Syllabus
* Food, Body, Identity and Society
* WEEK 1
* Introduction to Anthropology of Food and Eating
Why study Food? In this first seminar I will introduce myself and discuss the structure, marking and syllabus for the course.
Due to time constrain we will start straight away with familiarising ourselves with Anthropology of Food and Eating and the ideas and approaches we will be exploring during the course.
* Essential Readings: 1. Mintz, Sidney & Du Bois, Christine (2002) “The Anthropology of Food and Eating”, Annual Revew of Anthropology 14.
* WEEK 2
* From Hunting and Gathering to Agriculture. The Industrialisation of Agriculture and Food
In this seminar we will look back at Hunters and Gatherers and their modes of production including hunting, gathering, fishing, horticulture and agriculture. We will also find out the origins and spread of agriculture and the socio-cultural dimensions of agricultural industrialization. The industrialisation of Agriculture has historical roots in the rationalisation of labour on slave plantations of the New World and by mid 20th century, advances in farm machinery made possible ‘factory farming’ on a whole new scale.
* Essential Readings: 1. Diamond, Jared (2005) “Guns, Germs and Steel: A short History of Everybody for the Last 13,000 Years” (London: Vintage). Part Two: “The Rise and Spread of Food Production”, pp. 83-113, pp.131-146 and Chapter 11, “Lethal gift of livestock” pp. 195-214. 2. Wood, Ellen Meiksins (1998) “The Agrarian Origins of Capitalism”, Monthly Review 50(3).
* Recommended Readings: 3. Mintz, Sidney (1985) Sweetness & Power: “The Place of Sugar in Modern History”, (Penguin), pp. 47-52.
* WEEK 3
* Food Safety & Regulation with focus on Prepared Food
In this unit we will examine the effects of industrial food production and mass consumption and the specific problems for the maintenance of a safe food supply. Increasing consumer anxieties over food safety and where responsibility lies for the safety of food in today’s complex food chain. More and more people today eat their food prepared whether bought from the supermarket, or fast food outlet or restaurants. Why did this industry grew so rapidly and in such a large scale in so many places and what implications this development has on social relations, diet, health and the construction of national, local and ethnic identities.
* Essential Readings:
* Food Safety 1. Nestle, Marion (2003) “Safe Food: Bacteria, Biotechnology, and Bioterrorism” (University of California Press), Chapter 1.
* Prepared Food 2. Ritzer, George (2004 [1993]) “An Introduction to McDonaldization” (Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press), pp. 1-22.
* WEEK 4
* Food avoidances and prohibition
Social significant of food is not just in relation to what we eat but also what we or they do not eat. What is ‘edible’ and what is ‘not edible’ is relative and varies from community to community. In this unit we will discuss food prohibition and food avoidance ranging from regular dislike through voluntary abstinence to deep-rooted food taboos. We will also briefly explore the idea of food being a medicine, used to prevent and/or cure diseases. What is the relationship between eating and health? How and why so many governmental as well as non-governmental agencies, private corporations and media promote particular dietary ideas.
* Essential Readings: 1. Dougles, Mary (2007[1966[) “Purity and Danger” Chapter 3, “The Abominations of Leviticus” (London: Routledge), pp.51-71. 2. Nestle, Marion (2003) “Food Politics: How the Food Industry influences Nutrition and Health” (Berkeley: University of California Press), Introduction, pp.1-30.
* WEEK 5
* Food and the construction of the Body
Individuals construct their bodies through the regulated consumption of food. We will examine and discuss dieting, obesity and eating disorders. How do ideals of body weight and size and practices of shaping these through the consumption and non-consumption of food varies between cultures. In what ways are these ideals and practices gendered, and how have they changed over time? What role does the state and market play in these changes?
* Essential Readings: 1. Popenoe, Rebecca (2005) “Ideal” in Fat: The anthropology of an Obsession, eds. Don Kulick & Anne Meneley (New York: Tarcher/Penguin), pp. 9-28. 2. Germov John & Lauren Williams, eds. (2004) “The thin ideal: women, food, and dieting” in A Sociology of Food and Nutrition: The Social Appetite, 2nd ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press).
* WEEK 6
* Food, Construction of Identity/Identities and Memory
Eating together and in many cases producing and preparing food together, exchanging gifts of food and remembering shared meals, all profoundly contribute to the construction of social identities. At the same time social divisions are produced through the determination of who eats what, and who eats with whom. We will discuss social identities and boundaries in a variety of contexts. We will also look what role plays food memory in the construction and maintenance of various identities.
* Essential Readings: 1. Wilk, Richard (2002) “Food and nationalism: the origins of “Belizean Food” in Food Nations: Selling Taste n Consumer Societies, eds. W. Belasco & P. Scranton (New York: Routladge), (pp.67-89). 2. Leitch, Alison (2003) “Slow Food and the Politics of Pork Fat: Italian Food and European Identity”, Ethons, Vol. 68:4, December 2003 (pp. 437 - 462).
* Food Politics and Global Economy of Food
* WEEK 7
* Food Consumption during Socialism and Post-Socialist Consumption.
The fall of Communism in 1989 in Eastern Europe along with, the collapse of the centrally planned economies of the Soviet bloc opened the door for Western Free Market alongside with the new era of consumption. Consumption was experienced as a problematic and very often creative and resourceful event that required skills, knowledge and alternative network of supplies. During post -socialism, consumption of estern products and specifically food is a form of ritual of inauguration to be part of, and to belong to the Western world perceived as ‘normal’ and to be as far as possible from the Eastern world of ‘not-normal’. We will discuss all the issues related to what did it mean to consume food during Socialism and what does it mean to consume food after the collapse of Socialism.
