Sacred Gifts, Profane Pleasures

I know I’ve already mentioned in class how much I liked Sacred Gifts, Profane Pleasures in class before, but it stands repeating that this is one of the better books that I’ve read on the topic of commodities, the fusion of beliefs and practices, and the Atlantic World. The fact that it remains a good book, looking at it from the different point of view of a commodities class, just emphasizes the point. It helps that Norton’s thesis fits in very well with a focus on commodities, revolving as it does around the social space and meanings of two of the most popular agricultural luxury commodities from the Americas.

In this case, I think the most relevant thing for us is the adoption of social meaning, which Daniel already pointed out ties into Appadurai. Norton uses the social meaning of cacao/chocolate and tobacco as it develops, changes, and is adopted and adapted by Europeans and Africans from Mesoamericans and various Caribbean cultures. The book is about how the adoption of these two commodities relied on the acceptance of indigenous meanings of the commodities and to a certain extent the indigenous uses and rituals surrounding them. In essence, the adoption of chocolate and tobacco originally demonstrated the modification of European spaces by indigenous commodity identities. Additionally, in the early parts of the book we also see how indigenous commodity usage and activity becomes modified with the introduction of European culture, as in the use of chocolate and tobacco’s spiritual properties in conjunction with European saints and ceremonies.

Sacred Gifts, Profane Pleasures

As part of the book’s title indicates, this book is about the history of Tobacco and Chocolate on both sides of the Atlantic.  Marcy Norton commences with the journey of the commodity in Mexico; the birthplace of these two unique products and their significant uses in the Mexican culture. She also highlights the important role both equally had in indigenous religious ceremonies.  However, by the time tobacco reached Europe it fell short in sustaining its ritual importance; while Chocolate maintained its image not only with the Church but also with the upper class of the European societies. There is a great deal of discussion about consumption by the population that resides on both sides of the Atlantic but very little dialog about production.

The author did a good job in describing the journey of Tobacco and Chocolate, and their influences and changes with time, even though the author’s focus was slightly more on Chocolate. Reading commodity history books; it seems each writer focuses on one or two aspects of the commodity chain and there is hardly a book that gives equal attention to all commodity chains. Marcy Norton focused on the parts that highlighted her approach to the commodity she is discussing; her focus was the cultural influences of the products.

I think I will use this book, as one of my final books because it has similar ideology to History of Chocolate. Both books discussed how the commodity influenced cultures particularly Europe, and how the commodity (Chocolate) lost its prestige

Adopted Consumption and Transformation

Two things stuck out to me while reading Sacred Gifts, Profane Pleasures in terms of themes we have encountered in previous assigned readings for the class. The first was in relation to the use of customs or knowledge from an indigenous people being either utilized or exploited (or both) by a colonizing power. We see throughout this book that Europeans adopt the customs of the indigenous uses of both chocolate and tobacco. Whether it be that the commodity is used in relation to religious or spiritual significance (or avoided at certain times because of this) or consumed for the purpose of appearances and social status, the European community espouse the means and ways of consumption the same as those who originally developed them. This obviously gives agency to the indigenous peoples, at least according to Norton, despite it being a fact that has been forgotten, manipulated, or modified for the popular historical narrative of the Western powers rise to prominence. This same idea is seen in a related way in Carney’s Black Rice, where the African laborer/slave utilize their traditional customs for growing rice and it is adopted and utilized by the planters in the Americas.

The second trait that I followed harkens back to Appadurai’s idea regarding the transformation of commodities to adapt to different markets and circumstances. In fact Norton even has a subsection dedicated to “Transformation” starting on page 262. The transformations of the way chocolate and tobacco were viewed from a societal aspect and how it was physically consumed was an adaptation by the European market to make the commodities a more attractive product to masses. This transformation of the same basic commodity allowed for chocolate and tobacco to continue on in their popularity despite changing markets and consumers. Obviously, at least in my mind, the addictive qualities of both commodities help to sustain their commodities, however the adaptation and transformation through generations to develop the commodity into something that a wide audience can easily access and can consume is also key.

Yams!

