Introduction

Abstract

In a twenty first century neo-liberal era, everyday foodways are a powerful means of drawing boundaries between social groups, distinguishing the ‘self’ from the ‘other’, defining who we are and where we belong. Throughout this book I draw upon data and analysis of 75 auto/biographical food narratives that formed the basis of my doctoral study: ‘Ourfoodstories@e-mail.com; an auto/biographical study of relationships with food’. My research leads me to argue that everyday foodways enable individuals to present themselves as responsible neo-liberal citizens, so that eating healthily for example demonstrates an engagement with public and medical discourses that positions the self as responsible for her or his own health and well-being (responsible individualism). In this book, I emphasise the power of everyday foodways in maintaining and reinforcing social divisions along the lines of gender and class. Indeed, everyday foodways have become a potent means of ‘doing gender’ (West and Zimmerman 1987) and performing a middle class habitus (Bourdieu 1984).