In his book, Food Power Politics: The Food Story of the Mississippi Civil Rights Movement, Smith B. (2023) argues that the practice of withholding food from enslaved people and starving them into submission is an example of "emancipatory food power".

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Question restatement: The author Smith B. (2023) in Food Power Politics: The Food Story of the Mississippi Civil Rights Movement argues that the practice of withholding food from enslaved people and starving them into submission is an example of "emancipatory food power".
Option 1: True. This option asserts that withholding food to subdue enslaved people is an example of emancipatory food power. The reasoning behind rejecting this is that emancipation refers to freedom and liberation from oppression, whereas using starvation as a means of control is a coercive, violent tactic that reinforces bondage rather than delivering liberation. Emancipatory food power would imply actions aimed at liberation and self-determination, not punitive deprivation. Additionally, if a scholar defines emancipatory food power, the guiding notion would be empowering the oppressed, not starving them into submission. In short, equating starvation with emancipation conflates coercion with liberation and misreads the ethical and historical implications.
Option 2: False. This option states that the claim is not true. Supporting this stance involves recognizing that starving enslaved people is a method of domination, not emancipation. It preserves the system of enslavement by using food as a lever of power, aiming to crush will rather than enable freedom. From a scholarly perspective, the concept of emancipation would require mechanisms that promote autonomy, dignity, and liberation, whereas starvation erodes those very qualities. The critique centers on the mismatch between emancipation and punitive deprivation, highlighting that such practices cannot plausibly be categorized as emancipatory.
Option 3: (Implicit alternative analysis) If explored, one could consider what the author intends by "emancipatory food power". The term might be contested or defined in a nuanced way, but even with a broad reading, starvation as a tool of control appears antithetical to emancipation. This would require careful textual evidence to reinterpret emancipation in a way that legitimizes starvation, which is commonly considered ethically unacceptable and historically counterproductive to liberation movements. A thorough reading would assess the author’s definitional framework and use of archival examples to determine if the label fits—or if it is deliberately provocative language intended to challenge standard interpretations.
Option 4: (Consideration of historical context) An examination of the Mississippi Civil Rights Movement reveals that food and hunger politics intersect with power, survival, and resistance. If the author uses the phrase "emancipatory food power", it would be essential to examine whether the term is used critically to expose how such tactics were employed to suppress or to reveal structural harms, rather than to celebrate them. Regardless, the practical consequence of starvation in any enslaved population would typically be experienced as coercive oppression rather than emancipation, making the characterization problematic.
Note: Across options, the central misalignment lies in equating coercive starvation with emancipation; the analysis suggests that such a depiction would conflict with standard understandings of emancipation as liberation and autonomy rather than punitive control.

FST.204.M001.FALL25.Food, Identity, and Power FST 204 Mid Term Test - Thursday 10/9 FST.204.M001.FALL25.Food, Identity, and Power FST 204 Mid Term Test - Thursday 10/9

In his book, Food Power Politics: The Food Story of the Mississippi Civil Rights Movement, Smith B. (2023) argues that the practice of withholding food from enslaved people and starving them into submission is an example of "emancipatory food power".

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