An Anthropological Discussion of Social History: Coffee

University of Derby, Buxton

"I have measured out my life with coffee spoons" T.S. Eliot (1917)



The commodity known to many as "black gold" can be viewed with a somewhat
convoluted modern appreciation. Fuelling one's thoughts in the early morning or the
indulgence through mid-afternoon conversation, morning people can be categorised
into those which have consumed coffee and those which have yet to (DCosta, 2011).
Just like many things we may take for granted in the material culture and ritual
consumption of the western world; the origins of coffee do not escape this
generalisation. Some may view the investigation of the social history of coffee as a
concept that is historically exhausted or a waste of time (Geltner, 2011); unless that is
we as readers and researchers understand that anthropology has many didactic values
towards understanding specific cultural acts and how they apply to society at large, as
culture controls everything (Samovar, Porter and McDaniel, 2009). This relates to
understanding the social, economic and physical impact of a commodity and
potentially looking to the future to ensure that any food commodities are only
beneficial, in terms of increasing world concern over sustainability, as 'culture' is
learned (Hofstede, 2010) and an experience which affects all members of society. The
importance of anthropology as a social 'lense' helps us as humans, to unlock all other
aspects of life (Haviland, Prins, McBride and Walrath, 2010). This essay will
chronologically explore the path from discovery to coffee in contemporary society
and its social discourses along the way. It is the purpose of this essay to investigate
and critically discuss the social history of coffee and its potential value as a basis for
future consideration in product sustainability and regulation.





Religion and Masculinity


It is the collective understanding of many scholars such as Briggs and Blatt (2009)
that the Arabica-bean originated from the Kaffa region of Ethiopia in the 9th century.
As an accepted practice of growing and chewing coffee-beans in Yemen, the berry
was subsequently roasted and ground which made for a delicious hot beverage under
the watchful gaze of Islamic monks. The transition of coffee from a crop to an
individual entity such as a beverage within a major religion such as Islam means we
can place importance on its value within a society, as this is identified as a directly
materialist construct (Harris, 2001). This is not specific to the physical form of coffee,
but its initial rituals for consumption. As an initially prohibited, but inevitably
accepted practice through cultural resistance (as can be found in contemporary
society) (Cultures of Resistance, 2013) in Islamic states in the fifteenth century,
coffee consumption is never mentioned in the Koran, this can be initially seen as a
commodity that revolutionised Islamic acceptance of 'mind-altering' ingredients, yet
never fully became legitimate in the eyes of Islamic law (Ellis, 2011). The practice of
social rituals in the opinion of some authors, have a 'rippling effect' on the existing
relationships around them, such as the theory (Falk, 1994) that consumption as a
concept ritual is both constructive and/or destructive.

As an example of this, coffee in Islam as introduced by the Ottoman Turk occupancy
of Yemen not only surfaced consumption as a daily ritual, but appropriated coffee as
a pre-war ceremony or as a representation of regional-religious identity when warring
with Christian neighbours (Pendergrast, 2010) . War in this sense is the construct or
contextual canvas that binds this almost universal ritual (in the sense of Islam), whilst
armies consisted of only men (Sinnott, 2010), it is only natural to suggest that the
bivalence of oral consumption fused with the emotional tyranny of battle, and military
power, defined coffee consumption as an all masculine pursuit. Just as this approach
suggests, the rituals of organised religion brought coffee to the forefront of daily
consumption, much to the surprise of many also begun to undergo the metamorphosis
of gender relations which in itself can then accredit itself to a social hierarchy and the
value of coffee usage in respect of these.

The social discourse of coffee and other commodity consumption such as tea and
tobacco in tea-rooms at the objection to the Ulama, (elite possessors of respect and
deep Islamic education) (Britannica.com, 2012) was primarily a male pursuit
(Britannica Educational Publishing, 2009) restricting females of the time to
socialising at home. This example of socio-religious hierarchy in this manner from
faith leaders is an example of how such a commodity can be a taboo of bio-cultural
relationships and as a badge for a form of dominance hierarchy (Haviland, Prins,
McBride and Walrath, 2010) or in plain terms using food as a suppressor for social or
religious obedience by the ruling gender. This perspective is not deemed to judge
such historical practises as morally wrong, but to view it from an academic,
anthropological (materialist) and subjective nature.Hypermasculinity (Flood, 2007)
in the context of coffee consumption can at first approach be seen to be detrimental to
gender relations, through the social expectations of religion and the separation of
traditional relationship power to males.

