Sweetness and Power 2

A detailed Summary of Sweetness and Power 2

Sweetness and Power is a historical study of sugar and its affect on society and economy since it was first discovered. Sugar has had a large impact on society and the economy that is not noticeable unless thoroughly studied. The following is an analysis of the work done by Sidney W. Mintz in his attempt to enlighten the "educated layperson".

Mintz uses a very basic system for organizing the tremendous amount of data found within in the book. The book is divided into 5 chapters: "Food, Sociality, and Sugar", "Production", "Consumption", "Power", and "Eating and Being". Each of these chapters discusses different issues dealing with the main idea while moving in a more or less chronological order. For example, the chapter entitled "Production" begins by discussing the means by which sugar was produced in its earliest existence, and then ends by discussing more modern forms of production. Within the chapter, Mintz branches off and discusses various effects sugar has had on the economy and society. However, to fully understand the structure of the book, each chapter must be looked at individually to see how each is organized.

Chapter one begins by describing the connection between different groups of society and the food

Sugar as a sweetener came to the fore in connection with these other exotic imports - tea, coffee, and chocolate - of which one, tea, became and has since remained the most important nonalcoholic beverages in the United Kingdom.

In chapter five, entitled "Eating and Being", Mintz draws the book to a conclusion. In this chapter, Mintz strays from the effects of sugar in the past and present, and ventures as far as to make some educated opinions about the future of sucrose. On page 206, Mintz makes the statement:

Mintz uses many sources to back up the data and conclusions presented in the book. He does a good job of supporting all of his arguments with the proper source, however, he does not explain these sources to the fullest extent. The assumption is made that the reader clearly knows how the sources relates to the argument at hand, but sometimes the passages that Mintz cites are unclear. Also, Mintz understands that a field such as anthropology requires fieldwork to be strong. However, in that same line on page 213, Mintz states, "Those strengths continue to lie in fieldwork (there is little in this book I confess)." By this, Mintz himself has identified another one of the few flaws present in his book.

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Approximate Word count = 2022
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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