https://corporatecoloniality.net Corporate Coloniality Tue, 23 Jan 2024 18:26:26 +0000 https://corporatecoloniality.net en https://corporatecoloniality.net/Info-1 Tue, 23 Jan 2024 18:26:20 +0000 Corporate Coloniality https://corporatecoloniality.net/Info-1 Is there a Swiss form of colonialism? Chocolate, banks, and mountains. Internationally, it is rare that a characterization of Switzerland comes absent these clichés. To eat Swiss chocolate, to bank with Swiss institutions, or to ski on Swiss mountains is to signify prestige. This reputation is not based solely on the quality of the chocolate, the banks, nor the mountains, but also on the very fact that they are Swiss. However, while Switzerland and its industries benefit from the pretense that Switzerland was never a colonial power, many common “elements in Swiss everyday life, politics and scholarship“ are inflected by colonial relations.1 Cocoa does not grow in or near Switzerland. After colonial trade networks brought it to the country, Swiss marketers utilized racism in their advertising to separate their processed product from its origins and turn chocolate into a desirable commodity.2 The principal wealth of multiple Swiss banks came from investments in forced movement of enslaved people and trade across the Atlantic.3 The Swiss Alps only became “scientifically” embedded in the national character through encounters with other climates in the Dutch East Indies.4 1. Patricia Purtschert, Francesca Falk &amp; Barbara Lüthi (2016) Switzerland and ‘Colonialism without Colonies’, Interventions, 18 (2): 289. 2. &nbsp;Purtschert, Patricia (2019). Swiss Chocolate and the Commodification of Black Bodies. In: Patricia Purtschert (Eds.), Coloniality and Gender in the 20th Century (122-131).3. See for example Crain Merz, N. The transatlantic slave trade. Landesmuseum Zürich and Cooperaxion, Die Sklavengeschäfte der Finanzbranche <img width="1624" height="1372" width_o="1624" height_o="1372" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/c4c9842590e1d0d92a85e98ea38090897d1c64922bf1d084b4b54046017b5d3c/Screen-Shot-2023-06-05-at-12.57.38-PM.png" data-mid="202588960" border="0" data-scale="98" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/c4c9842590e1d0d92a85e98ea38090897d1c64922bf1d084b4b54046017b5d3c/Screen-Shot-2023-06-05-at-12.57.38-PM.png" />A 1930s “Fliegerspiel” board game issued by Maggi, now owned by Nestlé. Players travel through the African continent and West Asia by plane, taking off from Zurich. Each location of the territories, under Western imperialism, is depicted through racist illustrations, and described in terms of its contributions to Maggi’s supply chain. &nbsp;Image via Swissinfo. 4. Schär, B.C. (2015). On the Tropical Origins of the Alps. In: Purtschert, P., Fischer-Tiné, H. (eds) Colonial Switzerland. Cambridge Imperial and Post-Colonial Studies Series. Palgrave Macmillan, London. While other European countries violently scrambled to colonize the Global South, Switzerland capitalized on its position in the global hierarchies being put in place. It relied on colonial networks, not only for importing, exporting, and investing, but also for proselytizing and producing scientific knowledge.5 The Basel Mission, for example, was active in several countries of the Global South from 1815. Throughout this time, as the country’s entrepreneurs were building wealth and power through colonial exploitation, Swiss citizens had begun to “identify with the white subject of the European imperial space,” drawing “upon images of ‘blackness’ or ‘Africanness’ onto which the Swiss could project attributes they did not wish to be identified with.”6&nbsp; By providing a foil against which a “self” could be rendered, colonialism contributed to both Swiss wealth and Swiss identity. &nbsp; &nbsp; 5. Schär, Bernhard C. (2015). Tropenliebe. Schweizer Naturforscher und niederländischer Imperialismus in Südostasien um 1900. 6.&nbsp;Michel, Noémi. (2015). “Sheepology: The Postcolonial Politics of Raceless Racism in Switzerland.” Postcolonial Studies 18 (4): 414. Within these top commodity groups, 48% of the materials extracted and sold on the entire planet can be traced to Switzerland’s corporations. <img width="4300" height="5500" width_o="4300" height_o="5500" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/5f9f7a961c5a0b7d7b4ac7937c46898ae9ee1f0b3c8603013821f04c03f2b491/SwissShippingFlip.png" data-mid="202588941" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/5f9f7a961c5a0b7d7b4ac7937c46898ae9ee1f0b3c8603013821f04c03f2b491/SwissShippingFlip.png" /> <img width="4300" height="5500" width_o="4300" height_o="5500" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/c38775ca0372b53e852128615954c99d92f4aa619c821b0c8671c12caac1bb5f/worldshipping.png" data-mid="202588942" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/c38775ca0372b53e852128615954c99d92f4aa619c821b0c8671c12caac1bb5f/worldshipping.png" /> A tiny country with a footprint the size of the world The ground for the tremendous success of Swiss companies today was prepared during Europe’s colonial era. Many of the racialized networks of power upon which companies built their wealth were not dismantled, even with the formal independence of many colonies. Rather, these networks have transformed to facilitate new forms of accumulation, extraction, and dispossession. As of 2023, Swiss corporations play a disproportionately large role in global trade. Resource extraction typically takes place in low income countries, while profits are accumulated via corporate headquarters that are spatially, socially, and legally removed from the labor upon which the corporations rely.&nbsp; Firms domiciled in Switzerland are responsible for trading 60% of the world’s metals, 60% of coffee, 50% of sugar, 35% of grains and 35% of crude oil.1 Because commodity trade can occur virtually, few of the goods ever physically pass through Switzerland.2 After extraction, raw materials are processed and packaged into consumer products in other countries along corporate supply chains. Low wage labor is recruited from many of the same racialized population groups who were once responsible for such work in colonized areas. The harmful environmental effects of industrial extraction and processing are also largely externalized to these same areas. This means some of the biggest companies on the planet can be “based” in Switzerland and benefit from low taxation, but have a very small material presence there.&nbsp; Even with its limited corporate taxation, Switzerland benefits from hosting these large multinational corporations. They uphold the country’s reputation as possessing a strong, stable economy and innovative business environment. Corporations attract specialists to earn high wages at headquarters, regardless of working conditions in operations abroad. They secure Switzerland’s geopolitical position with its trade partners. Their shares are purchased to finance the pension funds on which Swiss retirees rely.3 Despite the documentation by Swiss and other researchers of this particular, corporate form of coloniality, regulatory restrictions to mitigate the negative social and environmental effects are lacking.4 Since the 1970s, multiple initiatives to hold Swiss corporations accountable for their actions in the Global South, such as the Koalition für Konzernverantwortung, have not yet achieved their aims. As students learning and working in Switzerland, we find ourselves at the heart of these companies’ planetary operations. By researching their social and environmental effects, we hope to contribute to further insight and dialogue about the true footprint of Swiss corporations in the world. 1. Cited in Dobler, G., &amp; Kesselring, R. (2019). Swiss extractivism: Switzerland's role in Zambia's copper sector. The Journal of Modern African Studies, 57(2), 225. 2. Dobler &amp; Kesselring (2019), 228. 3.&nbsp;Theurillat, T., Corpataux, J., &amp; Crevoisier, O. (2008). The Impact of Institutional Investors on Corporate Governance: A View of Swiss Pension Funds in a Changing Financial Environment. Competition &amp; Change, 12(4), 307–327.&nbsp; 4. See for example the investigative work of Public Eye and Cooperaxion Household products produced by Swiss companies are so ubiquitious they are hard to avoid. Which of these Nestlé-owned brands are you familiar with? Drag them into the nest to keep track.