Histoire de la nourriture

Amsterdam Symposium on the History of Food 2015

Call for papers 

Friday, 16 January – Saturday 17 January 2015

Venue: Aula of the University of Amsterdam
Singel 411, 1012 XM Amsterdam
Food, Hunger and Conflict (topic)

When in today’s world we are confronted with the suffering of the hungry, we see them as victims in need of support, whether we pass them in the street or see distant strangers on the news. The study of the concept of hunger has shown that we cannot take this vision for granted. James Vernon indicated that it is the result of history of changing ideas surrounding the concept of hunger. Whilst it once was seen as the unavoidable hand of God, this later changed to a discourse of morality and individual responsibility. Those without food were seen as lacking discipline and in need of education.

The foregoing indicates that a need arises to understand definitions of what hunger represented for both those with and those without access to food to comprehend social and cultural interactions and political operations. Research into different sources can shed light on how existing ideas on poverty and hunger interacted with discourses and perceptions, strategies for survival, charity and aid to grasp what it meant economically, politically but also socially and culturally to be without food during times of prosperity, shortages, conflict and war. Through the mediation of the study of hunger strikes for example, one can study relationships of power, frameworks of culturally defined ideas of resistance, bodily integrity, sacrifice and social dynamics. Different experiences and cultural framing have significant effects on perception and remembrance of hunger, power, poverty and war.

Call for Papers

We invite papers on topics including, but not restricted to the following: 

• Governmental interferences: state intervention, import/export, price regulations and prohibitions, agricultural policy, food committees, food as national symbols and boycotts of ‘enemy’ food (e.g. Boston Tea Party), food blockades, propaganda for surrogates, charity, black markets as coping mechanisms. 
• International aid & national solidarity: food committees, charity, soup kitchens, grain dispensation. 
• Cultural representations of hunger: meaning and symbols in texts and images (cookbooks, menus, media, propaganda, film, art, literature, poetry) during times of war and shortages, construction of ideas of resistance and oppression using food as a medium (hunger strikes), food as a showcase of power relations and scientific opinions (force feeding of suffragettes, food in prisons), religious interpretations of shortages and hunger. 

Guidelines for Paper Proposals

The conference program consists of plenary keynote lectures, paper presentations and panel discussions. If you are interested in presenting a paper at the conference, please submit an abstract before 15 May 2014. Please expect to be presenting to a large audience of up to 350 people, including academic as well as professional participants. Submissions are encouraged to use an interdisciplinary approach, in which theory and methods from other (social) sciences are appropriated or other disciplines that take a historical stance.

The conference language is English. Presenters of accepted papers are asked to speak 20 minutes, followed by a discussion with the panel and the audience under the supervision of a session chair.

Applications should include: 

• title of proposed paper 
• abstract (maximum 500 words) 
• biographical information (short CV) 
• contact information (e-mail, telephone and postal address) 

Applications should be sent by the deadline of 15 May 2014 to: Foodhistory-ub@uva.nl

Notification of acceptance:

As it may not be possible to include everyone’s submission, the organizing committee and advisory board will make a selection. You will be notified if the paper is accepted by 30 June 2014.

Partners

Special Collections of the University of Amsterdam

The Special Collections of the University of Amsterdam preserve and maintain the academic heritage of the university. There are over a thousand sub-collections, comprising rare and valuable books, manuscripts, prints, photographs and much, much more. The collections serve educational and research purposes but are also there for the general public.

Institute of Culture and History, Faculty of Humanities, University of Amsterdam

The Institute of Culture and History (ICH) is the largest of the research institutes of the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Amsterdam. Its programmes cover the period from classical antiquity until today and its disciplinary branches include archaeology, media studies, musicology, literary studies, memory studies, religious studies, book history, European studies, art history and conservation studies, theatre studies, as well as heritage and history in its many different guises.

Social & Cultural Food Studies (FOST) of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel

FOST is a research group for social and cultural food studies at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. The research group, founded in April 2003, works in collaboration with the Vlaams Centrum voor Volkscultuur, the Institut Européen de l’Histoire de l’Alimentation and the Institut National de Recherche Agronomique.

FOST aims at consolidating the expertise on foodstudies by inviting (foreign) specialists to workshops and colloquia, by operating within networks, by publishing and contemplating about food studies, and by performing new (multidisciplinary) food research.