The Political Economy, Global Studies & Environmental Justice (PEGSEJ) and the Food and Agriculture Paths of Study are collaborating with many partners on a two-day symposium that uses as a central theme Arundhati Roy’s phrase, “The Pandemic as Portal” as a lens to analyze contemporary political economy with a focus on the food system. The last few years have opened our eyes wider to the ways in which food “isn’t just food,” but is intertwined within larger issues like immigration, labor, health, globalization, environmentalism, Indigenous sovereignty, racial justice and more. The pandemic has, for some people, served as a portal, exposing inequities and injustices, laying bare the bankruptcy of the neoliberal vision. Historically, times of crisis served as opportunities for deep social transformation, such as cooperative movements that arose out of the ashes of civil war, industrial strife, and enslavement. We will create space for the Evergreen community and the public to come together to learn about and discuss these important pressing contemporary issues.

TBD