ILRIC 3325 - Food and Work

(crosslisted) ANTHR 3325

Fall or Spring. 3 credits. Letter grades only (no audit).

Co-meets with ILRIC 5325.

S. Besky.

This course will explore key topics in the critical study of labor and capitalism through the lens of food. Questions of race, gender, and class, but also toxicity, settler colonialism, as well as production and reproduction can all be read in the landscapes of food provision and procurement. Food is the ground for an array of labor processes—planting, harvesting, transporting, serving, and eating, just to name a few. Some of these forms of work are overt (stooped workers toiling in pesticide ridden field, for example). But some of these forms of work are invisible and unpaid. And sometimes, they are incredibly well remunerated but totally shadowy. By studying these different forms of work comparatively, we can understand genealogies and futures of inequality, resource use, and the nature of work itself.