ANTHRO 133F Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Horse Meat, Social Anthropology, False Consciousness
23 Oct 2016
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Tension between whether there"s some intrinsicness to food that defines its meaning or whether it"s culturally and symbolically and socially constructed. Sahlins-- taken from longer work called culture and practical reason that is an anthropological critique of marx. Even outside of marx"s framework we think of needs as material needs as in natural, perhaps even biologically intrinsic. Pre-symbolic or extra- symbolic, not mediated by symbolic meanings. Sahlins acknowledges that human existence is limited by a physical natural necessity but he argues it cannot be grasped outside of cultural meanings. In that sense he takes similar theme to mintz in chapter 1-- essentially said it"s the symbolic, cultural meanings that we attach to food that governs how we view food. In that text it"s sugar and its consequences on global capitalism. Sahlins- the utility of an object cannot be grasped apart from its social meanings.