&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; <img width="2277" height="1520" width_o="2277" height_o="1520" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/633ac74206ee07605583284a271b732a295c441c6de268fb1bb7053cb36c8601/nestlenest.png" data-mid="202588944" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/633ac74206ee07605583284a271b732a295c441c6de268fb1bb7053cb36c8601/nestlenest.png" /> <img width="2277" height="1520" width_o="2277" height_o="1520" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/22a2deb410816f9d038ac6d1cbb3876eef6ef2d245bff561c83a691e94e200f2/nestlebirds.png" data-mid="202588943" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/22a2deb410816f9d038ac6d1cbb3876eef6ef2d245bff561c83a691e94e200f2/nestlebirds.png" /> <img width="7016" height="6945" width_o="7016" height_o="6945" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e0afa29edcd1ae4d4588a0b59b69adb398a1f4c898fb0ee0621134ad64332bf3/gardenburger-min.png" data-mid="202588951" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/e0afa29edcd1ae4d4588a0b59b69adb398a1f4c898fb0ee0621134ad64332bf3/gardenburger-min.png" /> <img width="7016" height="6945" width_o="7016" height_o="6945" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f8c9524debb2334cc21cfe7e412477e17628891852ebdfca56cf42220376f869/maggie-min.png" data-mid="202588955" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/f8c9524debb2334cc21cfe7e412477e17628891852ebdfca56cf42220376f869/maggie-min.png" /> <img width="7016" height="6945" width_o="7016" height_o="6945" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/25533808aded121f64135ec43651eeb5ffffa9c8c373e2e3a9b376a2e50d6114/perrier-min.png" data-mid="202588958" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/25533808aded121f64135ec43651eeb5ffffa9c8c373e2e3a9b376a2e50d6114/perrier-min.png" /> <img width="7016" height="6945" width_o="7016" height_o="6945" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/6d1b7c9ff81baa9d19fff8b528f46d511ea2ed1ca2cf8f9ff84bbbd2090a85cf/acquapana-min.png" data-mid="202588946" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/6d1b7c9ff81baa9d19fff8b528f46d511ea2ed1ca2cf8f9ff84bbbd2090a85cf/acquapana-min.png" /> <img width="7016" height="6945" width_o="7016" height_o="6945" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/6dc676d16d98e33cac46d493d1cec1216a75ad0ff58bdb13d04bb74da7b0b42c/cheerios-min.png" data-mid="202588949" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/6dc676d16d98e33cac46d493d1cec1216a75ad0ff58bdb13d04bb74da7b0b42c/cheerios-min.png" /> <img width="7016" height="6945" width_o="7016" height_o="6945" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/de49b539acfd4a621360cd0893a8770957b0997ce7d7198d7560a55aed064069/callier-min.png" data-mid="202588948" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/de49b539acfd4a621360cd0893a8770957b0997ce7d7198d7560a55aed064069/callier-min.png" /> <img width="7016" height="6945" width_o="7016" height_o="6945" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/9ac0e86d4e5fad1d942b3229034439db623da3c2935b76c55799859fa8407a5c/garoto-min.png" data-mid="202588952" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/9ac0e86d4e5fad1d942b3229034439db623da3c2935b76c55799859fa8407a5c/garoto-min.png" /> <img width="7016" height="6945" width_o="7016" height_o="6945" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/ed1df8459805fb9bee05c65b58bfba5640198e5179b2155ea558ef84dfcf2fcd/kitkat-min.png" data-mid="202588954" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/ed1df8459805fb9bee05c65b58bfba5640198e5179b2155ea558ef84dfcf2fcd/kitkat-min.png" /> <img width="7016" height="6945" width_o="7016" height_o="6945" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/9cfff9a9c9e08f1ad52148462b2b37945bca630b530e0a6e938143704780c8d6/movenpick-min.png" data-mid="202588957" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/9cfff9a9c9e08f1ad52148462b2b37945bca630b530e0a6e938143704780c8d6/movenpick-min.png" /> <img width="7016" height="6945" width_o="7016" height_o="6945" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/b08b72a3a5ef058f8f96f1b841c0dcde6adff76d91c21d1078fc8f6ff7517449/haagendazs-min.png" data-mid="202588953" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/b08b72a3a5ef058f8f96f1b841c0dcde6adff76d91c21d1078fc8f6ff7517449/haagendazs-min.png" /> <img width="7016" height="6945" width_o="7016" height_o="6945" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/3f3a6f72395b85c8a5b74f85d8b8ddd8c864a9200cbda22fb7f125055afa5a4c/purelife-min.png" data-mid="202588959" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/3f3a6f72395b85c8a5b74f85d8b8ddd8c864a9200cbda22fb7f125055afa5a4c/purelife-min.png" /> <img width="7016" height="6945" width_o="7016" height_o="6945" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f55fcf0f4b66bfc146791fdb6539f12b5f5d02c9fdbfdca8a967d9cfab5c004e/aero-min.png" data-mid="202588947" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/f55fcf0f4b66bfc146791fdb6539f12b5f5d02c9fdbfdca8a967d9cfab5c004e/aero-min.png" /> <img width="7016" height="6945" width_o="7016" height_o="6945" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e04867d0bcf378bcecfcb913185980a988ce75361946c226dbfddbf345b56a8a/milo-min.png" data-mid="202588956" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/e04867d0bcf378bcecfcb913185980a988ce75361946c226dbfddbf345b56a8a/milo-min.png" /> https://corporatecoloniality.net/Nestle-Case-Study Tue, 23 Jan 2024 18:26:22 +0000 Corporate Coloniality https://corporatecoloniality.net/Nestle-Case-Study Nestlé as a case study Headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland, Nestlé consistently ranks as having one of the highest profits and market values in the world. Its products are sold in 186 countries, many of which host domestic and regional production facilities or supply raw commodities to be exported for processing.1 As of 2009, 3.4 million people in the developing world were earning their livelihoods somewhere along the Nestlé supply chain.2&nbsp;The company began in 1867 as a small venture from pharmacist Henri Nestlé to sell his novel infant formula, made using cow’s milk and flour.3 Eight years later, he sold the company, and its new owners merged it with the enterprising Anglo-Swiss Condensed Milk Company in 1905. Nestlé’s sales and production networks quickly expanded throughout Europe, then the Americas and the rest of the world, often through the acquisition of existing local brands.&nbsp;Throughout Nestlé’s history, its successes in global market permeation came hand in hand with international corporate political activity. On the African continent, it aligned with European-appointed doctors to carry out colonial health policies meant to strengthen the available labor force.4 During WWII, it supplied millions of cases of Nescafé to the US military,5 while later benefitting from increased market access due to the political neutrality of the Swiss government.6 In recent years, its representatives influence public health policy in countries like the United States.7 While Nestlé is exceptional for its success and global market permeation, these same characteristics also make it representative of a broader reality in which corporations headquartered in Switzerland have outsized economic, political, and environmental effects on livelihoods and environments outside of the country. 1.&nbsp;Nestlé annual report 2.&nbsp;Creating Shared Value report 2009 3.&nbsp;Nestlé: Company History 4. Lola Wilhelm (2020) ‘One of the Most Urgent Problems to Solve’: Malnutrition, Trans-Imperial Nutrition Science, and Nestlé's Medical Pursuits in Late Colonial Africa, The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, 48:5, 914-933. 5. Nestlé: Comany History 6. Donzé, P. (2020). The Advantage of Being Swiss: Nestlé and Political Risk in Asia during the Early Cold War, 1945–1970. Business History Review, 94(2), 373-397. 7. Tanrikulu, H., Neri, D., Robertson, A. et al. (2020). Corporate political activity of the baby food industry: the example of Nestlé in the United States of America, Int Breastfeeding Journal, 15. iFrames are not supported on this page. A non-exhaustive map of Nestlé’s global presence. Each grey dot represents one of its corporate offices or official facilities. Not pictured: many factories and processing sites, partner supplier farms, milk districts.&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; While it has dozens of offices and processing facilities around the world, Nestlé does not own most of the agricultural land on which the materials for its products are grown. This model has been part of the company’s success since its early days in Switzerland, when it developed its first “milk districts”-- semi-regulated areas where it encouraged independent dairy farmers to sell their milk and meet standards of quality and production.8 These milk districts are emblematic of Nestlé’s consistent efforts throughout its 150-year history to “develop” agriculture in the Global South. Presented as humanitarian initiatives, these types of training and education methods often deprecate local cultivation techniques in favor of those that are more valuable to a global capitalist system. In some countries, such as Zimbabwe, “guidelines” established during colonialism based on racist hygiene disinformation continue to favor white producers over farmers of color.9 8. Goldberg, R. (2005). Nestlé's Milk District Model:. HBS No. 2-906-406.