*Workshop hosted by the SOAS Food Studies Centre, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), London, United Kingdom, February 17-18, 2011*
*Organizers: Dr. Jakob Klein (SOAS) and Dr. Yuson Jung (Harvard)*
*Call for Papers*
In recent years, anthropologists, geographers, and food studies scholars have paid close attention to the rapid development of organics, fair trade, Slow Food and other food movements, which have offered ethically motivated critiques of, and alternatives to, what their advocates perceive to be a dominant, profit-driven, and environmentally destructive and socially inequitable global agri-food system. One strand of scholarship on what have collectively been termed “ethical food movements” has examined the philosophies, values, and histories animating the practices of activists, producers, and consumers engaged in these movements. Another has explored
the contradictions inherent in movements, which have critiqued global commodity markets while remaining firmly embedded within them. For example, studies have demonstrated the gap between the consumer-oriented rhetoric of organics and fair trade on the one hand and actual production practices on the other. Others have noted the tendency for ethical food movements to become appropriated by middle-class consumers and large agri-food corporations. A key debate engaging food scholars and activists has centered on the ability of such movements to provide effectual alternatives to the dominant food system, given these tendencies toward elitism and
“conventionalization.” Another criticism has related issues of power inequality to governance in the global food systems, and has raised questions about the normalization of a particular set of ethical standards that are culturally meaningful (mostly) to Western consumers.
Despite the expansion of international food trade and trade regimes and the
proliferation of ethical food movements across the globe, thus far the research on these movements has tended to focus on the West. In this workshop, we seek to redress this imbalance by bringing together studies of ethical food movements in the postsocialist world, in which we include not only those states in Eastern Europe, Africa and elsewhere, which are no longer ruled by communist parties, but also the “actually existing” socialist countries such as China, Vietnam, and Cuba, which have introduced various pro-market policies. Across the postsocialist world, ethical foods
have emerged in a variety of forms and contexts, ranging from popular demands for “natural foods” in response to industrialized and globalized food supply chains, to organized social movements seeking to “reconnect” urban consumers with rural producers, to state-led development initiatives involving agricultural exports to “ethical” consumers abroad.
Under state socialism, the state attempted to organize and regulate the production, distribution, and even consumption of food. In fact, the distribution of food was used as a mechanism of social control and moral education. Meanwhile, the state was itself judged by citizens on the quality and quantity of foods provided through the socialist food system. Often found to be wanting, the centralized food systems also gave rise to underground economies and informal exchange networks, sometimes linked to organized resistance. The pivotal role played by food in the political projects of, and reactions to, state socialism continues to inform both the expectations and moral values of citizens and the practices of the state during the contemporary period of postsocialism and neo-liberal reform. In particular, the sense of deception many postsocialist citizens experienced in the emerging consumer society through the influx of global commodities provides an interesting vantage point to examine cross-cultural practices of ethical consumption. Thus, while in many cases inspired or even driven by ethical food movements in the advanced capitalist economies, the practices,
discourses and meanings of these movements in postsocialist countries have been profoundly shaped by the experiences and legacies of state socialism.
At the same time, however, the massive political, economic, social and cultural differences within the postsocialist world must not be overlooked. This workshop entails a comparative study, which will bring out both commonalities and differences in ethical food movements under postsocialism. In doing so, the workshop will offer new and challenging perspectives on ethical food movements and their roles within larger, globalized agri-food systems. Further, the project will build on the existing literature on postsocialism to provide original insights into the changing relationship between state, market, moral projects, and everyday life in the
postsocialist world. Contributors to the project will explore discourses and practices surrounding the production, distribution, and consumption of various ethical foods, in relation to themes including, but not limited to:
• the changing relationship between state and market in postsocialist food systems
• certification, regulation and standardization (e.g. food labeling)
• globalization of food trade and regulatory regimes
• food safety, health, and risk
• environmental degradation and environmentalism
• food security
• social differentiation
• social trust and changing moral landscapes
• development discourse and practice
• civil society and social movements
• religious movements
• social memory and nostalgia
*The workshop*
A two-day workshop will be held on 17th and 18th February 2011 at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, United Kingdom, and will be hosted by the SOAS Food Studies Centre.
There will be twelve paper-presenters. Full-length papers will be circulated in advance to all participants. The talks will be divided into six 90-minute panels with two papers in each. Presenters will each speak for 15 minutes, with another 60 minutes of discussion per panel. The panel sessions will be open to the public. A concluding, roundtable discussion will be open to presenters and discussants only.
The workshop will lead to a collection of essays to be co-edited by the organizers. The volume will include up to twelve substantive chapters based on papers presented at the workshop. We aim to publish the volume before the end of 2012. We are currently in the process of applying for grants to fund the workshop. If successful, all participants will be reimbursed for travel expenses and provided with accommodation in London.
If you are interested in participating in the workshop, please send a title, 500-word abstract and C.V. to Jakob Klein (*jk2@soas.ac. uk*) and Yuson Jung (*yusonjung@post. harvard.edu*) by *April 12. 2010*.
Jakob A. Klein, Ph.D.
Lecturer in Social Anthropology
Dep. Chair, SOAS Food Studies Centre
MA Tutor, Department of Anthropology
SOAS, University of London
Yuson Jung, Ph.D.
Senior Thesis Supervisor
Committee for Social Studies
Harvard University
Please quote 10 Academic Resources Daily in your application to this opportunity!