The residing fact why coffee stayed a masculine pursuit is informed by Reitz (2007:
2) as When coffee crossed the threshold of the home and entered the kitchen, it lost
its male exclusivity. The espresso shot has not made this journey from the public to
the private domain. History has shown that the home is the female center of control.
Men must journey outside of that domain for control. If this material is viewed from
an Idealist perspective, it is inherent that if a male was to break such tradition and
practice, a level of respect and masculinity would be lost, almost a like to that of rank
in the military or even a form of currency (Haviland et el, 2010), in respect of this
however can it then be assumed that overall power did not reside with males (in the
context of held male culture), as it was still a practice that was done away from the
home, which in itself gives domestic control to the females of the time, implying that
females had their own social domain (and level power) in which was important to
them and not one that could be truly conquered by masculinity. Domains of social
control can also explain other forms of anthropologic value such as the exclusivity of
certain types of garment worn by specific genders or even personality attributes in
adolescence (Selkirk, Bouchey and Eccles, 2011).


Racism and Colonialism

It has been well documented throughout historic materials that colonialism has been
the sole factor, for the exchange of commodities to the homes of millions. It is these
practices that shaped world cultures, economies and brought misery to those who
were exploited for its cultivation and transformation to the mass market (Tucker,
2011). During the colonial years, not only did Europeans make controlling exotic
commodities their primary initiative, but also the uncontrollable violence and erratic
savagery in lieu of these operations transformed the mind-set of citizens (Buras,
2011), as an example, the empire of Great Britain and the nationalistic value of
commodities such as coffee, to its people. The consideration that coffee was
considered exotic and luxurious by the distinct group that could afford to consume it,
was initiated by James Wadsworth (Peck, 2005). James discovery that coffee and
other commodities such as chocolate were beneficial to health was both met with
initial acceptance and later, revered opposition. This is an interesting anthropological
concept which falls in line with Bordeius celebrated works on habitus, which
explains how wealth and availability of a commodity, will inherently inform the class,
habits and expectations of behaviour of a particular social group (Hiller and Rooksby,
2005) that consume the entity. This relationship with class consumption, inevitably
informs desire and thus commercial demand, this ultimately aided in forming a
primitive version of social commercialism before commercialism as a concept was
completely formed.

Coffee as a semiotic of colonial gain a trophy of victory, (Tresider, 2010) was
subsequently an attached informed upper class practise; this was also met with
revulsion by many in this period. Perhaps in a state of psycho-rheology the intense
form of dominant militant racism that fuelled the colonial pursuits inevitably
informed many forms of food racism (Guthman, 2008). This is not to say that it was
detrimental to its consumption, as stated commercialism as an imbedded function
does not always invoke culturally informed collective concepts such as racism, if
anything coffee can see as both an oxymoron consumed by the people, which in turn
condemn the people who originally cultivated the ingredient and as a unit of cultural
transmission (mimesis) (Inamura, Toshima, Taine and Nakamura, 2004), this is seen
to inform British class culture more and equally disperse its consumption amongst
genders, as commercialism is both simultaneously neglectful and respectfully aware
of gender separation and seeks to facilitate it with forms of marketing. Similarly when
a commodity such as coffee becomes sufficiently culturally embedded, historic
reiteration factors (as devised by the author of this essay) such as religion, war,
national pride or in plain terms, collective or individualistic self-identity act as a cage
for consumption, cementing a practice within a society and methods to change such
practices are influenced by those with the power in the collective group through
intensification (Mintz, 1985).

