This week, Anne Saab, Assistant Professor in International Law and Associated Faculty for the Centre for International Environment Studies (CIES) presented her book Narratives of Hunger in International Law. Dario Piselli and Malavika Rao (both PhD candidates in International Law at the Graduate Institute), accompanied her to introduce her book through a set of questions. Many students, faculty members, and professionals attended the book launch which resulted in a strong interaction between the participants and the audience.

Joëlle Noailly, Head of Research at the CIES, opened the conference by introducing the book as a major contribution to the field of environmental studies, for providing critical thinking on the various narratives around food and climate change. 

Across her book, Anne Saab discusses how international law as a language constructs  narratives of hunger in international law. To start, Dario Piselli questioned the author about these contrasting narratives. Anne Saab discussed the main two narratives: neoliberalism - how climate change and technological innovations are affecting the food system - and the food system narrative - which deals with a better distribution of food to fight hunger. As emphasized by Malavika Rao, Anne Saab’s book aims to remain objective and to settle in a space between these extreme positions. The book underlines the limitations of these two narratives, bringing to light other narratives from an international law perspective, which may be better able to provide solutions.