&nbsp; 9.&nbsp;Godfrey Hove &amp; Sandra Swart (2019) ‘Dairying Is a White Man’s Industry’: The Dairy Produce Act and the Segregation Debate in Colonial Zimbabwe, c.1920–1937, Journal of Southern African Studies, 45:5, 911-925. <img width="934" height="1350" width_o="934" height_o="1350" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/fe4782a48d249206fd97f367411abc966a5170b832a47df178dd364e7c0354fa/Screen-Shot-2023-06-05-at-1.19.50-PM.png" data-mid="202588963" border="0" data-scale="100" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/934/i/fe4782a48d249206fd97f367411abc966a5170b832a47df178dd364e7c0354fa/Screen-Shot-2023-06-05-at-1.19.50-PM.png" /> A 1946 map of Nestlé’s presence on the African continent, including milk factories used for processing milk from surrounding milk districts. Courtesy&nbsp;Nestlé Historical Archives Nestlé, Vevey. Copyright&nbsp;NESTLE S.A. <img width="1932" height="1366" width_o="1932" height_o="1366" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/ac2c33b86e6f816bee0ef4d14f352971a6ab3de243ed7f4551e4da67e368fca3/Screen-Shot-2023-06-05-at-1.49.33-PM.png" data-mid="202588964" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/ac2c33b86e6f816bee0ef4d14f352971a6ab3de243ed7f4551e4da67e368fca3/Screen-Shot-2023-06-05-at-1.49.33-PM.png" />Nestlé training&nbsp; programs in the Global South, featured in its 1971 Annual Report. Courtesy Nestlé Historical Archives Nestlé, Vevey. Copyright&nbsp;NESTLE S.A. The majority of commodities that are processed into Nestlé food products are bought from independent suppliers. The company has recently begun to divulge these actors along its supply chain, revealing tens of thousands of monoculture plantations growing sugar beets, oil palms, cocoa plants, and more.10 Some plantations are smaller co-ops who may supply Nestlé exclusively, while others are managed by massive third party distributors who sell to many food companies. The dizzying lists of thousands of suppliers highlights the difficulty of assigning legal culpability to the corporation, as in the court dismissal of child slavery allegations against Nestlé,11 or even accurately assessing its impacts on these areas in the form of environmental devastation, land redistribution, changes to social structure, and so on.&nbsp; Activists with first-hand knowledge of the impacts of corporations on local communities have sounded the alarm bells, sometimes through the channels of NGOs. The Mỹky people of the Amazon have pushed back as Nestlé’s suppliers destroy their ancestral lands and livelihoods.12 In Papua New Guinea, Nestlé’s palm oil suppliers are held responsible for a complicated mix of environmental devastation, human rights abuses, and corruption.13 In Ontario, Six Nations activist Makaśa Looking Horse led efforts to stop Nestlé’s fee-free extraction of water from Indigenous communities, to which it then sold back its bottled products.14 While Nestlé has since sold its North American Water division, such practices continue as part of long-established patterns. In Vittel, France, citizens fight to reclaim the aquifer dried out by Nestlé’s bottling.15 In contrast to its sustainability messaging, Nestlé is considered one of the planet’s top causes of plastic pollution, creating deluges of waste largely exported and dumped in the Global South.16 In 2022, Filipino activists sent some of this dumped waste back to Nestlé asking the company to change its “destructive business model” and reduce its plastic waste.17 &nbsp; 10. Nestlé website, 2019 11.&nbsp; See “Hershey, Nestlé, Cargill win dismissal in U.S. of child slavery lawsuit” (2022) in Reuters 12. See “‘This land belonged to us’: Nestlé supply chain linked to disputed Indigenous territory” (2022) in The Guardian 13. See Global Witness’s work on “The true price of palm oil” 14. See “This Indigenous Activist Is Taking a Stand for Clean Water Access in Canada“ (2021) via Global Citizen 15. See “Water conflict: Nestlé Waters in Vittel, France“ (2023) via the Atlas of Environmental Justice 16. See Talking Trash’s case study on Nestlé 17. See “Activists send plastic waste back to Nestlé, call out company for greenwashing“ (2022) via Greenpeace <img width="594" height="954" width_o="594" height_o="954" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/63a4abfb76c58f0680fb5d536325a4c46f085e2dd305f34917c0dce151e4a314/Screen-Shot-2023-06-05-at-3.38.22-PM.png" data-mid="202588968" border="0" data-scale="58" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/594/i/63a4abfb76c58f0680fb5d536325a4c46f085e2dd305f34917c0dce151e4a314/Screen-Shot-2023-06-05-at-3.38.22-PM.png" />Regenerative agricultural model, to be used “whenever possible and relevant,” proposed during continued environmental and human rights abuses. Via Nestle’s 2022 Creating Shared Value report <img width="1118" height="842" width_o="1118" height_o="842" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/24d6560efd68f2b220d5b5f56e7ce08ba87d73a3d4bd8ef7907f55e0b61030d5/Screen-Shot-2023-06-05-at-3.39.04-PM.png" data-mid="202588967" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/24d6560efd68f2b220d5b5f56e7ce08ba87d73a3d4bd8ef7907f55e0b61030d5/Screen-Shot-2023-06-05-at-3.39.04-PM.png" />Proposed Nescafé model for 2030, focusing on land restoration rather than reparation.&nbsp; Via Nestlé’s 2022 Creating Shared Value report <img width="1026" height="364" width_o="1026" height_o="364" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/9d3408e4d39d3be65b5e2911b02cceff3ee3ea8108c5759260eb0865ba9830f3/Screen-Shot-2023-06-05-at-3.22.09-PM.png" data-mid="202588966" border="0" data-scale="100" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/9d3408e4d39d3be65b5e2911b02cceff3ee3ea8108c5759260eb0865ba9830f3/Screen-Shot-2023-06-05-at-3.22.09-PM.png" />Nestlé’s selective development projects featured in its 2000 Management Report. Courtesy Nestlé Historical Archives Nestlé, Vevey. Copyright&nbsp;NESTLE S.A. Rather than engaging directly with these demands from the ground, Nestlé is accountable to its own set of metrics established in documents such as it Rural Development Framework and its “Creating Shared Value” plans. These initiatives have roots in early “corporate social responsibility” from the previous century and now exist as entire departments responsible for reporting the upholding of commitments to judicious consumers, largely in the West. Nestlé attempts to hinge its commitments around the perceived neutrality of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, which were set in 2015 and have been critiqued as “aligned with the financial interests of the business” due to corporate lobbying.18 Despite its selective interest in educational programs, at times focused on the theme of environmental sustainability, Nestlé has stated that it is not the role of business to provide public services. It instead argues that its corporate responsibility programs exist to maintain a community’s preexisting environmental conditions. It is difficult to determine how far down its value chain these claims extend, as the company has emphasized the autonomy of its suppliers to question its culpability. Adding to this paradoxical messaging, its public corporate social responsibility reports demonstrate a willingness, or even a sense of obligation, on part of the corporation to participate in aspects of development and sustainability transitions. 