As portrayed by Slocum (2010: 304) Race is a fiction. It exists only as a discursive
category, the result of societal norms privileging paler skin and the practices of
bourgeois whiteness that became salient through colonialisms engagement with non-
white and poor white groups. Assailant towards the notion that acts of
intensification outplay the negative aspects of food racism, much emphasis has been
placed on the importance of how shifting patterns of consumption with regards to
obesity is also harming globalisations role as an actor of anti-racist food. The idea of
how non-white ethnic groups must conform to the slim globalised image of the
white woman, fuels attachment to traditional hearty meals of the Caribbean promoted
by such works by Breeze Harpers (2010) Sistah Vegan: Food, Identity, Health, and
Society: Black Female Vegans Speak. This is again reiterating the food resistance
concept discussed earlier under Religion and Masculinity.


Consumerism and Femininity

The discussion points of pre-formed commercialisation can be reiterated by Grazia
and Furlough (1996), as consumerism in the latter stages of the 19
th
century became
predominantly feminised, coffee aided in this change through the language of the
shopper (cappuccino and espresso). As style and wealthy association were attached
to the people at the heart of fashion meccas such as Milan, is was evident that the
association of coffee as a social ritual was inevitably going to have a niche or
collective function within this social group, as Venice was the home of many of the
original European Coffee houses (Allen, 2006). However, consumerism and coffee
has not always been strictly feminised, Grazia and Furlough (1996: 32) again reiterate
the reoccurring concept of segregated male power within shopping and coffee, they
state that shopping venues at this time were like rubbing shoulders with all abuses of
social life and ..hardly a place appropriate for virtuous bourgeois wives and
mothers. In this case the masculinised power distribution in society can be related to
an almost chivalrous attitude of males (to protect women); however the latter does not
fully support their intentions, as this was sometimes used to facilitate common
practice of sexual banter exchange between man and woman. This of course is not to
suggest women were harassed, but scratches away at the concept of why woman are
so involved in the marketing of masculinised goods.
Sexuality and coffee was also central to the social boundaries placed with religion
and colonialism in the seventeenth century, coffee as a commodity that inhibits sexual
practise was promoted in the Muslim world yet frowned upon in Christian societies
(Matar, 1998: 117). This is not to suggest that this was purely an act of religious
intolerance but stemming from a westernised fear of Arab domination from the
Ottoman-Turk Empire and the perception of coffee-houses being places of the
obscene and ribald, subsequently the negative effects of these practises were
inevitably blamed on Muslims. This particular westernised perspective of foreign or
savage world of the unknown also produced (controversially) constructive culture
(Falk, 1994) in regards to the vessels in which in particular, English society consumed
coffee. Chinaware such as Wedgewood productions, Greek styles, Gothic motifs and
new styles of crockery also inherently influenced the feminist and high class
association that came with experiencing exotic culture (Hiller and Rooksby, 2005),
although coffee in this case was the original materialist commodity it can be seen that
consumerism was developing into a separate form (material culture) (Stearns, 2006).

Independence and Extensification

Distancing the subject of discussion from the coffee culture of Europe, there is also
much academic emphasis that must be placed upon the social aspects of coffee in the
new world. During the formation of what is now the United States of America, in the
early 1600s, tea was primarily the beverage of choice. This was directly influenced
by the residing British colonies (Hudson, 2004) and one of the influential locations for
its consumption was Boston. The Boston tea party was one of the defining steps
leading up to the American revolution, as a climax of many events leading up to the
revolution, a British ship containing a taxed shipment of tea reached Boston
Massachusetts, the colonists threw the tea overboard in a protest over taxation without
representation (Furstinger, 2002).
In terms of social history, this changed Bostons habit of tea drinking and made
drinking coffee a patriotic duty, as decreed by the political party itself. What is
interesting here is that although tea was still primarily the drink of choice, as it was
extremely cheap compared to coffee, boycotting the consumption of tea and changing
the meaning to drink coffee as an act of independence is explained by (Mintz, 1985)
as extensification. This process of changing consumption rituals and attributes is
apparent when a particular commodity is introduced to a nation or environment and
other social sub-cultures (in this case political), in which consume a commodity
change the meaning or definition of its affiliation. This can almost be seen in many
cases as a backlash or rejection of culture and in this case inherently influenced by
ethnocentrism. After the abolition of slavery in the United States paid labour in
particular, begun reform directly stemming from the elite of society to workers.
Boston in particular was at the centre of this as it was a morning ritual of many Irish
workers to consume alcohol upon waking, this donates itself historically, from the
anger of rich citizens as slaves stumbled about their work Meacham (2009: 19).
This again is a reference to Mintzs classification of intensification an emulation or
passing down of a commodity, that is personified and flown from one group
through a scale (in this case from the wealthy to the poor).

