The Coffeeness of Costa Rica

Abstract

Costa Rica is a place that has come to be associated with coffee. The coffeeness of Costa Rica is possible due to a unique combination of physical and social elements, and elements of culture and meaning that have been pulled together in Costa Rica by the force of place. Costa Ricans and non-Costa Ricans have informed Costa Rica’s national identity as symbolized by coffee. Within Costa Rica, coffee and the development of the coffee industry have played a pivotal role in national identity formation. Costa Rica is participating in a world-system wherein capital wealth is exported from nation-states in the periphery to nation-states in the core. By exporting un-roasted coffee to the United States and Europe for roasting and sale, it is also exporting their culture “up” the commodity chain, by sending along images of coffee farmers and ideas of cooperative-based fair trade.