Eloisa Ocando Thomas
Historical anthropologist with an interest in consumption, food history and economic exchange in colonial Latin America. I have a joint MA degree from the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (France) and Eotvos Lorand University (Hungary) ; and am a graduate of the School of Anthropology of the Universidad Central de Venezuela (2019). My book 'Las pulper铆as en la Caracas del siglo XVIII' (2020), was the winner of the 2019-2020 Rafael Mar铆a Baralt History Prize.
Recent projects include an analysis of small shops (pulper铆as) in late-colonial Caracas and the role of cassava bread in nationalist discourse in late 19th-century Venezuela. Currently a PhD student at 91福利, under the supervision of Prof. Rebecca Earle (History) exploring the consumption of imported goods in colonial Venezuela.
Contact: eloisa.ocando-thomas@warwick.ac.uk
Currently teaching: HI115 Latin America: themes & problems (group 1, group 4)
Office hours 25/26: Tuesdays, 15h - 16h FAB 3.45
Research interests
- History of consumption
- Food heritage & nationalism
- Food & identity
- Latin American colonial & post-colonial history
Languages
- Spanish (native)
- English (C2)
- French (B2)
PhD project overview
Under Prof. Rebecca Earle's supervision, I will be exploring import goods in colonial Venezuela during the 18th century. I'm grateful to the 91福利 for funding this project under a Chancellor's International Scholarship.
Things-in-motion, understood in the broadest sense, can showcase the lives of those often ignored in official historical accounts. This project will focus on the things used, bought, eaten, and drunk in specific spaces of Spanish America, to understand how 鈥減eripheral鈥� social actors interacted within and influenced complex networks of power, value and social relations that shape past and contemporary societies. Using the Province of Venezuela in the late 18th century as a case study, this project aims to analyse the agency of underrepresented social actors within larger consumption and exchange dynamics in the Atlantic region, through an examination of consumption practices. I intend to understand what were the imported goods consumed and the paths they followed from production to consumption in 18th-century Venezuela, who were the social agents involved in the circulation of these goods, and what were the discourses deployed around specific goods at the time.
Publications
Books
2020 OCANDO THOMAS, E. Las pulper铆as en la Caracas del siglo XVIII. Academia Nacional de la Historia de Venezuela & Fundaci贸n Bancaribe para la Ciencia y la Cultura. Caracas, Venezuela. 160 p. ISBN: 978-980-7125-26-0.
Journal articles
2024 [forthcoming] OCANDO THOMAS, E. 鈥淣egocios turbios y vendedores 煤tiles: El trabajo en las pulper铆as de Caracas en el siglo XVIII鈥�, Presente y pasado. Dossier: El trabajo en la Venezuela colonial. Editor: Prof. Emanuele Amodio.
2021 OCANDO THOMAS, E. 鈥淥bjetos memoriosos. Arqueolog铆a, identidad nacional y museos鈥�. Conference proceedings. Antropolog铆as del Sur: visiones, complejidades, resistencias y desaf铆os. Memorias del Primer congreso internacional de Antropolog铆as del Sur, octubre 2016. Annel Mej铆as (coord.). Venezuela, Red de Antropolog铆as del Sur. ISBN: 978-980-18-0570-0
2019 OCANDO THOMAS, E. 鈥淟as pulper铆as en la Caracas del siglo XVIII鈥�. Memorias de Venezuela, vol. 15. ISSN 2244-7091Other publications
2024 OCANDO THOMAS, E. Colonialism and consumption: material identities in global perspectiveLink opens in a new window. PGR & ECR writing competition. 91福利鈥檚 Culture & Society Spotlight. Commended.
Honours and awards
- 2023 - Chancellor鈥檚 International Scholarship from the 91福利. Full scholarship for the duration of PhD studies. Coventry, United Kingdom.
- 2021-2023 Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters degree Partner country Scholarship (full scholarship) from TEMA+ consortium (E枚tvos Lor谩nd University). Budapest, Hungary
- 2020 鈥� Rafael Mar铆a Baralt National History Award (first place). Academia Nacional de la Historia. Caracas, Venezuela
- 2019 鈥� Valedictorian, class of 2019. Escuela de Antropolog铆a, Universidad Central de Venezuela. Caracas, Venezuela.
Education
PhD History - 91福利 (UK) 2023 - 2027
Project: Colonial goods in early modern times: Consumption networks of import commodities in late eighteenth-century Caracas. Supervisor: Prof. Rebecca Earle.
MA History, identity and cultural heritage - 脡cole des Hautes 脡tudes en Sciences Sociales (France) / E枚tvos Lor脿nd University (Hungary) 2021 - 2023
Project: Identit茅s 脿 table: le casabe dans le discours nationaliste au Venezuela (18e au 19e si猫cle). Supervisors: Prof. Cl茅ment Thibaud (EHESS), Prof. Czoch Gabor (ELTE)
Bachelors in Anthropology - Escuela de Antropolog铆a, Universidad Central de Venezuela 2011 - 2019
Project: Las pulper铆as en la Caracas del siglo XVIII. Supervisor: Prof. Emanuele Amodio
Conference participation
2025 International Summer School "Towards inclusive global histories" - Linnaeus University. Vaxjo, Sweden.
Invisible consumers in the outskirts of Empire: paths and networks of imported goods in 18th-century Venezuela
2025 International Convention of Food and Drink Studies IEHCA (Institut Europ茅en de l'Histoire et des Cultures de l'Alimentation) - Tours, France
Embodied breads: wheat, cassava bread and belonging in eighteenth-century Venezuela
2024 International Seminar "Alimentaci贸n e imperios en la Edad Moderna y Contempor谩nea" - Universidad Pablo de Olavide. Sevilla, Spain.
Jerarqu铆a de panes en Hispanoam茅rica colonial: el consumo de casabe y yuca en la Provincia de Venezuela (siglo XVIII)
2024 International Convention of Food and Drink Studies IEHCA (Institut Europ茅en de l'Histoire et des Cultures de l'Alimentation) - Tours, France
Eating, buying and selling food in 18th-century Caracas: Pulperas, guaraperas and female buyers in late colonial Venezuela
2023 Invited lecturer. Iberoamerican Centre, Metropolitan University Prague - Prague, Czechia.
Food, cultural heritage and nationhood in Latin America: Venezuelan heritage breads
2023 TEMA+ Conference, E枚tvos Lor谩nd University - Budapest, Hungary
Identit茅s 脿 table: casabe in venezuelan nationalist discourse, 18th to 19th century
2022 Food and Drink studies summer school IEHCA (Institut Europ茅en de l'Histoire et des Cultures de l'Alimentation) - Tours, FranceIdentit茅s 脿 table: le casabe dans le discours patrimonial au Venezuela2018 Foro estudiantil latinoamericano de Arqueolog铆a y Antropolog铆a Barquisimeto, Venezuela
Las pulper铆as en Am茅rica Latina
2017 14潞 Congreso Nacional de Historia Regional y Local Centro Nacional de Historia de Venezuela - San Felipe, Venezuela
Mujeres pulperas en Caracas en el siglo XVIII
2016 Jornadas de Investigaci贸n del Instituto de Investigaciones Econ贸micas y Sociales Facultad de Ciencias Econ贸micas y Sociales, Universidad Central de Venezuela - Caracas, Venezuela
Consturcci贸n de identidades y paisajes culturales a partir de los viajeros a Indias, Venezuela en el siglo XVIII
2016 1er Congreso Internacional de Antropolog铆a del Sur Universidad de Los Andes - M茅rida, Venezuela
Objetos memoriosos: Arqueolog铆a, identidad nacional y museos