La «cachaça»: boisson d’esclave ou boisson d’élite? Reconversions de «senhores de engenho» do Brejo de l’État de Paraíba au Brésil
"Cachaça": slave drink or elite drink? Reconversions of "senhores de engenho" do Brejo from the State of Paraíba in Brazil

Summary/Abstract: We propose to analyze the process of reconversion of sugarcane planters (senhores de engenho), from the production of sugar or alcohol (used as fuel) to the production of cachaça in the State of Paraíba in the Northeast of Brazil, after the bankruptcy of industrial complexes. From a drink consumed by slaves or by the popular classes, the product had become a distinctive consumerobject. The article proposes to analyze the valorization process of this product, seeking to visualize the pertinent social properties to pass from the production of a standard good to a symbolic one. This process of valuation goes far beyond the personal dispositions of producers and their reconversion could only take place thanks to the intervention of some institutions and persons, generally from that region, occupying positions in university, the government and/or in institutions of development.

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