The changing meaning of millets: Organic shops and distinctive consumption practices in Bengaluru, India

2020 ◽  
pp. 146954052090250 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mirka Erler ◽  
Markus Keck ◽  
Christoph Dittrich
Keyword(s):  
Middle Class ◽  
Practice Theory ◽  
Consumption Patterns ◽  
Social Classes ◽  
Symbolic Boundaries ◽  
Future Health ◽  
Organic Foods ◽  
Consumption Practices

The number of organic shops in Bengaluru has increased remarkably in the last few years, with millets being the main products drawing consumers. Yet, organic shops are only attracting middle-class consumers. We observed and interviewed 104 customers in five organic shops in Bengaluru to find out why this is the case. In this article, we follow practice theory to discuss the reported consumption patterns. We show that consumers, influenced by commercials and the advice of medical and nutritional professionals, legitimize their consumption of organic foods as an investment in their future health. We show that the customers of organic shops legitimize their consumption practice with affective engagements; thereby, performing symbolic boundaries that distinguish them from other social classes. This distinction manifests itself in the consumption of millets, which contributes to the change of the meaning of this food from a life-sustaining staple to a lifestyle superfood. In this article, we take a critical look at the role of organic retailers and how they reproduce class-based consumption practices in India.

The Effects of Social Class on the Uptake of Orthodontic Treatment

1989 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 107-111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pamela Kenealy ◽  
Neil Frude ◽  
William Shaw
Keyword(s):  
Cohort Study ◽  
Social Class ◽  
Middle Class ◽  
Dental Care ◽  
Orthodontic Treatment ◽  
Social Classes ◽  
Dental Services ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Middle Class People

The relationship between social class and uptake of orthodontic treatment was investigated in a longitudinal cohort study of 1018 children living in South Glamorgan, Wales. Previous studies have shown that working class people make less use of dental services and receive inferior dental care than middle class people. The present investigation examined the role of one factor which appears likely to contribute to this effect: namely, the uptake of orthodontic treatment by families from different social classes. If a significant association were shown then findings relating to the effectiveness of orthodontic treatment might be confounded by this social class factor.

Cultural boundaries and transnational consumption patterns

2019 ◽  
pp. 87-114
Author(s):  
Laurie Hanquinet ◽  
Mike Savage
Keyword(s):  
Everyday Life ◽  
Social Space ◽  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Demographic Characteristics ◽  
Consumption Patterns ◽  
Symbolic Boundaries ◽  
Geographic Boundaries ◽  
Cultural Field ◽  
Cultural Boundaries

We still know little about how Europeans differentiate each other in terms of cultural tastes and practices and how the latter relate to mobility practices and socio-demographic characteristics. We explore two areas of tastes (music and food) and investigate the role of concrete or symbolic geographic boundaries in people’s tastes. We assess whether there is a European cultural field that works with its own specific rules and tensions. The main cultural divisions and affinities between countries are discussed in light of debates about tensions between openness versus localness, highbrow versus lowbrow, and old versus young cultures. Cultural practices are seen as especially important in the Europeanisation of everyday life as they reflect cultural but also symbolic boundaries that cross the European social space.

Chapter 8 - Sweet commercial drink adoption by urban Chinese middle-class people – Between social control and new beverage consumption contexts

2020 ◽  
pp. 97-106
Author(s):  
Jingjing Ma
Keyword(s):  
Chinese Medicine ◽  
Traditional Chinese Medicine ◽  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Middle Class ◽  
Consumption Patterns ◽  
Consumption Practices ◽  
Commercial Sugar ◽  
Industrial Modernity ◽  
Boiled Water ◽  
Middle Class People

This chapter focuses on the consumption practices of Chinese urban middle-class people regarding sweet commercial drinks. A qualitative study conducted between 2014 and 2016 revealed that bland boiled water is considered relatively healthy but is not evocative of conviviality, in contrast to commercial beverages and sugar which are considered more unhealthy, but associated with pleasure and conviviality. This ambivalence appears in the representations of sweet commercial drinks, especially around the symbol of balance between traditional Chinese medicine and dietetics and industrial modernity. This chapter addresses the new social and family tensions that have emerged regarding beverage and sugar management. It highlights the settings in which commercial sugar-containing beverages have been embedded in the consumption patterns of middle-class city dwellers in China.

Exploring the Role of Taste in Middle-Class Household Practices

2018 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 304-329 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marlyne Sahakian ◽  
Czarina Saloma ◽  
Sunayana Ganguly
Keyword(s):  
Middle Class ◽  
Food Consumption ◽  
Food Packaging ◽  
Comparative Case Study ◽  
Taste Preferences ◽  
Metro Manila ◽  
Consumption Practices ◽  
Eating Out

Abstract Food consumption patterns and practices are undergoing changes in the mega-cities of South and Southeast Asia. Based on a qualitative, comparative case study, this article examines food consumption practices among middle-class households in Bangalore and Metro Manila. We demonstrate how taste preferences, shaped by and shaping food consumption practices, directly relate to increases in meat consumption, food packaging and household food waste—all areas of environmental significance. Taste preferences, which evolved over time, are explained through three inter-related dimensions: (a) the competencies involved in preparing food or eating out; (b) the material dimension of consumption, or products available in sites of food consumption; and (c) the different meanings attached to what makes for a tasty meal. The differences and similarities in food consumption practices between each research site provide insights into how food consumption practices might shift towards more sustainable pathways in Bangalore and Metro Manila, and in similar settings.

scholarly journals Class Formation and Consumption among Middle-Class Professionals in Shenzhen

