alternative food network politics in Fife, Scotland
My masters research at the University of Edinburgh was based on a series of interviews with individuals and organizations involved in alternative food network activities in Fife, Scotland. The aim was to explore the role that localism plays in alternative food politics, and to examine how the ‘local’ is constructed as a space in which alternatives to the mainstream food system can be enacted successfully.
The research built on existing alternative food networks literature in human geography, rural sociology and agri-food studies, and engaged with calls for a more reflexive local food politics, in light of the potential for local food activism to exhibit defensive, exclusive or parochial tendencies.
The final dissertation also addressed theoretical debates in human geography around the construction of scale and the progressive or regressive nature of place-bound social movements. Drawing on the experiences of local food activists in Fife, I explored recent debate around the use of scale as a category of analysis or as a category of practice, and argued against simplistic readings of a politics of place as progressive or regressive. You can read a more detailed description of the results at the research project website. You can also look at the following resources:
- University of Edinburgh Masters Dissertation Abstract [expand][collapse]
Research examining alternative food networks has highlighted the importance of localism as a political strategy in the construction of alternatives to conventional food systems. Critical readings have argued that alternative food network localism represents a politics of place that is unreflexive or defensive. This dissertation draws on case study research with those involved with alternative food politics in Fife, Scotland, and seeks to explore the role that localism plays as a political strategy. This dissertation also looks critically at the ways in which scale is mobilized as an analytical category and argues for an approach to scalar politics that treats scale as a category of practice. Through the analysis of qualitative interview data from a range of groups involved in alternative food network activities in Fife, this dissertation examines the processes through which the ‘local’ is constructed as a reified entity that is associated with certain normative attributes and values. This process of construction is read as taking place through the practices and representations of the ‘local’ enacted by those involved. It is argued that despite the presence of some of the uncritical or unreflexive assumptions described by critiques of alternative food network localism, such constructions of the ‘local’ also play a positive role in building new social relations between actors and organizations. The development of new ‘local’ social relations indicates a trend towards greater inclusivity in the emergent alternative food network in Fife. These findings are then used to reflect upon questions about the politically progressive or regressive nature of place-based politics, and to suggest that such a distinction risks imposing scalar categories of analysis that mask the complexity of the politics of place.
- Presentation of research design to School of GeoScience Postgraduate Conference, 2008 [expand][collapse]
These are the slides for the presentation of the research project that I gave to a meeting of the Scottish Colloquium on Food and Feeding (SCOFF) in December 2008.
Slide object animation isn’t supported by Slideshare, so sorry if elements overlap!
- Presentation of completed research to the Scottish Colloquium on Food and Feeding [expand][collapse]
These are the slides for the presentation of the research project that I gave to a meeting of the Scottish Colloquium on Food and Feeding (SCOFF) in December 2008.
Slide object animation isn’t supported by Slideshare, so sorry if elements overlap!
