Raúl Matta

Research Fellow

About

Raúl MATTA, PhD in sociology (Sorbonne Nouvelle, 2009) is a Research Fellow at the Research and Innovation Centre of the Lyfe Institute and an associate researcher at the PALOC laboratory (Research Institute for Development - Natural History Museum).

Her work lies at the intersection of the anthropology of food, critical heritage studies and cultural studies, and focuses on the cultural, social and political uses of food and cooking by different actors.

He conducted field research in Peru, Mexico, Germany and France.

He previously conducted his research at the Paris Institute for Advanced Studies (2021‑2022), the University of Göttingen (2014‑2022), the Research Institute for Development (2013‑2014) and the Free University of Berlin (2010‑2012).

Role in research projects

2024 – 2027 WP Leader in the CONVIVIUM (New European Bauhaus Solutions in Food, Living Heritage and Conviviality) project, funded by HORIZON EUROPE – NEB.
2019 - 2022 Principal Investigator in the FOOD2GATHER project (Exploring food landscapes as public spaces of integration), funded by HERA (Humanities in the European Research Area) and the European Commission (Horizon 2020).
2014 - 2018 Project manager in the Food as Cultural Heritage project, funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG)
2014 - 2015 Visiting researcher in the PalSan project - Food Heritage and Health, funded by Sorbonne Universities
2013 - 2017 Post‑doctoral researcher and co‑coordinator of the FOODHERIT project: Critical and comparative research on food heritage and gastropolitics, funded by the French National Research Agency (ANR)

His publications

Books and special issues of journals

Di Giovine, M., and Matta, R. (Eds.). 2025. The Routledge Handbook of Food and Cultural Heritage . Routledge
Matta, R. 2023. From the Plate to Gastro‑Politics. Unraveling the Boom of Peruvian Cuisine. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan.
Matta, R., Suremain, Ch‑É., and Crenn, C. (Eds.). 2020. Food Identities at Home and on the Move : Explorations at the Intersection of Food, Belonging and Dwelling . London and New York: Routledge.
Bak‑Geller, S., Matta, R., and Suremain, Ch‑É. (Eds.). 2019 Food heritage. Between consents and tensions . San Luis Potosí and Paris: El Colegio de San Luis and IRD Éditions.
García, ME and Matta, R. (Eds.). 2019. Gastro‑politics: Culture, Identity and Culinary Politics in Peru . Special issue for the journal Anthropology of Food , https://journals.openedition.org/aof/9970
Quijoux, M., Lanna, F., Matta, R., Rebotier, J., and de Séchelles, G. (Eds.). 2011. Cultures and Inequalities: Inquiries into the Cultural Dimensions of Social Relations . Paris: L'Harmattan

Journal articles and book chapters (selection)

Matta, R. 2026. Convivialidade e sistemas alimentares: rumo a uma política de criação mútua [Convivialidad y sistemas alimentarios: hacia una política de crianza mutua]. Revista Hospitalidade 23, e1284, https://doi.org/10.29147/revhosp.v22.1284
Matta, R. and Di Giovine, M. 2025. The rich entanglements of food and cultural heritage. In Di Giovine, M. and Matta, R. (Eds.). The Routledge Handbook of Food and Cultural Heritage . Routledge, 1‑20.
Herman, J. and Matta, R. 2025. Food and UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage Journey . Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Food Studies .
Matta, R. 2025. Expanding “Ethical” Cooking: Parisian Chefs' Everyday Approaches to Culinary Sustainability. In Counihan, C., and Højlund, S. (Eds.), Chefs, Restaurants and Culinary Sustainability . University of Arkansas Press, 89‑107.
Matta, R. 2024. Towards Convivial Foodscapes . Politika.
Starck, E. and Matta, R. 2024. More‑than‑human Assemblages and the Politics of (Food) Conviviality: Cooking, Eating, and Living Together in Germany . Food, Culture & Society 27(3): 734‑753.
Matta, R. 2024. ¿A quiénes sirve la patrimonialización de la cocina? Nueva Sociedad 311:56-72.
Matta, R. and Panchapakesan, P. 2021. Deflated Michelin: An Exploration of the Changes in Values in the Culinary Profession and Industry . Gastronomica. The Journal for Food Studies 21(3): 45‑55.
Matta, R. 2021. Food for Social Change in Peru: Narrative and Performance of the Culinary Nation . The Sociological Review 69(3): 520‑537.
Matta, R. 2021. Documenting the UNESCO Feast: Stories of Women’s “Empowerment” and Programmatic Cooking . Social Anthropology 29(1): 188‑204.
Matta, R. 2019. Mexico’s Ethnic Culinary Heritage and Cocineras Tradicionales (Traditional Female Cooks) . Food and Foodways 27(3): 211‑231.
Matta, R. 2019. Gastro‑diplomacy: a soft power (not so soft) . ESSACHESS. Journal for Communication Studies 12(1): 99‑120.
Matta, R. 2019. Heritage Foodways as Matrix for Cultural Resurgence: Evidence from Rural Peru . International Journal of Cultural Property 26(1): 49‑74.

Contact us

Research and Innovation Center
Lyfe Institute
Château du Vivier
1A Calabert Road
69130 - Ecully
France

04 87 63 38 38

Lyfe Institute Research and Innovation Center

Lyfe Institute
Research and Innovation Center