Alana Mann
Associate Professor Alana Mann is a food activist and interdisciplinary scholar researching the power relations between media, governments, institutions and citizens, in the field of food politics.[1][2] She is Chair of the Department of Media and Communications at the University of Sydney and co-founder of FoodLab Sydney, a business incubator to address issues around local food insecurity, based on the model pioneered by FoodLab Detroit. Mann is a key researcher at Sydney Environment Institute, the Charles Perkins Centre and Sydney Democracy Network, and in 2018 was a visiting scholar at both Harvard's Food Law and Policy Clinic and the Department of Development Sociology at Cornell University.[3] She is author of Voice and Participation in Global Food Politics (2019) & Global Activism in Food Politics: Power Shift (2014).
Biography
Mann graduated from Central Queensland University with a Bachelor of Arts (Communications), followed by a Diploma of Education in 1990 from University of Queensland. She had a successful career in the media and not-for-profit sectors, working across marketing and public relations for organisations, including seven years with Fairfax Media, publisher of The Sydney Morning Herald, and since 2014 as Communications Officer of Australian Food Sovereignty Alliance, a farmer-led organisation dedicated to sustainability and best practices. Mann undertook a Master of Media Practice at University of Sydney, followed by a PhD in 2011, with the thesis title Farming food sovereignty: a study of social movement communication. She writes about the politics of food for The Conversation[4] and the Australian Broadcast Corporation.[5]
She joined University of Sydney as a lecturer in 2007 and became Chair of Department in 2017.
Mann is a member of
- International Political Science Association (IPSA)
- International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR)
- International Federation of University Women (IFUW)
- International Communication Association (ICA)
- The Australasian Agri-Food Research Network
Research
Mann's 2014 book Global Activism in Food Politics: Power Shift investigated La Vía Campesina (LVC), the central player in the food sovereignty movement, purportedly the largest social movement in the world, spanning more than 70 countries and involving more than 200 million members (small producers and landless workers).[6] The Journal of World Systems Research called it a unique book that offered "nuanced characterization of social movement logistics" that should inspire collective action against a food regime that "undermines farming cultures, exploits agricultural workers and degrades ecosystems".[7] Mann presented three case studies of domestic organizations: Chile's National Association of Indigenous and Rural Women (ANAMURI); Mexico's Asociación Nacional de Empresas Comercializadoras de Productores del Campo (ANEC); and the Basque Farmers’ Union Euskal Herriko Nelazarien Elkartasuna (EHNE). International Quarterly 2015 wrote in its review: "Mann’s narrative is essential for social activists and food policymakers who are working to solve one of the most pressing domestic and foreign policy challenges: creating an environmentally sustainable food system."[8]
Selected publications
2020
Mann, A. (2020). Are you local? Digital inclusion in participatory foodscapes. In Deborah Lupton and Zeena Feldman (Eds.), Digital Food Cultures, (pp. 147–161). London, UK: Routledge.[9]
Mann, A. (2020). The Protection of Small-scale Fisheries in Global Policymaking Through Food Sovereignty. In Elspeth Probyn, Kate Johnston, and Nancy Lee (Eds.), Sustaining seas: Oceanic Space and the Politics of Care. Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield.
2019
Mann, A. (2019). Common Ground: Connections and Tensions Between Food Sovereignty Movements in Australia and Latin America. In Fernanda Penaloza, Sarah Walsh (Eds.), Mapping South-South Connections: Australia and Latin America, (pp. 81–109). Cham: Palgrave Macmillan.[10]
Mann, A. (2019). Education for food sovereignty as transformative ethical practice. Policy Futures in Education, 17(7), 862–877.[11]
Mann, A. (2019). Food sovereignty: Deep Histories, Digital Activism and the Emergence of a Transnational Public. In Michelle Phillipov, Katherine Kirkwood (Eds.), Alternative Food Politics: From the Margins to the Mainstream, (pp. 113–132). Abingdon: Routledge.[12]
2018
Mann, A. (2018). Communication as Resistance in Food Politics. The Political Economy of Communication, 6(1), 36–58.
Mann, A. (2018). Food Sovereignty and the Politics of Food Scarcity. In Marcelle C Dawson, Christopher Rosin, Nave Wald (Eds.), Global Resource Scarcity: Catalyst for Conflict or Cooperation?, (pp. 131–145). Abingdon: Routledge.[13]
References
- "Staff Profile". The University of Sydney. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
- "Alana Mann". Sydney Democracy Network. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
- "Associate Professor Alana Mann". Sydney Environment Institute. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
- "Alana Mann". The Conversation. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
- "Alana Mann". ABC News. 9 September 2010. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
- McMichael, Philip (22 March 2016). "Review of Alana Mann's Global Activism in Food Politics: Power Shift". Journal of World-Systems Research. 22 (1): 292–295. doi:10.5195/jwsr.2016.648. ISSN 1076-156X.
- McMichael, Philip (22 March 2016). "Review of Alana Mann's Global Activism in Food Politics: Power Shift". Journal of World-Systems Research. 22 (1): 292–295. doi:10.5195/jwsr.2016.648. ISSN 1076-156X.
- Rohlinger, Deana A. (September 2015). "Book Reviews". Mobilization: An International Quarterly. 20 (3): 401–413. doi:10.17813/1086-671X-20-3-401. ISSN 1086-671X.
- Mann, Alana (25 February 2020), Lupton, Deborah; Feldman, Zeena (eds.), "Are you local?", Digital Food Cultures (1 ed.), Routledge, pp. 147–161, doi:10.4324/9780429402135-14, ISBN 978-0-429-40213-5, retrieved 9 April 2020
- Mann, Alana (2019), Peñaloza, Fernanda; Walsh, Sarah (eds.), "Common Ground: Connections and Tensions Between Food Sovereignty Movements in Australia and Latin America", Mapping South-South Connections, Springer International Publishing, pp. 81–109, doi:10.1007/978-3-319-78577-6_4, ISBN 978-3-319-78576-9, retrieved 9 April 2020
- Mann, Alana (27 December 2018). "Education for food sovereignty as transformative ethical practice". Policy Futures in Education. 17 (7): 862–877. doi:10.1177/1478210318816251. ISSN 1478-2103.
- Phillipov, Michelle; Kirkwood, Katherine (7 December 2018). Alternative Food Politics : From the Margins to the Mainstream. Routledge. doi:10.4324/9780203733080. ISBN 978-0-203-73308-0.
- Mann, Alana (2 November 2017). "Food sovereignty and the politics of food scarcity". Global Resource Scarcity. doi:10.4324/9781315281612-8. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
External links
Why food isn't free from politics – Dr Alana Mann https://soundcloud.com/open-for-discussion/why-food-isnt-free-from-politics
Supermarket tips with food politics expert, Dr Alana Mann – World Food Day 2017 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJ8-UvjxXdQ
Alana Mann on Shaping Sustainable Food Systems through Agroecology and Gender Justice http://gosimone.org/food-sovereignty/episode-3-alana-mann-on-food-sovereignty-and-politicising-food-consumption/
Principles and Practice of Teaching: Dr Alana Mann https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgY7uZbYBhM