Workshop „Food for Justice“Conference: The Political Potential of Food and Food Supply for Social Changes
19 July 2024
Second International Workshop “Food for Justice” to take place on 23 and 24 July at Universität Heidelberg
The political potential of food and food supply for social changes is the theme of an international conference at Heidelberg University. The second “Food for Justice International Workshop” on 23 and 24 July 2024 is being organized by the Heidelberg Center for Ibero-American Studies (HCIAS) of Ruperto Carola together with the Latin America Institute of Freie Universität Berlin. The participants will investigate, from a sociological and geographical perspective, how socio-ecological transformation in agricultural production and food security also influences changes in other areas of society, e.g. in relation to social justice and gender justice. During the event there will be a panel discussion on the role of worldwide alliances to which the interested public is also invited.
On the program of the two-day conference are presentations by researchers from different disciplines dealing with the dynamics of agricultural and food systems. They will discuss the interaction of social mobilization, market-driven changes and political transformations in food policy. In five panels they will, inter alia, explore what effects the food industry and agricultural sector have on ecological crises and what aspects are key to establishing just and democratic systems of food supply. Around 40 participants from eight countries are expected to join the “Food for Justice International Workshop” – not only representatives from academia but also activists advocating for the right to appropriate food, as well as migration-related issues, diversity of nutritional practices and an agriculture based on solidarity.
The conference will conclude with a public panel discussion in English on the topic of “Food for Justice: Alliances and Dialogues across World Regions”, which will take up findings from the research on Latin America, North America, South Africa and Europe. The panelists will raise the challenges and inequalities with which different regions of the world are confronted in the field of food and agriculture. Topics will include power relations and social justice, along with aspects of care, resistance and solidarity. The public event is taking place on 24 July 2024 in the Marsilius Kolleg of Heidelberg University, Im Neuenheimer Feld 130.1, starting at 4:15 p.m.
“Food for Justice” is a research project led by Prof. Dr Renata Motta. that engages with political, social and economic aspects of food justice at the Heidelberg Center for Ibero-American Studies. The studies aim to come up with possible solutions to pave the way towards a more just and ecological food supply. The project is funded by the Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF). Prof. Motta also heads the “Food for Justice” junior research group based at HCIAS.