The Routledge International Handbook of the Sociologies of Food and Drink

1. Introduction

Anne Murcott & Mari Niva

Part One: Established theoretical and conceptual approaches in the sociologies of food

2. The sociology of food communities

Kaitland M. Byrd & Gary Alan Fine

3. A sociology of tasting

Giolo Fele

4. Nationalism in gastronomy and cuisine  

Jukka Gronow

5. Food as a normative issue in everyday life: the contribution of symbolic interactionism

Bente Halkier

6. Established foundations and new directions for an Eliasian sociology of food

John Lever

7. The uneasy companionships of kitchen life: kitchen hygiene practices

Eivind Jacobsen and Silje Elisabeth Skuland

8. Sustainable eating and power: the regulation of meat eating

Unni Kjærnes

9. Food governmentality: considering power in food systems

Stefan Wahlen and Marie Plessz

10. Dining out: practices, processes and theories

Alan Warde

Part Two: Novel theoretical and conceptual developments in the sociologies of food and drink

11. Farming, food and critical family history: a method for revealing invisible histories in the global food system 

Hugh Campbell

12. The mediation of packaging and the 4 Ts of product (e)valuation: tasting, testing, teasing, teaching

Franck Cochoy

13. Turning wine into sociology: outlines of the field of oeno-sociology

David Inglis

14. Feminist STS and MTH thinking as theoretical resource for understanding chicken and care in the food system

Lydia Martens and Mike Foden 

15. The contribution of the French “sociology of eaters”

Jean Pierre Poulain

16. ‘Where the magic happens’: the immense sociological significance of a shared lunchtime meal, as a tool for developing sociability amongst criminal justice affected people

Julie Parsons

17. Raising a glass to the sociology of drinking: alcohol, embodiment and the everyday

Thomas Thurnell-Read

18. The promissory narratives of alternative proteins

Mónica Truninger

Biography

Anne Murcott is Honorary Professorial Research Fellow at SOAS University of London, Honorary Professor at the University of Nottingham, in addition to Professor Emerita of Sociology at London South Bank University. Her most recent book is The (Not So) Secret Life of Food Packaging (2024).

Mari Niva is Professor of Consumer Studies in the Department of Economics and Management at the University of Helsinki and leader of the Consumer Studies Research Group therein. Her field of expertise is the study of social practices and cultural aspects of consumption, particularly food and eating.

'This handbook is a momentous contribution to a dispersed field. Like a thoughtfully curated menu, the chapters – authored by leading and emerging sociologists of food – are rich, shrewd, and highly complementary'.

Michaela DeSoucey, Associate Professor of Sociology, North Carolina State University, USA

'Written by renowned international sociological researchers and foregrounding sociological conceptual and theoretical inspiration for each of the broad range of topics covered, this handbook takes the sociological discipline as its prime orientation. The book will be essential reading for academics and students interested in sociological research of food and drink'.

Lotte Holm, Professor of Sociology of Food, University of Copenhagen, Denmark

'A terrific collection of essays on what and how sociologists think about food, drink and eating, governance, sustainability and more. Added to that is coverage of what sociologists mean by theorizing or posing a researchable question'.

Krishnendu Ray, Professor of Nutrition and Food Studies, New York University, USA

'This is an excellent handbook that provides an overview of sociological thinking about food, eating and drinking. It offers a theoretical revisit of the field, outlining the most significant analytical approaches and research topics. An important read for academics and students interested in the subject'.

Zofia Boni, Associate Professor of Anthropology, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Poland