Time and Date: Thursday, March 30, 9 PM China Time

Speaker: Rachel Steely, Postdoctoral Fellow with the Fellowships & Writing Center at Harvard University

Host: Zhaojin Zeng, Assistant Professor in Economic and Business History, Duke Kunshan University

Zoom ID:  916 1374 4480

Abstract: 

Most people, if they think of soybeans at all, tend to think of foods like tofu and soy milk. But more than 90% of the world’s soy is used in numerous products that appear to have nothing in common including animal feed, candles, biofuel, and newspaper ink. In this talk, I introduce my current book project, which examines the global rise of soy and its rapid spread across territory and industries during the twentieth century. By tracking this enigmatic bean’s journey from ancient China to modern startups, it explores how schemes to make use of soy have shaped industrial development, geopolitics, environments, and even our health.

Biography:

Rachel Steely is a postdoctoral fellow with the Fellowships & Writing Center at Harvard University. She received her PhD in history from the Department of History at Harvard University, specializing in the history of capitalism and global history. Her research focuses on the political economy of commodity frontiers.

Duke Kunshan Seminar Series on Environment and History is co-sponsored by the Environmental Research Center and the Center for the Study of Contemporary China.