Cristina Grasseni
Professor Cultural Anthropology
- Name
- Prof.dr. C. Grasseni
- Telephone
- +31 71 527 3451
- c.grasseni@fsw.leidenuniv.nl
- ORCID iD
- 0000-0002-4545-1978
Cristina Grasseni specialises in economic, political and visual anthropology. She received her Bachelor degree in Philosophy, M.Phil. in History and Philosophy of Science, and Ph.D. in Social Anthropology with Visual Media from the universities of Pavia, Cambridge and Manchester respectively.
More information about Cristina Grasseni
News
The Heritage Arena
Her latest book, The Heritage Arena (2017) studies the politics of heritage food in the Italian Alps. The monograph Beyond Alternative Food Networks (2013) analyses Italy's solidarity economy networks as models of grassroots innovation for sustainability. Her comparative ethnography of solidarity economy networks in Lombardy (Italy) and Massachusetts (USA) was funded by the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research (2013-2014) while Visiting Scholar at Harvard Anthropology Department (2012-2014). Grasseni is co-founder of CORES (the Research Group on Networks and Practices of Sustainable Economy, with Francesca Forno, University of Trento, and Silvana Signori, University of Bergamo). CORES’ key research outcome is the first systematic survey of Solidarity Purchase Groups in Lombardy (Forno, Grasseni and Signori 2013).
Skilled Visions
Grasseni is known for her ‘Skilled Visions’ approach to visual ethnography (Wiley International Encyclopedia of Anthropology, 2018). In 2011, she was appointed David and Roberta Logie Fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University. As Harvard Film Study Center Fellow, she produced the film Christmas in August (with Federico de Musso). Grasseni’s resulting articles and special issue on Digital Visual Engagements, ecologies of belonging, and the making of Christmas in August are published on Anthrovision.revues.org, the journal of the Visual Anthropology Network of the European Association of Social Anthropologists.
ERC Consolidator grant ‘Food citizens?’
Grasseni’s ERC Consolidator grant Food citizens? Collective food procurement in European cities: solidarity and diversity, skills and scale (2017-2022) examines the different types, premises and consequences of collective forms of food production, distribution and consumption in three European cities.
(From left to right: Post-doc dr. Robin Smith, Prof. dr. Cristina Grasseni, PhD candidate Vincent Walstra, Research assistant Hanna Stalenhoef, Phd candidate Ola Gracjasz and Phd candidate Maria Vasile).
Other research projects
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Seeds of Trust. A Comparative Analysis of Solidarity Economy Networks. Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Theory (Grant 8643 2013/14);
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Real Cities/Smarter Citizens. Harvard Graduate School of Design and Bergamo University (2013/2014, co-PI);
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Patrimonialization and redefinition of rurality (PATRIRUR), University of Barcelona/ Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (2012/14), PI: Xavier Roige;
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The Reinvention of Food. Exploratory Seminar. Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University (2013), with Heather Paxson;
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Skilled Vision. Critical Ecologies of Belonging. Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Studies and Film Study Center, Harvard University (2011/12).
Publications
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Grasseni’s publications include seven monographs, five special issues in peer-reviewed journals, and more than one hundred items among peer-reviewed articles, book chapters and edited volumes.
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Among her works: Developing Skill, Developing Vision. Practices of Locality in an Alpine Community (2009, revised and translated from Lo sguardo della mano, 2003); Skilled Visions. Between Apprenticeship and Standards (ed., 2007). In Italian, the monographs: Luoghi Comuni. (2009), La Reinvenzione del Cibo (2007), Pratiche e Cognizione (2004, with Francesco Ronzon) and the Italian translation of Tim Ingold's essays Ecologia della Cultura (2001, with Francesco Ronzon).
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For publications 1998-2016, please consult the Curriculum Vitae of Cristina Grasseni. For publications from 2017, please consult the Publications tab.
Professor Cultural Anthropology
- Faculteit der Sociale Wetenschappen
- Culturele Antropologie/ Ontw. Sociologie
- Grasseni C (2023), Ethnographic Responsibility. : replies to Herzfeld (Anthropology Today 39[3]), Anthropology Today 39(6): 24.
