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“Çay, insanın zihnini su gibi temizler ve ruhunu buhar gibi yükseltir.” – demiş Lu Yu (Çay Klasiği'nin yazarı, Çinli çay ustası) Hindistan'ın şu anki sağcı lideri Narendra Modi, kendisini bir tren istasyonundaki chai-walla'sının (çaycının) oğlu olarak tasvir ediyor. Sarah Besky ‘Tasting Qualities: The Past and Future of Tea' etnografik çalışması için dünyanın en pahalı çaylarından bazılarının üretildiği Batı Bengal'in Himalaya eteklerindeki Darjeeling plantasyonlarında 10 yıl yaşayarak ve çalışarak geçirmiş. 2015'te, Darjeeling'e arabayla sadece birkaç saat uzaklıkta bulunan Dooars'ın bitişik bölgesinde araştırmaya başlamış. Çayın üretiminden tüketimine kadar olan süreçte kalite kavramının nasıl şekillendiğini inceliyor. Sarah Besky, çayın sadece bir içecek olmadığını, arkasında büyük bir emek ve karmaşık ekonomik-politik dinamiklerin bulunduğunu çeşitli açılardan gösteriyor.
Cymene and Dominic talk about flying chihuahuas and playground chamomile in this week's intro. Then (12:26), we welcome Cornell's Sarah Besky (http://www.sarahbesky.com/index.html) to the podcast to talk about her latest book Tasting Qualities: The Past and Future of Tea (U California Press, 2020). We start with how and why Sarah first became interested in tea. From there we move on to the relationship between quality, distinction and standardization in Indian tea making. How did the experience of British colonialism shape the experiential qualities of tea? Has the digitization of tea auctions reinforced or disrupted those colonial trends? Sarah explains plantation sickness to us and why is it spreading. We talk about tea jitters and the chemical life of tea and why Sarah thinks about tea as a tentacular form. We close by discussing climate change and how it is impacting the Indian tea industry from monsoons to landslides. Enjoy!
This week we're joined by anthropologist Dr. Sarah Besky of Cornell University to discuss the colonial history of tea and the people who produce it. Her research uses ethnographic and historical methods to study the intersection of inequality, nature, and capitalism.Her work on tea plantation and labour is focused on the Darjeeling and surrounding areas in NE India, and in the Himalayan region more broadly.This is part one of a two-part series on tea. In our next episode, we will focus on the role that tea plays in our cultures, communities and identities. The book referred to in the episode: The Darjeeling DistinctionHer most recent book: How Nature Works: Rethinking Labor on a Troubled Planet
Pop the kettle on and sit back for our first 'tea' themed episode! For this episode, Matt invited Michael Dunford, a PhD Candidate in Anthropology at ANU whose research explores labour, language, and tea in Myanmar, to join him in conversation with Sarah Besky and Mythri Jegathesan. Sarah Besky is a cultural anthropologist and Associate Professor in the International Labour and Labour Relations School at Cornell University. Her research uses ethnographic and historical methods to study the intersection of labor, environment, and capitalism in the Himalayas. Her work analyzes how materials and bodies take on value under changing political economic regimes and explores the diverse forms of labor that make and maintain that value. Her first book, The Darjeeling Distinction: Labor and Justice on Fair-Trade Tea Plantations in India (University of California Press, 2014) explores how legacies of colonialism intersect with contemporary market reforms to reconfigure notions of the value of labor, of place, and of tea itself. Her second book, Tasting Qualities: The Past and Future of Tea (University of California Press, 2020) blends historical and ethnographic research on science, value, and the idea of quality in the tea industry to analyze efforts at economic reform in India. Another book, How Nature Works: Rethinking Labor on a Troubled Planet (SAR Press, 2019), a volume co-edited with Alex Blanchette, brings together contemporary theoretical conversations in posthumanism with classic and continually relevant questions about political economy, precarity, and the meanings of work. Sarah’s new research explores the intersections of agricultural extension and experimentation, colonial and postcolonial governance, and the everyday productive and reproductive work of farming in the Himalayan region of Kalimpong, West Bengal. Mythri Jegathesan is a cultural anthropologist and Assistant Professor in Anthropology at Santa Clara University. Her research focuses on gender, labor, minority politics, and development in the Global South, and has explored the social and economic experiences of Tamil women tea plantation residents and workers in Sri Lanka, where she has conducted field research since 2005. She is currently researching the first women's trade union in Sri Lanka, the dynamics of transnational organizing across formal and informal employment sectors, and the changing development practices of local NGOs in postwar Sri Lanka. She holds a PhD in Cultural Anthropology from Columbia University and has received grants from the National Science Foundation, American Association for University Women, and American Institute for Sri Lankan Studies. Her first book 'Tea & Solidarity: Tamil Women and Work in Postwar Sri Lanka', published in 2019 by the University of Washington Press, was awarded the Diana Forsythe Prize by the Society for the Anthropology of Work.
