The Cultural Politics of Food and Eating
A Reader
Blackwell Readers in Anthropology
1. Edition November 2004
332 Pages, Softcover
Wiley & Sons Ltd
The Cultural Politics of Food and Eating offers an ethnographically
informed perspective on the ways in which people use food to make
sense of life in an increasingly interconnected world.
* Uses food as a central idiom for teaching about culture and
addresses broad themes such as globalization, capitalism, market
economies, and consumption practices
* Spanning 5 continents, features studies from 11
countries--Japan, China, Russia, Ukraine, Germany, France,
Burkina Faso, Chile, Trinidad, Mexico, and the United States
* Offers discussion of such hot topics as sushi, fast food,
gourmet foods, and food scares and contamination
Introduction: James L. Watson and Melissa L. Caldwell.
Part I: Food and Globalization.
Part II: Yuppification, Gentrification, and Domesticating
Tastes.
Part III: The Political Economy of Food
on contemporary culinary tastes and techniques. No student of food,
globalization, or political economy can afford to overlook this
valuable collection." Stanley Brandes, University of
California, Berkeley
"A fascinating collection of essays that ranges from
everyday food consumption to the global politics of food. The
analyses yield surprising insights into familiar products and the
social world of which they are such an important part. While the
book, unlike its subjects, is inedible, it is highly readable and
intellectually nutritious." George Ritzer, University of
Maryland
"...provides fascinating glimpses of the behind-the-scene world
of global food distribution and economics and their societal
impacts on people living very different lives on opposite ends of
the world" Journal of Sensory Studies
"The book provides a fascinating journey through the politics,
economics and culture of food in a globalized society...this book
is a gold mine of thought-provoking facts, ideas and concepts...a
literary delight." Journal of Sociolinguistics
"A good tool for an introductory course on culture and society
or perhaps a more advanced course on food, politics and global
movements." Social Anthropology
Professor of Anthropology at Harvard University. His books include
Golden Arches East: McDonald's in East
Asia(edited 1998), Village Life in Hong Kong (with Rubie
Watson, 2004), and Between Two Cultures (edited, Blackwell,
1977).
Melissa L. Caldwell is Assistant Professor of
Anthropology at University of California, Santa Cruz. She is the
author of Not by Bread Alone: Social Support in the New
Russia (2004).