18. Archer, M. (2020). Appreciation. In C. Howe &amp; A. Pandian (Eds.), Anthropocene Unseen: A Lexicon (pp. 47–51). Punctum Books. View Students’ Projects︎︎︎ https://corporatecoloniality.net/About-Us-Who-we-are Tue, 23 Jan 2024 18:26:23 +0000 Corporate Coloniality https://corporatecoloniality.net/About-Us-Who-we-are As Master in Critical Urbanisms students, our studies prepare us to navigate the complexities of urban lifeworlds in the twenty-first century. This means engaging with cities and landscapes from both theoretical and practical perspectives. Our research combines critical research with creative approaches and visual representation, drawing from architecture, geography, history, sociology, political science, and anthropology. The Master in Critical Urbanisms program is convened by Urban Studies, located within the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Basel. For more information, see here. <img width="1200" height="881" width_o="1200" height_o="881" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/eb70f26ee307c4622b255d011b06d7526a99f16f7735f93cb499622250d256ed/IMG-20231219-WA0033.jpg" data-mid="202588973" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/eb70f26ee307c4622b255d011b06d7526a99f16f7735f93cb499622250d256ed/IMG-20231219-WA0033.jpg" /> <img width="1536" height="1271" width_o="1536" height_o="1271" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/d9bde8ec1c14414b60eaebbd07af37ccbe9ecb275ec698843beedcb5dfd33d64/IMG-20231219-WA0026.jpg" data-mid="202588975" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/d9bde8ec1c14414b60eaebbd07af37ccbe9ecb275ec698843beedcb5dfd33d64/IMG-20231219-WA0026.jpg" /> <img width="1200" height="895" width_o="1200" height_o="895" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/dfdec1622e3fec138e56ae1f29fe2541f7cc6b5d3b81cad12c166d377c24e556/IMG-20231219-WA0038.jpg" data-mid="202588971" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/dfdec1622e3fec138e56ae1f29fe2541f7cc6b5d3b81cad12c166d377c24e556/IMG-20231219-WA0038.jpg" /> <img width="1200" height="870" width_o="1200" height_o="870" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/c7ac09ed999caf72473a5cdcd02c0546930905eb961a1126af2ab6736d50c719/IMG-20231219-WA0037.jpg" data-mid="202588974" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/c7ac09ed999caf72473a5cdcd02c0546930905eb961a1126af2ab6736d50c719/IMG-20231219-WA0037.jpg" /> Fall Semester 2023 photos courtesy Olga Voiushina Students from The City as Archive, taught by Dr. Kenny Cupers Students: Amanda Haas HalimCharlotte Van RhijnClara Louise Alder JuulEngin TulayFay McKee Henning WeissLea HelfensteinLion Henri Tautz Marie-Jean MalekMax VögtliNadja NievergeltOlga VolushinaRidwan Obatad Runzhu QianSeyhan Karakuyu Zhen Zhou <img width="6016" height="4000" width_o="6016" height_o="4000" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f23bab8d0945e8a7d573f8367b9b916df3cd8f35530a0cd4ff3e8e6e6f3d581f/DSC_0296_FionaHager.JPG" data-mid="202588970" border="0" data-scale="100" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/f23bab8d0945e8a7d573f8367b9b916df3cd8f35530a0cd4ff3e8e6e6f3d581f/DSC_0296_FionaHager.JPG" /> Fall Semester 2022 photo courtesy Fiona Hager Students from&nbsp;The City as Archive, taught by Dr. Kenny Cupers, and&nbsp;Critical Cartography,taught by Dr. Shourideh C. Molavi&nbsp;Assisted by F. Baranyk Students: Ambarin Sultana Amélie Rywalski Daniele Isepponi Fiona Hager Gadsiah Ibrahim Jana Janackova Jil-Nora Herrmann Konrad ByronLuiza Nieuwenhuizen Maéva Yersin Maria Vermathen Mohammad Munib Rehman Sophie Guitard Yassine Rachidi&nbsp;(www.yassinerachidi.com) ︎For more information, write kenny.cupers@unibas. ch https://corporatecoloniality.net/Projects-Menu Tue, 23 Jan 2024 18:26:24 +0000 Corporate Coloniality https://corporatecoloniality.net/Projects-Menu About the Course In the Fall semester of 2022, Master’s students in the courses Critical Cartography, taught by Dr. Shourideh Molavi, and The City as Archive, taught by Prof. Dr. Kenny Cupers, worked in groups to imagine what it would look like to research the planetary footprint of a company like Nestlé. Their work was supported by assistant F. Baranyk, whose background research on Nestlé was foundational for the development of the research themes. In the Fall semester of 2023, a new group of students continued the research in “The City as Archive” course. This course explores methods of urban and environmental research through the lens of the archive. As a site of selective public and/or private memory, a physical collection of records, and a metaphor for holding knowledge, the archive is key to the production of knowledge. Whereas governmental and institutional archives gather much of the material for the narration of history, social movements and civil society organizations have created a range of alternative collections, including oral history and sound records. Historians tend to approach these existing archives as repositories of potential evidence, yet built landscapes and ecologies can themselves be understood as historically layered deposits, constituting archives in their own right. At the same time, the rise of the internet has exploded the notion of what constitutes an archive. Students in the course are introduced to archival methods for urban research, with a critical reflection on its political, ethical, and epistemological implications. The projects, listed below, reckon with the archive and the map as knowledge-making techniques, entrypoints for urban and environmental research on Swiss corporations. Students visited the Nestlé headquarters in Vevey, combed through archives, and examined corporate documentation as well as activist and NGO reports. Their classroom projects, as presented below, aim only to provide starting points for potential site-based research. Students’ Projects Fall Semester 2023 ❶ Archive of People ❷ Wheat—A Success Story for Whom? ❸ 1.5: How Nestlé did it ❹“How are you going to feed the babies then?” Fall Semester 2022 ❶ People as Frontline in Sderot ❷ Historicizing the Vevey Campus❸ Spices before the Cube ❹ Towards Forest Positive Cocoa❺ DON’T BOTTLE: A Game https://corporatecoloniality.net/Maggi Tue, 23 Jan 2024 18:26:24 +0000 Corporate Coloniality https://corporatecoloniality.net/Maggi Spices before the Cube Authors: Ambarin Sultana | Yassine Rachidi | Mohammad Munib Rehman | Maria Vermathen | Konrad Byron <img width="1024" height="768" width_o="1024" height_o="768" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/4617b472126a1ba2725afd4be5ad923c2005034d9601bf92be29ddf6f07cb0bc/WhatsApp-Image-2022-12-28-at-7.45.21-PM-1.jpeg" data-mid="202588982" border="0" data-scale="100" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/4617b472126a1ba2725afd4be5ad923c2005034d9601bf92be29ddf6f07cb0bc/WhatsApp-Image-2022-12-28-at-7.45.21-PM-1.jpeg" /> “I believe what we aimed for with this project was to not only shed light over West-African condiments left in the shadow of Maggi’s stock cubes, but rather to get a glance of the ways in which condiments exist in a set of complex social structures.“ - Y.R.This project offers an immersive installation alongside a web-based archive of spices to produce a multi-sensorial record. The installation traces the ubiquity of the Maggi stock cube, owned and produced by Nestlé, throughout western Africa. Viewers have the opportunity to smell, touch, and taste indigenous spices and condiments whose use is threatened by Maggi monoculture while exploring their spiritual and cultural significance in the online archive. The project offers an interpretation on preserving cultural memory while simultaneously documenting the historical legacy of the product that has placed traditional spices under erasure.&nbsp; “Through our project, we tried to give the abundant diversity of West African herbs and spices and their medicinal, socio-cultural and culinary uses some visibility. Seeing that there are many new women’s cooperatives who produce alternatives to the omnipresent Maggi cube using local ingredients, gave me the idea of a possible future direction of our Maggi counter-Archive.” - M.V. <img width="768" height="1024" width_o="768" height_o="1024" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/62bc404739688c0761270e92c29659c4dd25803d7bb56e7a11c08f4420d95bd5/WhatsApp-Image-2022-12-28-at-7.45.21-PM-6.jpeg" data-mid="202588984" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/768/i/62bc404739688c0761270e92c29659c4dd25803d7bb56e7a11c08f4420d95bd5/WhatsApp-Image-2022-12-28-at-7.45.21-PM-6.jpeg" /> <img width="768" height="1024" width_o="768" height_o="1024" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/eea2cbb22ad22eb7d8256c2e21053170ed0b772458c2145950a03396a70fab41/WhatsApp-Image-2022-12-28-at-7.45.21-PM-8.jpeg" data-mid="202588985" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/768/i/eea2cbb22ad22eb7d8256c2e21053170ed0b772458c2145950a03396a70fab41/WhatsApp-Image-2022-12-28-at-7.45.21-PM-8.jpeg" /> From the authors: “To comprehend an archive is to explore facts, evidence, and documents as subjects rather than objects, as verbs rather than nouns. Archives produce as much as they record reality. It is because of this very fact that we followed the archival grain of Maggi's stock cubes towards the culinary heritage in the West African region where Nestlé is present. Widely used today in West African cuisine, Maggi cubes found their way into African kitchens and are now considered essential in the cooking of traditional West African meals. With numerous benefits to their name, these little stock cubes travel the world with ease, enhancing the flavor of any dish and saving precious time for working-class families. Maggi stock cubes in West-African cooking are ubiquitous. But what are they replacing, and at what cost?” “Through investigating Maggi's stock cubes, we discovered Nestlé's legacy and impact on West-African cuisine. Maggi cubes are now considered essential ingredients and part of peoples lives. Is this cultural displacement or adaptation to new lifestyles?