Rachel Black

The CEA is well underway but we still have a few entries that need authors:

Bar Games (500)

Competitive Drinking (1000)

Drinking Clubs (750)

Drinking paraphernalia (750)

Fatalities (750)

Film (2000)

Free Drinks (500)

Politics (1500)

Sobering up (1000)

Social Drinking (1000)

Please contact me at reblack (at) gmail.com, if you are interested in getting involved.

I am a cultural anthropologist and I have never been to Africa. I have to admit that this has always caused me to feel inadequate as far as being an anthropologist goes. I have no stories of terrifying plane rides, recurring malarial symptoms nor do I have a wall full of tribal masks gifted to me by important chiefs. You have to understand that these are the standard trappings and tales that all of my Africanist friends have acquired. At anthropology cocktails parties, I am often the odd woman out. Perhaps only the North Americanists who don’t study Native Americans have it worse than me.

You see, I study Italy and France. No, this wasn’t a ploy to find a way to travel and live in two countries with amazing food and wine. Really, I have always been drawn to Italy and France and food and wine have been in my blood (figuratively) forever. While my work is interesting and gratifying, I often feel guilty because I am not helping save the world like many of my colleagues. I used to think that they were drawn to Africa because   of its exoticism, because Africa is the field par excellence.

Lately, I can’t shake the feeling that Africa is calling my name, and, no, my name sounds nothing like Florence Nightingale. Africa is seductively whispering to me: it is telling me to come and face myself, to figure out who I really am in relation to the world. You have to understand that part of my motivation for becoming an anthropologist (not just studying the academic discipline) was to face all the awkward, uncomfortable social situations I could possibly encounter. I have a feeling that going to Africa will cause me to lose myself and question my points of reference. Through this process I think I will gain a better understanding of my place in the world.

Now, I just have to find a way to get to Africa and do something useful there.

Michele and some lovely uva nera

When I was in Turin last month I returned to the field where I did the research for my PhD dissertation, the Porta Palazzo market. I was very anxious about going back after many years and only a few sporadic visits. I was going to find out what had happened during my absence, to find my old friends and informants and to see if I could salvage the manuscript I had written about this magic place.

As I approached the market from via Milano, I felt the same uncertainty I initially had when I first started my fieldwork: would I be accepted by the people at the market, would they remember me, how had our relationship changed from when I was here each day working next to the vendors doing my shopping and living a large portion of my life in piazza? What personal questions would they ask me (because they always do ask personal questions) and how would I tell them about the changes in my life? How would I recount all the places I had been and lived? How would I bring our worlds together again?

The first people I encounter were Luigi and his family at the candy stand. They were possibly the hardest people to get to know, with their guarded Piedmontese manners and closed family circle. As the shy smile rolled across Luigi’s face, I knew he remembered me. The whole family began to ask me where I had been? Where did I live now? We fell into our old prattle about life, health, relationships and happiness. Everything had changed but everything had stayed the same. I would soon learn that this largely held true for most of Porta Palazzo.

That week I went to the market each day. I spent time with my old friends. I drank wine and ate salami with Oscar and Walter. I went to Said’s house to break the Ramadan fast and catch up with his wife Naima. I even got to meet one of their beautiful daughters, who is a new edition since I first met this young Moroccan couple in 2002. At the farmers’ market, Pier let me mind his vegetable stand while he went to fetch his truck and his uncle Michele made me taste each type of grape he had brought to market as I waited. Andrea still looked as much in love as the last time I saw him selling bananas and pineapples. He told me about what happiness his relationship brings him. While there was some joy, there was also the usual storm clouds: everyone lamented the poor economy (like they always do) and talked about the impossibility of going forward in such a depressed state. No one except Piero had left (and that was family feud) the market. We are all a little older. There are more children. Most importantly, the market marches on as it satiates the city’s hunger.

For an anthropologist returning to the field can be one of the hardest things to do. However, it can also been one of the most interesting and fruitful activities. Returning to Porta Palazzo after a five-year break I had new questions to ask about the market. I saw more continuity. I could grasp long-term changes and trends. Yes, it was all the same but all different as well.

