This dissertation is based around a comparative ethnographic study of two geographical indication (GI) regimes--which protect place-based products under what is generally accepted to be the framework of intellectual property law-- the appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) system for wine regulation in Bordeaux and the Protected Food Names (PFN) system which protects artesan foods in the UK. Conceptually, the project considers the social construction of meaning in GIs, particularly in regard to the differences between legal/policy debates around protection and the ways in which producers and other actors engage with protected products in more sociocultural ways (especially in terms of policing of existing cultural norms or cultural heritage motivations). The project also explores the ways in which new networks of connection and belonging are being constructed out of legal status or the quest to receive it