“ - K.B. <img width="4000" height="6016" width_o="4000" height_o="6016" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/d04668716ea693d25b261616cc73e86f9265d1a1c53de98d5fa022a612cfb907/DSC_0197_FionaHager.JPG" data-mid="202588986" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/d04668716ea693d25b261616cc73e86f9265d1a1c53de98d5fa022a612cfb907/DSC_0197_FionaHager.JPG" /> photo courtesy Fiona Hager “Some of the evidence we curated refers to local gastronomical practices that preceded the modernization of food production in the region, and offers an ethnographic glimpse into processes of harvesting and preparation that are being displaced by industrial products. Our archiving strategy aims to contrast this with the corporate account of Nestlé’s entrenchment in the region, and curate a gallery of cultural disjunction in the process.” - M.R. <img width="1474" height="1480" width_o="1474" height_o="1480" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/97feb194b0e8841edf6b2183ad2e47114297eb46ebe11195999ddb24f91fff52/Screen-Shot-2023-05-29-at-1.23.06-PM.png" data-mid="202588983" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/97feb194b0e8841edf6b2183ad2e47114297eb46ebe11195999ddb24f91fff52/Screen-Shot-2023-05-29-at-1.23.06-PM.png" /> The Maggi Counter-Archive website homepage https://corporatecoloniality.net/Don-t-Bottle-A-Game Tue, 23 Jan 2024 18:26:24 +0000 Corporate Coloniality https://corporatecoloniality.net/Don-t-Bottle-A-Game DON’T BOTTLE: A Game Authors:&nbsp; Sophie Guitard | Jil-Nora Hermann | Gasdiah Ibrahim | Luzia Nieuwenhuizen | Maeva Yersin Photos courtesy Fiona Hager <img width="6016" height="4000" width_o="6016" height_o="4000" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/6248d6bf3686f6a85770909e35882beeb0f7952149c883ff304d58362f146418/DSC_0066_FionaHager.JPG" data-mid="202588994" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/6248d6bf3686f6a85770909e35882beeb0f7952149c883ff304d58362f146418/DSC_0066_FionaHager.JPG" /> “In Nigeria, Nestlé claimed to create a circular economy. They have produced lightweight bottles that can be easily recycled, but the work of gathering is performed free of charge by collectors from the villages. Any remaining waste which cannot be recycled is again dumped in someone else's backyard… We need to confront the complex realities of Swiss corporations in African contexts.” - G.I. “DON’T BOTTLE presents a counter map for Canada, Nigeria, Pakistan, and the United States because players are encouraged to question the privatization of access to water through Nestlé. The game encourages the public to think about Nestlé’s social and environmental impact in the bottled water industry, using references to sources such as testimonies, social media, and newspaper articles.” - JN.H. <img width="792" height="1126" width_o="792" height_o="1126" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/2607a09586de4062d76d3795398371459f9ea07646fba5cee2bdec6d75464ffb/Screen-Shot-2023-06-24-at-9.14.23-AM.png" data-mid="202588998" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/792/i/2607a09586de4062d76d3795398371459f9ea07646fba5cee2bdec6d75464ffb/Screen-Shot-2023-06-24-at-9.14.23-AM.png" /> <img width="792" height="1126" width_o="792" height_o="1126" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/15715760153cad11526296d35c2329f5a1105bc1fc0a935156804ecbf74bcc12/Screen-Shot-2023-06-24-at-9.14.47-AM.png" data-mid="202588996" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/792/i/15715760153cad11526296d35c2329f5a1105bc1fc0a935156804ecbf74bcc12/Screen-Shot-2023-06-24-at-9.14.47-AM.png" /> <img width="792" height="1122" width_o="792" height_o="1122" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e9e6b2f500c6046e4595c239fe926cdc230a48c375157a065cfe49260d3f812f/Screen-Shot-2023-06-24-at-9.13.43-AM.png" data-mid="202588999" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/792/i/e9e6b2f500c6046e4595c239fe926cdc230a48c375157a065cfe49260d3f812f/Screen-Shot-2023-06-24-at-9.13.43-AM.png" /> <img width="784" height="1128" width_o="784" height_o="1128" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/00ed7ac17a2af0b6486599c36f2c7f9fc80474ba98d6c2ffc84df7bf96e631e5/Screen-Shot-2023-06-24-at-9.12.49-AM.png" data-mid="202588997" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/784/i/00ed7ac17a2af0b6486599c36f2c7f9fc80474ba98d6c2ffc84df7bf96e631e5/Screen-Shot-2023-06-24-at-9.12.49-AM.png" /> From the authors: “DON’T BOTTLE explores Nestlé’s global footprint while addressing the social and environmental violence of corporate expansion and logistics. DON’T BOTTLE offers players a visual representation of the ways Pure Life’s marketing and extraction operations can be understood as an extension of Swiss colonial relations.”“The board game is intended to look playful and colorful because it is designed for families or educational purposes. We focused on this audience because Pure Life targets children and education in its marketing. The game is composed of colors from Nestlé’s Pure Life logo,&nbsp; with Switzerland in magenta and the other countries in the logo’s blueish tones. The decision to visually draw more attention to the Switzerland piece of the game board represents the country’s global influence, disproportionate to its size.” - L.N. DON’T BOTTLE is a counter-map board game and educational tool. The project was designed in conversation with the 1930s Maggi “Fliegerspiel” game. Players learn about the impacts of Nestlé’s Pure Life bottled water brand in five case study countries, including Switzerland. To travel around the abstracted “map” board, players answer fact- and scenario-based questions about water resources and Pure Life. For each correct answer, players can take “water drops” out of Nestlé’s private supply, with the aim of collectively returning as many drops as possible to the public. Through its abstract map and questions, the game offers a counter-narrative to the pro-Pure Life “educational” messaging Nestlé exports in its bottled water marketing. <img width="2278" height="978" width_o="2278" height_o="978" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/07062ad27f21e298ca31d36003c1426c15f199ed6e38ccc180a70ddd8cb9cd98/Screen-Shot-2023-06-24-at-9.40.36-AM.png" data-mid="202588995" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/07062ad27f21e298ca31d36003c1426c15f199ed6e38ccc180a70ddd8cb9cd98/Screen-Shot-2023-06-24-at-9.40.36-AM.png" /> https://corporatecoloniality.net/Towards-Forest-Positive-Cocoa Tue, 23 Jan 2024 18:26:25 +0000 Corporate Coloniality https://corporatecoloniality.net/Towards-Forest-Positive-Cocoa Towards Forest Positive Cocoa Authors: Fiona Hager | Jil-Nora Herrmann | Luiza Nieuwenhuizen | Maéva Yersin Installation photos courtesy Fiona Hager <img width="2120" height="1178" width_o="2120" height_o="1178" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/9a02e1d3219db1dc53113158fe3d133910ec4c1638fa1fc3c2c57482bdaf748b/Screen-Shot-2023-06-04-at-8.25.10-PM.png" data-mid="202589006" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/9a02e1d3219db1dc53113158fe3d133910ec4c1638fa1fc3c2c57482bdaf748b/Screen-Shot-2023-06-04-at-8.25.10-PM.png" /> From the authors: “In our research, we focused on the impact of surveillance of cocoa production. Nestlé, like many multinational food corporations, deploys these methods in the Ivory Coast in such a way that a connection can be drawn between forest protection and militarization. Through the Ivory Coast government’s implementation of the forest protection program ‘Code forestier ivoirien,’ the urgent need to protect nature legitimizes human rights violations, such as the extortion and eviction of farmers who have lived all their lives in areas which were later declared protected. This kind of environmental preservation criminalizes these farmers and deprives them of rights.” <img width="6016" height="4000" width_o="6016" height_o="4000" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/6fbd1b36ee4d2e39a7d45d01020d4781894bcb08fa5f681ec701a9c808530097/DSC_0242_FionaHager.JPG" data-mid="202589007" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/6fbd1b36ee4d2e39a7d45d01020d4781894bcb08fa5f681ec701a9c808530097/DSC_0242_FionaHager.JPG" /> “How can the activist archive raise awareness amongs consumers in the Global North about the impacts of&nbsp; cacao production in the Ivory Coast? How can such activism be democratized in an effort to protect the forest and to include cacao farmers in the discussions about the future of cacao production?” - JN. H. <img width="6016" height="4000" width_o="6016" height_o="4000" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/b4f1467b4d18aaa1e50a8d437b76ead96c6debf766f2691e3b99ffa1cf277c32/DSC_0240_FionaHager.JPG" data-mid="202589008" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/b4f1467b4d18aaa1e50a8d437b76ead96c6debf766f2691e3b99ffa1cf277c32/DSC_0240_FionaHager.JPG" /> “Reports act as authoritative documents while – through their format - produce certain discourse ecologies. The information is presented as finished complete. Our project questioned the extent to which the complexity of actors and issues involved in forest degradation can be represented.” - M.Y.