Food Studies 2400-OG-EN-FS

Do you wonder what brings together Gordon Ramsey’s Hell’s Kitchen, Trade Related Intellectual Properties Rights, World Trade Organization and anti-system social movements? It is all about food. Food which decides about the economic potential of whole continents, environmental hazards which impact both: native Indians and wealthy New Yorkers in “Sex and the City”, local development schemes in rural China. Food understood as a mirror in which we can observe the social and cultural context of modern societies. During the semester we will discuss: cultural differentiation and anthropology of food, significance which food and agro sector has got on the structure of the global economy, building a super-industrial capitalism and how it impacts and is influenced by the different social actors, food fights and political meaning of food, WTO and EU policies in contemporary world, local development schemes which can be built around food. We will analyze food issues from the perspective of cultural anthropology, political economy, network theory, local development theory. During curse we will be going into the field: to make a small research at Polish open market or a food fest to translate theoretical terms into real-world observations.Do you wonder what brings together Gordon Ramsey’s Hell’s Kitchen, Trade Related Intellectual Properties Rights, World Trade Organization and anti-system social movements? It is all about food. Food which decides about the economic potential of whole continents, environmental hazards which impact both: native Indians and wealthy New Yorkers in “Sex and the City”, local development schemes in rural China. Food understood as a mirror in which we can observe the social and cultural context of modern societies. During the semester we will look through lenses of sociology, cultural anthropology, political economy on footprint, impacts which the food has got on the structure of individuals, communities, nations, societies and global structures. We are going to critically look at super-industrial capitalism and how it impacts the real world. Our examination will go across different social actors, food fights and political meaning of food. We will examine WTO and EU policies in the contemporary world together with local development schemes built around food. We will analyse food issues from the perspective of cultural anthropology, political economy, network theory, local development theory. During curse we will be going into the field: to do small research at Polish open market or a food fest to translate theoretical terms into real-world observations.