Power and Contemporary Society

Wealth in the respect in that of supply and demand has always attributed itself to
power, as wealth in turn can control those channels of wealth distribution (Smith,
1776). This was similarly the case of the rise of political and economic power of the
coffee elite in Central America all throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Liberalism as explained by Paige (1998: 13) ..served as both a justification and
program for the political and economic transformations that consolidated the new
agro-export order. As the new elite comprised of aristocratic descendants of
colonial times with high political power, and newer European immigrants of which
had money and the skills needed for an expansive agricultural-exportation operation,
the two met with harmony. This singular example of power acquisition is accredited
to the fundamental problems with coffee in contemporary society. As an example of
the separation of power between export and demand, Canadian coffee drinkers' drink
an average of 2.8 cups of coffee per day (Coffee Association of Canada, 2010) and
as Canada has no sustainable climate warm enough to grow coffee, the exploitation of
regional workers and corporate dominance is highlighted as a spine-chilling product
of the twentieth century, the overall difference between price sold by growers and
bought by retailers in the northern hemisphere was seven thousand per cent (Oxfam
International, 2002). Coffee culture was also informed by the Pan-American bureau of
coffee which aggressively promoted consumption through coffee breaks
(Pendergast, 2010).
Socially, this has not dented coffee consumption yet in the eyes of any person who
knows these facts, exasperates the relationship between wealth (power) and coffee. As
forethought one author describes coffee as The cigarettes of the twenty-first
century, Wood (2012) places further emphasis on coffee consumption behaviour, as
ritual white-collar workers dash for the drug and the exhibition of the same signs of
addiction with cigarettes; symptoms of withdrawal and dependence. The same
philosophy can be placed on coffee, as a drug of our time the harm done here is not
always physical, but economically and socially, just as cigarettes were misinterpreted
as bad for health in the early twentieth century, so is coffee as detrimental to
exploitation in the twenty first century. Perhaps it is only through continuous change
of workplace habit that products and commodities will become less fetishized
(Brock, Thomas and Raby, 2011), when a commodity is so affluently consumed that
the labour that produced the coffee is ignored or lost. This ingrained nature within
everyday habit had perhaps lost the ability of consumers to be aware of such fallacies.

Coffee, Mints and Conclusions

Just as coffee and mints are consumed at the end of a good dining experience, the
conclusions that black gold has been a celebrated social entity for centuries do not
lie in disrepute. However the key themes noted earlier whilst discussing the social
history of its consumption highlights crude distinctions. The distinction that must be
made is that the origin of coffee was attributed to religion, violence and sexism, this is
not to say that it was the main platform of its consumption, but as relationship
attributes which have shaped its residing place within western cultures freely
accepted and promoted by free commerce.
Coffees physical consumption offers another slice of social importance, we can see
that although initially the social macro environment factors inherently influenced its
consumption, drinking coffee produced or constructed many avenues of change in
respect of this (Falk, 1994). It is apparent that as a beverage it has injected cultural
importance and simultaneously recycled aspects as its association with the
workplace as a badge of ritual. With the lack of external attachment to violence and
religion, contemporarily, globalisation has taken the place of neo-colonial pursuits
and resides in the form of corporations such as Starbucks. Coffee can no longer be
seen to be an aspect of society but a platform or hyper-culture which inherently
influences a nations culture all on its own, creating new generations, sub-cultures and
types of consumers. What must be understood is that corporate control of coffee has
become in the opinion of the author too big, in reference to that of gender control,
power and wealth divide or colonialism these aspects of dominance should not be
allowed to continue in the form of another as a form of cultural ventriloquism.
Sustainability is a concept which emerges slowly from aspects of this essay, not just
in the context of production and economics but socially. The author of this essay can
state distinctively that social discourse can both inform and throw into disrepute, any
negative impacts of the exploitation of a word wide commodity.










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