ABSTRACT
Studying a commodity chain is like cutting a cross-section through history (Gereffi and Korzeniewicz 1994; Topik and Wells 1998; Mintz 1985; Roseberry et al. 1995). The focus on a single product engenders a concentrated beam of light, illuminating hidden corners of the past, revealing unexpected connections between apparently discrete phenomena, and testing general theories against irreducible particularity. The main concern here is to understand the wealth and poverty of nations, using the cocoa-to-chocolate commodity chain in the liberal era as a litmus test for theories of economic development.
