The Failed Globalization of Psychedelic Drugs in the Early Modern World
The Historical Journal May 10, 2021 Benjamin Breen 5 citations
The globalization of early modern intoxicants depended on more than the transport of the substances themselves. Psychedelic compounds like peyote and ayahuasca, though central to many pre-Columbian American societies, failed to become global consumer goods because their consumption was embedded in a larger constellation of social codes, cultural practices, ecologies, and built environments. The concept of 'transplantation' reveals that the material cultures, cultural assumptions, and religious meanings surrounding these substances made it difficult for them to follow the same commodification paths as drugs like cacao or tobacco, which did become global commodities during the Columbian Exchange.