Solidarities in Sharing (Un)wanted Food: From Banks to Wastes

0576232 - EÚ 2024 eng A - Abstract
Sosna, Daniel - Jehlička, Petr
Solidarities in Sharing (Un)wanted Food: From Banks to Wastes.
[CASA Biennial Conference 2023 /7./. Praha, 06.10.2023-08.10.2023]
Method of presentation: Přednáška
Event organizer: Czech Association for Social Anthropology
URL events: http://www.casaonline.cz/?p=3826 
Institutional support: RVO:68378076
Keywords : food waste * solidarity * Bourdieu
OECD category: 6.5 Other Humanities and the Arts

In this paper we argue that understanding solidarity benefits from a critical immersion below the surface of its overt appearances. Inspired by Pierre Bourdieu’s rethinking of gift giving, we analyze the logic of obligations, the effects of temporality, and the role of collectively approved and maintained self-deception concerning solidarity. Our paper analyzes two cases of solidarity associated with food. The first one focuses on food redistribution facilitated by food banks. These institutions promote solidarity via collections and donations of food from a diversity of sources, including individuals, charities, and supermarkets. These acts of solidarity are not isolated but situated in a sequence of exchanges and obligations that last and solidify the social relations. This solidification effect, however, relates primarily to the system of food overproduction and unequal distribution. The second case focuses on solidarities enacted during multispecies encounters with food waste at landfills. Landfill workers put aside food scraps for feral cats and ravens as acts of solidarity. Ravens extend the foodway by transporting waste beyond the landfill to make it available to other creatures. What might be seen as solidarity, however, reinforces hierarchies among forms of life, creates dependencies, and may even result in the killing when animals attracted by food fall prey to hunters. By juxtaposing these two cases, our critical interrogation reveals that solidarity may strengthen certain social relations without reaching its well-intended goal of promoting equality and well-being. In fact, acts of solidarity may bring unintended consequences or mask the need to keep the status quo.
Permanent Link: https://hdl.handle.net/11104/0346189