&nbsp; “The dominant narrative, mobilized by Nestlé and other corporate stakeholders, tends to blame farmers for deforestation. The archive, a collection of seemingly neutral documents presented without comment, is often a technique of imposition: it is monological rather than dialogical. In our project, we aimed to produce a dialogue with Nestlé’s 2022 “Towards forest positive cocoa” annual report. This dialogue showed how many other narratives can be added to even a single page of information, and to what level of detail the given information can be questioned. The idea was to work with the concept of the palimpsest, an ancient document from which the original text has been scraped and reinscribed many times. This allowed us to question the limits of existing narratives about cacao production.” https://corporatecoloniality.net/People-as-Frontline-in-Sderot Tue, 23 Jan 2024 18:26:25 +0000 Corporate Coloniality https://corporatecoloniality.net/People-as-Frontline-in-Sderot People as Frontline in Sderot Authors: Fiona Hager | Amélie&nbsp;Rywalski | Daniele&nbsp;Isepponi | Maria&nbsp;Vermathen Photos courtesy Fiona Hager <img width="6016" height="4000" width_o="6016" height_o="4000" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/c1d9b05a77f81487e4f6c32a8fc5c36d4b6f699e50eda753a5dde03816c2e79a/DSC_0099_FionaHager.JPG" data-mid="202589013" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/c1d9b05a77f81487e4f6c32a8fc5c36d4b6f699e50eda753a5dde03816c2e79a/DSC_0099_FionaHager.JPG" /> “Nestlé invests in a unique city that should be analyzed in its historical and political context. The context of Sderot is so specific that investing there cannot be understood as simply an economic strategy, but also a decision with political ramifications. Not only is it mere kilometers away from the Gaza Strip, but it is one of the most bombarded cities in the region.” - A.R. <img width="4000" height="6016" width_o="4000" height_o="6016" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f05470e6f841b39906d29c0e667a2a84cde7e5367cca2dfefdfa491db9315159/DSC_0255_FionaHager.JPG" data-mid="202589010" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/f05470e6f841b39906d29c0e667a2a84cde7e5367cca2dfefdfa491db9315159/DSC_0255_FionaHager.JPG" /> "We tried to analyze how people and institutions, narratives and ideologies, infrastructure and constructions work together to create the landscape of a frontline" - F.H.“Through a selection of different layers consisting of drawings, maps, infographics and texts, we tried to show parts of this reality from different perspectives. We decided to take a participatory mapping approach and let individuals do a second selection of the layers themselves. Allowing individuals to select and order their layers illustrates how this process of storytelling is an act of power. The choice of translucent yet opaque paper on which we printed the layers originates in the perception that all aspects represented in the illustrations are intertwined in one way or another and can thus be looked at in layered ways. The paper’s opacity reflects the inaccessibility of information held by institutions that support the politics of the local government and by Nestlé itself. The map representing the Palestinian villages in the 1940s and the view of Sderot from behind the fence around the Gaza Strip show what W.J.T. Mitchell (1994) calls ‘the dark side of the landscape.’ Behind the resilience that the landscape is supposed to mediate, there remains violence.” Download the PDF here From the authors: “In our project, we tried to analyze how people and institutions, narratives and ideologies, infrastructure and constructions work together to create the landscape of a frontline -- a frontline, as Sderot’s mayor Alon Davidi says, “against evil.” Sderot is located less than a kilometre from the Gaza Strip, in the Southern District of Israel. The city was founded as a development town in 1951, after the inhabitants of the Palestinian villages Najd and Huj had been evicted by the Israeli Negev Brigade in 1948. Due to this situation, resilience has played an important role in constructing the city’s identity. Many different actors converge in Sderot to participate in the construction of this ‘indestructible metropolis.’ The foundation ‘Friends of Sderot’ runs the biggest Hesder Yeshiva in Israel and combines Torah studies with the mandatory IDF military service. The ‘Sderot Foundation’ focuses on resilience centres, developing tourism and promoting employment. Nestlé operates in Sderot because it benefits from Israeli government grants and cheap labour, in the face of Swiss claims of neutrality.”&nbsp; “Finding the reasons why the company decided to expand in Israel was quite a challenging task due to the very limited information that Nestlé provides... Thanks to external articles and research papers, it was possible to find clues that suggest the company located itself in Sderot to take advantage of government subsidies and the availability of cheap labor, which is due to the lack of other employment opportunities and the situation in the Gaza strip.” - D.I. <img width="4000" height="6016" width_o="4000" height_o="6016" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/0dd027c09e11a8a10ac907e54b773322c2e611646a5b01aeaa229a78814d245d/DSC_0268_FionaHager.JPG" data-mid="202589012" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/0dd027c09e11a8a10ac907e54b773322c2e611646a5b01aeaa229a78814d245d/DSC_0268_FionaHager.JPG" /> https://corporatecoloniality.net/Historicizing-Nestles-Campus-in-Vevey Tue, 23 Jan 2024 18:26:25 +0000 Corporate Coloniality https://corporatecoloniality.net/Historicizing-Nestles-Campus-in-Vevey Historicizing the Vevey Campus Authors: Jana Janackova| Yassine Rachidi | Mohammad Munib Rehman | Konrad Byron “We studied the Nestlé headquarters building in Vevey, Switzerland to uncover the relationship between modernist aesthetics, corporate power structures and their historical baggage.“ - K.B&nbsp; “One striking element that appeared to me when searching for satellite images and street views of the building was the strong dialogue Tschumi had built between Nestlé and its surroundings. Located in the small town of Vevey, the building is surrounded on one side by Lake Leman and on the other side by the mountain range "Les Dents du Midi". It was then inevitable for us to take such a picturesque location as a revealing element of Nestlé’s corporate statement.” - Y.R. (www.yassinerachidi.com) No architecture exists in a historical vacuum. This project reminds the viewer of this fact by overlaying drone shots of Nestlé’s headquarters with images of the historical conditions that informed its modernist architectural style and generated the wealth used to build it. Not unlike the “scientific” and “universal” essence of modernity, drone imagery is often considered impartial because of its technically-mediated distance, separating the subject, the human image-maker, and observer. Here, the view of Nestlé headquarters from the drone is disrupted with a blur of images that re-locate the campus within the historical systems of power that have enabled it to come into being. <img width="6016" height="4000" width_o="6016" height_o="4000" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/91168a912e0fe14d795a6e69d0e4d27d54708f0e12390796b2cf9bbaa5d6e056/DSC_0117_FionaHager.JPG" data-mid="202589016" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/91168a912e0fe14d795a6e69d0e4d27d54708f0e12390796b2cf9bbaa5d6e056/DSC_0117_FionaHager.JPG" /> Photo courtesy Fiona Hager“Over the course of this project, we attempted to historicize different aspects of Nestlé’s corporate architecture across different geographies and time periods; splintering a single object – and the conveniently cohesive narrative of modernity that came with it – into divergent associations. Though we forewent any cartographical output per se, critical cartography has informed the entire process of this project, leading us to imagine linkages across the neat divisions of disciplines, histories and geographies.” -M.R. “Modernism is not ahistorical. Using Nestlé’s headquarters as an example, we explored how the architectural typology of the corporate campus borrows from history, sharing characteristic functions and hierarchies found in European palaces and châteaux. These