CASCA 2013: CFP - Food and Power

Food and Power

Organized by Stephanie Hobbis (EHESS-Concordia University) and
Christine Jourdan (Concordia University)

For this panel we are not looking for (nearly) finished papers;
instead we think of this session as a 'brain storming session,' or an
informal sharing of ideas to determine common ground and concrete
directions for further inquiry. The intention is to continue this
panel at next year's CASCA Conference with finished/ publishable papers.

In this session we intend to explore anthropological approaches to the
relationship between food and power. The importance of food in our
daily lives has been recognized widely, yet power relationships have
largely been inferred rather than placed at the heart of our analysis.
In particular, there is a need to develop a better understanding of
the processes, settings and people that exert control through the
manipulation (intentionally or not) of food. Manipulation may occur
through withdrawal, restriction, giving, or simple control over menus
(etc.). How do these choices reflect in the relationships between
those who hold control, and those who are' at their mercy'? More
concretely, we may ask diverse questions such as: What kind of food
choices do institutions (prisons, schools, hospitals etc.) make and
what are the power relationships implied therein? To what extent and
how do dietary recommendation or nutrition guidelines assert power
over consumers (and citizens)? What is the power of the food critics
or of the sommelier, or the cook? And what about the lack of power of
the hungry and the power of donor agencies? Our aim is to advance
anthropological research into this relationship recognizing that food
closely intersects with our understandings of self, and our
positioning in a given context.

If you are interested, please join us for this informal session. The
session will be structured as follows: After a few words of
introduction to the topic of Food and Power, each participant will be
invited to speak for 5 to 10 minutes on the paper they could write. In
a second part of the session, we will define the themes around which
the session might be organized during CASCA 2014.

If interested in joining this session please contact Stephanie Hobbis
at steph.hobbis@gmail.com and Christine Jourdan at
christine.jourdan@concordia.ca.