Consumption, lifestyle and social movements

peerReviewe

Foodsharing: Unscharfe Grenzen einer Lebensstilbewegung

Lebensmittelabfälle werden zunehmend als gesellschaftliches Problem erachtet. Die Initiative "foodsharing" versucht, diesem Problem entgegenzutreten. Dieser Beitrag untersucht, inwiefern diese Initiative als politischer Konsum und Lebensstilbewegung verstanden werden kann. In Lebensstilbewegungen streben individuelle Verbraucher durch ihre alltäglichen Konsumpraktiken einen gesellschaftlichen Wandel an. Anders als im traditionellen Verständnis sozialer Bewegungen treten in Lebensstilbewegungen (1) individuelle und private Aktivität in den Vordergrund, werden (2) kulturelle Ziele verfolgt sowie ist (3) die Partizipation als anhaltende zu erachten. Anhand dieser drei Distinktionskriterien wird das Foodsharing näher betrachtet, als Lebensstilbewegung kategorisiert und die unscharfen Grenzen zwischen sozialen Bewegungen und Lebensstilbewegungen herausgearbeitet

Linking the loop : voicing dimensions of home economics

The aim of this study is to analyse how individuals working within the field of Home Economics describe the profession against the background of the Position Statement published by the International Federation for Home Economics (IFHE) in 2008 and discussion papers detailing the Position Statement published in the first issue of the International Journal of Home Economics (IJHE). This paper links individual statements on the meaning of Home Economics provided for Linking the Loop project with four key dimensions or areas of practice of Home Economics, as defined in the IFHE Position Statement, and reflects the statements against generational theory. A qualitative content analysis of 94 statements provided by Home Economists around the world provides an insight to the variety in understanding and defining the field—a process that is essential to secure a viable future for the profession.Peer reviewe

From needs to resonance. A sociological and historical excursion

Bedürfnisse und Bedarfsbereiche in verschiedenen Konsumfeldern nehmen in der Ernährungs- und Verbraucherbildung eine zentrale Rolle ein. Die Konzeptualisierung von Konsum wird in diesem Beitrag ideengeschichtlich reflektiert, um den individualistischen Bedürfnisbegriff kritisch zu hinterfragen und mit dem Resonanzbegriff eine mögliche soziologische Alternative vorzustellen. (DIPF/Orig.)Needs and areas of need in various consumption fields play a central role in nutrition and consumer education. In this contribution, the conceptualization of consumption is reflected in terms of the history of ideas to critically question the individualistic concept of need and to present a possible sociological alternative with the concept of resonance. (DIPF/Orig.

Foodscapes in Transition: Policies and Politics Advancing Sustainable Development and Social Justice

In this session, we would like to discuss the impact, risks and motivations of producers and consumers altering foodscapes. Of particular interest are enabling types of governance that improve ecological balance and social justice in policies of governmental regulation and institutions but also in the politics of for example alternative food movements. The main impact that heterodox actors can have seems to be, on one hand, the creation of resourcefulness from innovative niches, not designed to be upscaled but spread by ubiquitous networking and, on the other hand, the exemplification of heterodox economic practices that reduce the current deskilling of producers and consumers and the depletion of natural resources. The risk associated with heterodox initiatives is, besides basic economic viability, territorial competition over land and resources, as well as – more insidiously – the potential of co-option by neoliberal corporate agendas. The motivations of actors involved in such social movements, albeit diverse, tend to stem from a stance of care and ethical (self)government, often using community self-organisation-tools. Such an analysis of food value chain practices focuses on negotiations and struggles among actors in a multifaceted foodscape, where some block and some enhance transitions. Viewing the relationships, interconnectedness and agency of niche innovations and regime hegemonies opens up the perspective of contested knowledge claims. Additionally, the ways in which actors in the regulatory field advance transitions by policy measures and initiatives need to be considered, and in particular the processes of politicization as interdependencies between movement actors and the public sphere. Yet, the daily practices stay embedded in social, cultural and economic constraints and in routines, which are built on tacit knowledge, collective learning and engrained practices; even though repetitive, they can account for both reproduction and innovation. Which types of governance at all levels have shown themselves to be effective in supporting and empowering such bottom-up changes in “knowing and growing food in a contested arena” (Goodman, DuPuis, Goodman, 2014)

