Salt and the Columbian State

In Salt and the Colombian State, Joshua Rosenthal analyzes the correlations between the management of salt production and the formation of the Colombian state. I agree with Ben – Rosenthal uses the administration and monopolization of salt production in Boyacá as a lens to view the creation of the Colombian state. Rosenthal makes salt and its production the center of analysis because he believes that more conventional ways of tracing state development are difficult in the case of Colombia. Colombia has no singular event that marks its beginnings as a state, its topography is widely varied creating diverse and isolated communities, and there exists a strong sense of regionalism throughout the country. This can make it difficult to see the emergence of the Colombian state. However, Rosenthal hopes that his analysis of the salt monopoly will provide a new avenue to view the Colombian state, while making his argument more concrete rather than theoretical. Rosenthal equates direct administration of the salt industry to a manifestation of the state and centralization of power. Rosenthal’s work reminded me quite a bit of Mintz. Both of their works take a lens approach, are production centered, and they argue that their studies, whether on sugar or salt, spurred significant historical developments (For Mintz, the birth of capitalism; for Rosenthal, the rise of the Colombian state).

            After reading Salt and the Colombian State, I find it very difficult to adhere to my current definition of what a commodity history should be (I wanted a commodity history to predominantly focus on a social history aspect). A commodity history can be about any product with exchange value that is placed within either a political, economic, or cultural/social analysis. This is a broader definition than I had before, and has made me reconsider which books I would include on my syllabus. For our course, I might focus on commodity histories that deal more with social history and cultural exchange (Sacred Gifts, Profane Pleasures tops my list), and title the course to reflect the new focus. I would probably retain Tastes of Paradise; Black Rice; A Perfect Red; Banana Cultures; Jungle Laboratories; and Sacred Gifts, Profane Pleasures, while I would remove some of the other books that do not have a strong social focus.