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.
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.
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