
Anna-Lisa Linden
Professor emerita

The workplace lunchroom: an arena for multicultural eating
Författare
Summary, in English
Almost every inhabitant in the age range 20-65 years spends a number of years in workplaces outside the home. Workplaces are generally melting pots for employees of all ages and ethnic groups. In this study, a bus company lunch room served as a field for studying preferences in food, meals structure and eating patterns during lunch breaks. The city centre lunch room was visited by every driver at least once during their working day for coffee/tea, lunch or a rest. The lunch room served as an arena for discussions and exposure to new foods customs relating to meals and eating. It thus constituted a place for cultural exchange about food preferences and for forming opinions about individuals and nationalities, including Swedes. The methods for gathering empirical material for the analysis were participant observations and semi-structured interviews.
Food consumption can be recognised as a marker of class and status in the same way as consumption of leisure activities and clothing. Some new criteria in identifying members of we-groups in relation to others can be added to the classical criteria. When language fails in communication, visible signs become more important. A workplace lunch room is a clear arena for attitude formation. Attitudes may be conservative or stereotyped but sometimes evoke the curiosity to eat something different. In a multi-cultural arena such as a workplace lunch room the knowledge available about food, meals and preferences is sometimes far from the real truth, especially when visible impressions are not followed by verbal communication, which can sometimes lead to incomplete and narrow-minded conclusions.
Avdelning/ar
- Sociologi
- Sociologiska institutionen
Publiceringsår
2009
Språk
Engelska
Sidor
42-48
Publikation/Tidskrift/Serie
International Journal of Consumer Studies
Volym
33
Länkar
Dokumenttyp
Artikel i tidskrift
Förlag
Wiley-Blackwell
Ämne
- Sociology (excluding Social Work, Social Psychology and Social Anthropology)
Nyckelord
- ethnicity
- lunch room
- participant observation
- identity
- food consumption
- sociology
- sociologi
Aktiv
Published
ISBN/ISSN/Övrigt
- ISSN: 1470-6431