*Ethical Food Movements in Postsocialist Settings*

*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 (*[log in to unmask]*) and
Yuson Jung (*[log in to unmask]*) 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