Description

The wine policies contained in the European Community’s Common Agricultural Policy had serious implications for French winegrowers in the first decade of their implementation. In the 1970s, in the midst of global economic turmoil and with financial government incentives to leave certain agricultural sectors, it would seem sensible for ailing wine producers to abandon their farms and either retire or seek new professions in urban centres. Yet in the south of France, many fought to keep their agricultural way of life, sometimes violently. Given the hardship and difficulty they faced at a time when their overproduction of wine coincided with a permanent shift away from table wine drinking culture, economics would have dictated that the French table wine industry shrink or even collapse. This presentation explores why this did not occur, and what implications European wine policies had on professional and regional identities in France.

Maria Chen is a Postdoctoral Teaching Fellow at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). She holds a PhD in International History from the LSE, funded in part by the Government of Alberta, the LSE, and the Mackenzie King Trusts. She completed her B.A. in History and Political Science at the University of Alberta, and her M.Phil. in Politics from the University of Cambridge. Maria’s research interests lie in post-1945 Europe, European culture and identity, and food and wine history.