Social lens or inherently social phenomenon? The study of food in Swedish sociology

Sociology’s tendency to branch into applied scientific disciplines is regularly debated. This debate focuses either on the organisation of sociology in academic institutions or on how the content of sociologically informed interdisciplinary research diverges from disciplinary sociology. This article bridges these debates in a study of the sociology of food in Sweden. The aim is to analyse how Swedish food sociology reflects the tension between disciplinary sociology and interdisciplinary research. The data comprise the doctoral dissertations and post-PhD career paths of Swedish sociologists whose dissertations are about food. The article finds that these dissertations treat food either as an inherently social phenomenon or as a social lens (i.e. a social phenomenon viewed as instrumental for analysing something else). Second, it is found that sociologists whose dissertations treated food as an inherently social phenomenon were more likely to pursue careers in food sociology but also to hold affiliations outside of sociology departments. The article concludes that the academic locus of Swedish food sociology is organised outside sociology departments but that its approaches are not necessarily any less sociological. Thus, the analysis questions the basis for arguments that interdisciplinary research represents a threat to the critical and analytical core of sociology.

Reflections for a Sociological Representation of the Eater

Professor Jean Pierre Corbeau is an important author of the French sociology of food. He played a decisive role in the emergence of the concept of the eater. This essay is a reflexive discussion by the author of one of his theoretical articles published in 1997. It is an opportunity for the English-speaking sociological community to become better acquainted with this current in the sociology of food.

Commensality and responsive food consumption behavior in community based canteen

The present study aims to recognize the commensality phenomena and the role of empathy in emerging ethical food consumption behavior at a social level. The study applied qualitative research using an ethnographic method to construct situational and emotional factors of commensality as food consumption behavior in the social meal context. Finding demonstrates that social context influence eating behavior of individual through empathy. It explores a segmented social practice concerning a different viewpoint of food consumption and preference. It is a more theoretical contribution to the sociology of food as a social practice. Additionally, we define responsive eating behavior in conjunction with belief matching.

(Re)connecting the food chain: Entangling cattle, farmers and consumers in the sale of raw milk

This article investigates the growing market for cow’s milk sold directly from the farm, often known as ‘raw milk’. Drawing on qualitative research with UK raw milk producers we add new insights to the sociology of food by demonstrating how knowledge about the ‘goodness’ and ‘purity’ of cow’s milk arises and becomes powerful in producer and consumer groups. Our empirical findings highlight that for a small proportion of producers and consumers, raw milk helps to provide visual, gustatory and sensory points of contact. These contact points, we argue, address some of the contemporary concerns that have arisen over the source, content and ethics of milk by bringing together the means and ends of the food chain. Importantly within this process, cattle and farmyards help forge a powerful entanglement that sustains the commercial exchange. Our findings show that messages about ‘goodness’ and ‘purity’ in raw milk provide a timely counterpoint to the distancing and separation that characterises many modern food chains.

Recension de The Sociology of Food and Agriculture de Michael Carolan

The Sociology of Food and Agriculture (SAA) permet de voir l’étendue du champ de la SAA, saisir son évolution, cerner ses objets, se familiariser avec les approches méthodologiques et les enjeux qui la traverse.

Debating Global Food Security Through Models The Agrimonde Foresight Study (2008–2010) and Criticism of Economic Models and of Their ‘Productionist’ Translations

This contribution to the sociology of food security as a globalised public issue highlights the importance of instruments of proof that underlie discourses on related matters. This article addresses the issue of the economic models that are used in the definition of the futures of food security. Through these models, the food security issue is centred on neo-liberal options which systematically and closely connect agricultural productivity and international agricultural trade. Over the last ten years, we have been witnessing the development of new kinds of foresight which construct alternative scenarios. Agrimonde (2008-2010) is one of them. This article highlights how this foresight attempts to open up the debate in instituted networks dedicated to food security in which economic models – and the International Model for Policy Analysis of Agricultural Commodities and Trade (IMPACT) model developed by IFPRI1 in particular – exert a strong influence. Furthermore, it examines the way in which Agrimonde’s construction principles and its underlying axiology engage in a critique of economic models. The Agrimonde approach also includes the mobilisation of the strategic resources required to perform the international debate and to raise the visibility of alternative conceptions of food security.

Sabores da memória e da tradição em Baú de ossos, de Pedro Nava

Resumo: A natureza e disponibilidade de fontes primárias ainda é matéria controversa para antropólogos, sociólogos e historiadores voltados ao tema da alimentação como prática cultural e social, a princípio, por motivo de muitas dessas fontes serem inacessíveis, escassas ou inexistentes. Este estudo pretende distinguir as Memórias de Pedro Nava como relevante fonte de pesquisa para a história e sociologia da alimentação.O objetivo é examinar de modo comparativo excertos de Baú de ossos (1972) relacionando-os a obras de Edison Carneiro, Jean-Pierre Poulain, Câmara Cascudo, Gilberto Freyre, Robert Zussman e às reminiscências de Joaquim Manuel de Macedo, José de Alencar e Renato Almeida. A análise indica que memórias podem gerar ampla base de informes, fontes e dados ao pesquisador e historiador da alimentação.Palavras-chave: Pedro Nava. Memórias. Culinária. Alimentação. Abstract: The nature and availability of primary sources remains a controversial subject for anthropologists, sociologists and historians devoted to the theme of food as cultural and social practice, due to the previous inaccessibility of many of these sources, that may be scarce or non-existent. The aim of this study is to distinguish Pedro Nava’s Memoirs as a revelevant source of research to explore the history and sociology of food. The objective is to examine comparatively excerpts of Baú de ossos (1972) in relation to the works of Edison Carneiro, Jean-Pierre Poulain, Câmara Cascudo, Gilberto Freyre, Robert Zussman and the literary reminiscences of Joaquim Manuel de Macedo, José de Alencar and Renato Almeida. The analysis indicates that memoirs can display a wide range of data, information and sources for the food historian and researcher.Keywords: Pedro Nava. Memoirs. Culinary. Feeding.