Civic Engagement and Diplomacy
This chapter explores table talk as an avenue for civic engagement and diplomacy. It begins with a discussion of how food can foster community building, citing as an example the restaurant as an inclusive community-gathering place. It then considers civic engagement among adolescents, focusing on the important roles played by associations and schools in the civic development of young people. It also looks at political voice, and especially who frames political discussions; the issue of civility among public officials; gender differences in the conversational dynamics among state legislators; national calls for greater civility and conversations about important topics; and civility among U.S. congresswomen. The chapter concludes with an analysis of diplomacy in the State Department's culinary diplomacy program and the barbecue diplomacy of presidents Lyndon B. Johnson and George W. Bush.