Bottled How Coca-Cola Became African
Bottled: How Coca-Cola Became African by Sara Byala, published by Oxford University Press in 2023, explores the widespread presence of Coca-Cola across the African continent. This 328-page book examines the social, commercial, and environmental impacts of one of the world’s largest brands, revealing insights into globalization, development, and capitalism in Africa.
Readers will find a detailed analysis of Coca-Cola’s century-long involvement in various aspects of African life, including recycling, education, and the anti-apartheid struggle. Byala illustrates how Africans have engaged with Coca-Cola, transforming it into a symbol of modernity and self-determination. The book draws on fieldwork and archival research to address the complexities of Coca-Cola’s role in late capitalism, prompting critical questions about the balance between its contributions and the associated human and environmental costs in the twenty-first century.
Official synopsis Publisher
Travel to virtually any African country and you are likely to find a Coca-Cola, often a cold one at that. Bottled asks how this carbonated drink became ubiquitous across the continent, and what this reveals about the realities of globalisation, development and capitalism.
Bottled is the first assessment of the social, commercial and environmental impact of one of the planet’s biggest brands and largest corporations, in Africa. Sara Byala charts the company’s century-long involvement in everything from recycling and education to the anti-apartheid struggle, showing that Africans have harnessed Coca-Cola in varied expressions of modernity and self-determination: this is not a story of American capitalism running amok, but rather of a company becoming African, bending to consumer power in ways big and small.
In late capitalism, everyone’s fates are bound together. A beverage in Atlanta and a beverage in Johannesburg pull us all towards the same end narrative. This story matters for more than just the local reasons, enhancing our understanding of our globalised, integrated world. Drawing on fieldwork and research in company archives, Byala asks a question for our time: does Coca-Cola’s generative work offset the human and planetary costs associated with its growth in the twenty-first century?
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