Stony Brook University anthropologist Joeva Sean Rock has been awarded the 2024 Margaret Mead Award. This international accolade is given to early-career scholars who have made notable contributions in disseminating anthropological insights to the public.
Rock's recognition comes from her 2022 book, "We Are Not Starving: The Struggle for Food Sovereignty in Ghana," published by Michigan State University Press. The book provides an ethnographic exploration of debates surrounding genetically modified crops and alternative approaches to achieving food sovereignty.
Rock, an assistant professor at Stony Brook's College of Arts and Sciences, joined the university last fall. She focused on examining international philanthropy's role in advocating for a "new" Green Revolution in Africa. Rock shared that the title of her book was inspired by a conversation with an interlocutor who challenged narratives presented by large philanthropies about hunger in Africa. “The title comes from a conversation I had with one of my interlocutors, who was reflecting on an interview she had recently read in US media, where a large philanthropy had described the African continent as starving and thus in need of genetically modified crops,” Rock said. “She told me, ‘We are not hungry. We are not starving.’”
Rock emphasized that this statement was not a denial of hunger issues but rather a call for Ghanaians to set their own policy agendas instead of external philanthropists.
The award is jointly presented by the Society of Applied Anthropology (SfAA) and the American Anthropological Association (AAA). Rock will receive her award plaque at the SfAA annual meeting this spring.
“Receiving this award from my home discipline has really encouraged me to continue with this interdisciplinary work,” Rock stated. She credited Ghanaian activists, farmers, officials, and scientists for their contributions to her research.
Currently serving as co-director of the Mapping Biotechnologies in Africa Project—a collaboration involving researchers from the University of San Francisco, University of Chicago, and Stony Brook—Rock’s research has received support from several organizations including the Wenner-Gren Foundation and Fulbright.
Katheryn Twiss, professor and chair of Stony Brook's Department of Anthropology expressed delight over Rock’s achievement: “The Department of Anthropology is delighted that Joeva Rock received the Margaret Mead Award...Dr. Rock’s expertise...extends our Department’s longstanding engagement with food and diet into new high-impact areas.”
Twiss added that “the Margaret Mead Award...shines a well-deserved global spotlight on Dr. Rock.” She also noted pride in welcoming Rock to their faculty.