は現代では論外であるが、このような政府と民間の関係は現代社会にも有効であろう。