Fellow, SCAS.
Senior Lecturer in Anthropology and Chair of the Food Studies Centre,
SOAS University of London

Hybrid event.
Zoom: https://uu-se.zoom.us/j/65802739142 External link, opens in new window.

ABSTRACT:
Criticisms of the agro-industrial food system have spurred demands for alternative practices of production, distribution and consumption. This lecture explores the concept of the commons, often idealized as a space free from commodification, and reimagined in South Africa through the philosophy of Ubuntu, which emphasizes communalism over individualism. Drawing on ethnographic research with farmers and other food-system workers in northern KwaZulu-Natal, the talk explores the local politics of food provisioning. It advocates for viewing the commons as dynamic, contested spaces interacting within the broader political economy.