spatial similarities can be attributed to the hierarchical power structures and internal social dynamics shared by centralized corporate administrations and monarchies alike. Both combine the need for maintaining a stratified organizational structure with attempts to establish a distinct internal culture of shared norms, values, and rules that govern all day-to-day interactions.” <img width="9334" height="9933" width_o="9334" height_o="9933" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/7b176d190fa8dc86f8b5f36606ba8c1971a4bbcda30ba43239d6156e54c27c7a/PosterVevey-min.jpg" data-mid="202589017" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/7b176d190fa8dc86f8b5f36606ba8c1971a4bbcda30ba43239d6156e54c27c7a/PosterVevey-min.jpg" />From the authors: “The architecture of Nestlé’s headquarters in Vevey is a quintessential example high modernism. Such stylistic reductionism was a deliberate point of departure for our research. Nestlé’s headquarters is emblematic of the corporate office typology that flourished during the mid-twentieth century. This architecture is characterized by an intentional placelessness, which especially suited the transnational character of the postwar corporation. The go-anywhere universalism of the International Style shed all ornamental embellishment, expressing itself instead through an aesthetic obsession with the technicity of construction. This trend took shape within the context of a postwar Europe that was reeling from mass destruction. The momentum of wartime industry was redirected towards reconstruction, which needed to be urgent and pragmatic. The baggage of tradition was quite willingly jettisoned, giving way to a new, tabula rasa conception of architecture.” “This project provided us the opportunity to explore the expression of power in corporate contexts, through an architectural lens on the Nestlé Headquarters – relating to the building itself, the landscape, and the subsequent impact on its surroundings.“ - J.J. https://corporatecoloniality.net/Archive-of-People Tue, 23 Jan 2024 18:26:26 +0000 Corporate Coloniality https://corporatecoloniality.net/Archive-of-People Archive of People Authors: Henning Weiss | Zhen Zhou &nbsp;| Engin Tulay How are local lives affected by Nestlé’s production? Our project explores the local impacts of Nestlé's factories in order to understand the company’s role in broader processes of urbanization and industrialization. Our objective was to expand Nestlé's product-focused history into an archive of urbanization and people who work, have worked, live, or have lived near Nestlé. To do so, we chose three different sites—in Switzerland, Turkey, and Israel/Palestine. What kind of light do these diverging local realities and experiences shed on Nestlé? By listening, reading, and watching people's stories, we can begin to develop a new understanding of the global food system. <img width="2408" height="1806" width_o="2408" height_o="1806" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/88ecf139234ba3e0ed83f0407e48634c8b395c3ad51389b3958f8ce8c2703c49/Screen-Shot-2024-01-17-at-17.43.44.jpg" data-mid="202589019" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/88ecf139234ba3e0ed83f0407e48634c8b395c3ad51389b3958f8ce8c2703c49/Screen-Shot-2024-01-17-at-17.43.44.jpg" /> <img width="2408" height="1806" width_o="2408" height_o="1806" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/b072d1cb8c7f30d3c8d7eba6a18493bc0053cb9cc8f783424dc5adf6f4a666fe/Screen-Shot-2024-01-17-at-17.45.02.jpg" data-mid="202589020" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/b072d1cb8c7f30d3c8d7eba6a18493bc0053cb9cc8f783424dc5adf6f4a666fe/Screen-Shot-2024-01-17-at-17.45.02.jpg" /> <img width="2544" height="1806" width_o="2544" height_o="1806" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/debbc34e9770fa5190fa36e7eb396cdedd8ef5fa43710717e5ec9ff56abf8082/Screen-Shot-2024-01-17-at-17.45.29.jpg" data-mid="202589021" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/debbc34e9770fa5190fa36e7eb396cdedd8ef5fa43710717e5ec9ff56abf8082/Screen-Shot-2024-01-17-at-17.45.29.jpg" /> <img width="2408" height="1806" width_o="2408" height_o="1806" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/b9e8543206d8b29cd1035fdf80841dc4b8e5147222fdf71b8e288634c781b334/Screen-Shot-2024-01-17-at-17.45.42.jpg" data-mid="202589023" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/b9e8543206d8b29cd1035fdf80841dc4b8e5147222fdf71b8e288634c781b334/Screen-Shot-2024-01-17-at-17.45.42.jpg" /> <img width="2408" height="1806" width_o="2408" height_o="1806" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/a7c2fcb2d043f195ed7ad47e2e297dbd5da1c3210e27cf67acaf39455b8976aa/Screen-Shot-2024-01-17-at-17.46.01.jpg" data-mid="202589024" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/a7c2fcb2d043f195ed7ad47e2e297dbd5da1c3210e27cf67acaf39455b8976aa/Screen-Shot-2024-01-17-at-17.46.01.jpg" /> <img width="2407" height="1806" width_o="2407" height_o="1806" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e72dfa42d89a131fdb2896fd697a5d60e7eedd116e91da07264f26c6885f5f1c/Screen-Shot-2024-01-17-at-17.46.17.jpg" data-mid="202589025" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/e72dfa42d89a131fdb2896fd697a5d60e7eedd116e91da07264f26c6885f5f1c/Screen-Shot-2024-01-17-at-17.46.17.jpg" /> <img width="2408" height="1806" width_o="2408" height_o="1806" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/5ba2a056c7708f9ce0c77a442fc76fbbf63868859feb567691eec3b43767dd43/Screen-Shot-2024-01-17-at-17.47.18.jpg" data-mid="202589026" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/5ba2a056c7708f9ce0c77a442fc76fbbf63868859feb567691eec3b43767dd43/Screen-Shot-2024-01-17-at-17.47.18.jpg" /> <img width="2408" height="1806" width_o="2408" height_o="1806" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e376bfd81ac9cb24289c1956577c408afc43f7cea3e57dd957e372a7eae7bf60/Screen-Shot-2024-01-17-at-17.47.40.jpg" data-mid="202589027" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/e376bfd81ac9cb24289c1956577c408afc43f7cea3e57dd957e372a7eae7bf60/Screen-Shot-2024-01-17-at-17.47.40.jpg" /> <img width="2408" height="1806" width_o="2408" height_o="1806" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/b867123d20e1bf5fef37d589c74cf89a27ffe16c7475d7667e55f08960e41b47/Screen-Shot-2024-01-17-at-17.48.03.jpg" data-mid="202589028" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/b867123d20e1bf5fef37d589c74cf89a27ffe16c7475d7667e55f08960e41b47/Screen-Shot-2024-01-17-at-17.48.03.jpg" /> <img width="2408" height="1806" width_o="2408" height_o="1806" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/3266e455c759ad30ca402edee6d2467c37af5918f18e9bc1a0aad04ee4f15f9d/Screen-Shot-2024-01-17-at-17.48.22.jpg" data-mid="202589029" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/3266e455c759ad30ca402edee6d2467c37af5918f18e9bc1a0aad04ee4f15f9d/Screen-Shot-2024-01-17-at-17.48.22.jpg" /> <img width="2408" height="1806" width_o="2408" height_o="1806" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/936d098b6890baeae24b67f8c2016602e9b45fb76d769786391a9e5e9e1e713f/Screen-Shot-2024-01-17-at-17.48.43.jpg" data-mid="202589030" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/936d098b6890baeae24b67f8c2016602e9b45fb76d769786391a9e5e9e1e713f/Screen-Shot-2024-01-17-at-17.48.43.jpg" /> <img width="2408" height="1806" width_o="2408" height_o="1806" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/9bb341e1b9fad3ee31e7a9f866424979da8165752706e7f2b54a53a40c2c54ae/Screen-Shot-2024-01-17-at-17.49.11.jpg" data-mid="202589031" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/9bb341e1b9fad3ee31e7a9f866424979da8165752706e7f2b54a53a40c2c54ae/Screen-Shot-2024-01-17-at-17.49.11.jpg" /> <img width="2408" height="1806" width_o="2408" height_o="1806" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/bb799721960e726a6c873fc6eccbf3caef13fb151ae681403cdd1ef729fef581/Screen-Shot-2024-01-17-at-17.49.51.jpg" data-mid="202589032" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/bb799721960e726a6c873fc6eccbf3caef13fb151ae681403cdd1ef729fef581/Screen-Shot-2024-01-17-at-17.49.51.jpg" /> <img width="2408" height="1806" width_o="2408" height_o="1806" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/a3d2726d62a6197ab782312b6e6262189802b70269777b3778f8a01b2e276b94/Screen-Shot-2024-01-17-at-17.50.12.jpg" data-mid="202589033" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/a3d2726d62a6197ab782312b6e6262189802b70269777b3778f8a01b2e276b94/Screen-Shot-2024-01-17-at-17.50.12.jpg" /> <img width="2408" height="1806" width_o="2408" height_o="1806" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/d1e67d1bb6ddbf2862b21cc605cc126a657506dab6d553a88eaa55747cff3520/Screen-Shot-2024-01-17-at-17.50.26.jpg" data-mid="202589034" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/d1e67d1bb6ddbf2862b21cc605cc126a657506dab6d553a88eaa55747cff3520/Screen-Shot-2024-01-17-at-17.50.26.jpg" /> <img