This free online conference (6th and 7th December 2021) aims to bring together researchers interested in the history of tobacco production, consumption, commodification and the enduring legacies this leaves today. More information to follow at Tobaccohealthhistory.co.uk
European 16th-17th century exploitation of tobacco resulted in a global mass market. Tobacco took on diverse roles and personas as it spread, and the mechanisms behind its production were key in forming and maintaining exploitative systems. In relation to the magnitude of its social and economic importance, research on tobacco history has been limited, leaving our understanding of current tobacco trends divorced from the past.
We welcome papers exploring new methodological and theoretical approaches on tobacco use, its identification in the past and present and the legacies this has left today. Possible themes include:
- What were the varying social and economic roles played by tobacco in the lives of people in the past; what light do they shed on factors that fuel the demand for tobacco?
- How and why have particular forms of knowledge surrounding tobacco and tobacco use been accepted or rejected by societies?
- How have socio-economic and political priorities influenced tobacco uptake, and what is the impact of the structures designed to produce, export and trade tobacco?
- How can perspectives from tobacco’s past illuminate future outcomes for the consumption of newly emerging modern products and intoxicants?
Please submit abstracts for posters and talks (300 words) to Tobaccohealthhistory@gmail.com by midnight CET on Friday 1st October. Any inquiries can be sent to Dr Sarah Inskip: s.inskip@le.ac.uk
Open to scholars at all career stages from across the humanities, social sciences and physical sciences. Registration free.
HEADER IMAGE: A man and woman sit at a table in a summer house; he smokes a pipe. Engraving by Springsguth, c. 1792, after Benezec. Wellcome Trust images