Society for Economic Anthropology, Atlanta, GA -- 2004 Annual Meeting, April 22-24, 2004. CALL FOR PAPERS: Fast Food -- Slow food: Social and Economic Contexts of Food and Food Systems. The Society for Economic Anthropology seeks proposals for papers and poster presentations for our 2004 annual meetings, which will be held in Atlanta. The topic of the meeting will be food and food systems, at scales ranging from the personal to the global, and over time from hominid origins to the future globalization of food systems. The SEA meetings provide a rare opportunity for a focused and coherent program of presentation, with time for critical discussion in a convivial intellectual setting. About 15 papers are selected from abstracts for a program that allows 20 minutes for presentation and 20 minutes for discussion in a single plenary session over two days. 20-30 additional abstracts will be selected for an afternoon poster session. The conference organizer then edits a conference volume which appears in the SEA book series, published by Altamira Press. We will have a food-oriented tour in Atlanta, an informal workshop on teaching and curriculum innovations, and of course, opportunities for fine dining. Fast food and slow food represent two visions of the future of food, two modes of analysis, two ways to connect food to other social and economic phenomena. Fast food is efficient, technological, homogenized; the product of an aggressively expanding global political economy. The slow food movement, on the contrary, is about aesthetics, conviviality, domesticity and local cultural knowledge. Both are equally modern. We seek papers that go beyond the traditional anthropologies of food that focus on the role of food in group identity and social integration, emphasizing the division between traditional and modern foodways. We encourage approaches that cross disciplinary boundaries, use innovative methods, and explore connections between food and the cultural economy. Possible topics for papers include (but are by no means limited to): " Food systems and the global division of labor " Food circulation and exchange as gifts and commodities " Food, domesticity, gender & household " The origins of complex food systems " Food market systems, localization & sustainability Send an abstract for paper or poster of 400-600 words to Richard Wilk, Anthropology Dept., Indiana University, Bloomington IN 47405, or by e-mail. Deadline for Abstracts is October 1, 2003. via Anthro-L

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