Ways of Knowing Food: Perceptions, Participation, and Process. Oslo Kooperativet, Norway

Abstract

Alternative food networks (AFNs), in their myriad forms, have the potential to challenge the destructive tendencies of the globalized food system, affecting how food is produced, distributed and consumed and the logics these processes are based on. The form AFNs take and goals they seek to achieve are shaped by the context in which they are developed, not the least by the people who participate in them. The following thesis explores an AFN; a member-owned and operated food cooperative (Oslo Kooperativet) in Oslo, Norway. It looks at the principles that guide its overall trajectory, the processes that enable its operation, and the reciprocal relationship between the members’ perceptions and the form and function of the organization. I analyze the Cooperative’s principles and processes using “orders of worth” as developed by Boltanski and Thévenot (1999). I then explore the members’ perceptions, of both the organization and the goods it provides, using the same framework. In so doing, I find that there is variation in the extent to which certain “orders of worth” are important among members. Those who are most involved in the Cooperative seem to have internalized and operationalized the values embedded in the principles of the organization. Ongoing participation in the processes of the Cooperative embeds new logics, based on consideration for the environment and others, more deeply into day-to-day practices. This has an impact on the way members’ perceive food and themselves within the food system. While participation in the organization shapes member perceptions of food, members’ perceptions and expectations shape the form and function of the organization. I explore this reciprocal relationship. The thesis is interdisciplinary in nature as it draws theoretically from sociology and economic theory while being methodologically based in social anthropology.