Elizabeth Hull: “Food, Commons, and the Politics of Provisioning through Polycrisis in South Africa”
- Date: 3 December 2024, 10:15–12:00
- Location: SCAS, Thunberg Lecture Hall, Linneanum, Villavägen 6c, Uppsala
- Type: Seminar
- Web page
- Organiser: Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study (SCAS)
- Contact person: Mattias Bolkéus Blom
Elizabeth Hull (Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study & SOAS University of London) will give a seminar on the topic “Food and the Politics of Provisioning in South Africa”. The seminar will be followed by a Q&A session. Hybrid event - see the webpage for the Zoom link.
ABSTRACT:
Criticisms of the agro-industrial food system have spurred demands for alternative practices of production, distribution and consumption. This lecture explores the concept of the commons, often idealized as a space free from commodification, and reimagined in South Africa through the philosophy of Ubuntu, which emphasizes communalism over individualism. Drawing on ethnographic research with farmers and other food-system workers in northern KwaZulu-Natal, the talk explores the local politics of food provisioning. It advocates for viewing the commons as dynamic, contested spaces interacting within the broader political economy.