TEA: A dark history. Laurie Taylor talks to the historian, Seren Charrington-Hollins, about the exploitation, wars & intrigue at the heart of the history of that most 'British' hot beverage. Also, Sarah Besky, Associate Professor in the Departments of International and Comparative Labour & Labour Relations, Law, and History in at Cornell University, discusses her study of mass market black tea, one of the world’s most recognized commodities, and one which is still rooted in the colonial plantation. Producer: Jayne Egerton
TEA: A dark history. Laurie Taylor talks to the historian, Seren Charrington-Hollins, about the exploitation, wars & intrigue at the heart of the history of that most 'British' hot beverage. Also, Sarah Besky, Associate Professor in the Departments of International and Comparative Labour & Labour Relations, Law, and History in at Cornell University, discusses her study of mass market black tea, one of the world’s most recognized commodities, and one which is still rooted in the colonial plantation. Producer: Jayne Egerton
TEA: A dark history. Laurie Taylor talks to the historian, Seren Charrington-Hollins, about the exploitation, wars & intrigue at the heart of the history of that most 'British' hot beverage. Also, Sarah Besky, Associate Professor in the Departments of International and Comparative Labour & Labour Relations, Law, and History in at Cornell University, discusses her study of mass market black tea, one of the world’s most recognized commodities, and one which is still rooted in the colonial plantation. Producer: Jayne Egerton
Do you like tea? If you, like many of us, do, then you probably have an idea (or perhaps very strong opinions) of what a "good cup of tea" tastes like. But what does "quality tea" really mean? This week host Rachelle Saunders speaks with Sarah Besky, Associate Professor in the IRL School at Cornell and author of the book "Tasting Qualities: The Past and Future of Tea", about the unique history of tea production and valuation to try and understand what we mean when we say "quality tea".
Hosts Aidan Calvelli ’19 and Noah Cowan ’19 give us some “Food for Thought” in our third episode of the season. Featuring interviews from anthropologist Sarah Besky and policy analyst Allen Hance, this episode offers a nuanced examination of how American federal food policy and ethical consumerism influence the food that ends up on our plates. _____ Special thanks to Sarah Besky and Allen Hance for their time and expertise, as well as to our podcast associates -- Izzy Belleza, Kate Dario, Rachel Lim, Henry Peebles-Capin, Moses Lurbur, and Tobi Lepecki -- for their hard work on this episode.
A conversation about labor: labor on tea plantations, the labor of language, and the ways in which the Anthropocene invites labor-focused inquiry. The post Working Concepts: A Conversation with Sarah Besky appeared first on Edge Effects.
In this wonderful ethnography of Darjeeling tea, Sarah Besky explores different attempts at bringing justice to plantation life in north east India. Through explorations into fair trade, geographic indication and a state movement for the Nepali tea workers, Besky critically assesses the limits of projects that fail to address underlying exploitative structures. The Darjeeling Distinction: Labor and Justice on Fair-Trade Plantations in India (University of California Press, 2014) is a readable and theoretically nuanced book that should be of interest to many. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In this wonderful ethnography of Darjeeling tea, Sarah Besky explores different attempts at bringing justice to plantation life in north east India. Through explorations into fair trade, geographic indication and a state movement for the Nepali tea workers, Besky critically assesses the limits of projects that fail to address underlying exploitative structures. The Darjeeling Distinction: Labor and Justice on Fair-Trade Plantations in India (University of California Press, 2014) is a readable and theoretically nuanced book that should be of interest to many. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In this wonderful ethnography of Darjeeling tea, Sarah Besky explores different attempts at bringing justice to plantation life in north east India. Through explorations into fair trade, geographic indication and a state movement for the Nepali tea workers, Besky critically assesses the limits of projects that fail to address underlying exploitative structures. The Darjeeling Distinction: Labor and Justice on Fair-Trade Plantations in India (University of California Press, 2014) is a readable and theoretically nuanced book that should be of interest to many. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In this wonderful ethnography of Darjeeling tea, Sarah Besky explores different attempts at bringing justice to plantation life in north east India. Through explorations into fair trade, geographic indication and a state movement for the Nepali tea workers, Besky critically assesses the limits of projects that fail to address underlying exploitative structures. The Darjeeling Distinction: Labor and Justice on Fair-Trade Plantations in India (University of California Press, 2014) is a readable and theoretically nuanced book that should be of interest to many. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Tea workers in Darjeeling. Laurie Taylor talks to Sarah Besky, Assistant Professor in Anthropology at the University of Michigan, about her study of the tough lives of tea plantation workers, and the struggle to re-make one of the world's most expensive teas for the 21st century consumer. Also, the sociologist, Adam Fletcher, discusses an emerging underground trade in junk food at English secondary schools. Is this an unforeseen result of 'healthy food' policies?
Today on The Farm Report, Erin speaks to tea expert Sarah Besky, professor at the University of Michigan, about tea plantations and how tea workers often get into the world of tea production. Sarah also tells us about how the culture of tea production differs from country to country across the world. After the break, Erin speaks with Peter Rosenblum, professor at Bard College, about some of the darker aspects of tea plantations around the world. This program has been sponsored by Cain Vineyard & Winery. Today’s music provided by Takstar. “Tea is not the same everywhere…because it’s made different by the context it is in. And similarly justice doesn’t mean the same thing everywhere.” [15:35] –Sarah Besky on The Farm Report