Politics of Knowledge in Development: The Case of Sugar as an Artificial Sweetener

AuthorArun Kumar Singh
DOIhttp://doi.org/10.1177/23210230221082798
Published date01 June 2022
Date01 June 2022
Subject MatterSpecial Section: Politics of KnowledgeArticles
Politics of Knowledge in
Development: The Case of
Sugar as an Artificial Sweetener
Arun Kumar Singh1
Abstract
The article aims to explicate the binary created between the two sweeteners, that is, gur (jaggery)
and sugar. The focal point of this article is to understand with the analytical framework of politics of
knowledge how a ‘traditional’ sweetener, that is, gur, is replaced from our diet by a ‘modern’ sweet-
ener, that is, sugar. This framework replaces the term ‘traditional’ knowledge with ‘already existing
knowledge system’ (AEKS, as spelt out by Banerjee [2021, Studies in Indian Politics, vol. 9, pp. 78–90])
and its transformation is examined in five different spaces: epistemology, political economy, histori-
cal context, state policy and collective action. In the first section, the epistemic hegemony of sugar is
deconstructed through analytical understanding of technological processing; in the second, the changing
political economy of sweeteners is explored. The third analyses post-colonial sugar policy showing the
continuum from the colonial; and the fourth explores the politics of collective action to challenge and
delegitimize the hegemony of sugar.
Keywords
Sugar, gur, technology, politics of knowledge, epistemic hegemony
Introduction
In the standard discourse of development, gur (or jaggery) and white crystal sugar epitomize traditional
and modern knowledge, respectively. From the developmetalist point of view, sugar epitomizes ‘modern
science’/’efficiency’, while gur represents its absence and ‘backward art’ (Alvares, 1992, pp. 299–300).
The epistemic hegemony of science as the reason of the modern state has bestowed high-status commodity
to white crystal sugar and a low one to gur. This article raises the crucial question of how a natural
sweetener like gur which is unpolished but ‘nutritious’ and an ‘immunity booster’, is replaced from our
diet by an artificial sweetener like sugar which is considered pure, ‘efficient’ and almost deadly poison.
Article
1 Department of Political Science at Multanimal Modi College (Aff‌iliated to Chaudhary Charan Singh University, Meerut),
Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, India.
Corresponding author:
Arun Kumar Singh, Department of Political Science at Multanimal Modi College (Aff‌iliated to Chaudhary Charan
Singh University, Meerut), NH 58 Delhi Road, Modinagar, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh 201204, India.
E-mail: singharun.amethi@gmail.com
Studies in Indian Politics
10(1) 107–117, 2022
© 2022 Lokniti, Centre for the
Study of Developing Societies
Reprints and permissions:
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DOI: 10.1177/23210230221082798
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