Laveaga's Jungle Laboratories works to put rural Oaxaquenos at the center of the story about the pill, barbasco and yams. As with Black Rice, the book is an attempt at changing the traditional narrative. In this case, the traditional narrative about oral contraceptives is almost entirely about the work of western scientists and any whiff of Mexico's role in the commodity chain is left out.

(In all honesty, I have not had the chance to read more than the introduction at this point. I will have the book read in time for class.)

The Commodity Chain of the Knowledge Trade

 

            Usually when I read our assigned books, I try and focus on who the author is trying to give the power of the narrative to. In Gabriela Soto Laveaga’s Jungle Laboratories, that was one thing I did not have to question as Soto Laveaga spelled out in the introduction that this was going to be a peasant-centric narrative of the barbasco trade. So while reading it I focused on what power the commodity (barbasco) held and how it was able to be used to allow those who were using it, in this case primarily the Oaxacan peasantry, to gain agency. What I found myself thinking about however was that barbasco was the sub-commodity to the primary product of change in this narrative. The knowledge of science was the true element that gave the power to whoever was involved in the barbasco trade. Obviously at first, the scientists were not Mexican and the peasants added to the trade as what most peasants generally add to most agricultural or manufacturing trades, the intense and underappreciated hard labor. What is fascinating is that through different elements and actors, some of the peasants were able to gain agency by buying into the commodity of knowledge, adopting the academic driven trade of science. In Carney’s Black Rice, the power that came from manufacturing techniques and technological prowess that the slaves were using to advance the rice trade, and in doing so giving them more agency than simply being forced labor, had already developed within their own community. It was something that they owned, knowledge that they had developed. With the Oaxacan peasants, it was something they had to go out and attain; something foreign to their community. The commodity chain that is the attainment of knowledge that can be used for ones own profit and power is shown in the barbasco trade. The value of that knowledge of scientific technology allowed for barbasco to become something of value within the international economy, but the ability to “purchase” or trade in that knowledge, instead of having it be homegrown within the community, gave authority and agency to a group of peasants who would have otherwise been written off in the commodity chain of barbasco as simply the muscle and labor that brought the product to the manufacturers.

Barbasco and then...

Jungle Laboratories was an interesting look at a portion of the pharmaceutical industry and its interaction with a specific commodity. It is somewhat disappointing for the purposes of this class in a few respects compared to several of the other books we have read, however. This is very much a book about Mexico specifically, and its involvement in the synthetic hormone production industry. As a result, the book focuses almost entirely on one end of the commodity chain that leads to birth control pills among other products. Unless we consider the barbasco itself as the commodity, with the final form being the processed flour that is shipped to chemical laboratories for hormone production, then this book does not really seem to follow the entire commodity chain to the extent that we have seen in other works.

This is not to say that the book is bad. In fact, I think that it is a phenomenal work, especially looking at the sources that Gabriela Laveaga makes use of. I just think that this is a very extreme version of a ‘window’ commodity history that uses a commodity to look at something entirely different. In this case, the book is almost entirely focused on a specific attempt at the development of a Mexican pharmaceuticals industry. This book is about the organization of labor, it is about industrial development and industrialization, it is about the development and changing of communities, and it is about national identity and the shaping of national symbols. Unfortunately, what it feels this book is not about is commodities. Barbasco is a vehicle around which all the change in this book rotates, but the commodities that barbasco is an essential component for are virtually absent (in and of itself a significant point when it comes to the discussion of Mexico and to some of the events and viewpoints there!) I suspect that this book, while an excellent book considered independently, is probably going to be one of the books I drop simply because it does not feel very much like it is focused on the commodity itself.

Where is the Pill?

I thought this book expanded on the theme of science in the transformation of commodities and even creation of commodities that we saw last week regarding cocaine. Laveaga not only discusses how there was homegrown science regarding barbasco and the extraction of diosgenin through universities and intellectuals, but also how local growers contributed to the knowledge of these scientists. I appreciated this effort because it showed that indigenous knowledge framed the scientific knowledge to come. Peasant and indigenous knowledge was thus not only important in locating and acquiring barbasco, but a lot of early information on it and even its properties and uses came from locals which may have shaped the science of it. This gives agency not only to Mexico in the international scientific community, but it also gives agency to lower class and indigenous internally in the Mexican scientific community.

