934301 Gender, nutrition and right to food (in Eng.)

Art
Vorlesung und Seminar
Semesterstunden
4
Vortragende/r (Mitwirkende/r)
Stadlmayr, Barbara , Lemke, Stefanie
Organisation
Angeboten im Semester
Sommersemester 2025
Unterrichts-/ Lehrsprachen
Englisch
Lehrinhalt

Worldwide hunger and malnutrition are largely caused by structural inequalities, characterized by chronic lack of access to adequate food. The majority of those affected are smallholder farmers, pastoralists, Indigenous Peoples, landless people, non-farm rural households and poor urban populations. Our current food systems not only fail to address hunger, but at the same time encourage diets that are a source of overweight and obesity. This food system failure ultimately undermines the capacity of individuals and communities to be resilient in the face of environmental and social change, including the climate crisis. Women and girls face specific gender-based risks and are especially vulnerable to food insecurity and hunger. Combatting hunger and malnutrition is in many countries a legally binding human rights obligation, with the right to food and nutrition placing legal obligations on States to realize food and nutrition security for all. In light of on-going conditions of intersecting rural, racial, gender, class and other structural power inequities a human rights framework can offer a more precise analysis of the root causes of these inequities, and provides an analytical tool for exploring the policy and practical dimensions of implementing the right to food. The purpose of this course is to introduce students to the history and development of various UN Conventions in the context of the Right to Food and women’s rights. Students will gain insights into how gender, nutrition and the right to food are linked and have to be considered in a holistic way in order to address structural causes of food and nutrition insecurity. This will be illustrated by research and case studies undertaken in different geographic, socio-economic and socio-cultural contexts, in collaboration with civil society organisations and other local actors, applying innovative trans- and interdisciplinary approaches. Guest speakers from the academic and civil society sector, including international organizations working on the right to food, food sovereignty, feminist political ecology, rural development, gender, climate change and related issues, will share experiences from practice. This module will enable students to analyze the underlying social, political, economic and cultural conditions that pose gendered barriers to the Right to Food. Students will further be introduced to rights-based methods and gender-transformative approaches in research. We will further assess relevant Sustainable Development Goals (eg SDG2, SDG5).
Inhaltliche Voraussetzungen (erwartete Kenntnisse)

Interest in the topics relating to this course. Students from a diversity of disciplines and backgrounds are invited to join.
Lehrziel

On completion of this course, students will be able to:
1.Gain an understanding of the concepts gender, intersectionality and feminist approaches
2.Be familiar with the development of and difference between the concepts food/nutrition security, right to food/nutrition, food systems, sustainable diets, food justice, food sovereignty
3.Know about the history and development of various UN Conventions in the context of the right to food and nutrition, women’s rights and gender, as well as the linkages with related programmes in international development, such as the Sustainable Development Goals
4.Gain insights into how gender, nutrition and the right to food are interlinked and have to be considered in a holistic way to address structural causes of food and nutrition insecurity
5.Recognise and analyse the underlying social, political, economic and cultural conditions that pose gendered and other barriers to the right to food and nutrition
Students will gain key competences in:
-Scientific reading and writing, working with academic literature through guided reading, presenting and discussing readings in class, essay writing (as part of the assessment)
-Communication and media-supported presentation skills
-Team work capacity
-Facilitation skills, through active participation in different interactive formats (e.g., World Café, Fishbowl discussion, Photo voice) and online facilitation
Discussions and plenary debate
-Guided peer review: receiving and providing feedback
Noch mehr Informationen zur Lehrveranstaltung, wie Termine oder Informationen zu Prüfungen, usw. finden Sie auf der Lehrveranstaltungsseite in BOKUonline.