Failure as learning: photovoice as methodology in research with marginalised young people.

An unpublished pilot study at a charitable youth organisation in the North East of Scotland found that young people (aged 16 to 25) accommodated by the organisation consumed a diet high in sugar and low in levels of foods such as meat, fish, fruit, and vegetables (Perry, 2013). The Foodways and Futures project (2013-2016), combining ethnographic and action research methodology, set out to explore why the diet of young people was sub-optimal, despite the organisation having a number of support services in place that would—it was perceived—encourage better eating habits amongst the young people housed within the organisation. Photovoice (PV) was identified as a participatory research method that was suitable, and that would encourage young people to participate as co-researchers in the investigation. However, despite young people getting involved in other research methods that were employed in the study, PV was generally not taken up as anticipated. This article explores how the method was employed, and argues that what could be deemed the ‘failure’ of PV instead may be interpreted as evidence of young people’s awareness and sensitivity about the potential judgements of others on personal food choices. In this sense, poor uptake of PV actually reveals much more about young people’s lived experiences than the data that it generates. The use of PV as a research method is therefore powerful, in that it allows participants to indicate, through inactivity, their sensitivity to ‘discourses of blame’

Contradictions between wanting to and being able to practice food shopping: the experiences of 'vulnerable' young people in the North East of Scotland.

In the context of the rise in numbers of people affected by food poverty in the UK, the Foodways and Futures (2013-2016) project explores the ways in which vulnerable young people (16-25) experience their relationship to food. In my data analysis, the experience of shopping for food emerged as a particularly pertinent issue for young people, although this remains largely unexplored in the literature. I found that, among other issues, food shopping is not necessarily an enjoyable experience for vulnerable young people, some of whom are anxious about entering food shops and engage in hurried shopping practices. Decision-making was based on budget restrictions as well as the immediate experience of hunger. As a result, food shopping was often rapid and reactive. This vulnerable group of food shoppers do not necessarily purchase the cheapest items, as these may be seen as degrading to self-esteem. Young people also faced physical obstacles of distances to the (larger) shops and the weight of their food shopping

Talking about food choices of former homeless young people: making sense of conflicting discourses of blame through social worlds theory.

After a pilot study at a charitable youth organisation in the North East of Scotland found no considerable improvements in the food choices of former homeless young people accommodated by the organisation (Perry, 2013), the Foodways and Futures project (2013-2016) set out to explore why. Both members of staff at the same organisation as well as young people were invited to voice their views and opinions on the factors influencing young people’s food choices. Whilst everyone’s contribution was considered equally informative for our findings, I was attentive to where the information originated from. In this, I found that three conflicting discourses of blame pervade the participants’ expressions of the rationales underlying young people’s food choices. Trying to make sense of these, I employ Strauss’ Social Worlds Theory (1978). I find that the different discourses of blame make sense in the context of the complex organisational structures. In objecting to a tendency in the literature to assign standardised discourse of blame primarily to youth workers’ practice, these discourses showcase mutual understanding instead

A capabilities approach to food choices.

The authors question the notion of food choice and consider how much food choice someone living on low income actually has. In their fieldwork, it became clear that food choices, and hence one’s nutritional and health state, cannot be viewed in separation from the participants’ individual stories and the complexities of their lives. Daily routines, financial situation, and food accessibility have an impact on people’s food choices. In realising this, they found Amartya Sen’s (1979, 1985) capabilities approach useful, which moves beyond food entitlements. More specifically, a health capabilities approach as introduced by Venkatapuram (2007, 2011) and the association made between health and capabilities by others (e.g. Ruger Yale Joural Law Humanities 18 (2): 3, 2003) views health as the combination of the influence of socio-economic structures, as well as personal agency resulting in choices. The authors present the main learnings from viewing Foodways and Futures through the ‘capabilities lens’ and thus view food choices as the combination of the complex interrelations between socio-economic structures and agency

Exploring the lives of vulnerable young people in relation to their food choices and practices.

The interdisciplinary Foodways and Futures project (2013-2016) is based on a pilot study, which found no improvement in the nutritional state of formerly homeless young people (16-25), now in supported accommodation at a charitable youth organization. Because a healthy food intake during adolescence is important and because young people with lower socioeconomic backgrounds face difficulties in maintaining a healthy diet (Beasley at al., 2005), we investigated how the young people themselves experience their relationship to food. In this paper, we explore links between life experiences - both before and during residence with the charitable organization - and choices and practices when eating. The study illustrates the ways in which those choices and practices may appear nutritionally undesirable, but are nevertheless linked to the search of those young people for ontological security and social connectedness in their new living environment. In this, we draw on and extend Schlossberg's (1981) transition theory, in order to better understand the rationales underlying an individual's food choices

Comments on the D-instanton calculus in (p,p+1) minimal string theory

The FZZT and ZZ branes in (p,p+1) minimal string theory are studied in terms of continuum loop equations. We show that systems in the presence of ZZ branes (D-instantons) can be easily investigated within the framework of the continuum string field theory developed by Yahikozawa and one of the present authors (hep-th/9609210). We explicitly calculate the partition function of a single ZZ brane for arbitrary p. We also show that the annulus amplitudes of ZZ branes are correctly reproduced.Comment: 21 pages, 1 figure, final versio

Crosscap states in N=2 Liouville theory

We construct crosscap states in the N = 2 Liouville theory from the modular bootstrap method. We verify our results by comparing it with the calculation from the minisuperspace approximation and by checking the consistency with the conformal bootstrap equation. Various overlaps with other known branes are studied. We further discuss the topological nature of the discrete terms in the crosscap wavefunction and their connection with the Landau-Ginzburg approach in a nontrivial dilaton background. We find that it can be mapped to the Landau-Ginzburg theory with a negative power superpotential by a simple change of variables, extending the known duality to the open string sector. Possible applications to the two-dimensional noncritical string theories and supersymmetric orientifolds in the higher dimension are also discussed.Comment: 35pages, v2:references added, typos corrected, v3:consistency check with the conformal bootstrap is added, v4:typos corrected published version in NP

Open/closed duality for FZZT branes in c=1

We describe how the matrix integral of Imbimbo and Mukhi arises from a limit of the FZZT partition function in the double-scaled c=1 matrix model. We show a similar result for 0A and comment on subtleties in 0B.Comment: 26 pages, 2 figure