Rosenthal, Joshua M.: Salt and the Colombian State: Local Society and Regional Monopoly in Boyaca, 1821-1900.

Hall, Michael R.

Rosenthal, Joshua M. Salt and the Colombian State: Local Society and Regional Monopoly in Boyaca, 1821-1900. Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2012.

Until 1911, the salt industry in Colombia was a complete government monopoly supported by both the Conservative Party, which favored a centralist form of national government, as well as the Liberal Party, which advocated a decentralized national government and a free market economy. Throughout the nineteenth century, the central government's salt monopoly was difficult to administer and was often the source of many disputes between the national government and the local governments where the salt was produced. Nevertheless, from 1821 to 1900, revenue from salt production was a significant revenue generator for the state and provided "for about 10 percent of Colombia's total federal revenue" (p. 5). After 1911, the government monopoly was removed from marine salt, which only represented a small fraction of Colombian salt production, but remained in effect for the rest of the nation's salt production. During the twentieth century, revenue from salt production was eclipsed by other economic activities, such as coffee production. As such, salt ceased to be a crucial component of the Colombian economy. Notwithstanding the recent wave of deregulation and privatization in Colombia, the salt industry, for the most part, remains a government monopoly; an anachronistic (yet insignificant) legacy of previous times.

In Salt and the Colombian State: Local Society and Regional Monopoly in Boyaca. 1821-1900, Joshua M. Rosenthal posits that a study of the government's salt monopoly "offers one method for charting the reach of the institutional state" (p. 9). Rosenthal, an associate professor of history at Western Connecticut State University, contends that a study of saltworks in the pre-industrial world "is particularly well suited to a practical inquiry into the nature and operational methods of a state" (p. 5). The author uses the salt production activities in La Salina, currently located in the department of Casanare (but part of Boyaca during the nineteenth century), as the focus of his case study. He explains that salt producing areas such as La Salina have been "loci of state power throughout human history" (p. 5). Although salt is an abundant and cheap commodity today, in the pre-industrial world it was a critical component contributing to the rise of civilizations and state building.

Rosenthal's extensive research into the subject is evident in his copious footnotes. Although his study is focused on the saltworks in La Salina, Rosenthal frequently compares the political, economic, and social impact of salt producing activities in La Salina with similar salt producing activities in other areas of Colombia. He points out that the larger salt production operation at Zipaquira was transformed into subterranean mining, whereas La Salina "remained a surface works" (p. 42). In great detail, the author explains salt production methods in La Salina. Placing La Salina's salt production within the broader context of the political and economic turbulence of Colombia's nineteenth century historical experience, Rosenthal demonstrates that the government's salt monopoly "provided a template for this conflict" (p. 6). Rosenthal's depiction of the role of key figures involved in the central government's salt monopoly activities in La Salina places the case study within the broader context of republican Colombia. He demonstrates that an investigation of the Colombian government's salt monopoly "allows a close view of the disjuncture between a state's rhetoric and its actions" (p. 140). Government officials championed political and economic liberalism, yet continued to support the government's salt monopoly.

Rosenthal's well-researched study is marred by a few problems that could have been corrected in the editorial process. The most problematic aspect of an otherwise valuable case study is the lack of an introduction and a conclusion. Although several comments indicative of an introduction are scattered throughout the first chapter, there is no discernable conclusion to the book. The last chapter, "La Salina, Boyaca, and Colombia after 1857," simply ends with mention of a so-called "remarkable statement" that appeared briefly on La Salina's official website in 2010. Less problematic, but equally puzzling, is the author's failure to italicize foreign words, such as fabrica and almacen. Regardless, Salt and the Colombian State: Local Society and Regional Monopoly in Boyaca, 1821-1900, is a thought-provoking study that provides an innovative perspective that illuminates the relations between state and society in nineteenth century Colombia.

Michael R. Hall

Armstrong Atlantic State University