2011 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 187-211 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacqueline Elfick
Keyword(s):  
Middle Class ◽  
Urban Population ◽  
Class Identity ◽  
Daily Lives ◽  
Consumption Practices ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Depth Interviews ◽  
Large Sections ◽  
Urban Professionals

This paper explores the role of consumption in defining Chinese middle-class identity by examining the consumption practices of urban professionals. It is widely agreed that China has a thriving middle class. The exact definition of this middle class, however, is disputed by scholars and the Chinese popular press. Debates about class are also manifest in the daily lives of urban professionals. One of the most interesting areas in which identity is contested is that of consumption. The research is based on 60 in-depth interviews among professionals conducted in Shenzhen in the period 2004–2010. New wealth means that the myriad of goods on offer is accessible to large sections of the urban population. Professionals have become keen and selective shoppers. Many describe their consumption practices as informed by their own highly individualistic taste. This paper argues that professional consumption practices sometimes express individual taste but, more importantly, serve to articulate a collective social identity.

scholarly journals The suit maketh the man: Masculinity and social class inKingsman: The Secret Service(Vaughn, 2014)

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 359-376 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashley Morgan
Keyword(s):  
Popular Culture ◽  
Social Class ◽  
Middle Class ◽  
Hegemonic Masculinity ◽  
The Body ◽  
Social Classes ◽  
Secret Service ◽  
Lower Social Class ◽  
The Way

This article outlines the ways in which suits are synonymous with masculinity examining the, sometimes paradoxical, nature of suits worn by men of all social classes, and for different reasons. For example, hegemonic men wear suits in a bid to convey power, arguably, by rendering the wearers uniform in appearance so that the focus is on what hegemonic men might say and do, rather than how they might look. Moreover, the uniformity of suits is a means by which men of a lower social class demonstrate aspiration to a higher social class and might affect hegemonic power through wearing them. While much has been written about masculinity and suits, with many authors agreeing that the bespoke suit is at the pinnacle of the hierarchy of men’s clothing, yet there is a little attention paid to the way in which the bespoke suit is represented in media or popular culture. This article examines the role of clothing of the main characters in the filmKingsman: The Secret Service(2014) with a particular focus on the contribution that the bespoke suit makes to the masculinity of the bodies of the individuals within the film. Principally, the bespoke suit elevates the body of the wearer from quotidian to tailored, the fitting of which allows for better representation of a man’s body. It will explore representation of middle-class masculinity, hegemony and embodiment in the film, addressing the idea of whether wearing a bespoke suit can help a man transcend the boundaries of ‘chav’ masculinity, which is depicted as male subordination, and rise into middle-class hegemonic masculinity through the character of Gary ‘Eggsy’ Unwin (Taron Egerton).

scholarly journals The Divisive Power of Humour: Comedy, Taste and Symbolic Boundaries

2013 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 179-195 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sam Friedman ◽  
Giselinde Kuipers
Keyword(s):  
Middle Class ◽  
Everyday Life ◽  
Interview Data ◽  
Social Classes ◽  
Symbolic Boundaries ◽  
Cultural Consumption ◽  
Contemporary Culture ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
Strong Relation ◽  
Specific Position

Using British and Dutch interview data, this article demonstrates how people from different social classes draw strong symbolic boundaries on the basis of comedy taste. Eschewing the omnivorousness described in recent studies of cultural consumption, comedy audiences make negative aesthetic and moral judgements on the basis of comedy taste, and often make harsh judgements without the disclaimers, apologies and ambivalence so typical of ‘taste talk’ in contemporary culture. The article demonstrates how, in particular, Dutch and British middle class audiences use their comedy taste to communicate distinction and cultural superiority. We discuss several reasons why such processes of social distancing exist in comedy taste and not other cultural areas: the traditionally low status of comedy; the strong relation between humour and personhood; the continuity between comedy tastes and humour styles in everyday life; as well as the specific position of comedy in the British and Dutch cultural fields.

Nimíciwinán, nipimátisiwinán – “Our food is our way of life”: On-Reserve First Nation perspectives on community food security and sovereignty through oral history in Fisher River Cree Nation, Manitoba

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 73-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shailesh Shukla ◽  
Jazmin Alfaro ◽  
Carol Cochrane ◽  
Cindy Garson ◽  
Gerald Mason ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
Oral History ◽  
Cultural Values ◽  
Food Sovereignty ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Community Food Security ◽  
Consumption Practices ◽  
Indigenous Foods ◽  
Oral History Interviews

Food insecurity in Indigenous communities in Canada continue to gain increasing attention among scholars, community practitioners, and policy makers. Meanwhile, the role and importance of Indigenous foods, associated knowledges, and perspectives of Indigenous peoples (Council of Canadian Academies, 2014) that highlight community voices in food security still remain under-represented and under-studied in this discourse. University of Winnipeg (UW) researchers and Fisher River Cree Nation (FRCN) representatives began an action research partnership to explore Indigenous knowledges associated with food cultivation, production, and consumption practices within the community since 2012. The participatory, place-based, and collaborative case study involved 17 oral history interviews with knowledge keepers of FRCN. The goal was to understand their perspectives of and challenges to community food security, and to explore the potential role of Indigenous food knowledges in meeting community food security needs. In particular, the role of land-based Indigenous foods in meeting community food security through restoration of health, cultural values, identity, and self-determination were emphasized by the knowledge keepers—a vision that supports Indigenous food sovereignty. The restorative potential of Indigenous food sovereignty in empowering individuals and communities is well-acknowledged. It can nurture sacred relationships and actions to renew and strengthen relationships to the community’s own Indigenous land-based foods, previously weakened by colonialism, globalization, and neoliberal policies.

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