Sweetness and Power

What does the author mean by the “anthropology of the present” or the “anthropology of modern life?” Based on the author’s explanation of the term, how does Sweetness and Power exemplify the anthropology of the present?

The author is upfront about the Marxist theory underpinning his economic and class analysis. What are some other helpful theoretical frameworks or schools of thought that could help explain the changes in British cultural, economic, and/or political life during the period of rapidly increasing sugar popularity in England, especially from the 18th to the 20th centuries? Take two scenarios from the text and re-interpret them through your chosen theoretical lens.

Why is slavery incompatible with the capitalist mode of production? What do enslaved laborers have in common with “proletarian” laborers/working-class free laborers? Do you think the author would agree that colonial sugar plantations and the history of sugar production and consumption in England would have been largely the same if forced labor were never utilized?

To what extent does the author incorporate a feminist perspective in his analysis? Does his discussion of the decline of the traditional meal in the 20th century and its consequences sufficiently account for the perspectives of women? How would the history of sugar consumption in England since the 16th century be experienced differently for women than for men? What different meanings might women and men associate with sugar consumption?

Could the historical production and consumption of a food product other than sugar have been used as a lens through which to analyze the history and institutions of English society over the same period? Why is it helpful to focus on sugar specifically?

Do 20th-century English consumers have less or more control over their diet than their 18th-century counterparts? Why?

Who benefited from England’s protectionist policies regarding trade with its Caribbean colonies, both on the islands and in the motherland? Whom did those policies hurt? Did this change throughout history?

How did sugar ultimately change the behavior of British society without “compulsion or open force and violence” (166)? Consider the author’s conception of power and the relationship between England and its colonies. To what extent is it accurate to say that these changes were accomplished without force or violence?