Applying Alfred Crosby's model of Ecological Imperialism to the history of coffee, chocolate and tobacco

by englishjackaroo

I am looking into how Alfred Crosby's model of Ecological Imperialism can be applied to the history of coffee, chocolate and tobacco.

I see ecological imperialism as the successful exporting (intentional and unintentionally) of Old World flora, fauna and pathogens into 'Neo-Europes' (locations with similar climates to Europe) because Old World plants and animals are more aggressive and adaptable compared to New World plants, animals and pathogens.

When applying this to the history of coffee, chocolate and tobacco, there can be similarities drawn between the ecological imperialism model of Neo- Europes (replace Neo-Europes with Neo-tropics as these plants can thrive within 40degrees north and south of the equator) which can help explain how these colonial goods were successfully transplanted and cultivated away from their locations of origin. Coffee originating in East Africa, now is primarily grown in South America, and chocolate and tobacco both originated in South America and are now primarily grown in Africa.

I am looking at the spread of Leaf Rust in coffee to link it into Crosby's model of pathogens being a key facilitator of his model of ecological imperialism.

One large difference I see is that within Crosby's model, the changes primarily occur as an indirect consequence of human action, whereas with regards to coffee chocolate and tobacco these changes happened as a consequence of direct human action.

If anyone could offer some thoughts about my ideas they would be much appreciated!

I started reading your post and thought it was very interesting. This is way outside my area of expertise, but I did have some questions after reading it, so I thought I'd ask.

First, where are you going with these ideas? Is it like...a project or a thesis or just some thoughts about these topics?
How do you deal with Crosby's overall argument that environmental invaders made it possible for Europeans to create their Neo-Europes?
Expanding on this, how did coffee, chocolate, and tobacco facilitate European settlement? Or are you going to be moving away from the "European" part of his argument? Or maybe focusing on something other than people...such as labor structures, investment, economic incentive, etc.?
Do you have an argument/thesis/interpretation of the similarities and differences you've identified? Why do these matter?
Have you considered including sugar in your list of tropical products?
Have any historians critiqued, expanded, refuted, or developed Crosby's ideas since his book was originally written? His work is pretty old by now.

Well that's all I've got. Thanks for humoring me; like I said, I thought it was an interesting read. Sorry if any of my questions are completely off or leading you in the wrong direction; I'm always learning!