Location: Trieste, Italy
Subject Fields: Maritime History / Studies, Women's & Gender History / Studies, Business History / Studies, Economic History / Studies, Labor History / Studies
International Hybrid Workshop
Bread, Butter, and Bacon On Shore
Gendered Perspectives on the Economic, Social, and Cultural Dimensions of Food and ‘Feeding Relationships’ in Maritime Contexts in Modern Times (18th–21st Centuries)
Venice (Italy) and online, 27–28 November 2025
CfP deadline: 7 September 2025
Organisers:
- NextGenerationEU Project ‘Ondine’ (Dep. History, Humanities and Society – Tor Vergata University of Rome);
- Venice School of Management – Ca’ Foscari University of Venice
Dates and location: 27–28 November 2025 at Venice School of Management - Ca’ Foscari Universiry of Venice, Venice and remotely
Languages: English and Italian
Under the patronage of: Fondazione ISEC
The aim of the workshop is twofold. (1) On the one hand, the workshop aims to highlight the multifaceted nature of gendered, socio-economic, and cultural practices related to the entire foodstuff (including beverages) ‘lifecycle’ (i.e., production, transformation and/or circulation, management, consumption) within maritime contexts in Modern times (18th–21st centuries). (2) On the other hand, its goal is to explore the most salient features of ‘feeding relationships’, i.e. breadwinning and caregiving, in maritime contexts in the longue (modern) durée.
Regarding the first aspect (1), it is important to emphasise the characteristics of an exemplary case study. In 1992, the Government of Canada enacted a moratorium on the cod fishery along the Atlantic coast. Overexploitation has culminated in the cessation of nearly five centuries of fishing activities within those waters. The economic, social, and cultural consequences were devastating. The fishing boats, which employed predominantly male labour, remained anchored in port, while the fish processing plants, which employed mainly female workers, closed their doors. Unemployment was rampant. In this context, the centuries-old economic, social, and cultural fabric of Atlantic Canada’s fishing communities has undergone a profound transformation, losing its distinct physiognomy. This can be defined both as a failure of food and maritime security, or at the very least, it was the individuals and human capital involved who bore the consequences. Nevertheless, it is important to emphasise that food security, particularly in the maritime environment from a gender perspective, is a topic that has seen some success in academia when it relates to the Global South (Njuki et al., 2016; Swastiwi et al., 2023). However, this is much less the case when the ‘crime scene’—as in the example of Atlantic Canada—pertains to the modern, enlightened, and advanced Global North. It seems that, ultimately, this is a matter that does not concern ‘us’ (Cf. Suárez-de Vivero et al., 2019).
In recent years, Campling & Colás (2021) have questioned the hierarchical relations between sea and shore in the context of maritime capitalism. From that discussion, the well-chosen expression ‘terraqueous predicament’ was coined. No other formulation better explains the nature of the relationship between food (including beverages) and maritime capitalism, since that encounter occurs precisely on the shore, where land and sea, feminine and masculine, private and public, intimacy and worldliness intersect.
All those intersections are expressed in different economic forms: production, transformation and/or circulation, management, consumption. What is important to emphasise here is that not only can those economic operations have a significant gender connotation, but also that each gender can articulate and manage them differently.
Therefore, given the vital role of gender throughout the entire foodstuff ‘lifecycle’ (Shiva, 2009), the following is a brief list of topics for which we welcome paper proposals.
- What are the particularities of maritime environments?
- Do maritime communities and port cities share common traits, or, on the contrary, do they possess unique characteristics that set them apart from each other?
- How much influence, for example, do a) the physiognomy of the local economy, b) the level of mobility and/or transnationality and/or creolisation, c) and the traits of domesticity and intimacy models have in shaping food patterns in maritime localities?
- What could be the consequences for gender relations resulting from food and maritime security failures like those in Atlantic Canada during the 1990s?
- What is the role of the meal – a social institution and the main element in understanding the socio-economic and cultural significance of food – in a maritime context? What does consuming the meal ‘at home’ (e.g., with one’s family or at one’s home port) versus ‘out’ (e.g., with shipmates or in a foreign port) in a maritime setting involve?
