August 11, 2020
I think it would be an understatement to say that 2020 has been an intense year all around. Struggling to make sense of the state of the world, and in desperate search for a fresh perspective, there was someone I wanted to reach out to for a chat: Dr Ronald Ranta, who was my favourite professor when I studied abroad in England back in 2013-14. I was delighted when he remembered me and was happy to chat over a Zoom call.
Ronald taught a course called Israel and the Occupied Territories in 2014, which met in the evening during London’s rainy winter months. Upon taking his course, I wanted to learn about the area further, and I applied for a summer program in Jerusalem. I wish I could tell you all about my time there, but I didn’t get in. It was probably greedy of me to try to do two study abroad programs in a row.
Ronald is a Senior Lecturer in Politics at Kingston University. With his background of being a chef, his research focuses on food – politics and sociology of food, particularly food and identity, and food and globalization.
Lockdown in Brighton
As 2020’s social convention dictates, I start by first asking Ronald how he’s been doing during these past few months. Ronald tells me that he has been spending much of his time in his Brighton home with his family, cooking and homeschooling his son.
“It’s a very strange period. In many ways, I can see some of the privileges that I have. People around the country and around the world are losing their jobs. There’s huge financial issues being discussed.
We’re in a lockdown, but we have a nice house and a garden. And we live not far from the beach. I haven’t been at work since the middle of March, but I was able to do teaching online. I’ve been able to keep on working, but from home using the internet. You hear about issues in March and April around food shortages and problems accessing food. But I’ve been eating better than I have in a long time, because I’ve had time to spend cooking and researching about food.
So there’s been a massive dissonance in my personal life in my own little bubble, and the things that I see around me that are happening. For example, I cook for a charity once a week. I cook everything at home. I see how relatively affluent and relaxed we are, but I know there are all these people who are in very difficult circumstances.”
Posting about food
Since the lockdown, Ronald has been posting about the food he makes on social media, with a note about the dish’s ingredients or its cultural roots. It’s inspired me to start making things outside of my embarrassingly slim repertoire.
“By the beginning of this pandemic, I was very disappointed at the way governments around the world have prepared for, or have not prepared for, a global pandemic,” says Ronald. When he expressed his frustrations on Facebook, some friends suggested that he write about food rather than politics.
“And I thought, we’re in a lockdown situation and I’m cooking more than I have been in the past. Maybe it’s a good idea for me to put the politics aside, and simply cook more, write more about food. I think people who are connected with me on Facebook are happy for that, but I’m also more relaxed. I’ve been exploring different recipes and ideas. I’ve also been researching where the food comes from, who makes this, what’s the social, cultural history of the food, and the ingredients themselves.
And the more you do this, you realize how everything is interrelated. We always think about food cultures as being distinct. But a lot of what we eat and how we eat is connected.”
A food scholar
Ronald’s love for food has led him into a career first as a chef, and then, a food scholar.
“I’ve always loved food. This goes back to childhood, but I never saw myself working as a chef,” says Ronald.
“I came to the UK when I was 19, with the dream of being a film director. I did an undergrad degree in film studies. And while I was studying, to supplement my income, I was working in kitchens. I found out after I graduated how difficult it is to enter the film industry. So while I was struggling to try to get my foot in the industry, I kept on working as a chef.
And it dawned on me that maybe I was pursuing the wrong career. I’ve always been passionate about food. And I was already working in the industry. So I decided to do it properly. I got my certifications and diplomas, and worked full-time as a chef for many, many years.”
But once Ronald started thinking about having a family, he knew that spending 70, 80 hours a week at the restaurant would have an impact on family life. Ronald considered changing his career.
“What have I always loved in my life? I’ve always loved politics. I’ve always read about politics heavily.” Ronald started looking at different universities’ degree programs, and soon afterwards, he was reading politics course readings for fun.
“So while still working as a chef, I started a postgraduate degree in international relations, and afterwards, a PhD. I made a huge shift from cooking, to also cooking while trying to be an academic.
When I became an academic, about a decade ago, my initial inclination was to research big politics. International relations, global issues. And I did it for a few years, but I didn’t really find my niche. And my colleague said to me, ‘Why are you writing about all these boring political issues? You’re a chef. Why don’t you write about food?’ And I thought, can I be a food studies scholar? Is there such a thing? I wasn’t even aware of it.”
And so Ronald merged his two great loves of politics and food. Ronald researches relationships between food and national identity, and the ways in which globalization has changed who we are, how we live and govern, examining these questions through food.
Teaching about the Middle East
Back in 2014, I took Ronald’s Israel and the Occupied Territories class, because I wanted to understand the region better. I grew up hearing about the Israel-Palestine conflict in the news. But I felt I barely had a surface-level understanding of the region’s complicated history.
I ask Ronald what it’s like to teach courses about the Middle East in the UK, to students that come with varying levels of knowledge on the topic.
