shag carpet bomb wrote:
>
> At 11:48 AM 11/13/2009, brad bauerly wrote:
> >Is it just me or does the whole discussion of how food reveals your position
> >in society not seem like a big distraction from the more important issue of
> >the production and distribution of food? I was actually pushed when doing
> >my masters in sociology studies to shift from a political economy of the
> >production of food to the consumption end. My data simply revealed that
> >among elites food is seen as a symbol of social position while for everyone
> >else it served as a cultural link to the past or mealy as
> >sustenance. Needless to say, I quickly abandoned the research for more
> >interesting, and IMO more important, work on the relationship between
> >changes in food production and class dynamics. I still don't understand the
> >interest in consumption side analysis. Maybe someone can clue me in to its
> >importance. And yes, I have read Bourdieu. Yawn.
> >
> >Brad
> >__________________
>
> heh. well, I can certainly see why you are an ardent fan of Walter Benn
> Michaels. This is a position he'd thoroughly support. History is bunk and
> culture is bunk eliciting a big fat yawn.
>
> This is why, I think Eric, you might want to flesh out your position. It
> sounds as if it's wavering toward the manly man real politics stuff. I know
> that's not what you mean, but I can see how it's misinterpreted.
>
It depends of course on what you consider "real" politics. So far it
seems to me Brad's politics are grounded in the assumption that "Marx"
is just the German translation of "Ricardo."
The problems with "consumption" is that capitalism focuses solely on Productioln & Consumption, thereby leaving out about 2/3rds of human life. One way of stating the purpose of socialist revolution is the recapturing from Production/Consumption of that lost part of human life.
Carrol