Anthropology of Food

Timetable

The course will take place in the winter semester 2024/2025. The seminars will be organized every two weeks for 3h meetings, altogether 8 classes in the semester.

Module aim (aims)

This module aims to introduce students to the anthropology of food. It focuses on the political, social and cultural meanings and negotiations around food consumption. It showcases food as a vantage point to study and understand the issues related to gender, class, migration, inequalities and global tensions as they are expressed through daily practices.

Pre-requisites in terms of knowledge, skills and social competences (where relevant)

The competence in written and oral English is mandatory. There will be a lot of reading materials. Some basic knowledge of anthropology or sociology would be helpful. Students will be expected to read all compulsory materials, actively participate in seminar discussions, prepare reading questions and group presentations. There will also be a final short essay due at the end of the semester.

Syllabus

WEEK 1: Political economy of food

WEEK 2: Food and social class

WEEK 3: Alternative food networks

WEEK 4: Food and gender

WEEK 5: Family meals

WEEK 6: National foods and tourism

WEEK 7: Food and the body

WEEK 8: Critical nutritionism and healthy foods

The assessment for this course will be based on seminar participation (preparing reading questions before class, class discussions, group presentations), which will constitute 40% of the final mark; and 4000 word essays (60% of the final mark).

Reading list

A detailed reading list will be provided at the beginning of the course by course convener, with general and additional materials to read for each seminar.

Biltekoff, Charlotte (2013) Eating Right in America. The Cultural Politics of Food and Health. Durham, London: Duke University Press.

Cairns, Kate, and Josee Johnston (2015) Food and Femininity. London: Bloomsbury.

Counihan, Carole and Penny Van Esterick (2013) Food and Culture: A Reader. London: Routledge.

Guthman, Julie and Melanie DuPuis (2006) „Embodying neoliberalism: economy, culture, and the politics of fat”, Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, 24: 427 – 448.

Hayes-Conroy, Alison and Jessica (2016) Doing Nutrition Differently. Critical Approaches to Diet and Dietary Intervention. London and New York: Routledge

Klein, Jakob A. and James L. Watson (eds.) (2016) The Handbook of Food and Anthropology. London: Bloomsbury.

Mintz, Sidney and Christine M. Du Bois (2002) “The anthropology of food and eating”, Annual Review of Anthropology, 31: 99 – 119.

Mol, Annemarie (2009) ”Good Taste: The Embodied Normativity of Citizen-Consumer”, Journal of Cultural Economy, 2:3, 269-283.

Murcott, Anne, Warren Belasco and Peter Jackson (eds) (2013) The Handbook of Food Research. London: Bloomsbury.

Silva, Elizabeth (2000) “The cook, the cooker and the gendering of the kitchen”, The Sociological Review, 48 (4): 612 – 628.

Ward, Paul, Coveney, John and Julie Henderson (2010) “Editorial: A sociology of food and eating: Why now?”, Journal of Sociology 46(4): 347 – 351.

Watson, James L. and Melissa L. Caldwell (eds) (2005) The Cultural Politics of Food and Eating. Oxford: Blackwell.

Wilk, Richard (1999) “’Real Belizean Food’: Building Local Identity in the Transnational Caribbean”, American Anthropologist, 101 (2): 244 – 255.

Wilk, Richard et al. (2015) “The Future of Food Studies”, Food, Culture & Society, 18(1): 167 – 186.