The Politics of Food

by Lien, Marianne E.; Nerlich, Brigitte

• ISBN13: 9781859738535
• ISBN10: 1859738532
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-12-10
• Publisher: Berg Pub Ltd

Summary

Is shopping for food really a political act? Why is it that, in a world with enough food for everyone, more people than ever go hungry? Why did the French resistance against genetically modified foods become a fight against McDonalds? Why did the foot-and-mouth epidemic in the UK become a problem for consumers? Capable of connecting human bodies to abstract nations, and techno-science to moral concerns, food has become one of the most contested fields of our time. It is high on the political agenda throughout the world. With disease, contamination, famine, hunger and imbalanced food markets all unfortunate realities, a book that interrogates the politics of food is long overdue. From the BSE outbreak in the 1990s through to cultural taboos and the genetic modification of produce and livestock, this timely book raises provocative questions about how we relate to food in the 21st century. Recent food scandals and genetically modified organism controversies have shattered the idea that 'food is food' as we have always known it, and exposed fundamental dilemmas related to risk and control. Taking as its starting point the premise that food is politicized in arenas not commonly thought of as political, The Politics of Food explores issues surrounding the development of global food markets in underdeveloped nations and addresses recent events that have had a profound impact on how consumers feel about what they eat. The epidemic of foot-and-mouth disease that swept through the UK in 2001 spawned a series of questions concerning the real costs of cheap food. What lessons have been learned? And how are food choices linked to the politics of food markets? With globalization, food has increasingly become entangled in webs of political significance. Through ethnographic case studies, this book reveals how food has come to serve a key role in political resistance, grassroots activism and nation-building. Anyone interested in globalization, food safety, or what food choices say about food politics will find this book essential reading.

Author Biography

Marianne E. Lien is Associate Professor in Social Anthropology, University of Oslo.

Brigitte Nerlich is Senior Research Officer at the Institute for the Study of Genetics, Biorisks and Society, University of Nottingham.

Table of Contents

Contributors	vii
Acknowledgements	xi
1 The Politics of Food: An Introduction	1	(18)
Marianne Elisabeth Lien
Part I Food, Risk and Blame	19	(60)
2 Handling Food-related Risks: Political Agency and Governmentality	21	(18)
Bente Halkier
3 Risk, Blame and Culture: Foot and Mouth Disease and the Debate about Cheap Food	39	(20)
Brigitte Nerlich
4 The Rhetoric of Food: Food as Nature, Commodity and Culture	59	(22)
Eivind Jacobsen
Part II Nation and Nurture	79	(82)
5 Risky Science and Savoir-faire: Peasant Expertise in the French Debate over Genetically Modified Crops	81	(20)
Chaia Heller
6 Enjoyment and Choice in an Age of Risk: The Case of BSE in the Czech Republic	101	(20)
Haldis Haukanes
7 Western Food and the Making of the Japanese Nation-state	121	(20)
Katarzyna J. Cwiertka
8 The Politics of Taste and Smell: Palestinian Rites of Return	141	(22)
Efrat Ben-Ze'ev
Part III Global Rules, Routes and Access	161	(60)
9 Grades and Standards in the Social Construction of Safe Food	163	(16)
Lawrence Busch
10 Dogs, Whales and Kangaroos: Transnational Activism and Food Taboos	179	(20)
Marianne Elisabeth Lien
11 The Political Economy of Food in an Unequal World	199	(22)
Keith Hart
Epilogue: On the Legacy of The Politics of Food	221	(14)
Anne Murcott
Index	235