I am a little puzzled as to why "the pill" is included in the title, since the book barely discusses the making of the pill. Moreover, Mexicans saw barbasco as an opportunity to ride science and a homegrown commodity to modernity, yet at the same time there is no discussion of the acceptance or proliferation of the pill within Mexican society. Did the Church sanction its use as part of population control? Was this pill another example of the increasing influence of modernity and science in controlling people's bodies whereas before the Church did? What about the gendered aspect of the creation of this pill since the only consumers are women? I thought it was interesting that barbasco was found to be the cure for arthritis, which was a major concern in the United States, but is not a "dangerous" condition. By that I mean, a cure for a disease was not found, but a palliative was discovered which eased the symptoms. In a lot of ways science used for capitalist purposes was what empowered barbasco, which is different from cocaine's use in surgery.

One thing I found very helpful was that Saviega used oral history in her work, which is something more of these commodity histories can employ since many of them trace the commodity into more recent times. In fact, I think a lot of revealing information came from these interviews she conducted because it illustrated the divide and self-perception of these landless pickers or rooters. Saviega explains how the pickers were not considered campesinos by the state because they didn't own land, even though they were the ones with all the knowledge about barbasco, especially since barbasco was never cultivated or grown systematically but rather collected in the woods. I found this very interesting since most of the products we have read about have been cultivated over hundreds of years, whereas barbasco seemed more like a weed on the margins of society. While locals had extensive knowledge of it, it did not become an important commodity until science found diosgenin in it. What could have remained an unknown and underutilized commodity in Mexico instead became a product that became a force on the world market. Again, I am struck by the idea that the agent of change was science and the scientific method transforming a little used agricultural product into a medicine. Barbasco didn't change over time into this medicine, since diosgenin was always in it, but science unlocked its potential.

Barbasco

Overall, I found Gabriela Laveaga’s analysis of the Barbasco trade to be very interesting and readable.  Her book, Jungle Laboratories, reminded me of some of the readings we have discussed over the past few weeks, especially in that it successfully returned agency to those people and groups who are often left out of the historical record. Like Timothy, I paid special attention to its connection with Black Rice and how a special knowledge base was required to find and harvest the yam. In dense jungles full of poisonous snakes and dangerous terrain, Campesinos (those who picked the yams) had to defy the elements and recognize the yam in order to dig it up. Without experience in the jungle, one could become lost or injured while attempting to find the yam, which gives the rural Mexican pickers special agency in the production of this commodity. In addition, by using the commodity chain approach, the author was able to show the entire process of the steroid hormone industry. From the jungles of rural Mexico where the yam was harvested by the Campesinos, through the transportation and purchase by middlemen, to the laboratories and pharmaceutical companies who processed the product and created drugs for the world, every link in the chain is discussed in detail. As a reader, I appreciated this approach when discussing a commodity that I knew little or nothing about beforehand because it gave me a clear understanding of why its discovery and use was so important. Furthermore, the commodity chain helped to highlight why Campesinos should be recognized for their contributions and why they and the government insisted that Barbasco “belonged” to the peasants and the nation. Without the knowledge base created and maintained at the lower levels of society, the yam might never have been recognized or developed for its scientific and medical worth.  This specialized knowledge gave Mexican peasants an enormous amount of agency in this specific commodity.

While this book is very similar to other histories such as Black Rice and Banana Cultures that we have read, I thought one of the main differences was the conscious awareness of the Mexican government in recognizing the contributions of the of the rural pickers. By establishing Proquivemex, the government attempted to end exploitation by trans-national companies and bring more modernization and information about the commodity to the farmers of the countryside. In the other books, the authors are often the ones finding the agency that has been hidden away or ignored. However in this history, the government was interested in the well-being and importance of their citizens, even at the lowest levels. While this awareness was short-lived and ultimately unsuccessful because of overwhelming competition and depleted resources, I thought that point was interesting and unique. In conclusion, because this book emphasizes the theme of human agency that I have focused upon throughout the semester, I would definitely keep it on my syllabus.    

