ANTHRO 133F Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Tampopo, Noodle
23 Oct 2016
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Document Summary
In a grain of sugar man sees the entire history of capitalism. He sees the sugar cane plantations in the caribbean as the prototypes of the modern factory. He sees capitalism arising in the context of a global system of trading and a global division of labor in which commodities such as human slaves, cotton, sugar, and manufactured goods cross the world. He shows how tastes in europe and in particular in england changed through techniques of preservation and processes of emulation. The rule of cheap tropical products such as sugar, tea, coffee, and cocoa in the exploitation of workers. It enabled capitalists to pay workers lower wages because cheap sugar products supplied most of their calories. Second process: wider transformations of culture and language (think synonyms of sugar used today) Third process (mintz doesn"t discuss at all): socializing next generation to value certain tastes (nursery rhymes-- sugar insinuates itself)
