History 190STA - Drugs & Capitalism/Global Hist

This class explores the relationship between drugs and capitalism from 1500 to the present. From coffee and tobacco to opium and cocaine, addictive commodities have remade labor regimes, trade networks, and consumer cultures around the world, a ?psychoactive revolution? that some scholars consider key to understanding the making of modern capitalism. Students will examine this topic through a series of chronological case studies that will allow them to situate debates over drugs and society in their global historical context.