Bringing Subsistence Out of the Shadows: A workshop on Subsistence Economies. October 2-4th

The Department of History at Nipissing University and the Canada Research Chair in Environmental History are pleased to announce a two-day workshop on subsistence relationships. Bringing Subsistence Out of the Shadows aims to bring together emerging scholarship on subsistence and mixed economies, both contemporary and throughout history. Subsistence relationships illustrate the complexity of not only economic exchanges, but also of human/nature interactions, and discussions at the workshop will draw upon these complex networks to help understand the continuing significance of subsistence at different scales. 13 pre-selected papers will form the spine of the discussion and the keynote address will be provided by Colin Duncan, author of The Centrality of Agriculture: Between Humankind and the Rest of Nature.

The workshop will take place at Monastery Hall, Nipissing University in North Bay, Ontario, on October 2-4th.

While the subsistence scale has often been seen as a stepping-stone to larger, more complex relationships of exchange, local and subsistence economies have received a recent revival due to both environmental and economic crises. North Bay has a long history of vibrant subsistence and small-scale productions, including wild berries, fisheries, and forestry. On Friday evening (October 2nd ) there will be a showcase of some of those involved in these relationships at the Kennedy Gallery in Downtown North Bay.

Please find the schedule of presenters and paper titles here. If you are interested in further information, or are interested in attending, please contact Bruce Erickson at brucee@nipissingu.ca