A Black Sweet Drink From Trinidad

1
Cola-Cola

• A Black Sweet Drink From Trinidad

2
Commodity Fetishism?

• Marxists Commodity as vehicle for capitalist
  dominance
• Coke as Meta-symbol
• Commodities conceal labor exploitation
• Epitome of capitalist imperialism
• Daniel Miller
• Localization
• Coke Classic represents consumer resistance

3
Coke in Trinidad

• British Colony
• U.S. soldiers popularized rum Coke
• Trinidadians made it their local, nationalist
  drink
• Cannings obtained Coca-Cola franchise in 1939
• but it was a colonialist firm
• 1975 Neil Massey (TNC) took over
• Is still identified with Cannings in the public
  mind

4
Coke is Not a Product of Global Homogenization

• Government maintains price control on the
  industry
• Government protected Coke, banned import of
  foreign soft drinks until IMF adjustment
• Sweet drinks are regarded as Trinidadian, the
  common persons drink

5
Soft Drinks in Trinidad

• Solo RC Cola, Indian owned
• Viewed outside of white control
• Family opposes African-dominated government
• Jaleel Cole Cold (red drinks)
• Regarded as Indian
• Muslim family supports government, opposes Hindu
  Indian Party
• Williams Regarded as Chinese

6
Miller Focuses on Consumption

• Red Sweet Drink is associated with ethnic Indians
  (Gimme a Red)
• Black Sweet Drink (rum Coke)
• is traditional (Gimme a Black)
• Ethnic Identity
• Indians view Coke as white Peoples (Black
  African Trinidadian) drinkIndians are ethnic
  minority
• African Trinidadians view non-Coke soft
• drinks as inferior

7
Importance of Identity

• Rather than an image of globality, Cokes image
  develops locally through the contradictions of
  popular culture
• Identity vs. otherness
• Symbolic anthropology to analyze diversity in the
  specificity of particular capitalisms
• Globality must be determined in the local setting

8
Millers Critique of Left Academics

• Glib academia views Coke as a Meta-symbol for
  globalization
• Lazy thinking Capitalism as a profit-making
  machine
• Such totalizing thinking was an instrument of
  fascism !
• Accepting the globality of Coke as imperialist
  capitalism parallels the use of the Swastica as
  meta-symbol !