- Grasseni C. (23 October 2023), Groenboerenplan: a plan for the future from green farmers. Food Citizens?. [blog entry].
- Grasseni C. (2023), Skill, craft, and poiesis-intensive innovation, FormAkademisk 16(4): .
- Vasile M. & Grasseni C. (2 January 2023), Restitution workshop in Turin: Maria Vasile and Cristina Grasseni have presented the results of Maria’s ethnography in Turin. [blog entry].
- Grasseni C. (2023), Crafting futures through cheese-making in Val Taleggio (Northern Italy), Gastronomica 23(1): 51-64.
- Grasseni C., De Musso F., Gracjasz A.Z., Smith R.E., Vasile M. & Walstra V.R. (2023), Reskilling for sustainability: a perspective from comparative ethnography on collective food procurement, Kritisk Etnography - Swedish Journal of Anthropology 5(1-2): 135-40.
- Grasseni C. (2022), More than visual: the apprenticeship of skilled visions, Ethos : .
- Grasseni C. (2022), Re-tooling craft, Etnográfica : 23-28.
- Grasseni C. (2022), From branding to solidarity: the COVID-19 impact on marketing Strachítunt cheese from Val Taleggio, Italy, Acta geographica Slovenica 62(2): 75-85.
- Grasseni C. (2022), Collaboration, mediation, and comparison : epistemological tools from theory-driven fieldwork practice, Anthrovision 8(1): 1.
- Grasseni C. & De Musso F. (2022), Collaboration, mediation and comparison Member of editorial staff Anthrovision 8(1).
- Vasile M. & Grasseni C. (2022), Visions of the urban green: interrogating urban renewal in Turin’s Periphery, Anthrovision 8(1): 4.
- Littlejohn A.L., Boy J.D., De Musso F., Grasseni C., Kanters C.L., Luning S.W.J., Meerendonk T. van de, Minter T., Ochigame R.K. & Spierenburg M.J. (2022), Remodeling environments: anthropological perspectives on the limits of computational models.
- Grasseni C. (2022), Rethinking foodscapes:: does it matter how food reaches my plate?. Nobayashi A. (Ed.), Making food in local and global contexts. . Singapore: Springer . 89-99.
- Grasseni C. (18 February 2022), Making it happen: comparison through teamwork in the Food Citizens? project. Leiden Anthropology Blog: Institute of Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology (University of Leiden). [blog entry].
- Grasseni C., Barendregt B.A., Maaker E. de, De Musso F., Littlejohn A.L., Maeckelbergh M.E., Postma M.A. & Westmoreland M.R. (2021), Audiovisual and digital ethnography at Leiden. In: Grasseni C., Barendregt B.A., Maaker E. de, De Musso F., Littlejohn A.L., Maeckelbergh M.E., Postma M.A. & Westmoreland M.R. (Eds.), Audiovisual and Digital Ethnography; A Practical and Theoretical Guide. London: Routledge. 1-11.
- Grasseni C. (2021), Learning to see. In: Grasseni C., Barendregt B., Maaker E. de, De Musso F., Littlejohn A., Maeckelbergh M., Postma M. & Westmoreland M. R. (Eds.), AUDIOVISUAL AND DIGITAL ETHNOGRAPHY; A Practical and Theoretical Guide. London: Routledge. 12-34.
- Grasseni C., Barendregt B.A., Maaker E. de, De Musso F., Littlejohn A.L., Maeckelbergh M.E., Postma M.A. & Westmoreland M.R. (2021), Audiovisual and digital ethnography: a practical and theoretical guide. London: Routledge.
- Grasseni C. (2021), Italian cheese in the global heritage arena. In: Ayora-Diaz Steffan Igor (Ed.), The Cultural Politcs of Food, Taste and Identity: A Global Perspective. UK : Bloomsbury Academic. 73-85.
- Grasseni C. (2020), Context-specific notions and practices of ‘solidarity’ in food procurement networks in Lombardy (Italy) and Massachusetts (USA). In: Kropp C., Antoni-Komar I. & Sage C. (Eds.), Food system transformations: social movements, local economies, collaborative networks. London: Routledge. 157-174.
