Paper short abstract:

Routines reproduce society and thus play a powerful role. At the same time, they limit our viewpoints as the body, the place from which the world unfolds, repeats its paths. Coffee is an addictive psychoactive that is part of most Scandinavians routines. What viewpoints does coffee have to offer, and what is hidden from a caffeinated viewpoint?

Paper long abstract:

Even though coffee needs tropical climates to grow, Scandinavian coffee consumption is the highest in the world. Coffee permeates Swedish society writes ethnologist Renée Valeri (1991) and has been called Sweden’s national drink (Svensson 1970). How does coffee align so well with Scandinavian cultural life? Coffee is commonly reported to enhance wakefulness, effectiveness, and focus. Historian Wolfgang Schivelbusch claims that coffee, from the 18th century onward, infused ethics of rationality into the bodies of consumers, profoundly shaping modern working life (1993). A study by Gevalia states 85 percent of Swedes drink coffee. Coffee is regarded highly addictive and stays in the body up to two weeks after an intake, indicating that the majority of the Swedish population is constantly affected by caffeine. Drugs, including coffee, are simultaneously objects with potential to change the perception of the everyday, and cultural as well as corporeal parts of the very ability to perceive. Drugs are therefore a potential means for changing the boundaries of daily life, but simultaneously constructing new boundaries. Some are infamous for leading to unwanted changes - repetitive and inhibited life conditions - if excessively consumed. Illicit drugs are culturally perceived as add-ons, exterior artifacts, that by some are invited into their bodies, but by mainstream society and laws are kept at distance, outside of the nation, norms and schools for example. Coffee, conversely, has been described as a core feature of Swedish cultural life. How does this consumption affect vision, and what is consigned to the background?