width="2408" height="1806" width_o="2408" height_o="1806" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/c5a71dafcfa73c623d5d1fe774dacbfa32637b2976de0c32c62b752925f84630/Screen-Shot-2024-01-17-at-17.50.38.jpg" data-mid="202589035" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/c5a71dafcfa73c623d5d1fe774dacbfa32637b2976de0c32c62b752925f84630/Screen-Shot-2024-01-17-at-17.50.38.jpg" /> <img width="2408" height="1806" width_o="2408" height_o="1806" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/a442d6b1937c39d9a707fc7ebe240a4ea2fc00c7c32f06cac0b681d00b15a738/Screen-Shot-2024-01-17-at-17.51.25.jpg" data-mid="202589036" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/a442d6b1937c39d9a707fc7ebe240a4ea2fc00c7c32f06cac0b681d00b15a738/Screen-Shot-2024-01-17-at-17.51.25.jpg" /> <img width="2408" height="1806" width_o="2408" height_o="1806" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/538c419f631dad06d62cbc83922c3e954acd81e164722c1429ffb730c1cb6b9e/Screen-Shot-2024-01-17-at-17.51.38.jpg" data-mid="202589037" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/538c419f631dad06d62cbc83922c3e954acd81e164722c1429ffb730c1cb6b9e/Screen-Shot-2024-01-17-at-17.51.38.jpg" /> “My research on the Nestlé factory in Basel showed how interwoven its history is with the city. Founded in the 1930s by Thomy &amp; Franck, the factory was located near Basel's chemical industry and the surrounding working-class neighborhoods. In the 1990s, Nestlé acquired the majority of shares and modernized the company. Non-food production jobs were outsourced and the number of products manufactured in Basel decreased steadily. In 2022, Nestlé sold two-thirds of the site to a non-profit organisation that aims to preserve the history and architecture of the site and contribute to the city. Lesser known are the working lives and everyday realities. The physical site tells the story of industrial production and decline, but like Nestlé's company history, it speaks less about the realities of its workers.” - Henning <img width="2133" height="1600" width_o="2133" height_o="1600" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/7a9e56091bfc39ff88e68d55309b2c57a54280ff80306f359e3076a65fe99bb5/Screen-Shot-2024-01-17-at-17.53.31.jpg" data-mid="202589038" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/7a9e56091bfc39ff88e68d55309b2c57a54280ff80306f359e3076a65fe99bb5/Screen-Shot-2024-01-17-at-17.53.31.jpg" /> <img width="2476" height="1856" width_o="2476" height_o="1856" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/495b42d16cec2b855b8a614b0f1089fd9575cd1fe930dca1b8520885b547d11c/Screen-Shot-2024-01-17-at-17.53.58.jpg" data-mid="202589039" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/495b42d16cec2b855b8a614b0f1089fd9575cd1fe930dca1b8520885b547d11c/Screen-Shot-2024-01-17-at-17.53.58.jpg" /> <img width="2476" height="1856" width_o="2476" height_o="1856" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/1697eff2d3162611a392fbf290bd54176fd477f3dfd3b890980659d409b81031/Screen-Shot-2024-01-17-at-17.54.23.jpg" data-mid="202589040" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/1697eff2d3162611a392fbf290bd54176fd477f3dfd3b890980659d409b81031/Screen-Shot-2024-01-17-at-17.54.23.jpg" /> <img width="2475" height="1856" width_o="2475" height_o="1856" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/00b6f9b94d0f683e0c5bc2aa5cd48c8b7ac6128362d52cc69b37b5e741ac20af/Screen-Shot-2024-01-17-at-17.54.35.jpg" data-mid="202589041" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/00b6f9b94d0f683e0c5bc2aa5cd48c8b7ac6128362d52cc69b37b5e741ac20af/Screen-Shot-2024-01-17-at-17.54.35.jpg" /> <img width="2476" height="1856" width_o="2476" height_o="1856" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/d944bb19508e6a12c989b3eecaa29fba91547209a01d1c17e8d9f288e75ce1a7/Screen-Shot-2024-01-17-at-17.55.12.jpg" data-mid="202589043" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/d944bb19508e6a12c989b3eecaa29fba91547209a01d1c17e8d9f288e75ce1a7/Screen-Shot-2024-01-17-at-17.55.12.jpg" /> <img width="2476" height="1856" width_o="2476" height_o="1856" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/55998ec99872c0738efc015231cbe2adaa753780f65734b811cda8af5b32f8cd/Screen-Shot-2024-01-17-at-17.55.26.jpg" data-mid="202589044" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/55998ec99872c0738efc015231cbe2adaa753780f65734b811cda8af5b32f8cd/Screen-Shot-2024-01-17-at-17.55.26.jpg" /> <img width="2476" height="1856" width_o="2476" height_o="1856" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e1fc3ffcd9e7ef7ffb2c317b2814c0a8c478f7d9240c83dcc0b19401b8ec12db/Screen-Shot-2024-01-17-at-17.56.26.jpg" data-mid="202589047" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/e1fc3ffcd9e7ef7ffb2c317b2814c0a8c478f7d9240c83dcc0b19401b8ec12db/Screen-Shot-2024-01-17-at-17.56.26.jpg" /> <img width="2476" height="1856" width_o="2476" height_o="1856" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/0269d00711ad54b9d875b79120d38313f5a2e31a53f6cced0b76bca75f6a51ca/Screen-Shot-2024-01-17-at-17.57.06.jpg" data-mid="202589049" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/0269d00711ad54b9d875b79120d38313f5a2e31a53f6cced0b76bca75f6a51ca/Screen-Shot-2024-01-17-at-17.57.06.jpg" /> <img width="2476" height="1856" width_o="2476" height_o="1856" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/4606565cf02b6aae136b94960ae2080534b5a87d363f6ac62c3292de3e81bbec/Screen-Shot-2024-01-17-at-17.57.21.jpg" data-mid="202589050" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/4606565cf02b6aae136b94960ae2080534b5a87d363f6ac62c3292de3e81bbec/Screen-Shot-2024-01-17-at-17.57.21.jpg" /> <img width="2476" height="1856" width_o="2476" height_o="1856" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/2a18d3a3c948cfecc992e1b89b3ca10ece49b572ae3a854dbe861afe5891aebb/Screen-Shot-2024-01-17-at-17.57.48.jpg" data-mid="202589052" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/2a18d3a3c948cfecc992e1b89b3ca10ece49b572ae3a854dbe861afe5891aebb/Screen-Shot-2024-01-17-at-17.57.48.jpg" /> <img width="2476" height="1856" width_o="2476" height_o="1856" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/912c5c1b8594e9caa999dd6f508cfd2ba7f448b56150a20b7f57dd03b0b8af26/Screen-Shot-2024-01-17-at-17.58.05.jpg" data-mid="202589053" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/912c5c1b8594e9caa999dd6f508cfd2ba7f448b56150a20b7f57dd03b0b8af26/Screen-Shot-2024-01-17-at-17.58.05.jpg" /> “Focusing on its five factories around Bursa, this project also explores the impact of Nestlé on uneven development in Turkey. Although Turkey has never been included in the European Union, it has played a major role in the development, growth, and enrichment of Europe. Operating today in Turkey with more than 800 products and nearly 50 brands in 10 different categories, Nestlé continues its production and export activities in its five factories. I was born in Istanbul. During my childhood and all the time I spent in Turkey, Nestlé was always with us; we admired this Swiss chocolate. However, somewhere in my mind, there was always a doubt, discomfort, and insecurity about not knowing exactly where Nestlé belonged. The ever-expanding activities of this Swiss brand in Turkey made Vevey rich.” — Engin “When I was doing my research about Nestlé in Israel/Palestine, there were not many accessible platforms to find useful archives; all the information was fragmentary, full of war episodes. There is a dearth of archives for Palestine. Their central archives were bombed sometime around the end of November 2023, leading to the loss of thousands of historical documents dating back more than 150 years. Now Palestinian history seems to have gone up in smoke. Therefore, as a witness to this ongoing tragedy, I decided to pick up all the visual materials and make a video archive for them. ‘Archive of people’ is the common ground on which we were seeking to portray the stories of the workers.” — Zhen “Jennifer Robinson's book Comparative Urbanism: Tactics for Global Urban Studies inspires a possible urban comparison of 'repeated instances', where the comparison is about an 'urban phenomenon with shared conditions of production' (p. 16). The production of spaces like the Nestlé industrial areas in Basel, Bursa, and Sderot could result in repeated urban patterns, impacts, and archives. This interconnected ‘genetic’ resemblance of these sites is also evident through the ownership and dependence of each site on another (p. 14). For instance, the decline of Nestlé’s factory in Basel has its counterweight in the growing production of other Nestlé production sites. This is evident in the variation of circumstances among the sites we analyzed.” — Henning