Cooling the Tropics: Ice, Indigeneity, and Hawaiian Refreshment

Ice was brought to Hawaii from the mid-1800s to the 19th century to cater to the needs of Westerners, shaping the foodscape and colonial relationships. Hiʻilei Julia Kawehipuaakahaopulani Hobart's book "Cooling the Tropics" explores how ice and refrigeration undergirded settler colonial ideas about race, environment, and the senses, highlighting the importance of thermal technologies in struggles for food sovereignty and political self-determination.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 264 pages
Publication date: 16 December 2022
Publisher: Duke University Press

Beginning in the mid-1800s, Americans embarked on a remarkable journey to transport frozen pond water, glacial ice, and eventually ice machines to the enchanting islands of Hawaiʻi. Their mission? To reshape these islands in the service of Western pleasure and profit, creating a paradise that would captivate the hearts and minds of white occupants of the nineteenth-century Pacific. Marketed as an "essential" commodity for the privileged few, ice quickly permeated the foodscape, thanks to advancements in freezing and refrigeration technologies.

In her captivating book, "Cooling the Tropics: Hiʻilei Julia Kawehipuaakahaopulani Hobart charts the social history of ice in Hawaiʻi." Hobart delves deep into the interconnected concepts of freshness and refreshment, revealing how these notions shaped colonial relationships to the tropics. From chilled drinks and sweets to machinery, she showcases how ice and refrigeration underpinned settler colonial ideas about race, environment, and the senses. By outlining how ice shaped Hawaiʻis food system in accordance with racial and environmental imaginaries, Hobart demonstrates that thermal technologies cannot be ignored in the struggles for food sovereignty and political self-determination in Hawaiʻi and beyond.

"Cooling the Tropics" is a groundbreaking work that sheds light on the complex and often overlooked role of ice in shaping the history and culture of Hawaiʻi. It is a must-read for anyone interested in the intersection of food, power, and colonialism, as well as for those who seek to understand the ongoing struggles for food justice and environmental sustainability in Hawaiʻi and beyond.

Duke University Press is proud to publish this important book, and we congratulate Hobart on receiving the prestigious Scholars of Color First Book Award. Her dedication to scholarship and her commitment to social justice make her a true leader in the field.

Weight: 390g
Dimension: 229 x 152 x 18 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781478019190