Presentation Schedule
From Cocoa Beans to Hot Chocolate: Slow Violence and Material Geopolitics in Tara Sullivan’s The Bitter Side of Sweet (106915)
Session Chair: Afra Alshiban
Monday, 11 May 2026 09:30
Session: Session 1
Room: Room G405 (4F)
Presentation Type: Oral Presentation
From Tara Sullivan’s The Bitter Side of Sweet, this paper argues that cocoa beans and the value-added chocolate industry reflect nuanced geopolitics and slow violence. The first part discusses the location where the story takes place—the Ivory Coast, which has long dominated cocoa bean production. Due to the asymmetrical structure of the industry, cocoa producers occupy the poorest rung of the supply chain. Since cocoa husks must be removed manually, children are required to work for their families, and Sullivan’s novel emphasizes the severe child abuse occurring on cocoa farms, where trafficked children (Amadou and Seydou) are trapped in debt bondage and forced to perform hazardous labor. According to Rob Nixon, they are child laborers who are subjected to “slow violence,” in which long-term, cumulative, and sectoral harm is inflicted through the largely invisible structures of the global cocoa industry.
The second part of the paper examines textual politics and the importance of education. Sullivan’s novel materializes the pain and suffering of child laborers on cocoa farms and makes slow violence legible and visible, encouraging readers to sympathize with them. Furthermore, through Amadou and Seydou’s route of escape, readers can understand how the cocoa supply chain is multilayered, multinational, and widely distributed. Finally, Amadou and Seydou work on a fair-trade cocoa farm and begin to receive schooling. This ending corresponds to what the ILO and the UN have advocated: stabilizing children’s lives and providing access to education are presented as viable solutions to the child labor issue.
Authors:
Chia-Chen Kuo, Tamkang University, Taiwan
About the Presenter(s)
Professor Chia-Chen Kuo is a University Assistant Professor/Lecturer at Tamkang University in Taiwan
See this presentation on the full schedule – Monday Schedule
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