This is my latest project:

A Cultural Encyclopedia of Alcohol (ABC Clio Press)

This A-Z encyclopedia takes a wide-ranging pop culture look at a topic that engages students today but will also appeal to adults for browsing. The content will not glamorize the use of alcohol but instead put it in its cultural context, primarily today in the United States, but also considering the wider historical and international associations when appropriate. There are books that look at the historical aspects of drink but there are no reference works that also take into consideration the contemporary and popular culture of alcohol and which bring together both the production and consumption of alcohol.

This book will serve as a reference to students and educators studying the culture of alcohol and issues surrounding its consumption in North America. It will be an excellent resource for courses and programs that deal with health, addiction prevention and responsible alcohol consumption. Seeing alcohol within a cultural framework will promote a better understanding of issues surrounding its consumption in the United States in the past and present.

I am still looking for contributors so…

Does your research focus on the culture of alcohol consumption and production in the United States? I am looking for contributors for a new project entitled The Cultural Encyclopedia of Alcohol. This is a reference work that will be published by ABC Clio. It is a popular culture look at alcohol in the United States in encyclopedia form.

Entries range from 250-2000 words. There is a small honorarium for contributors and copies of the work are available to those who make major contributions. Get in touch with me if you are interested in contributing: reblack (at) gmail.com

Available entries:

Advertising (750 words), Bars (1500), Bar Fly (250), Beer Runs (250), Beer Gut/Belly (250), Burping and Belching (250), Cider (1000), Competitive Drinking (1000), Drinking Clubs (750), Drinking Games (1000), Drinking Games (1500), Drinking paraphernalia (750), Drinks, Celebratory & Holidays (750), Elderly (750), Fatalities (750), Free Drinks (500), Hangovers (500), Happy Hours (750), Interventions (500), Keggers (250), Literature (2000), Martinis (500), Medicinal Uses (500), Party Drinks (500), Pubs (1000), Pub Crawls (250), Race and ethnicity (750), Shooters (500), Sobering up (1000), Social Drinking (1000), Skid Row and the Bowery (750), Television (1000), Toasting (500), Violence, Alcohol-Related (1000), Workplace Drinking (750)

A unique opportunity to examine the themes of food production, sustainability, and ecology, open to all those working in the field—entrepreneurs, teachers, students, and other organizational representatives.

When:
Friday, September 11 to Sunday, September 13, 2009

Where:
University of Gastronomic Sciences
9, piazza Vittorio Emanuele
12042 Pollenzo – Bra (CN)

Fontanafredda
15, via Alba
12050 Serralunga d’Alba (CN)

The Presenters:
Andrea Bairati, Luigi Bistagnino, Gianluca Bocchi, Rachel Black, Valter Cantino, Raffaele De Lutio, Adriano Favole, Eric Holt-Gimenez, Tim Lang, Luca Mercalli, Carlo Modonesi, Loretta Napoleoni, Clara Nicholls, Raj Patel, Ezio Pellizzetti, Carlo Petrini, Andrea Pieroni, Claudia Ranaboldo, Vandana Shiva, Nancy Turner, Richard Wilk

The Structure:
Focusing on 8 disciplines—economics, law, environment, social systems, production systems, traditional knowledge, evolution and co-evolution, and policy practice—the conference comprises 2 plenary sessions and 1 day of workshops centered on 8 key questions pertaining to each of the respective disciplines, all culminating in a round-table discussion aimed at providing multiple responses to each question.

The Participants:
The conference is designed for entrepreneurs, teachers, students, institutions, and professionals operating within international cooperation—all those seeking to delve into the issues linked to the complexities within food policy.

The Fee: €800 per person, including:
- participation in the sessions
- 1 buffet dinner, 1 buffet lunch, 1 formal dinner (with show)
- shuttle service between Pollenzo and Fontanafredda
- conference proceedings
- English and Italian translation of all presenters

Click here for more information.