The international conference “Scales of the Alimentation: an Asian Perspective” aims at bringing together the French and international scholars of Asia in order to promote a global approach to Asia and to bring together different research institutions based in Europe, therefore to develop the exchanges between different international scholars of Asian societies and experts related to the themes of the food. Our objective is to deliver in-depth analysis and innovative methods arising from research in social and human sciences. We aim to better understand economic, political, institutional, cultural, technological and organizational dynamics of past and present dietary practices in Asia. In particular, we will focus on how the state of food practices and their knowledge is interwoven with other social and technological developments, that are the legacies of expanding and shrinking empires and the mass industrialization.

Argument

The international workshop “Scales of the Alimentation: an Asian Perspective” aims at bringing together the French and international scholars of Asia in order to promote a global approach to Asia and to bring together different research institutions based in Europe, therefore to develop the exchanges between different international scholars of Asian societies and experts related to the themes of the food.

Today, Asia is experiencing rapid change. It is a territory of high demographic density where almost 60% of the world population is concentrated, a source of great potential for this region but also critical problems: demographic transition, rapid urbanization, fast economic development of these countries, consequences of natural and human disasters. And yet, a growing number of Europeans are interested in the Asian way of life, and the good Asian gastronomy become part of the enticement of the regional soft power.

Our objective is to deliver in-depth analysis and innovative methods arising from research in social and human sciences. We aim to better understand economic, political, institutional, cultural, technological and organizational dynamics of past and present dietary practices in Asia. In particular, we will focus on how the state of food practices and their knowledge is interwoven with other social and technological developments, that are the legacies of expanding and shrinking empires and the mass industrialization.

At the same time, we aim to show an “European vision of Asia”. Given the region’s rich relationship with European political, technological and cultural dominance since the 16th century, European countries share a long and deep history of food with Asian countries. Our presentations will pay attention to how food regimes and dietary practices became an increasingly global affair, with each one exploring an appropriate scale of comparison while undertaking a critical assessment of the “Asian specificity”.

This event is organized with the support of the Toshiba International Foundation, Réseau Asie et Pacifique (CNRS), GIS Asie and All Nippon Airways. Our working language is English.

Program 

Day 1

Panel 1: Processes of the Food Industrialization

• Tatsushi Fujihara (University of Kyoto), “Pickles and Science in Modern Japan”
• Xin Yuan Zhang (University of Tokyo), “The Role of State-owned Agribusiness in China’s Economy”

Panel 2: Asian Nutrition in Transition

• Bok-rae Kim (Andong National University), “The Developmental Stages of Rice (Bap) Culture in Korea: From Food Insufficiency towards Trade Dependency”
• Ann Veeck (Western Michigan University), “Changes and Challenges to Nanjing’s Food Marketing Systems: Risk, Individualization, and Stratification”
• Kotaro Fukuhara (University of Tokyo, Air Liquide Fellow at the EHESS), “Dietary Transition in Emerging Countries: Consumption Patterns of Edible Oils in East and Southeast Asia”

Chair: Françoise Sabban (EHESS)
Discussant: Katarzyna Cwiertka (Leiden University)

Panel 3 : Asian Food in Comparative Perspective

Day 2

Graduate Student Workshop on the history of food in Asia, coordinated by the GIS ASIE

• Shiori Nosaka (EHESS), “The circulation of lactic acid bacteria: theories on the fermentation and their application to the industrial field France-Japan (1880-1930)”
• Chia-Ling Hsu (Paris 7), “The circulation of Dietary culture: the case of the diffusion of French Gastronomy in Taiwan”
• Michaël Bruckert (Université Paris - Sorbonne), “Geography of meat in Tamil Nadu (India). Significations, spaces and circulations”
• Christopher Laurent (University of Montreal), “Makoto umai zeyo, this is truly delicious: A Genealogy of Taste and Flavor in Kōchi Japan”

Commentators

• Theodore C. Bestor (Harvard University),
• Katarzyna Cwiertka (Leiden University),
• Bok-rae Kim (Andong National University),
• Françoise Sabban (EHESS),
• Ann Veeck (Western Michigan University),
• Xin Yuan Zhang (University of Tokyo).