Gastropolitics and the Specter of Race: Stories of Capital, Culture, and Coloniality in Peru (California Studies in Food and Culture #76) (Paperback)
In recent years, Peru has transformed from a war-torn country to a global high-end culinary destination. Connecting chefs, state agencies, global capital, and Indigenous producers, this “gastronomic revolution” makes powerful claims: food unites Peruvians, dissolves racial antagonisms, and fuels development. Gastropolitics and the Specter of Race critically evaluates these claims and tracks the emergence of Peruvian gastropolitics, a biopolitical and aesthetic set of practices that reinscribe dominant racial and gendered orders. Through critical readings of high-end menus and ethnographic analysis of culinary festivals, guinea pig production, and national-branding campaigns, this work explores the intersections of race, species, and capital to reveal links between gastronomy and violence in Peru.
María Elena García is Professor in the Comparative History of Ideas Department at the University of Washington.
"The book presents a stunning and innovative analysis of the politics of Peru’s recent gastronomic boom. . . .[it] is at the forefront of scholarly discussions on the topic and deserves a wide readership among anthropologists and food studies scholars working on food, race, and nationalism in a range of geographic settings."
— Gastronomica
— Gastronomica