Meals matter : a radical economics through gastronomy / Michael Symons.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Symons, Michael, 1945- author.

Series:

Arts and traditions of the table

Arts and traditions of the table: perspectives on culinary history

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Food habits--Economic aspects.

Food habits.

Food habits--Social aspects.

Physical Description:

xx, 352 pages ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

New York : Columbia University Press, [2020]

Summary:

"In Gastronomics, Michael Symons provides an innovative history of the intersection of food history, philosophy and economics. Modern economic thought, Symons argues, is driven by a money-centric focus that benefits the interests of the 'corporate individual'-entities without finite appetites, motivated by an endless quest for financial growth-to the detriment of actual, corporeal individuals. Symons understands this shift as a modern devaluation of community and loss of a way of life that values food sharing, enjoyment and satiety. Covering a wide variety of thinkers-Jean Brillat-Savarin and Epicurus, Enlightenment philosophers Thomas Hobbes and John Locke, economic theorists Jean-Baptiste Say and Stanley Jevons, and neoliberals-Symons reads and critiques both popular and lesser-understood intellectuals to shed light into the 'economics of appetite' and the opposing 'economics of greed.' He calls for individuals to reject the self-interest of money pleasure and, through renewed attention to communal values of family, meal-sharing, food activism, and the defense of liberalism, advocates a return to a community-based philosophy of 'table pleasure.'"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

1 It's Not "the Economy, Stupid," but More Than Five of Them p. 1

Part 1 Insatiable greed vs. Satiable appetite

2 In Greed They Trust p. 19

3 Brillat-Savarin's Quest for Table-Pleasure p. 47

Part 2 Liberal Economics

4 Epicurus and the Pleasure of the Stomach p. 73

5 Cavendish, Hobbes, Locke, and Liberal Political Economy p. 87

6 The City Sacks Versailles p. 107

7 Making the Market p. 121

Part 3 The Capture

8 The Dismal Science p. 139

9 Ludwigvon Mises, Neoliberal Godfather p. 165

10 Rationalization and Corporate Purpose p. 187

11 The Creation of Homo Economicus p. 207

Part 4 Restoring Economics

12 Free the Market! (It's Been Captured by Capitalism) p. 225

13 Value Families! (Economics Begins at Home) p. 247

14 Get Political! (Bring Back Banquets) p. 267.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Other Format:

Online version: Symons, Michael, 1945- Meals matter

ISBN:

9780231196024

0231196024

OCLC:

1120904110