This is also a textbook about world systems theory, which looks at how geographies are inter-related. Therefore, Niumi is not a stand-alone entity; it is part of a group of nations that trade with each other, locally and across the globe. People in Niumi operate re-export trade businesses with Senegal, which surrounds The Gambia; they ship peanuts to France and use the proceeds to buy rice from China.
The cross-border trade isn’t something new to the 20th century; in some form or another, the people of Niumi have been trading for centuries. The country has always been on the periphery of the trade, too. And that is one of Wright’s questions: if globalization and trade make people better off, why isn’t The Gambia a stronger and wealthier nation? It’s position at the mouth of the Gambia river should make it a major trading port – that’s why the British colonized the nation, and that’s why The Gambia played a key role in Atlantic slave trade. And yet, the per-capita income is only $1,900 per year.
It’s not so much that trade happened in The Gambia, but who did the trading. Namely, the people weren’t driving it. The demands of trade caused them to switch from subsistence farming to cash crops, putting them at the mercy of world commodities markets. In a sense, The Gambia became a relief valve for more developed markets rather than a player.
The book was fascinating. I developed some good perspectives on trade over centuries, and that’s one of the reasons for this project in the first place.
