From feudal to neoliberal: a historical look at Quebec’s agriculture and food regimes

Laurier Centre for Sustainable Food Systems

Brown bag lunch and learn

Speaker:   Dr. Manon Boulianne, Dept. of Anthropology, Université Laval

Date:         Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Time:        11:30 am – 12:30 pm

Where: P3027 – Peters Building, Wilfrid Laurier University
(School of Business and Economics, on the corner of University Ave and Albert St. in Waterloo)

From the 17th to the first half of the 20th century, petty commodity production was the modus operandi of an important part of Quebec’s family farms. During phases of industrial expansion, farm-born and raised young people flew to growing city centers. During economic depressions, new regions of colonization were opened in order to prevent French Canadians from leaving for New England, where they moved to find factory work. Commodification and specialization of farming developed after WW1, and by the middle of the 1960’s, modernization and standardization became the norm.

How do these changes relate to the transformation of the agri-food system, in the province and beyond? These questions will be addressed from a food regime perspective. Emphasis will be placed on how regional dynamics were influenced by the nation-states and corporate actors which have occupied a hegemonic position within different food regimes?

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