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Maize From Sacred To Profane, Gizela Thomas

Honors Theses

This thesis is a broad study of how corn has influenced the political, social and economic structure of the Americas from the early inception of the first Native American civilizations to the present day. Divided amongst four chapters that aim to explain how corn’s development has changed the power dynamic across North and South America, this thesis depicts how corn has sustained state power and how its development as a commodity has transitioned to empowering corporate interests. The first chapter uses a variety of primary sources such as religious texts and artifacts to illustrate corn’s sacred role as the creator …