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.