Beer and Society: How We Make Beer and Beer Makes Us takes readers on a lively journey through the social, cultural, and economic dimensions of the modern beer world. This book illustrates that beer is far more than a beverage. As a finely-crafted cultural product, beer can be a part of our identity, a source of pleasure and camaraderie, an object of connoisseurship, and a livelihood for those who are behind the beer itself. Drawing on leading sociological and psychological perspectives, the authors argue that our enduring relationship with beer reflects the very roots of our society, including its collective values and norms, power structures, and persistent inequities based on race, gender, sexuality, and social class. Beer and Society explores beer as an embodiment of who we are and a force to energize social change.
Eli Revelle Yano Wilson is assistant professor of sociology at the University of New Mexico. He is also a Certified Cicerone (R) who formerly worked in the beer industry in Los Angeles. Asa B. Stone is affiliate assistant professor of geography and environmental studies at the University of New Mexico and an Advanced Cicerone (R) who leads educational workshops on beer and social justice around the world.
Table of Contents Acknowledgments Introduction: Exploring the Social World Through Beer Chapter 1. Beer Psychology is Totally a Thing Chapter 2. Who Drinks Beer-and Why Chapter 3. The Social Organization of Beer: The Way Things Are Now Chapter 4. The Business of Beer Chapter 5. How Laws and Regulation are Everything Chapter 6. Brewing Cultures Conclusion: Towards a Deeper Appreciation of Beer and Society Epilogue
An important contribution to the growing body of literature on craft beer, Wilson and Stone offer a unique and approachable interdisciplinary perspective to better understand the ways in which cultural production is intertwined with consumer psychology. There is something here for the craft beer connoisseur as well as the advanced undergraduate student. -- Nathaniel G. Chapman, Arkansas Tech University A timely and enjoyable look at beer and its many pleasures through a fresh lens: that of the social and cultural phenomenon. -- Josh Noel, Chicago Tribune and author of Barrel-Aged Stout and Selling Out: Goose Island, Anheuser-Busch, and How Craft Beer Became Big Business This isn't just a book for beer lovers. It's a great, deep dive into beer, society, and everything in between. Regardless of your level of beer knowledge, the authors have crafted a wonderful guide into the inner workings of the industry and its connection to culture that should be required reading! -- Ren Navarro, Beer. Diversity.
