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University of Amsterdam Lenneke Kraak from Commensality To University of Amsterdam FROM COMMENSALITY TO COMMONALITY: HOW FOOD CAN UNITE US ALL The Influence of Culinary Citizen Diplomacy on the Process of Peacebuilding from Below Assessed through the Analysis of Three Case-Studies MA Thesis in European Studies Graduate School for Humanities Universiteit van Amsterdam Student: Lenneke Kraak Student number: 10632182 Main Supervisor: Alex Drace-Francis Second Supervisor: Yolanda Rodríguez Pérez July 2018 Lenneke Kraak From Commensality to Commonality University of Amsterdam Acknowledgements Of course, this thesis could not have been completed without the unconditional help and guidance of a number of people. First of all, I would like to thank Alex Drace-Francis for taking the supervision of my thesis at the last minute and for providing me with useful feedback throughout the process. Secondly, I am grateful to my family, for being extremely patient and tolerating. Special thanks go out to my aunt, Mariette, for being an amazing advisor and counselor from the very beginning. Lastly, my sincere gratitude goes out to the people who made this research possible: Niki Psarias, for being so open to all of my questions and for giving extensive explanation about her work. Kamal Mouzawak, for being so kind to share his intelligent insights on the topic with me. And Akudo McGee for being so extremely big-hearted and friendly to reach out to all her friends in Pittsburgh thus providing me with enough feedback. Lenneke Kraak From Commensality to Commonality 2 University of Amsterdam Abstract In a world where more and more cultures cross paths, and possibly result in the emergence of conflicts, many approaches and theories have been passed and implemented that sought to mediate in these conflicts somehow. The field of conflict resolution and peacebuilding is therefore very extensive. More recently however, scholars have found that in order to achieve sustainable peace, implementing peace on the ground, or at grassroots level, is likely to be more successful then forcing regulations upon a community by means of an official, higher level. This study applies this idea of ‘peacebuilding from below’ to the field of culinary diplomacy, which can be classed under the heading of both public and cultural diplomacy. It argues that the concepts of food, cuisine and the act of commensality, fit perfectly within this framework, as they provide a comfortable atmosphere which allows people to be open for discussion, cultural exchange and even friendship. In this way culinary diplomacy on citizen level could provide a suitable setting for moving towards peacebuilding between conflicting communities on grassroots level. This thesis investigates this assumption on the basis of three case-studies, which are compared on the basis of the Most Similar and Most Different Systems Design approach, from the field of comparative politics. In response to this comparison, it will be possible to detect aspects within the analysed cases that are essential for creating a successful culinary citizen project. Keywords: Culinary diplomacy, cultural diplomacy, Contact Theory, peacebuilding, commensality, conflict solving. Lenneke Kraak From Commensality to Commonality 3 University of Amsterdam Table of Contents Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................... 2 Abstract ................................................................................................................................ 3 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................... 6 2. Theoretical Framework .................................................................................................. 9 2.1 Tracks of Diplomacy ................................................................................................... 9 2.2 Definitions and Concepts ........................................................................................... 10 2.3 Cultural Diplomacy, Public Diplomacy and Soft Power ............................................. 11 2.3.1 Cultural Diplomacy ............................................................................................. 11 2.3.2 Public Diplomacy ................................................................................................ 12 2.3.3 Soft Power .......................................................................................................... 13 2.4 Delineating the Field of Culinary Diplomacy ............................................................. 13 2.5 Commensality ............................................................................................................ 15 2.6 Conflict Resolution .................................................................................................... 16 2.6.1 Contact hypothesis/Intergroup Contact Theory .................................................... 16 2.6.2 Peacebuilding from Below .................................................................................. 18 3. Approaches: Food as a Tool for Public Diplomacy .......................................................... 21 3.1 Diplomatic Gastronomy ............................................................................................. 21 3.2 Gastronomic Diplomacy (Gastrodiplomacy) .............................................................. 23 3.3 Culinary Diplomacy................................................................................................... 24 3.4 Taxonomy of Definitions ........................................................................................... 27 3.5 Food as a Trigger for Conflict .................................................................................... 29 4. Methodology ................................................................................................................... 31 4.1 The Comparative Method .......................................................................................... 31 4.1.1 Case-Studies in Comparative Research ................................................................ 32 4.2 MSDS & MDDS ........................................................................................................ 32 5. Culinary Diplomacy in Practice: Process & Case-studies ................................................. 35 5.1 Process ...................................................................................................................... 35 5.2 The Case-studies ........................................................................................................ 36 5.2.1 ‘The Conflict Kitchen’, Pittsburgh ....................................................................... 37 5.2.2 ‘The Border Kitchen’, Nicosia ............................................................................. 40 Lenneke Kraak From Commensality to Commonality 4 University of Amsterdam 5.2.3 ‘Buttercreme und Börek’, Rendsburg ............................................................... 43 6. Culinary Diplomacy in Practice: Analysis of the Case-studies & Key Concepts ........... 46 7. Synthesis of Results ..................................................................................................... 52 8. Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 56 8.1 Culinary Citizen Diplomacy as a tool for Peacebuilding from Below ......................... 56 8.2 Indicators: Value and Contribution ............................................................................ 57 8.3 Personal Interaction through Food as Key to Success ................................................. 58 8.4 Recipe for Peace? ................................................................................................ 60 9. Bibliography ................................................................................................................ 62 10. Annexes .................................................................................................................. 66 Lenneke Kraak From Commensality to Commonality 5 University of Amsterdam 1. Introduction Borders. Natural borders, political borders, geometric borders, relict borders or perceived borders. Not always can a border be regarded to as a clearly defined boundary, but more often as an area between two whether or not conflicting communities. Besides a geographic boundary between political entities or legal jurisdictions, a border can also exist between two groups of people living within the same space. Such ‘perceived’ borders have become inextricably linked to relationships within our society and play an essential role in many violent and non-violent conflicts that take place nowadays. The number of such conflicts is expanding all over the world, partly due to increased migration through improved infrastructure and mobility and deterioration of the living conditions in existing conflict areas, forcing people to flee their country. In this way, cities, where these people seek their refuge, become busier causing different cultures to get into contact, which makes the differences between these cultures to become more visible, in some cases leading to misunderstandings, malevolent prejudices and even violence. Governments, scholars, non-governmental organisations and other institutions have been searching for ways to move towards constructive intervention and peacebuilding between these conflicting communities
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