Full Description
Food and drink has been a focal point of modern social theory since the inception of agrarian capitalism and the industrial revolution. From Adam Smith to Mary Douglas, major thinkers have used key concepts such as identity, exchange, culture, and class to explain the modern food system. Food, Politics, and Society offers a historical and sociological survey of how these various ideas and the practices that accompany them have shaped our understanding and organization of the production, processing, preparation, serving, and consumption of food and drink in modern societies. Divided into twelve chapters and drawing on a wide range of historical and empirical illustrations, this book provides a concise, informed, and accessible survey of the interaction between social theory and food and drink. It is perfect for courses in a wide range of disciplines.
Contents
Preface and Acknowledgments vii
1. Introduction: Food, Drink, and Modern Social Theory 1
2. The Natural and the Social: The Agricultural Revolution 21
3. Exchange: The Columbian Exchange and Mercantile Empires 40
4. Culture: Ritual, Prohibition, and Taboo 58
5. Industrialization: Technology, Rationality, and Urbanization 76
6. The Public Sphere: Eating and Drinking in Public 94
7. The Modern State: Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Biopolitics 112
8. Identity: Nationalism, Ethnicity, and Religion 130
9. Distinction: Social Diff erence, Taste, and the Civilizing Process 150
10. Political Economy: The Global Food System 169
11. The Self: Food Choices and Public Health 187
12. Consumption: Media, the Domestic Economy, and Celebrity Chefs 206
Notes 223
Select Bibliography 257
Index 265
