Overview

This handbook presents a novel approach to updated, authoritative accounts of research on the sociologies of food and drink. Foregrounding the discipline of sociology in its various forms, it presents a range of theoretical approaches – including theories of practice, figurational sociology, symbolic interactionism, Conversation Analysis as well as inspiration derived from Science and Technology Studies. It emphasises the improved analyses that properly theorised and identifiably sociological perspectives can contribute to our understanding of activities associated with food and drink and their socio-cultural contexts. The book opens with a chapter which both introduces newcomers to the scope of the field and establishes the rationale for the book’s focus. The subsequent chapters provide comprehensive expositions of major contributions, intellectual turning points, and ruptures or disciplinary breakthroughs as well as emerging directions for future study. Thus, The Routledge International Handbook of the Sociologies of Food and Drink provides an essential overview of a variety of established theoretical approaches as well as more recent conceptual developments. It will appeal to scholars, researchers, and students of sociology with interests in culture, consumption, and social theory, as well as food and drink.

Full Product Details

Author:   Anne Murcott ,  Mari Niva (University of Helsinki, Finland)
Publisher:   Taylor & Francis Ltd
Imprint:   Routledge
Weight:   0.740kg
ISBN:  

9781032725178

ISBN 10:   1032725176
Pages:   298
Publication Date:   29 May 2026
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Tertiary & Higher Education
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand  
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Table of Contents

1. Introduction Part One: Established theoretical and conceptual approaches in the sociologies of food 2. The sociology of food communities 3. A sociology of tasting 4. Nationalism in gastronomy and cuisine 5. Food as a normative issue in everyday life: the contribution of symbolic SI interactionism 6. Established foundations and new directions for an Eliasian sociology of food 7. The uneasy companionships of kitchen life: kitchen hygiene practices 8. Sustainable eating and power: the regulation of meat eating 9. Food governmentality: considering power in food systems 10. Dining out: practices, processes and theories 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 12. The mediation of packaging and the 4 Ts of product (e)valuation: tasting, testing, teasing, teaching 13. Turning wine into sociology: outlines of the field of oeno-sociology 14. Feminist STS and MTH thinking as theoretical resource for understanding chicken and care in the food system 15. The contribution of the French “sociology of eaters” 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 17. Raising a glass to the sociology of drinking: alcohol, embodiment and the everyday 18. The promissory narratives of alternative proteins

Reviews

'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. '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. '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, Nutrition and Food Studies, New York University '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 Poznan

'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

Author Information

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.

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