RESEARCH ARTICLES
Instant Noodles as an Antifriction Device: Making the BOP with PPP in PNG
Frederick Errington,
Tatsuro Fujikura,
Deborah Gewertz,
Frederick Errington
Department of Anthropology, Trinity College, Hartford, CT 06106; [email protected] ; http://culturalanthro.com/
Search for more papers by this authorTatsuro Fujikura
Graduate School of African and Asian Area Studies, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606–8501 Japan; [email protected]
Search for more papers by this authorDeborah Gewertz
Department of Anthropology, Amherst College, Amherst, MA 01002; [email protected] ; http://culturalanthro.com/
Search for more papers by this authorFrederick Errington,
Tatsuro Fujikura,
Deborah Gewertz,
Frederick Errington
Department of Anthropology, Trinity College, Hartford, CT 06106; [email protected] ; http://culturalanthro.com/
Search for more papers by this authorTatsuro Fujikura
Graduate School of African and Asian Area Studies, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606–8501 Japan; [email protected]
Search for more papers by this authorDeborah Gewertz
Department of Anthropology, Amherst College, Amherst, MA 01002; [email protected] ; http://culturalanthro.com/
Search for more papers by this authorAbstract
ABSTRACT Focusing primarily, but not exclusively, on urban and periurban Papua New Guinea (PNG), we discuss the significance of instant ramen noodles to those now known as the “bottom of the pyramid” (BOP). Although instant noodles are remarkable in that they are eaten by virtually everyone in the world, albeit in different amounts and for different reasons, they are marketed in PNG specifically as a “popularly positioned product” (PPP) for the BOP. Cheap, convenient, tasty, filling, and shelf stable, they are a modern addition to Sidney Mintz's classic “proletarian hunger killers” of sugar, tea, and coffee. But, we argue, instant noodles have a distinctive contemporary role: they do more than sustain the poor; they transform them into the aspiring consumers of the BOP. As such, instant noodles can be viewed as an antifriction device, greasing the skids of capitalism as it extends its reach. [instant noodles, bottom of the pyramid, Papua New Guinea]
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FOR FURTHER READING
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(These selections were made by the American Anthropologist editorial interns as examples of research related in some way to this article. They do not necessarily reflect the views of the authors.)
