Brewing Socialism: Coffee, East Germans, and Twentieth-Century Globalization (Studies in German History, 27)

"Placing coffee at the center of its analysis, Brewing Socialism links East Germany's consumption and food culture to its relationship to the wider world. Andrew Kloiber reveals the ways that everyday cultural practices surrounding coffee drinking not only connected East Germans to a global system of exchange, but also perpetuated a set of traditions and values which fit uneasily into the Socialist Unity Party's conceptualization of a modern Socialist Utopia. Sifting through the relationship between material culture and ideology, this unique work examines the complex tapestry of traditions, history and cultural values that underpinned the socialist German Democratic Republic (GDR)"-- Provided by publisher Contents Illustrations Abbreviations Acknowledgments Introduction Chapter 1 — “A Word on Coffee”: Coffee and Everyday Life in East Germany Chapter 2 — Coffee and the “Modern Comforts” of Socialism Chapter 3 — Bitter Grounds: East Germany’s “Coffee Crisis” Chapter 4 — Bread and Guns for Coffee: Searching for Coffee in Ethiopia and Angola Chapter 5 — Cultivating Coffee: Brewing Solidarity in Laos and Vietnam Conclusion — The Taste That Remains Bibliography Index