Eighth International Conference on Food Studies

Abstract

This paper investigates the links between commensality and micro-level peace-building efforts in the context of a protracted internal conflict. It seeks to add to the theoretical framework provided by the nascent field of gastrodiplomacy both theoretically, by drawing on a wider range of interconnected scholarship than previously done, and empirically, through qualitative research conducted in Bogotá, Colombia, in March 2018. Specifically, the field research in March 2018 consisted of the observations from two experiments where strangers of opposite ideological, political, economic, and social poles were gathered to cook a “slow food” meal and eat together, and 36 in-depth interviews conducted with the participants. The interviews were transcribed, coded, and systematically analyzed to answer the question of whether – and in what circumstances – commensality can contribute to empathy, humanization, and a culture of peace between individuals in a society marked by decades of hostility, violence, and distrust.