Commodification Through Science

When I first began reading Gootenberg, I did not think his commodity history would be so heavily focused on the politics behind cocaine's placement in the drug hierarchy globally. In many ways, Gootenberg is using cocaine as a lens through which to view international politics and the ways in which drugs and products are can be regulated. Although at times, I think it focuses too much on the USA and their push to criminalize cocaine, I appreciated Gootenberg's discussion of how cocaine was used by Peruvian nationals in different ways. I think this book uses the lens approach more than putting cocaine at the center because the product doesn't really seem to matter. By that I mean, I think you could replace cocaine with another product and Gootenberg could be telling the same story and explaining the same processes. Gootenberg uses the discourse on cocaine to discuss how Peruvian politicians and intellectuals argued for Indian degeneracy and lamented their use of coca at the same time others lauded cocaine for its modernity and the way it made Peru important in the world economy through its exportation.

One thing that Gootenberg did do effectively was explain the difference between coca and cocaine use within Latin America and the world. Coca was a more local, indigenous product whereas cocaine was a product created for world use, especially in Europe, America, and Japan(all "modern" powers by this point). I thought he explained how the difference between Bolivian coca, which was grown closer to the city centers and became more intimately integrated in Bolivian society and the idea of the nation, differed from Peruvian coca production which was detached from Lima and became less a part of identity than in Bolivia. Other than describing the differences between coca and cocaine though, I thought the book was very light on who consumed cocaine in the USA and in what context. Gootenberg explains the idea of our cultural ideas on "drug culture" as well as the propensity to consume medicine in more decentralized ways in tonics and other door-to-door remedies, as two reason for cocaine's popularity, but I think more focus on the U.S. market would help us understand ultimately why cocaine we demonized and outlawed.  I don't even think he outright said that propaganda and the war effort against Germany was the start of the demonization of cocaine, but it seems that was the major event changing the commodity's history.

The one fascinating thing about this book seems to be the agent of change, which I think is science in this book. Coca had existed for centuries and everyone knew about it and its uses. With the rise of science though, scientists began to test all products from various regions to discover their uses. With the discovery of the high alkaloid content of coca leaf, the German and Peruvian scientists turned coca into a global commodity. Coca might have stayed local had not the idea of science and scientific method not developed which emphasized rationality and control of nature through its study, and I think this is an important step in the commodity chain that is often overlooked.

Andean Cocaine

Andean Cocaine is a very satisfactory commodity history. It brings together much of the theory that we have been discussing in the course so far, including Wallerstein's World Systems Theory and dependency theory. In addition, Gootenberg brings together Schivelbusch, Appadurai and Kopitoff and uses them as the lens through which he explains commodity chains. In addition, his discussion of world markets as being socially constructed is a perfect companion to Appadurai and his Social Life of Things. I particularly liked the discussion the commodification of cocaine, something that is clarified in this book in ways that it was not in others.

I thought that it was also significant that he emphasized the difference between cocaine as first manufactured in German laboratories and coca leaf as used by natives in Latin America. This discussion allowed the reader to understand the different actors and their role within the commodity chain of coca and cocaine.

Ultimately, the commodity chain approach is much clearer in this book than it has been in others, making this a good choice for inclusion in a commodity history course.

Andean Cocaine

In last week’s election we witnessed two additional states legalizing Marijuana. Weather or not you are for or against legalization of drugs, we cannot deny the positive influences of drugs in modern science. The book Andean Cocaine by Paul Gootenberg examined the history of cocaine locally (where cocaine plants grow) and globally (where the product is to exported mainly North America/Europe).  The author does not demonize cocaine; to the contrary he argues cocaine’s impact in human body as treatment and pain suppressor.

In general the book is well written, the author is able to convince the reader with his argument.  However, viewing this book from the lens of commodity and commodity history I think the author falls behind in some aspects: production, conception, supply and demand are not parallel.  More focus is put on countries, which import or export cocaine, whereas supply and demand were restricted to medical use of the product.  I was expecting the emphasis to remain in the realm of the positive influence of the commodity instead of spending time in the negative aspect of cocaine. Since cocaine is not a normal commodity such as coffee, tea or sugar there is one of two ways to approach a commodity such as this, either to support or to be against it; the author covered both sides, which diverted his main argument. 

Reading about cocaine as commodity was fascinating because people usually avoid discussing such product.  This book not only is a good reference to my final project but also an excellent source for addressing controversial products such as cocaine.