New deadline: February 28, 2023
Online Workshop, 2-3 October 2023
Call for papers for an online workshop
Deadline: January 31, 2023
Because of the key social, economic and symbolic roles livestock have historically played in the lives of populations across the world and continue to play today, human–livestock relations and livestock production systems have become established subjects of inquiry in the humanities and the social sciences, and increasingly rely on insights from different disciplinary fields, including the natural sciences. The connection between livestock and imperialism has particularly drawn the interest of scholars with different backgrounds and perspectives, focusing on topics such as changing livestock practices in societies divided along racial lines, the challenges of specific disease environments or the ecological transformations wrought by the expansion of industrial livestock production. The “animal turn” in the social sciences and the humanities has recently called on scholars to move away from anthropocentric views, focusing rather on human animal – non-human animal relations and on multispecies perspectives. Furthermore, perspectives centred on different types of livestock have complexified analytical scales, stressing the interconnectedness of local, regional, national, transnational and trans-imperial dimensions.
Acknowledging the different empirical contributions and theoretical discussions that this theme has garnered over the past decades, the goal of this workshop is to bring together insights from areas such as environmental history, anthropology, global history, social history, agrarian studies, the history of health, animal studies and development studies to investigate the evolving role of livestock in different areas of the Lusophone world.
This timeframe and broad geographical focus could thus encompass case studies focusing for instance on the expansion of cattle ranching in post-independence Brazil and its relation with deforestation; on the struggles of pastoralists against the colonial state in 1960s southern Angola; on the changing role of buffaloes in colonial and post-colonial East Timor; or on the relation between food security and women’s poultry production in 21st century Mozambique.
We propose to create a space to debate aspects related to livestock in areas in South America, Africa and Asia that were once under Portuguese colonial rule, but also to discuss the evolving relations between these areas. Presentations may focus on a narrower or broader time period between the 19th and 21st centuries and engage with analytical approaches from different fields, or with inter or transdisciplinary perspectives.
We welcome submissions focused on the Lusophone world that include, but are not limited to, the following sub-themes and topics:
• Livestock practices
• Environments
• Health and disease
• Breeds
• Trade
• Transfer and acclimatization of livestock
• Meat, milk and other livestock by products
• Commodification
• Food and diet
• Knowledge regimes
• Colonial and post-independence livestock policies
• Multispecies perspectives on livestock
PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Submissions in Portuguese or English should be sent to b.direito@fct.unl.pt and inesponte@ics.ulisboa.pt by January 31, 2023 and must include:
Name(s); Email contact(s); Institutional affiliation; A short biography of the author(s) (max. 100 words); Title of presentation; Abstract (max. 300 words).
Participants in the workshop will be invited to submit full drafts of their papers (5000-6000 words, including notes and bibliography) a few weeks before the event. The papers will be pre-circulated to all workshop participants. During the workshop, participants will also act as discussants of other selected papers, and the authors will have the possibility to reply, before a general discussion.
Official languages of the symposium: Portuguese and English
The symposium has no registration fee.
Selected contributions will be part of an edited volume or special issue.
TIMELINE
January 31, 2023 Deadline for submission of abstracts
March 1, 2023 Notification of decision on acceptance of abstracts
September 4, 2023 Dissemination of preliminary programme
September 15, 2023 Deadline for submission of draft papers for circulation to workshop participants
October 2-3 Online Seminar
CONVENERS
Bárbara Direito (CIUHCT- NOVA FCT) and Inês Ponte (ICS-ULisboa).
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This Symposium is supported by FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P. (PIDDAC/OE), through unit CIUHCT under the project UIDB/00286/2020 and CEEC contract CEECIND/01948/2017; and through unit ICS-ULisboa under projects UIDB/50013/2020, UIDP/50013/2020, LA/P/0051/2020 and CEEC contract CEECIND/01762/2020.
