Food Co-Ops in Austerity Britain Negotiating Politics, Aid and Care in Changing Times
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Food Co-ops in Austerity Britain Negotiating politics, aid and care in changing times Submitted by Celia Plender to the University of Exeter as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Sociology July 2019 This thesis is available for Library use on the understanding that it is copyright material and that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement. I certify that all material in this thesis which is not my own work has been identified and that any material that has previously been submitted and approved for the award of a degree by this or any other University has been acknowledged. 1 Abstract This thesis is concerned with experiences of social, political and economic change in Britain. In an era of fluctuating food prices, precarious subjectivities and environmental concerns, everyday issues such as food (a basic human need and right) become significant sites through which to offer a grounded perspective on how everyday citizens configure their social and financial worlds in relation to these changes. By focussing on two grassroots, retail food co- ops in London which were born of different eras, this thesis explores the ways in which each food co-op negotiates different visions and values relating to food-based politics, models of aids, practices of care and community building. Within this context, contradictory visions and practices can become intertwined – some more closely aligned with the co-operative ideal of mutual aid, others with less egalitarian models of charitable giving, or individualised practices and values of politics, aid and care. While this country has been going through processes of reform (often characterised as neoliberal reform) since the 1970s, the financial crisis of 2008 and resultant period of austerity had a significant impact on the nature of politics, the economy and the lives of everyday citizens in Britain. These political economic shifts have done much to inform and adjust the ideals, practices and structures of these two food co-ops. The social histories presented here, therefore, help to contextualise how each food co-op has been structured and informed by the social worlds around them; how their foundations were moulded by a particular moment in time; and, how they sit within the present, at times a little uncomfortably. This social, cultural, political economic and historical context is, therefore, fundamental to how food co-ops operate, and how they operationalise the basic principles of co-operativism. 2 Contents Abstract ......................................................................................................... 2 Acknowledgements ....................................................................................... 6 List of Illustrations ........................................................................................................................... 7 Introduction ................................................................................................... 8 The co-operative imaginary ............................................................................................................ 8 Fareshares and St Hilda’s East ...................................................................................................... 15 Section one – The co-operative ............................................................................................... 18 Searching for utopia? .................................................................................................................... 18 A brief history of food co-ops ....................................................................................................... 22 Section two – Politics, aid and care ......................................................................................... 30 Changing politics, changing food .................................................................................................. 30 Theories of care and models of aid ............................................................................................... 35 Section three – Context and methods ..................................................................................... 39 Personal anthropology and methodological approach ................................................................ 39 The sites ........................................................................................................................................ 44 The routine .................................................................................................................................... 48 Organisation of the thesis ............................................................................................................. 50 Part one – Experiences of change ................................................................. 53 Do They Owe Us A Living? ............................................................................................................. 53 Chapter one - Politics, change and shifting temporalities ......................................................... 55 Fareshares ..................................................................................................................................... 55 St Hilda’s East ................................................................................................................................ 67 Ruptures ................................................................................................................................ 77 Shifting temporalities ............................................................................................................. 83 Changing landscapes ..................................................................................................................... 83 Changing times and changing values ............................................................................................ 89 Conclusions ................................................................................................................................... 95 Part two – Citizenship, aid and discourses of deservingness ......................... 97 Chapter two – Perceptions of poverty and welfare entitlement ............................................... 97 Placing the East End and St Hilda’s East........................................................................................ 97 Perceptions of poverty, charity and co-operation ...................................................................... 101 3 Changing entitlement and the foundation of the Boundary Estate ........................................... 105 The implementation of the welfare state ................................................................................... 108 ‘Skivers’ and ‘strivers’ ................................................................................................................. 113 Experiences of austerity .............................................................................................................. 120 Conclusions ................................................................................................................................. 124 Chapter three – Volunteerism, austerity and aid ................................................................... 127 Food and poverty ........................................................................................................................ 127 The rise of volunteerism ............................................................................................................. 133 Volunteering at Fareshares and St Hilda’s .................................................................................. 136 Food poverty and food surplus ................................................................................................... 140 Models of mutual aid .................................................................................................................. 143 The value of gifts and surplus food ............................................................................................. 153 Conclusions ................................................................................................................................. 162 Part three – Building community, negotiating structure ............................. 164 Chapter four – Changing places, changing communities ......................................................... 164 Sharing food, things, space ......................................................................................................... 164 Crisis and ‘regeneration’ ............................................................................................................. 169 Waves of migration ..................................................................................................................... 176 Inclusion and exclusion ............................................................................................................... 185 Community and conviviality ........................................................................................................ 189 Maintaining diversity .................................................................................................................. 191 The ‘right’ kind of customers ...................................................................................................... 195 Conclusions ................................................................................................................................