30 pages 1 hour read

Sidney W. Mintz

Sweetness and Power

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1985

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Essay Topics

1.

In what ways do the Caribbean sugar plantations resemble or prefigure capitalist systems? In what ways are they not capitalist?

2.

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?

3.

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.