SDC@CSPS and RSO@CSPS invite you to
Geopolitics of food, nature and development: crises, narratives and challenges
Seminar with
dr. Natalia Mamonova – RURALIS, Norway
prof. Anja Nygren – University of Helsinki , Finland
prof. Mike Goodman – University of Reading, UK
📅 Date: February 12, 2025
⏰ Time: 10:00–12:00
📍 Location: Leeuwenborch B077, Campus Wageningen
Join us for an engaging seminar featuring three distinguished scholars exploring critical global issues at the intersection of political ecology, food security, and environmental transformations.
Topics and Speakers:
1. ‘From Climate Saviour to Tinfoil Hats and Factory Slop: An Analysis of the Narrative Grammars of Cultured Meat in UK Food and Farming Media’ by prof. Mike Goodman (University of Reading, UK)
Prof. Goodman investigates the evolving media narratives surrounding cultured meat (CM) in the UK. Through qualitative and quantitative analysis of food and farming media, this study uncovers how CM is framed as a technological solution, an environmental virtue, and a threat to traditional farming, with narratives ranging from optimism to conspiracy.
About Professor Mike Goodman: Mike Goodman is a Professor of Geography and Environmental Science at the University of Reading, specializing in the cultural politics of food, humanitarianism, and the environment. An accomplished scholar with over 85 publications, he explores the framing of sustainability, justice, and power structures in media and society. Mike has held visiting professorships at prominent institutions and edits two influential book series shaping the fields of food geographies and studies.
2. ‘Food Security in Times of Geopolitical Crisis: What Lessons Can We Learn from Ukrainian Agriculture?’ by dr. Natalia Mamonova (RURALIS, Norway)
Ukraine, known as the breadbasket of Europe, plays a critical role in global food security. Dr. Mamonova will delve into the impacts of Russia’s war on Ukrainian agriculture, examining domestic food shortages, global food crises, and the lessons necessary to build resilient food systems in the face of global disruptions.
About Dr. Natalia Mamonova: Dr. Natalia Mamonova, a senior researcher at RURALIS, Norway, specializes in rural political sociology, agrarian transformation, and food sovereignty, particularly in post-socialist Europe. With a PhD from the International Institute of Social Studies, she has led significant projects, including studies on right-wing populism in rural Europe and the impacts of the war in Ukraine on global food systems. Natalia also examines rural discontent and refugee food systems through various international research collaborations.
3. ‘Layered Resources and Layered Politics: Dispossession by Environmental Degradation at the Frontlines of Oil Extraction’ by prof. Anja Nygren (University of Helsinki, Finland)
Prof. Nygren explores the intricate dynamics of environmental degradation and resource politics in Mexico’s oil extraction zones. Drawing on ethnographic research and theoretical insights from political ecology, this presentation sheds light on the struggles of fisher-farmers facing salinisation and contamination, and the layered forms of resistance and repression in extractivist conflicts.
About Professor Anja Nygren: Anja Nygren is a Professor of Global Development Studies and Director of the “Political, Societal, and Regional Changes” Doctoral Program at the University of Helsinki, where she is also Adjunct Professor of Environmental Policy. With extensive field experience in Latin America, her research focuses on global extractivism, environmental justice, and socio-environmental conflicts, particularly in the context of hydrocarbon extraction and resource frontiers.
For questions, please reach out to Bram Buscher (bram.buscher@wur.nl) or Joost Jongerden (joost.jongerden@wur.nl)
Full Abstracts:
From Climate Saviour to Tinfoil Hats and Factory Slop: An Analysis Of The Narrative Grammars Of Cultured Meat In UK Food And Farming Media – Mike Goodman
Cultured meat (CM)—meat produced through animal-derived cell cultures—has garnered considerable media attention with a set of ‘loud’ voices and particular narrative and visual ‘grammars’ that primarily dictate the contemporary media framings of CM. To date, very little research has attempted to understand what the food and farming sector think of CM and, moreover, its potential impacts on farmers, their livelihoods and the farming sector more broadly. This study looks to bring to the fore these more marginalised and understudied food and farming voices, in the form of their legacy media and social media narratives, to explore and analyse the construction and circulation of the textual and visual grammars of CM in digital, online spaces. To this end, I build specifically on previous research into the discourses of CM through an iterative sampling procedure that collected and qualitatively and quantitatively analysed the framing grammars of online discursive UK food and farming media (n=259) discussing CM from 2017 to 2023. Analysing the sources suggested three prominent grammars of CM: 1) CM is a ‘solutionist’ technofix for the UK and explicitly Britain post-Brexit, 2) CM is a ‘virtuous’ technology given its environmental and food security possibilities, and 3) CM is ‘in tension’ with the farming sector as well as consumers’ health and taste buds. Farmers in particular perceive CM as an existential threat to their livelihoods and livestock farming, with some of these grammars verging on the conspiratorial. The visual analysis of CM grammars positioned it 1) within the laboratory, 2) in restaurants, 3) at home and 4) in a combination of the lab and culinary settings; positioning CM in restaurants and particularly the home is an attempt to ‘normalise’ it and develop it as a marketable and normalised ‘good food’. I conclude with the suggestion that understanding these mediated framings and grammars of CM provides crucial insights into the UK’s food and farming sector’s position on the potential impacts of CM to the future production and consumption of food in an increasingly climate changed world.
Layered resources and layered politics: Dispossession by environmental degradation at the frontlines of oil extraction – Natalia Mamonova
Extractivism and associated environmental-social conflicts have captured increased attention in recent years. Drawing from archival research, documentary analysis, and ethnographic fieldwork, this article analyses the decades-long struggle between the oil industry, state authorities, and fisher-farmers, over salinisation, contamination, and associated dispossession at the frontlines of oil extractivism in Mexico. Analyses of extractive conflicts have often focused on smallholders’ struggles against land appropriation. However, I argue that smallholders’ dispossession through oil extraction more commonly materialises in the degradation of their environments than in direct appropriation of their lands. Drawing on recent theorisations in subterranean political ecology and voluminous resource geography, the study shows that consideration of layered resources and layered politics is needed to enhance understanding of oil-related dispossession and cognate contestations. The study shows frontlines of extraction as sites of sacrifice and stamina, involving diverse tactics by local residents and social movements to hold oil industry responsible, and techniques of pressure and persuasion by oil industry and state authorities to stave off local claims for compensation and crush resistance. The study contributes to discussions on access to layered resources and politics, dispossession by environmental degradation, struggles over recognition and responsibility, and visible and invisible forms of contestation and repression, amidst extractivism.
Food security in times of geopolitical crisis: what lessons can we learn from Ukrainian agriculture? – Anja Nygren
Ukraine is often referred to as the breadbasket of Europe, as it is one of the world’s largest grain exporters. Russia’s war in Ukraine has had a severe impact on Ukrainian agricultural production and trade, leading to domestic food shortages and contributing to the global food crisis. In this presentation, Natalia will discuss the impact of the war on the Ukrainian and global food systems, and the key lessons that can be learned to make our food system more resilient to global shocks and disruptions.
Centre for Space, Place and Society 