E-book editorial meeting minutes 2021-09-22

These are notes from the DFM E-book editorial/planning meeting of 2021-09-22. See the action items at the bottom.

Key points from the meeting

ERIC: We currently have 19 submissions that will amount to approximately 60K words with the introduction. A typical monograph might be 90-100K words. We could fill things in with additional recipes, life histories, and a glossary or description of dried fish in different countries (as in: fish paste, dried fish, smoked fish, fish sauce…)

MADU: It’s wonderful to see 19 submissions. We could push country teams to each submit one life story, one recipe. Cross-country comparisons are not yet coming out, except with Derek’s submission.

MAHFUZ: We can jointly write something about recipes, life histories. Also: we have poetry on dried fish. We have two poems already, which could be submitted with their permission. These are local forms from Sylhet, based on fermented fish, how they love it, etc. DEREK: Nice to have in Bengali script with translation.

WAE WIN: We can have a life story or recipe from each team. Because it is an ebook, we can have a photo library. We will rewrite the quantitative findings of the consumption survey. DEREK: Make connections to broader consumption patterns, in a more speculative way (can be looser in terms of data than a peer-reviewed publication).

ALEXIA: Concern about the content of this submission -- not exactly about dried fish. Don’t want it to be included if it’s out of place. OTHERS: It is entirely appropriate! RATANA: Everyone in the project has a passion for dried fish. It is central, the underlying, hidden driver of the process. That could even be the title: “passion for dried fish”. Why should people care about dried fish?

RATANA: This is a good mixture; I really like it. The comparative piece is not there, but could be brought in. It came a bit as we were doing visualization work. We should call for more recipes and stories. Easier to do with recipes rather than life stories. We could also add something like a snapshot of each country -- general summary: geography, this and that. Also section-level introductions. And a bit of wrapping up, potentially.

Come up with a template for the country coordinators. Link the fish to species name, life history of the fish -- link to product, food and nutrition security, climate change.

RAKTIMA: We are working on local stories of the anthropocene -- “ada”, “conversations” with local people, talking with people about days and nights during cyclones. Their concerns, etc. Also will be conducting field surveys in November/December; we can do a photo essay or life stories. Most documentation of the natural disaster is from the natural science perspective -- we need to contribute more social science.

SAI LEELA: I have two synopses -- an interview with vendor and recipe. Are we limited to only one? DEREK: Of course you can contribute both, if they are distinct. Maybe collaborate with Dasu, given the similar topic in their recent report (women’s labour struggles)? ERIC: We could invite Dasu/DFYWA to share a summary of their research, and possibly work together with Sai Leela on a synthesis?

DEREK and MAHFUZ: There is an overlap between these proposals. Derek can focus on economies embedded in cultural forms. Another option is to do a joint contribution, but that is less attractive. MAHFUZ: I will explore value heterogeneity in the secondary literature, looking at diverse economic perspectives, with a focus on Bangladesh -- not just from economic, but also political, social, and cultural value. I will rewrite the proposal. DEREK: We can also make a connection with Sisir’s work.

RATANA: We need something to speak to diverse values. We need a piece on social economy. Maybe invite Derek to do this? DEREK: The separation between “social economy” and “value” is perhaps artificial. RATANA: We should talk more about marketing, trade, and distribution. Maybe can pull out of the TBTI report a contribution on the online market segment. ERIC: We could put together a comparative photo essay on products, showing different types of fish packaged for various markets. On “value”, we might propose to authors that they explicitly address the topic of value in their contributions.

DEREK: This e-book offers latitude that isn’t accessible in peer-reviewed outputs, but also moves the project along. A preface is also useful as it flags a transition in the project (taking stock of our evolving understanding of dried fish). Also want to make a link to the IMBeR meeting in November. It’s important for us to have a synthesis section from each of the different regions. There will be a standard questionnaire for country teams; we could include some standard questions about country characteristics to fit into the e-book.

RATANA: Consider a distinct contribution from IMBeR to the e-book.

Action items

DUE OCTOBER 8!

• MAHFUZ and RAKTIMA: Communicate with each country team and see if they can provide one life story (if they have not proposed to do so already).
• MAHFUZ: Get permission to include two poems.
• MADU: Prepare a template for the “geographies of dried fish” section.
• MADU: Prepare and send questions (for background on dried fish in each country/site) to DEREK and NIREKA for inclusion in the IMBeR survey.
• ERIC: Invite DASU to contribute alongside SAI LEELA.
• RATANA: Check if there is a piece on online market or other that can be pulled out of the TBTI report; submit a synopsis.
• ERIC: coordinate with visualization group to create a photo essay on products.
• ERIC: follow up with NIKITA and others from the visualization group who may have recipes or other materials to contribute on the sensoriality of dried fish.
• MADU: Send email message(s) to contributors thanking them for their proposals, reminding of the deadline for final submission, summarizing the current shape of the e-book, requesting that contributors foreground the concept of “value” in their final submissions, and providing other feedback as appropriate. May include a draft outline of the e-book.
• ERIC, MADU, RATANA: Meet to make plans for the introductory and conclusion sections, including glossary, preface, possible use of materials from WOW Open House, etc.
• DEREK: Work with NIREKA to initiate a written document from IMBeR to include in the e-book, synthesizing knowledge/issues in each of the three regions; report back to the editorial committee.