Description
The book under analysis is called “Sweetness of Power: The Place of Sugar in Modern History” and is written by Sydney Mintz. In the book, the author studies the history of sugar and different notions associated with it. Mintz tries to define the position and role of the commodity in the globalization process taking into consideration the social and economic aspects of sugar consumption. In addition, the book is the best guide to the transformation processes that led to the foundation of capitalism. The book is also aimed at identifying the impact of sugar introduction on the market and the global trade. Moreover, Mintz’s merit lies in the detailed explanation of the consequences of social changes for the current society. The writer’s goal is to define the connection between the production and the consumption, industrial workers and plantation slaves engaged in the sugar business.
The problem is closely connected with Mintz’s background. His concern with the poor colonial world is predetermined by the experience he had in his life. Thus, in 1948 he chanced to live with a young sugar cane worker in Barrio Juaca, in Puerto Rico where Mintz got interested in the process of the sugar manufacturing. There, on the island, he could witness the hard manual work of the people seeding, planting, and cultivating cane. The horrible picture in front of him frustrated Mintz: poor and exhausted workers were waving their machetes under the great pressure of the supervisor (Mintz XVIII). Therefore, the author considered it crucial to highlight the real history of the sugar production. Second, the author managed to realize the connection of social behavior with sugar consumption.
As it can be viewed from the above mentioned, the writer traced the historical background of sugar and food preferences of the society. Being introduced in the east in the eleventh century, sugar became available for the English consumers only in the eighteenth century. Thus, in the starting chapters Mintz emphasized: “our food choices are related in some ways to availability …food preferences are close to the self-definition” (Mintz, 3). Moreover, he made a conclusion that food habits “reveal distinction of age, sex, status, culture, and even occupation” (Mintz 3). This statement is rather consistent and proves the connection of biological processes with nation identification. Being the best-known anthropologist, Mintz was absolutely aware of this evident interaction.
The book develops on the topic of the relationships within the society and the role of sugar in it and focuses on the fact that it did not mean the same to those who cultivated sugar and to those who profited from it. In the work, Mintz writes: “…West Indian people became invisible until their migration to the center of the empire brought them back into uneasy view more than a century later” (Gatsby 43). So, in the eighteen century, sugar was considered “monopoly of a privileged minority” (Mintz 45) and, therefore, the working class did not have access to it.
The writer also managed to pursue the importance of sugar industry in the transition from feudalism to capitalism. Thus, the production contributed to the adaption of the “old colonial agricultural system” (Mintz, 55) and to the capitalism since the outcome of it was the rise of sugar plantations. Mintz believed that “the maturity of plantation system was based on the slavery in the Caribbean region…” (Mintz 56).Though the capitalist relations did not primary include the excessive exploitation of the labor force, the workers were subjected to the upper classes. The plantation phenomenon, however, may be also related to the survival of feudalism and slavery. Another hidden reason for the plantation emergence lied in the amelioration of the commercial and military navies in Western Europe. Sugar became the trigger point in the struggle between different sectors of British capitalism and “a symbol of a doomed commercial exclusivism” (Mintz 66).
In the course of the development of capitalism, sugar evolved from the item of luxury to the highly prized good for mass consumption. However, the history of sugar witnessed that the consumption was associated with meaning and power. Mintz noticed that the extreme rise of sugar consumption was due to many reasons.. Since sugar appeared on the European market, the new exotic product attracted people and their interest was justified by their ignorance. Gradually, the consumers found many applications for the sugar even considering it as medicine. So, this product was quickly assimilated and, later, it became the inherent component of the Englishmen’s everyday diet (Mintz 120). Market success was also predetermined by the fact that sugar had long been considered as spice which was in high demand among both the upper classes and the working population.
The introduction of sugar changed the social behavior of people in America and Europe. Associating the sugar with power, people were striving to get it believing that it would somehow differentiate them from the others. In this respect, the upper class behavior influenced the way of life of the working class (Mintz 186). This concept affected the social culture and even created the traditions. The introduction of the sweet product gave rise to the production of pastries, confectionery and sweetened beverages (Mintz, 13). Hence, sugar not only penetrated the culture of eating, it became the part of it. The relation of food to social groups took different and even controversial forms in modern life.
Evaluation
From my point of view, the author was quite persuasive in his statements and gave thorough and consistent answers to the questions. To be more exact, he managed to pursue the historic development of sugar production and its connection with the modern society. Moreover, he successfully defined the stages of sugar consumption and clarified how it affected the transition from plantation slaves to the industrial workers. Especially, I liked the way he presented the steps of cultural evolution of eating.
Considering the structure of the book, it should be admitted that it is well-built and is logically divided into parts. Each chapter has the chronological order where the author refers to the historical background and connects it with the present time. Therefore, the reader can easily understand the main idea of the work and make the relevant conclusions. In addition, all the arguments provided by the author were supported by the numerous facts from history and the citations of outstanding anthropologists and scientists. I was strongly convinced by the validity of the arguments because Mints’s research was mostly based on his own experience. To my mind, the book will be useful both to the ordinary readers and to the researchers since the language is quite available.
Framing
The role of sugar in history and its interaction with society is obvious and was studied by many researchers. In particular, I cannot but agree with the author’s assumption about the evident tie between the sugar industry and capitalism and the negative consequences of sweetened products on the working class. Thus, Susan Willis (141) also agrees with Mintz’s ideas where he states that “the forces of capitalism brought about the dependency of the working on cheap stimulants, the maintenance of working-class energy against the erosion of general health and longevity, and an immensely profitable system of production and consumption”. The creation of the mass-market was not only the way to capture the segment but also the method to take the control over the inferior layers of society. In this respect, the sugar was a kind of device rather than the new product.
Nowadays, sugar has less importance but still it takes a significant niche in the commodity market. The role of sugar has changed but the meaning of it remains: sugar is still the reason for such disease as diabetes.
Further, the author’s ideas about the harmful impact of sugar on health are still the problem for the modern society and the book proves that the thrust of them originates from history. In this case, Willis calls capitalism as “disease establishment” and supports the Mintz’s ideas concerning the hidden motives of sugar introduction. According to him, “there was no conspiracy at work to wreck the nutrition of the British working class, to turn them into addicts, or ruin their health”(Mintz 186).This statement is urgent for our days as well.
Works Cited
Getsby, Meredith Sucking Salt: Caribbean women writers, migration, and survival. US: University of Missouri Press, 2006.
Mintz, Sydney. Sweetness and Power: The Place of Sugar in the Modern History US: Penguin Group, 1986.
Willis, Susan. A primer for daily life. London: Routledge, 1991.