Sweetness and power. Sweetness and Power 2022-10-11
Sweetness and power Rating:
5,6/10
526
reviews
Sweetness and power are two seemingly unrelated qualities that have been intertwined throughout human history. On the surface, sweetness is associated with feelings of pleasure and indulgence, while power is often associated with strength, control, and dominance. However, upon closer examination, it becomes clear that sweetness and power have often been used in tandem as a means of manipulation and control.
Throughout history, sweetness has been used as a tool to wield power over others. In ancient civilizations, sweet treats were reserved for the wealthy and the privileged, and were used to mark social status and demonstrate power. In some societies, the ability to produce and consume large amounts of sugar was a sign of wealth and luxury, and was used to impress and influence others.
In more recent times, the power of sweetness has been harnessed by governments and businesses as a means of control and manipulation. For example, during World War II, the US government used sweeteners as a way to control the behavior of soldiers and boost morale. In the modern day, companies have used the appeal of sweetness to market and sell products, particularly to children. The addictive nature of sugar has been used to create cravings and drive consumer behavior, leading to a proliferation of sweet and sugary products that are often marketed as treats or rewards.
However, while sweetness may be a powerful tool, it also has the potential to be used for nefarious purposes. For example, some have suggested that the widespread use of sugar in processed foods has contributed to the obesity epidemic, and that the addictive nature of sugar has been exploited by companies for financial gain. Additionally, the use of sweetness as a means of control or manipulation can be harmful, as it can lead to unhealthy relationships and behaviors.
Overall, the relationship between sweetness and power is complex and multifaceted. While sweetness can be a source of pleasure and enjoyment, it can also be used as a tool for control and manipulation. It is important to be aware of the ways in which sweetness is used to wield power, and to make informed decisions about the role it plays in our lives.
Sweetness and Power
I say this because it's very thorough. These slaves might have been the ones working on sugar cane plantations. British began producing sugar in Barbados in 1640, then expanded to Jamaica 30x bigger than Barbados. The chapter on Power left me especially baffled, marvelling at the ease with which the author bound me up in knots till life was no longer worth living. The fifth and final chapter, Eating and Being, leaves the realm of relevance almost entirely. Industrialists benefited from both the higher productivity associated with cheap calories and the widespread consumption of goods on the market Mintz 125. History and anthropology in some ways are admittedly very difficult bedfellows to reconcile, and this book shows both the problems and some possible solutions to doing so, if one is one inclined.
Ultimately, the book is disappointing. That said, the actual bits on sugar, its manifestations, its role in labor history, slavery, and shifts in production are really great. This was interesting, though a bit repetitive how many times can you say that the uses of sugar changed over time as they shifted from exotic spices used by the wealthy to an everyday ingredient used by the poor? Also in the chart it shows that the population number has increased and a bigger population meant that the consumption and import number to grow. He discusses each of these uses in depth, and discourses on how the uses merged with each other, developed, and grew. This is advocated aggressively through marketing and advertising as a convenience and an opportunity to meet consumer preferences. I choked and coughed and when I did a plume of powder was emitted. This is an excellent example of what might be called a micro history, in this case that of a single commodity, sugar, and its impact on historical developments over the last five hundred years.
Which makes sense because the more people consume the sugar the demand will increase and if people consumed less sugar the demand would decrease. But the writing, God, the writing The writing of this book made me want to tear my hair out. Basically, Mintz uses this production and consumption to tie various parts of the world together and tell a global history of British industrialization. After he's answered that question he's felt that there were many more things he could have said to the people ,He does that by writing This article, he adopts a strong tone in order to get others to understand his ideal feelings about the food we eat. Familiar images that captivate us with their beauty--but as Timothy Brook shows us, these intimate pictures actually give us a remarkable view of an expanding world. He taught at Yale for almost 2 decades and has an excellent career in A History of the World in 6 Glasses The thesis of the novel is that through history certain specialty beverages have affected more than just the diet of people and changed political aspects, economic standings, religious ceremonies and social views throughout human history.
