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Instructors: Anja-Maria Bassimir; Elena Reichl
Event type:
Seminar
Displayed in timetable as:
Soup Kitchens
Hours per week:
2
Language of instruction:
Englisch
Min. | Max. participants:
- | 5
Priority scheme: Senatsrichtlinie
Contents:
Soup and community kitchens are a response to hunger. As a response to food insecurity and scarcity, public or private benefactors step in and provide meals. Or so the story goes. In this course, we will take a critical look at the history and ethnography of soup kitchens. We will ask questions like: What does it mean to provide “relief,” “charity,” or “welfare” in different places, milieus, and times? What type of provisions are furnished for the hungry and what role do changing medical and nutritional standards play in this regard? Who are the sponsors and patrons of soup kitchens? Is feeding people a (religious or political) duty, a benevolent act, or maybe an economic opportunity? What ideals, methods, bureaucracies, or technologies determine who receives food aid and how it is distributed? What are the circumstances that make people require food aid and how do people navigate systems of relief? We will reflect on soup kitchens as sites of charity, care, and solidarity; of medical and technical innovation; of military organization and efficiency; of inspiring social justice or cementing hierarchies and economic divisions. We will approach the topic by analyzing historical sources and ethnographic material. Readings from historical and ethnographic literature will provide context and demonstrate some exemplary academic approaches to the topic.
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