Synopses & Reviews
Mandala breaks from the mold of current studies done on food systems and argues that there is more to food studies than the analysis of famine. He bases his case on the study of his native African country of Malawi, notorious for its annual food deficits, which can get very severe in the event of a drought or flood. Interestingly, the region is not a land of frequent famine. This work identifies several factors to explain why seasonal hunger does not often lead to famine in this part of the world. He also explores in detail topics such as seasonal hunger,and how seasonal abundance of food changes the people's daily routines of food cultivation and eating, and the region's history of food.
Synopsis
In this groundbreaking work, Mandala argues that there is more to food studies than the analysis of famine—that hunger exists only as an integral part of abundance. Basing his case on the history of southern Malawi, he identifies several factors that explain why, although notorious for its annual food deficits, the region is not a land of frequent famine. By proving that seasonal hunger does not lead to famine in the absence of political crisis, and showing in detail how rare events get their meaning from the everyday, Mandela underscores the need to understand the daily and seasonal routines of food cultivation and eating in their own right.
Synopsis
Challenges the status quo of modern studies of food systems by analyzing the dynamics of supply and demand, famine, and the history of food in one African region and placing the object of his focus within the larger framework of international food studies.
About the Author
ELIAS C. MANDALA was born in Malawi and received his Bachelor's and Master's degrees from the University of Malawi. In 1977, he came to the United States as a Fulbright Scholar, and did further graduate work at the Universities of Minnesota and Wisconsin (Madison). After obtaining his Ph.D. from Minnesota, he started teaching at the University of Rochester, where he is now professor in the Department of History. He has authored many articles on the agrarian history of Southern Malawi. His Work and Control in a Peasant Economy: A History of the Lower Tchiri Valley in Malawi, 1859-1960 (University of Wisconsin Press) was a finalist for the 1990 Herskovits award.