Book Launch ---- Radical Food Geographies: Power, Knowledge and Resistance

Event Date: 
Thursday, September 12, 2024 - 5:00pm to 7:00pm EDT
Event Location: 
Online: Link provided after RSVP
Event Fee: 
Free

Join The Food Studies Program at The New School for presentations and participatory discussion of the new book “Radical Food Geographies: Power, Knowledge and Resistance” (2024 Bristol University Press)! This collection, co-edited by Colleen Hammelman, Charles Z. Levkoe, and (Food Studies Program Chair) Kristin Reynolds, presents critical and action-oriented approaches to addressing food systems inequities across places, spaces, and scales from around the world. 

The praxis of “radical food geographies” connects three intersecting elements: 1) theoretical engagement with power and structures of oppression both inside and outside the academy; 2) action through academic, social movement, and civil society collaborations; and 3) analysis through a broadly defined geographic lens. With case studies from Indigenous territories, Palestine, India, South Africa, Chile, and the Guatemala/Honduras highlands, as well as the United States and Canada, Radical Food Geographies explores interconnections between power structures and the social and ecological dynamics that bring food from the land and water to our plates. Through themes of scale, spatial imaginaries, and human and more-than-human relationships, the authors explore ongoing efforts to co-construct more equitable and sustainable food systems for all. Advancing a radical food geographies praxis, the book reveals multiple forms of resistance and resurgence, and offers examples of co-creating food systems transformation through scholarship, action, and geography.

In this hybrid (in-person and online) event, the co-editors will introduce the book and the collective process that led to its publication, followed by short presentations by several book chapter authors and audience discussion. A reception will follow (for in-person attendees).

Speakers: 

Colleen Hammelman is an Associate Professor in the Department of Earth, Environmental, and Geographical Sciences at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. 

Charles Levkoe is the Canada Research Chair in Equitable and Sustainable Food Systems, a Member of the College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists of the Royal Society of Canada, and Professor in the Department of Health Sciences at Lakehead University. 

Kristin Reynolds is Associate Professor and Chair of Food Studies and Director of the Food and Social Justice Action Research Lab at The New School in New York City.

Francisco García González is currently a PhD student in Development Planning at University College, London and a consultant for UN-FAO.

Roseann (Rosie) Kerr is a Postdoctoral Fellow with the Sustainable Food Systems Lab at Lakehead University.

Dr. Brittany D. Jones is a dedicated “Scholactivist” who merges academic excellence with community activism. She currently serves as a Toledo City Council member, where she plays a pivotal role in legislative development, community events, and budget oversight. 

Lynn Huynh is a Brooklyn-based writer and designer exploring design systems, food justice, and critical geography in the urban built environment. 

Sudha Nagavarapu has worked with Richa Singh, Surbala Vaish, Om Prakash and Kamal Kishore to design and implement interventions in health care, livelihoods, food and agriculture for Sangtin Kisan Mazdoor Sangathan (SKMS), a collective of female and male farmer-labourers in western Avadh, Uttar Pradesh, India.

Yafa El Masri is both a refugee and a researcher. She is a Postdoctoral Research Associate in Human Geography at the University of Durham, UK. She is also the co-leader of Decolonizing Development Research Group at the DecolDev COST Action.

Presented by: Food Studies Program at The New School; Food and Social Justice Action Research (FJAR) Lab at The New School

Co sponsored by: Food Studies Program at The New School; Food and Social Justice Action Research (FJAR) Lab at The New School; Lakehead University and the Sustainable Food Systems Lab; Department of Earth, Environmental, and Geographical Sciences at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and the Charlotte Action Research Project; Global Studies Program at The New School; Environmental Studies Program at The New School; Urban Studies Program at The New School; Sex Tech Lab at The New School; Gender and Sexualities Studies Institute at The New School; Tishman Environment and Design Center at The New School.