The Politics of the Pantry: Stories, Food, and Social Change by Michael Mikulak

Review of Michael Mikulak\u27s Politics of the Pantry: Stories, Food, and Social Change

A different appetite for sovereignty? Independence movements in subnational island jurisdictions

Local autonomy in a subnational jurisdiction is more likely to be gained, secured or enhanced where there are palpable movements or political parties agitating for independence in these smaller territories. A closer look at the fortunes, operations and dynamics of independence parties from subnational island jurisdictions can offer some interesting insights on the appetite for sovereignty and independence, but also the lack thereof, in the twenty-first century.peer-reviewe

Recasting the home-work relationship: a case of mutual adjustment?

Advances in communication and information technologies, changing managerial strategies and changing cultural expectations about the location of (paid) work, have meant that paid work is increasingly conducted from home. Home then becomes the place where the discourse of industrial production meets with the discourse of household production. We analyse the relationship between these two traditionally separate discourses, which, through the disintegration of the time/space compression, increasingly come to bear on each other. We report on the experiences of home-workers and their families coping with the co-presence of the sometimes conflicting and sometimes competing demands and values embedded in such discourses. In doing so, we contribute to current understandings of the complexities inherent in emergent forms of organization, as the relationship between work and home is recast. Theoretically and methodologically, this empirical study is located within a discursive framework, and we emphasize the usefulness of such approaches to studying organizational realities

Men, Masculinities and Water Powers in Irrigation

The aim of this article is to provide an informed plea for more explicitly identifying, naming and unravelling the linkages between water control and gender in irrigation. The fact that power, expertise and status in irrigation tend to have a strong masculine connotation is by now quite well established, and underlies calls for more women in water decision making, engineering education and professions. Yet, the questions of how and why water control, status and expertise are linked to masculinity, and of whether and how such links work to legitimize the exercise of power, are seldom asked. To date, associations between masculinity and professional water performance have largely been taken for granted and remained unexamined. The resulting perceived normalcy makes mechanisms of (gendered) power and politics in water appear self-evident, unchangeable, and indeed gender-neutral. The article reviews examples of the masculinity of irrigation in different domains to argue that exposing and challenging such hitherto hidden dimensions of (gendered) power is important for the identification of new avenues of gender progressive change, and for shedding a new and interesting light on the workings of power in water. KEYWORDS: Irrigation, water, gender, politics, masculinities, engineer

Obesity care pathway

This paper recognises that obesity is a growing problem within the UK with Britain with one of the highest rates for overweight children in Europe and with one in three adults predicted to be obese by 2012. Within the UK, nearly 25 per cent of men and women are now obese which has created enormous implications for health service providers (NICE, 2006). This paper focuses specifically on North East Lincolnshire where life expectancy is less than the national average with males (76) and females (80.8). Within North East Lincolnshire we developed an evidence-based adult obesity care pathway based on the NICE obesity guidance, incorporating local referral criteria and input. The pathway is benefiting patients by helping to reduce obesity through an increase in lifestyle referrals. Since the pathway was developed we have seen a reduction in referrals for unnecessary bariatic surgery which is reducing the cost to the NHS. This paper shares our learning and best practice from stakeholder engagement, partnership working, successfully implementing and evaluating the adult obesity care pathway across all general practices

Speaking to twin children: evidence against the "impoverishment" thesis

It is often claimed that parents’ talk to twins is less rich than talk to singletons and that this delays their language development. This case study suggests that talk to twins need not be impoverished. We identify highly sophisticated ways in which a mother responds to her 4-year-old twin children, both individually and jointly, as a way of ensuring an inclusive interactional environment. She uses gaze to demonstrate concurrent recipiency in response to simultaneous competition for attention from both children, and we see how the twins constantly monitor the ongoing interaction in order to appropriately position their own contributions to talk. In conclusion, we argue for the need to take twins’ interactional abilities into account when drawing linguistic comparisons between twins and singletons. Data are in Australian English

Discursive mobile phone practices and informal rules

This paper uses Discourse Analysis (DA) to investigate the socially\ud constructed discursive practices of mobile phone use; specifically it examines the\ud informal rules of mobile phone use. It qualitatively investigates mobile phone use\ud within an Australian cultural context. „Discourse theory begins with the\ud assumption that all objects and actions are meaningful, and that their meaning is a\ud product of historically specific systems of rules‟ (Howarth 2000, p. 8). Evidence\ud of socially constructed textual meanings related to mobile phone use is found in\ud the informal rules created (and practiced); those that in some way govern the use\ud of mobile phones. The research reveals that there are divergences and\ud inconsistencies within the discourse of mobile phone use, and illustrates that\ud individuals make differing personal choices in similar social contexts

Modern hospitality: lessons from the past

This article presents a summary of findings from a continuing investigation into the historical origins of hospitality in the ancient and classical worlds, focusing mainly on the Greek and Roman civilisations. After considering the etymology of hospitality, the article goes on to explore hospitality and mythology, hospitality and the household, public hospitality, commercial hospitality and hospitality in contemporaneous religious writings. The evaluation of the outcomes leads to the identification of five dimensions of hospitality (honourable tradition, fundamental to human existence, stratified, diversified and central to human endeavour) that have been evolving from the beginning of human history