Regarding the second aspect (2), it is essential to establish a working assumption immediately: breadwinning, or ‘bringing home the bacon’ or ‘bread and butter’, is a socio-economic practice and institution that, in most cases, occurs within the formal economy. In contrast, frying and serving the same bacon or buttering the toast – i.e., all the activities related to care and household management tasks – are generally linked to the informal economy. Moreover, these two socio-economic and cultural spheres are not gender-neutral and imply a strong normative charge concerning gender roles. Despite significant structural changes in recent decades, at least in terms of our collective imagination, the breadwinning capacity is still associated with masculine and male gender roles, while housework and caregiving are linked to feminine and female gender roles. This is arguably one of the most significant socio-economic and cultural outcomes of modern (industrial) capitalism (DeVault, 1991). In maritime socio-economic contexts, the issue becomes even more complex. If, on the one hand, historiography over the last 40 years has progressively dismantled the assumption of the male seafarer as the sole wage provider (Burton, 1998) and recognised the value of domesticity and women’s productive contributions in fishing communities (Thompson et al., 1983; Norling, 2000; Mezzoli, 2023; 2025 forthcoming), on the other hand, port-cities continue to be regarded as ‘normal’ bastions of masculinity and male economic, social, and cultural production and breadwinning.
Finally, there is one last important aspect to consider. In Parassecoli’s words: ‘Food is pervasive. The social, economic, and even political relevance cannot be ignored. Ingestion and incorporation constitute a fundamental component of our connection with reality and the world outside our body’ (2008, 2). In short, this makes food a cultural issue. As discussed earlier, it is also a key element in shaping gender identities and roles within a specific society at a given time. However, within this framework, what are the cultural outcomes of the intersection between food and gender in maritime environments, which are inherently susceptible to processes of creolisation? What are their characteristics? What significance does the gender variable hold in the gender-race-class equation within food-related cultural production in maritime contexts?
Given the premises, we are primarily soliciting proposals that deal with:
- Practices related to the economic ‘lifecycle’ (i.e., production, transformation, circulation, management, consumption; both labour and business dimensions) of foodstuff in maritime environments; abstracts with a gender focus (i.e., history of women, masculinities, and LGBTQ+ communities) will be given priority;
- Breadwinning ‘versus’ caregiving in maritime contexts: abstracts focusing on breadwinning – particularly in relation to gender issues (i.e., women’s history, masculinities, and LGBTQ+ communities) – linked to the socio-economic aspects of household management, care of the person, food patterns will be provided priority.
However, we also welcome proposals that concern:
- (Pop) Representations and narratives of food and/or ‘feeding relationships’ in maritime contexts (e.g., exhibitions, festivities, documentaries): abstracts with a gender and/or economic angle will be given priority.
In particular, we would welcome:
- Proposals based on ‘non-official’ historiographic sources (e.g., cookery books, paintings, photographs, comics, films, songs, etc.);
- Proposals that focus on practices in (post) imperial/colonial maritime port-cities;
- Proposals from scholars from disciplines other than history (e.g., anthropology, sociology, economics).
Please send your 20-minute presentation proposal to Erica Mezzoli at bbb.venice2025@gmail.com by 7 September 2025. The proposal should include:
- max 300-word abstract in English;
- max 250-word bio profile in English with affiliation, position, and contact information;
- the language the proponent would prefer to communicate: Italian or English;
- the modality the proponent would prefer to communicate: in person in Venice or remotely.
The workshop is organised in the framework of the NextGenerationEU Project ‘Ondine. Women’s Labour and Everyday Life on the Upper and Eastern Adriatic Waterfronts, mid-19th century–mid-20th century’ (Funded by EU; CUP E53C22002420001) hosted by the Department of History, Humanities and Society of the Tor Vergata University of Rome.
Contact Information
Erica Mezzoli
NextGenerationEU Project 'Ondine' (CUP E53C22002420001)
Department of History, Humanities and Society - Tor Vergata University of Rome
Via Columbia, 1
00133 Rome (Italy)
Contact Email