“I’ve taught courses on the Middle East at several different universities in the UK,” says Ronald. “Once, a colleague told me that teaching about the Middle East or the Arab-Israel conflict is good for your career, because you’ll never be short of business. There’s always something happening there.
But it’s also very frustrating. I pride myself in being a very optimistic person. And for the last ten years, I’ve been trying to say something positive about the state of the Arab-Israel conflict. But I find myself, every single year, having to reassess my optimism with the lack of real progress.
It’s an interesting thing to teach, because people have very strong opinions and beliefs about the region. Even those who don’t actually know that much about the region have these strong beliefs about it, and what should happen in it.
As part of my ethos of teaching, I’ve never been about trying to change people’s views or opinions, but about trying to open them to the possibility of different views and opinions.
I try to allow students to engage with the reading materials of a wide range of sources, particularly indigenous sources. What you find is that there isn’t a monolithic view of the region within it or outside. At the end of my course, I am hopeful that people have at least a grasp of the kind of ranges of narratives, perceptions, and histories that make up parts of the Middle East.”
Teaching politics in 2020
With all that 2020 has been, I ask Ronald how he finds teaching politics and international relations at this moment.
“These are definitely interesting times. But what I find now is that people are more inclined, over the last few years, to be interested in politics in a way they haven’t been in the past. There are many issues that are galvanizing people to become far more active and interested in politics. I think that’s a very positive thing.
I think a silver lining of what’s happening around the world is that it’s pushing people to understand that if they don’t do something, nothing will be done. In the US and outside, the election of Trump has galvanized people in our generation to engage with issues and say what they believe in, far more than if Hilary Clinton had won the election. There are far more people of colour, sexual minorities, women, who are pursuing office at higher levels or engaging in grassroots levels in politics.
The debate about race and structural racism have come to the forefront. Many people who might not have seen themselves in the curriculum and have not been interested in hearing about the history of white people around the world in the last few centuries are now engaging in these protests, or simply reading more about it. And I think that can only be a very positive thing.
The fact that climate change has become a big issue. Many young people take a more activist approach, and read more about it. A more informed society is a very healthy society. And I think the more we are informed and more engaged with each other, the more we can change things, and change things for the better.
So teaching politics in a way is easier now, because they’re more interested in what’s happening. Again, they might not be interested in the way we were in the past. They might not be here to talk about the cold war. But they want to hear much more about what’s happening with regards to climate, the environmental issues, talk about the history of racism, structural racism, inequality, and colonialism. I think that’s a great thing, simply wanting to be more engaged and wanting to understand what’s happening.
As someone who’s a natural-born optimist, I’m very much hopeful. I’ve been proven wrong many, many times, but I do think that the arc of history is moving in the right direction, because if more and more young people are informed, engaged and care about these important issues, it’s more likely that we’ll have a brighter, more inclusive and a peaceful future.”
Be kind, and challenge your own assumptions
“I think people should learn to be kinder. It’s very cliche, but kindness goes a long way. Kindness does not mean simply being nice to people. It’s a philosophy of living. You can be kind with people that you disagree with, people you might not like. It will make the world a better place if people practice what they preach in terms of kindness, and model this behaviour to kids, to younger people, and in politics.
People often have this idea that leaders need to be strong and decisive, and in many ways, gendered. That it has to be strong men. When in fact, what this pandemic shows is that people who are more compassionate, more understanding, kinder, tend to bring about better politics. They are better able to bring people together.
We also need to learn how to completely question our own assumptions and beliefs about everything. It’s not to say that we’re wrong about things. I think living in a society where you’re constantly questioning your core assumptions is a healthy society.
There’s nothing wrong about having strong-held beliefs. But if you never question them, at all, and never critique them, I think that’s a mistake. It’s not to say that people need to change their views. They can still have their views. Of course, I have very strong-held views myself, views that I’ll struggle to change. But I still think it’s helpful for me to question those views. And to look at what other people are saying. I think the more we are aware of what other people are saying and the more we engage with their views, it’s better for everyone.”
It’s refreshing hearing his perspective, and the argument for a hopeful future. I’m sure I’m not the only one to feel disheartened at the state of the world, where there just seems to be so much division.
“The interesting thing about division is,” says Ronald, “it seems that when people believe that they’re all in it together, when there’s the right kind of leadership, people do come and help each other. People do show their true nature. It’s when politics is about us and them, people feel that they’re not being fairly treated, that they get angry about things. There is a way of bringing people together, and it is about being inclusive. It’s about being kinder.”
Ronald and I talk about taquerias and ramen places in Vancouver. I haven’t been to either of those since March, so my mouth waters thinking about it. Ronald and his wife spent a year in Vancouver a number of years ago, and he fondly speaks of his time in Canada. I look forward to getting to catch up with him in person over a bowl of ramen or some tacos, after we’ve come out on the other side of this pandemic.
Ronald Ranta | ronald.ranta@kingston.ac.uk
