[Commlist] CFP: Biennial Conference on Food and Comms

The 2^nd Biennial Conference on Food & Communication

Discourses on the Future of Food

Ljubljana, 15-17 September 2021

(due to Covid-19 postponed from 23-25 September 2020)

Keynote speakers

CAROLYN STEEL <about:blank>

PRISCILLA CLAYES <about:blank>

Call for abstracts

*Deadline for abstracts is EXTENDED until April 1st, 2021!***

_We kindly ask participants that submitted their abstracts last year, 
when the conference was cancelled due to Covid-19 pandemic, to resubmit._

Food is a key means through which we construct and represent ourselves 
discursively. Food features as a powerful cultural signifier, often 
evoking associations with issues of gender, class, race and identity. 
Food-related activities, such as grocery shopping, meal preparation and 
eating, along with the public and private spaces in which these 
activities occur, provide the basis for many of our complex daily 
communicative practices. Food also is located at the core of many of the 
most challenging social issues of our time, often manifested in 
oppressive relations of inequality, and in the placement of food at the 
center of calls for social justice.

/“We are witness to major changes in how the relationships between food 
systems and consumers are constructed discursively.”/

Not surprisingly, food has been an important focus of research across 
the humanities and social sciences, from history to sociology, cultural 
studies, political studies and beyond. This conference extends that 
focus by providing an international platform that foregrounds the role 
of communication in the production, distribution and consumption of 
food. The aim of the conference is to address discourses, texts and 
communication evolving in relation to both widespread dissatisfaction 
with existing food systems and to visions for a more sustainable and 
regenerative future of food.

Scholars are invited to explore the cultural and discursive construction 
of food. This may include analyses of political and policy texts on food 
sovereignty, food security, food safety and nutrition, food waste, 
sustainability and climate change; texts produced by the food industry, 
including advertising, packaging, labeling, menus, social media and 
other means of food marketing; consumer and media narratives on “the 
pleasures of the table”; and texts promoting gastronomic tourism, to 
name just a few.

Today, cumulative food-related crises and controversies have become 
central to ongoing attempts to address the health of the global 
population and the planet. As a result, we are witness to major changes 
in how the relationships between food systems and consumers are 
constructed discursively.

/“In response to these issues, scholars are welcome to explore 
narratives about the emergence of alternative solutions to current food 
practices, and new imaginaries about the future of food.”/

/_1 Food as cultural signifier / text / medium, including food as:_/

  * Expression of cultural identity
  * Cultural capital
  * Object of commodity activism
  * Expression of cultural appropriateness
  * Expressions and critiques of cultural appropriation
  * Basis of ritual and community bonding


/_2 Representations of food, including:_/

  * Journalistic and documentary coverage of the food and agricultural
    industries
  * Food as the focus of entertainment media (narrative cinema, reality
    TV, celebrity programs, etc.)
  * Food in social media
  * Commercial communication about food (advertising, PR, lobbying,
    industry narratives)
  * Political discourses (e.g., food safety, sovereignty, security;
    sustainability; regenerative agriculture; access to food; food
    deserts; animal welfare; etc.)
  * Scientific and technical communication
  * /_
    _/
  * /_
    3 Public knowledge (and lack of knowledge) about food, including:_/
  * Food literacy (health, nutrition, safety and risk, etc.)
  * Environmental impacts (e.g., waste, pollution, climate change)
  * Cultural origins, history, appropriation

    /_4 The mediation of food activism:_/

  * Communication for direct action (protest, demonstration, petition,
    boycott, etc.)
  * Commodity activism (through promotion strategies and consumer choices)

    /_5 Imaginaries about the future of food, including:_/

  * New sources (e.g., insects, algae, in vitro meat)
  * Genetic engineering of plants and animals
  * Hydroponics
  * Aquaculture
  * Transparency, traceability, blockchain, etc.
  * Food during and after COVID-19
  * Visions of alternative cultural, political and economic futures of
    food production,
    distribution and consumption


    ***

    Abstracts of 300-500 words and queries can be submitted to:

    (foodandcommunication /at/ fdv.uni-lj.si)


    Abstracts may also be submitted via the web page below where further
    information can be found.

    www.foodcommunication.net <about:blank>

    ***

    Notifications of acceptance will be sent out in April 2021.



    Associated costs Fee

    Fee for conference attendance is 120 EUR. Food is included.

    An optional conference dinner costs 35 EUR (three courses of local
    dishes and local wine). Dinner will take place on Thursday evening,
    September 16^th , 2021 at Gostilna na gradu <about:blank>.



    Travel and accommodation costs will need to be covered by
    participants themselves.

    The conference will take place in-person if traveling is possible,
    with some remote/online coverage. If traveling is not possible for
    some participants due to health concerns related to COVID-19, we
    will make it possible for those individuals to participate remotely
    (online).

    We kindly ask participants that submitted their abstracts last year,
    when the conference was cancelled due to Covid-19 pandemic, to 
resubmit.



    Dr. Andreja Vezovnik <about:blank>, University of Ljubljana, Chair
    of Local Committee and contact person

    Dr. Ana Tominc <about:blank>,Queen Margaret University Edinburgh,
    Chair of Program Committee

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