Socioeconomic status, dietary diversity, and nutritional status of Javanese and Batak children: Evidence from the Indonesian Family Life Survey

Background and purpose Living in high-SES household offers children access to different type of foods and allows them to eat a diverse diet: a prerequisite for improved nutritional status [1]. We analyse the linkages of socioeconomic status (SES), dietary diversity, and nutritional status in greater nuance. We examine how food stigma and cultural value of food might influence the SES-related dietary diversity of school-aged children in two ethnic groups with different food cultures in Indonesia. Food cultures of the Javanese and the Batak are interesting because traditionally the Javanese cuisine is more vegetable-based while the Batak cuisine is heavily meat-based. However, the nutritional status of the Javanese was higher than that of the Batak [2]. This is in contrast to literature promoting meat consumption as the means to improve nutritional status [3]. Methods We analysed data from the latest three waves of the Indonesian Family Life Surveys (20002015) consisting of 5,769 school-aged children (7-12 years of age) born to 3,478 mothers. Based on the food consumption frequency, we measured the children&#65533;s dietary diversity by using an adapted Berry-Index [4]. We opted for the SES expenditure approach, classifying children into quintiles based on the real Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE). Cluster-robust multivariate linear regression was used to examine SES-related differences in dietary diversity by ethnic groups. The same model specification was also applied to explore the dietary composition at food groups level. Marginal contrasts followed to find between-ethnic-groups differences in dietary diversity and nutritional status (height-for-age z-scores) by SES. Results The results show Javanese children had higher dietary diversity (Berry-Index: Javanese=0.61 vs Batak=0.60; p-val.<0.01) and better nutritional status than Batak children (height-for-age Zscore: Javanese=-1.41 vs. Batak=-1.81; p-val.<0.01). We found that living in a high-SES household correlated with a higher dietary diversity for children of both ethnic groups (Javanese children: b=0.01; p-val.<0.01; Batak children: b=0.05; p-val.<0.01) However, the SES-related dietary composition of Javanese and Batak children differed. For Javanese children with a highSES background, we found a decrease in tubers consumption with rising SES (b=-0.05; pval.<0.05). The low tubers consumption among high-SES Javanese children is probably due to the negative food stigma linking cassava to poverty in the Javanese food culture [5]. While fruits, animal-source foods, and dairy product consumption increased with SES for Javanese children, there was no difference in animal-source foods consumption by SES for Batak children. This is not surprising since animal-source foods are an important part of the Batak food culture irrespective of SES [6]. However, such high priority for the expensive animal-source foods came at the expense of a reduced consumption of other types of food and decreased the dietary diversity of low-SES Batak children. Additional analyses indicated that compared to Javanese children belonging to the lowest-SES quintile, Batak children of the same SES category had a worse nutritional status (height-for-age Z-score diff.=-0.24; p-val.<0.01). Conclusions and Implications Although socioeconomic status positively correlates with dietary diversity, food stigma and cultural value of food may influence the SES-related dietary composition and could affect the children&#65533;s nutritional status. In the case of low-SES Batak children, the high priority for the expensive animal-source foods comes across with decreased dietary diversity and worse nutritional status. Policy makers and stakeholders should give particular attention to food cultures of different ethnic groups in their nutrition intervention strategies. For example, Batak children from the low-SES background should be advised not rely mainly on animal-source foods but to overall diversify their food consumption

A moral householding perspective on the sharing economy

In this paper, we scrutinise the sharing economy from a moral householding perspective and evaluate the moral justifications for a sustainable form of the sharing economy. We consider the emergence of normative moral justifications through householding practices that rest on local mobilisation of people in defence of communities and commitments against the adverse impacts of neoliberal market capitalism. Our perspective draws on Karl Polanyi's conceptualisation of householding, that is, autarchic, communistic provision in a closed community. Using timebanking as an example, we illustrate how a moral sharing economy can be mobilised in collective battles against the current neoliberal system of economic crisis. We contribute to the amassing sharing economy literature emphasising a central, yet missing element of the current discourse: householding as practices creating self-sufficiency and autonomy as well as combining both kin and stranger