* Essential Readings: 1. Hervouet, Ronan (2003) “Dachas and Vegetable Gardens in Belarus: Economic and Subjective Stakes of an Ordinary Passion,” Anthropology of East Europe Review, Volume 21: 1. 2. Passmore, Ben (2003) “Taste and Transformation: Ethnographic Encounters with Food in the Czech Republic,” Anthropology of East Europe Review, Volume 21: 1. 3. Hall, Timothy, M. (2003) “ Pivo and pohoda: The social conditions and symbolism of Czech Beer-drinking” Anthropology of East Europe Review, Volume 21, Number 1.
* WEEK 8
* Agriculture, Food and State Policy, International Trade Regimes
In this seminar we will look into the state policy and the crucial role it plays in food markets rules and regulations. To what extent state policy contributes to consumption practices and patterns and who benefits and who suffers due to the state intervention. Furthermore we will examine the international trade regimes, global agribusiness conglomerates and their impact on ordinary citizens, smaller scale food producers and consumers.
* Essential Readings:
* Agriculture and Food State Policy 1. Herman, Patrick and Richard Kuper (2003) “The Industrialisation of Farming, “Food for Thought: Towards a Future for Farming (Pluto), pp.1 - 25. 2. Friedman, Harriet (1990) “The Origins of Third World Food Dependence,” in The Food Question: Profits Versus People, eds. H. Bernstein et al (Monthly Review Press), pp. 13 - 31.
* International Trade Regimes 1. Madeley, John (2000) Hungry for Trade: How the Poor Pay for Free Trade (Zed Books), Chapter 3. 2. Fitting, Elizabeth (2006) “Importing Corn, Exporting Labor: The Neoliberal Corn Regime, GMOs, and the Erosion of Mexican Biodiversity,” Agriculture and Human Values 23:15 - 26.
Note: Please choose at least one reading from each sub-section.
* WEEK 9
* Hunger and Famine, Challenges of Food Security
In this seminar we will examine whose appetites are being satisfied and whose are denied. Where is food scares and where is food in abundance. Why some parts of the world experience hunger and others don’t? Is the experience of hunger culturally constructed? We will also look at the study of famine prevention and the challenges of food security. And finally the anthropologist’s contribution to the policy debate on global food security.
* Essential Readings:
* Hunger and Famine 1. Lappe, Francis Moore and Joseph Collins (1997) ‘Beyond the Myth of Hunger: What we can do?’ in C. Counihan and P. Van Esterik (eds) Food and Culture: A Reader. London Routledge, pp.402 - 411.
* Challenges of Food Security 2. Pottier, Johan (1999) Anthropology of Food: The Social Dynamics of Food Security,
Cambridge: Polity Press, Chapter 2
* WEEK 10
* The importance of Land and Food Production, Changing on Farm Relations and Their consequences for farmer knowledge
This week themes will include the social embeddings of land ownership and access to land, the argument of FAO (Food & Agriculture Organisation) that agricultural sector should become even more commercialise in order to reduce poverty. We will also look at the organisational change over time due to cash cropping, agricultural mechanisation and the spread of global markets. We consider the consequences for household Food and livelihood security and discuss/question whether indigenous agricultural knowledge has been lost.
* Essential Readings:
* The importance of Land and Food Production 1. Bryceson, Deb
Annotation
ANTHROPOLOGY OF FOOD AND EATING
Level: Course available for 2nd and 3rd Year Bachelor students
Term: Summer term 18.02.2014 – 17.05.2014
Place & Time: Room TBC, Monday 15.30 – 16.50
Tutor: Lucia Trlicová, email: luciatrl@hotmail.com
Introduction to the course
Food after air and water is the most basic essential for human’s survival. Food is not only nutrition but is also associated with pleasure, passion, and even luxury and on the other hand disgust, taboo or prohibition. Who eats with whom and where shapes identity or identities of individuals and groups. Food is therefore fundamental aspect of our cultural and social being.
The aim of this course is to introduce students to Food and Eating as an Anthropological object of study, focusing on history of food system, production, preparation and consumption of food. We will discuss whose appetite is denied and whose is satisfied, the power relations between the role of governments, corporations and policy makers and its effects on food industry, food suppliers and consumers. Students will examine how they themselves relate to food and eating and what does it mean to consume particular foods and to avoid others. This course’s main goal is to study how social identities, relationships and hierarchies ranging from local to global economy and politics, have been and still are produced through the medium of FOOD.
Course structure
The course will be structured as a reading and discussion seminar. Readings for each seminar will be one or two texts, students will be expected to have read these texts prior to seminar each week. All readings will be made available in an electronic form at the beginning of the course.
Marking of course 40% of Total Mark
Weekly one page (A4) paper type-written reflecting upon themes, issues, debates and questions arising from the requested readings, to be emailed course tutor on luciatrl@hotmail.com at least two hours before the start of the seminar. Be aware of plagiarism and rules and requirements of academic writing. Less than ten submitted papers will result in failing the course.
Weekly active contribution to seminar discussions. 60 % of Total Mark
3000 to 4000 words essay on the topic of student’s choice (approved by course tutor), due date to be confirmed. If students do not submit essay by the due date, each day of late submission will result in deduction of 2%. Later than 3 days will result in failing the course.
Please note the minimum pass for this course is 60% combined from the above contributions.