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Trading in Discursive Commodities: Biofuel Brokers’ Roles in Perpetuating the Jatropha Hype in Indonesia

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  • Jacqueline Vel

    (Van Vollenhoven Institute, Leiden Law School, Steenschuur 24, 2311 ES Leiden, The Netherlands)

Abstract

Hypes about wonder crops raise critical questions about the actors and mechanisms that link optimistic narratives about the crops’ potentials to actual production in the field. Jatropha curcas has been such a wonder crop, with a wide discrepancy between plans and reality. While many studies focus on agronomic or technological explanations of discrepancy and how to decrease it, much less is known about the influence of specific actors on creating a gap between high expectations and actual production in the field. This paper highlights the role of commercial brokers, who link potential investors and their capital to land and labor in the production areas. How have such commercial brokers contributed to perpetuating the optimism regarding the potentials of Jatropha plantations? The article presents the results of ethnographic research in a case study of commercial biofuel brokers at work in Sumba, one of the marginal areas in Indonesia targeted by policy makers for Jatropha cultivation. The study indicates that these actors have assembled their own short-term projects, translated narratives about future potential activities into the objects of trade in the present and produced optimistic figures about their projects to attract investors. In the conclusion, the paper warns against the unintended effects of green biofuel policies and discourses, when the latter get translated into a business opportunity for short-term private benefits instead of for the social and environmental goals for which the policies were originally intended.

Suggested Citation

  • Jacqueline Vel, 2014. "Trading in Discursive Commodities: Biofuel Brokers’ Roles in Perpetuating the Jatropha Hype in Indonesia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 6(5), pages 1-20, May.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:6:y:2014:i:5:p:2802-2821:d:35996
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Yang, Cheng-Yuan & Fang, Zhen & Li, Bo & Long, Yun-feng, 2012. "Review and prospects of Jatropha biodiesel industry in China," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 16(4), pages 2178-2190.
    2. John Seely Brown & Paul Duguid, 2001. "Knowledge and Organization: A Social-Practice Perspective," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 12(2), pages 198-213, April.
    3. Laurens Klerkx & Marc Schut & Cees Leeuwis & Catherine Kilelu, 2012. "Advances in Knowledge Brokering in the Agricultural Sector: Towards Innovation System Facilitation," IDS Bulletin, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 43(5), pages 53-60, September.
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    Cited by:

    1. Anika Trebbin, 2021. "Land Grabbing and Jatropha in India: An Analysis of ‘Hyped’ Discourse on the Subject," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-21, October.
    2. Stefan Schaltegger & Roger Burritt, 2018. "Business Cases and Corporate Engagement with Sustainability: Differentiating Ethical Motivations," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 147(2), pages 241-259, January.
    3. Sarah Hitchner & John Schelhas & J. Peter Brosius, 2017. "“Even our Dairy Queen shut down”: Risk and resilience in bioenergy development in forest-dependent communities in the US South," Economic Anthropology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 4(2), pages 186-199, June.

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