Department of History, UC Santa Barbara

History Associates Talk | Lisa Jacobson "The Potent Politics of Weak Brews: How 3.2% Beer Helped End Prohibition" | Apr 6, 5:30 PM | Draughtsmen Aleworks
2023-04-06 17:30 - 19:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Draughstmen Aleworks, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, United States
To commemorate the 90th anniversary of beer’s re-legalization in the United States, Lisa Jacobson will explain how a coalition of brewers, scientists, and labor leaders persuaded Congress that a beer capable of producing a mild euphoria could be legalized without violating the 18th Amendment’s ban on intoxicating beverages. Insisting that alcohol potency alone did not determine intoxication, this anti-prohibitionist coalition promoted new understandings of pleasure and risk that have long since influenced how alcohol is regulated and sold in the United States.
Lisa Jacobson is an Associate Professor of History at UC Santa Barbara. She hopes that her book Fashioning New Cultures of Drink: The Reinvention of Wine, Beer, and Whiskey after Prohibition will be available for pre-order by the 91st anniversary of beer’s re-legalization.

Download the flyer here: Potent Politics of Weak Brews_2.24

History and Political Economy Colloquium with Dr. Utathya Chattopadhyaya | "Intoxication and Political Economy"
2023-04-07 12:00 - 14:00 | HSSB 4080, 4080 Humanities and Social Sciences Building, UC Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, United States
We are excited to announce the fourth session of the History Department’s colloquium on history and political economy. The colloquium offers a forum for open, substantive discussions on how to approach political economy from a historical perspective; how to grapple with and benefit from the epistemological diversity surrounding political economy; and how a historical take on political economy can help contextualize and address urgent contemporary issues– at UCSB, in Santa Barbara/Southern California, in the U.S., and around the world – ranging from rent, inflation, and student debt to deepening, racialized inequality. For that purpose, we will center our own research and put our work into conversation across geographical, chronological, and field boundaries.
At our fourth meeting, we will discuss “Intoxication and Political Economy” with Professor Utathya Chattopadhyaya (flyer attached).
Please note that this session will take place in week 1 of the spring quarter.
In preparation for the meeting, please contact Manuel Covo to obtain a copy of the readings to be discussed. Everyone is welcome. Light refreshments will be served.
