The Amsterdam Symposium on the History of Food is the annual international point of assembly and an exchange of knowledge in the field of Food history in the Netherlands. It intends to stimulate debate and research that bridges the gap between different disciplines. Another aim is to transfer academic research to a wider public and stimulate research using the History of Food Collection of the University of Amsterdam (UvA). The symposium is therefore targeted at both an academic and a professional audience.
The Amsterdam Symposium on the History of Food is the result of a collaborative partnership between Allard Pierson | Collections of the University of Amsterdam, the Amsterdam School of Historical Studies, University of Amsterdam and the research unit Social & Cultural Food Studies (FOST) of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel.
Organizing Committee
IJsbrand van Dijk; Antonia Mazel; Joke Mammen; Jon Verriet; Ingrid de Zwarte
Advisory Board
Prof. Dr. Ir. Louise O. Fresco; Mrs. Claudia Roden; Prof. Dr. Peter Scholliers; Prof. Dr. Irene E. Zwiep.
Friday, 15 November – Saturday 16 November 2019
Venue: Aula of the University of Amsterdam
Singel 411, 1012 XM Amsterdam.
Registration
Symposium fee: € 90 (Early Bird until 15 September: € 75)
Reduced fee: € 45 (students; friends of the Allard Pierson UvA)
To register please follow this link.
Since places are allotted on a first-come, first-serve basis, please register as early as possible.
For an update on the Symposium please sign in here.
creating, negotiating, and resisting transnational food systems
Because of its manifold effects on individuals, cultures, and countries, from the 15th century onwards the colonial era had far-reaching impacts on existing foodways. Colonial rulers often imposed exploitative food systems upon the colonized, resulting in relationships that have been perpetuated, mediated, and resisted to this day. Because of their troubling and complex legacy, colonial foodways have become an essential theme in recent histories of transnational food production, consumption and trade practices from early modern mercantilism to the present. By shifting the focus from two-way colonizer-colonized relationships towards (post)colonial networks and their various nexuses, truly transnational histories are emerging that decenter Europe and go beyond traditional narratives.
Food history and (post)colonial history intersect in various ways. Theories about exploration and exploitation offer insights into (proto)capitalism and the consumption of commodities, the agency of populations in the Global South, the transfer of food technologies, and the ecological impact of restructuring and repurposing vast areas of land. Studying material culture and (post)colonial food customs, furthermore, advances an in-depth understanding of the historical negotiation of identities and ideologies. The hybridization of national and migrant cuisines, culinary (neo)colonialism, and shifting perceptions of gastronomic ‘authenticity’ all underwrite the continuing influence of the colonial era on how we speak about food and, subsequently, about ourselves.
Friday, 15 November 2019
09:00 – 10:00 Registration and coffee
10:00 – 10:05 Welcome Marike van Roon
10:05 – 10:30 Professor J.M. van Winter Stipend
10:30 – 11.00 Keynote lecture: Katarzyna J. Cwiertka – From Colonialism to Nation Branding: The Persistant Legacy of Japanese Rule in Korea (1910 – 1945)
11:00 – 11.10 Short break
11:10 – 12.40 Panel 1 – Transatlantic legacies of slavery
12.40 – 13.00 Intermezzo – Postcolonial foodways in the Netherlands
13.00 – 14.00 Lunch break
14.00 – 15.30 Panel 2 – Nationalist policy and (de)colonisation
15.30 – 16:45 Coffee & Tea break
16:45 – 17:30 Prize-giving Ceremony of the 2019 Johannes van Dam Prize and the Joop Witteveen Prize
Drinks at the Allard Pierson.
Saturday, 16 November 2019
09:00 – 09:30 Registration
09.30 – 10.30 Panel 3 – Pursuits of the postcolonial food industry
10.30 – 11.00 Coffee & Tea break
11.00 – 12.00 Panel 4 – Representing the Nation: authenticity and appropriation
12.00 – 12.20 Wrap-up by Marlou Schrover
12.20 – 12.30 Closing remarks and topic for 2020
Afternoon Programme of the Foodie Festival at the Allard Pierson (festival starts at 13.00)