Consuming Latin America--My responses

Fitzcarraldo is a 1980s film about an ambitious, aspiring rubber baron who will do just about anything--climb any mountain--to make sure that an opera house is built in his home settlement along the amazon river in Peru. Though one would assume this film to be lighthearted in nature, the undercurrent of racism and bordering preposterous scenes serves to highlight the absurd yet long lasting effects of colonization, displacement of natives, and the view that the natives of the land may serve for nothing more than hands of labor and are to be exploited--all while taking the phrase "it was music that soothed the beast" to new heights. Seen in many scenes throughout the film is the role of people who would have been referred to as civilized natives or mestizos; people of native descent who in some way have been tamed of the "savage" instincts and now serve their European (and significantly lighter) saviors. There are many mestizos in this group who rarely talk, but no...

In a certain way, it could be said that the banana business homogenized different parts of latin America; though expression and certain details on topics regarding the business were unique due to each countries’/regions uniqueness, there were definite patterns to be seen among the players. Though all the players would be affected by things such as labor problems, each country involved would have a distinct way of dealing with these issues. Moving away from political and business issues however, there have been shifts and changes in the topology of the landscape, the representation of peoples, and general mindsets when the banana business is concerned. No matter where the banana trade went, even if it was dense jungle, with it, it brought some form of development to the region of use and also brought people. In fact, according to Moberg and Striffler, “Wherever the banana trade established itself, it generated broadly similar demands for labor, land, and capital, causing common patter...

1492 was a momentous year for Spain, it marked not only the discovery (or perhaps rediscovery) of the New World, but the recovery of Granada, which had been previously taken by the Arabs almost 8 centuries prior. This was the war against islam, a war for Christianity (which also resulted in the expulsion of thousands of Jews). It was the time of the holy inquisition and this in a way fueled the fire to claim new lands. In the early Spanish voyages to the Americas, wealth seemed to be the ultimate goal—they were there to conquer in the name of the royals, as well as acquire riches that had been previously describe by Marco Polo. They saw these riches as a divine right to be bestowed upon the crown and by extension themselves and they thus saw themselves as the masters of the land, divinely privileged with discovery. They also acknowledged that he who possesses gold may reign—over people and the world. Though spices were expensive, silver and gold “opened the doors to paradise” and g...

Consumer Culture (1997), Celia Lury 1.        How is the concept material culture defined by Lury in her text? Lury defines material culture as a culture of the use or appropriation of object or things. She see’s consumer culture as a type of material culture—the consumer emerges as an identity. o    But what is meant by master category of identity? o    A master category of identity is a consequence of the growth of reflexive object worlds o    “Consumer culture concerns itself with the significance and character of the values, norms and meanings produced in associated practices—this not only includes buying commodities, it includes the consumption of gifts, services, self produced objects, etc. “ §   “Consumption is to do with meaning, value and communication as much as it is to do with exchange and economic relations” §   “gods are not only ised tp dp things but they also have a meaning and act as mea...