The invisibles rules of food in modern western societies
LE3 .A278 2011
2011
Horgan, Mervyn
Acadia University
Bachelor of Arts
Honours
Sociology
Eating is a common activity that the majority of western people do on a regular basis. However, because most western people approach food repetitively, eating behaviours seem to be taken for granted and, in consequence, tend to be robotic. The thesis presents how eating is more than just a physical activity. Food is culturally coded and comes to have meanings beyond its actual physical substance. Eating is also a repeated daily practice that brings people together but that also socializes western people. Eating is therefore a social activity that has been structured and that sometimes reveals social inequalities in modern western society. Individuals tend to follow what I call „the invisibles rules‟ around the proverbial western table. The thesis then examines how food creates and maintains social inequalities by looking at many of the differences and distinctions we find at a societal level in the everyday experiences of eating. Overall, this thesis demonstrates how food speaks the words of what our modern society is about.
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https://scholar.acadiau.ca/islandora/object/theses:810