- Gracjasz A. & Grasseni C. (2020), Food-gifting in Gdańsk: between food not bombs and the food bank, Ethnologia Polona 41: 33-50 .
- Grasseni C. (2020), Direct food provisioning: collective food procurement. In: Gibson-Graham J.K. & Dombroski K. (Eds.), The Handbook of Diverse Economies: Elgar Online. 223-229.
- Smith R. & Grasseni C. (2020), Ambivalent solidarities: Food governance reconfigurations in Croatia and Italy, Anthropology Today 36(1): 12-16.
- Grasseni C. (2019), Handbook of Food and Anthropology: afterword. In: Klein J.A. & Watson J.L. (Eds.), The Handbook of Food and Anthropology : Bloomsbury Publishing. 459-463.
- Grasseni C. (2019), De omstreden weg tot het bord, Wijsgerig perspectief op maatschappij en wetenschap 59(2): 24-31.
- Grasseni C. & Gieser T. (2019), Introduction: Skilled mediations, Social Anthropology 27(1): 6-16.
- Grasseni C. & Gieser T. (2019), Response to Rupert Cox, Social Anthropology 27(1): 65-66.
- Grasseni C. & Gieser T. (Eds.) (2019), Social Anthropology: Skilled Mediations Special Issue. Social Anthropology.
- Grasseni C. (2018), Understanding skill, food and field, Interdisciplinary Science Reviews 43(3-4): 264-279.
- Grasseni C. (2018), Grassroots responsible innovation initiatives in short food supply chains. In: Kalfagianni A. & Skordili S. (Eds.), Localising global food: short food supply chains as responses to agri-food system challenges. Routledge Studies in Food, Society and the Environment: Routledge. 41-54.
- Grasseni C. (2018), Food Citizenship? Collective Food Procurement in European Cities, EuropeNow (20): .
- Grasseni C., Salman T. & Meijl T. (11 April 2018), Autoriteit aan het woord: Drie departementshoofden over de meerwaarde van antropologie. Interviewed by Antropologen Beroepsvereniging. [interview].
- Grasseni C. (2018), Beauty as skill and ‘common sensing’. In: Bunn S. (Ed.), Anthropology and Beauty. From Aesthetics to Creativity. London: Routledge. 217 - 229.
- Grasseni C. & Forno F. (2018), 'Cittadino Versus Consumatore. Una conciliazione possibile?’ Incontro con Francesca Forno e Cristina Grasseni a cura di Maria Claudia Peretti, ARK/Ecumene 26: 9 - 13.
- Grasseni C. (2018), Skilled Vision. In: Callan H. (Ed.), The international encyclopedia of anthropology. Hoboken: Wiley-Blackwell.
- Grasseni C. (2017), Norms and alternatives: experimentations with collective food procurement. Keynote Lecture Annual Meeting of the Swiss Anthropological Association in Neuchatel, Switzerland (November 9, 2017). [other].
- Grasseni C. (30 October 2017). Ecology of vision and economy of citizenship: an anthropological perspective. Institute of Cultural Anthropology, Social and Behavioural Sciences, Leiden. Leiden. [inaugural address].
- Grasseni C. (3 July 2017), Proficiency: blindness. Society for Cultural Anthropology. [blog entry].
- Grasseni C. (7 June 2017), Provisioning activism. Leiden Anthropology Blog. Leiden: Leiden University. [blog entry].
- Grasseni C. (2017), Ecologies of Belonging and the Mugshot Aesthetics, Anthrovision 5(2): .
- Grasseni C. (2017), Markets to support sustainable food production: potentials and challenges of alternative provisioning. In: Gordon I.J., Prins H.H.T. & Squire G.R. (Eds.), Food Production and Nature Conservation. Conflicts and Solutions. Oxon - New York: Routledge. 281-294.
- Grasseni C. (2017), The Heritage Arena. Reinventing Cheese in the Italian Alps. Food, Nutrition, And Culture no. 5. New York - Oxford: Berghahn Books.
- Grasseni C. & De Musso F. (2016), Picturing Intimacy: Mediation and Self-representation in a Boston’s Religious Festivals, Anthrovision 4(2): .
- Regional Forum on Research and Innovation