"Sweetness and Power: The Place of Sugar in Modern History" by Sidney Wilfred Mintz
. The following is an analysis of the work done by Sidney W. Synthetic juices that split the difference between the food faddists and the Pepsi Generation; fiber rich cereals made calorie-heavy with raisins, figs, dates, honey, nuts, and nut substitutes; crackers, cheeses, dips, pretzels, and munchies -- together these now provide a nutritive medium within which social events occur, rather than the other way round. At the same time, a well-established approach to the organization of work that implied strict discipline contributed to the creation of the agro-industrial system Mintz 51. Austin and Woodruff D. They are also called slaves of the 21st century, and the reason behind this is simply because they were born women.
Sweetness and Power by Sidney W. Mintz: 9780140092332
Besides, this production was based mainly on slave labor due to the protectionist policy of mercantilism. Thus the proliferation of snack stands, the eating while doing other things, which should be more pleasurable but often isn't. He also described the European culture of consumption that required an increasingly intensive organization of labor on the plantations. We see how industrial capitalism then reshaped these worlds of cotton into an empire, and how this empire transformed the world. To us today sugar may seem a common-place and in many case we eat far too much of it but it has not so for more than a couple of hundred years, and sugar played a major part in shaping the modern world.
Much of this book is about the evolution of British nutrition. Still, the map-like understanding of where sugar came from and went is valuable, although not as much as it could have been if coupled with an understanding of why it moved from place to place. During this time, there was a movement called the sugar trade. Mintz traces the development of sugar from a primarily noble-class condiment to one used by all classes, including that of a caloric additive by members of working classes. One passage that Mintz quotes on page 15 that really seems to capture our Westerners infatuation with sugar, and a strong reason the book at hand is as follows:… The Pleasures of Eating Rhetorical Analysis Author, Wendell Berry, in this article "The Pleasures of Eating," Discusses how us as humans don't pay attention to the things we eat. A preferred starch can be the nutritive anchor of a whole culture" - Southern Bantu people: Ubwali tortillas, rice, potatoes, bread, taro, yams, manioc cakes vs umunani relish.
Sweetness and Power: The Place of Sugar in Modern History by Sidney W. Mintz
With the exception of a discussion about the Atlantic islands which tangentially relates to supply and demand, Mintz ignores the economic forces almost entirely. It was all quite entertaining to the party goers. For the most part though, he does not show why landowners, farmers, and governments took the actions they did. JH Galloway believes "it was the expanded use of slave labor to compensate for plague-connected mortality that initiated the strange and enduring relationship between sugar and slavery: 'The link between sugar cultivation and slavery which was to last until the nineteenth century became firmly forged in Crete, Cyprus, and Morocco. Though most people do not identify the growth of the Caribbean plantation economy with the Industrial Revolution, Mintz argues that it was clearly part of the story. Sugarcane was used to manufacture a drink called the Kill-devil, which was better compared to the expensive bear and wine.
Mintz was desperately trying to meet a word count. Sweetness and Power is a history of sugar, covering the chemical process in how they made sugar, which countries had dominance over the industry at what times, the role of slavery, how it went from a rarity to a luxery to a commodity, how i HOOOOOOO BOYYYYYY I have a lot of thoughts on this book. This book is dry, there is no getting around it. But somewhere around the time sugar started to reach Europe from the Atlantic colonies in larger quantities, its use began to percolate down the social ladder. This was a gift that I initially expected to be a popular pop-history similar to Kurlansky's Salt. Every history is essentially a global history.
Also since this is a chart, there really can't be an opinion. But before all of them came this book, Sidney Mintz's excellent 1985 exploration of the place of sugar history. The organization of the book into chapters of "Production", "Consumption", " Power" etc. A final chapter discusses contemporary concerns the book was written in 1985. These portions of the chapter are well organized by their usages, and the insight he gives into the uses of sugar is fascinating. The centricity of complex carbohydrates is accompanied by its contrastive periphery - Flavor principle - They make the essential tastes more interesting - Supplementary tastes round the diet out - Liquid or semiliquid, soluble or meltable, often oily - Sometimes complex carbs disappear from the diet and are replaced by flesh, fats and sugars; see modern USA.
