Institut D'etudes Politiques De Paris
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Institut d'études politiques de Paris & Northwestern University ECOLE DOCTORALE DE SCIENCES PO & THE GRADUATE SCHOOL AT NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY Programme doctoral de sociologie Observatoire sociologique du changement & Department of Sociology Doctorat en Sociologie & Ph.D. in Sociology Food in the Lives of Paris and Chicago Residents Coline Ferrant Dissertation chaired by Professor Marco Oberti and Professor Gary Fine defended on December 17th, 2020 Jury : Ms. Talja Blokland, Professor, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (reviewer) Mr. Philippe Cardon, Maître de conférences (HDR), Université de Lille (reviewer) Mr. Gary Fine, James E. Johnson Professor of Sociology, Northwestern University Mr. Robert Launay, Professor, Northwestern University Mr. Marco Oberti, Professeur des Universités, Sciences Po Mr. Michael Rodríguez-Muñiz, Assistant Professor, Northwestern University 2 Acknowledgments Ça y est ! ¡Se acabó! This is it! It has been five years, and it has come to an end. It gives me great pleasure to acknowledge my good fortune. For sure, it has not always been easy. But, all things considered, I learned a lot, and I did dissertate in exceptional conditions. Let me thank those who contributed. First and foremost, informants let a total stranger enter their worlds and houses. They have been generous, humorous, and inspiring. I hope my writing about them does justice to them. Co-chairs Marco Oberti and Gary Alan Fine formed a dream advising team. Marco's passion for international, contextual scholarship is forever an inspiration. His no- nonsense, tell-it-like-it-is advising style was just perfect for me. Gary has been a staunch supporter of my project even when few were, which I will never forget. Both have been kind and demanding, gave me ample freedom, respected my learning, recognized my efforts, and were always there when I needed them. Thank you, as well, to committee members – Michael Rodríguez-Muñiz, Philippe Cardon, Robert Launay, and Talja Blokland – for keenly engaging with my work. I extend a collective salute to the departments that hosted me during my graduate career. Alimentation & Sciences Sociales nurtured me with intellectual camaraderie and dedication to rigorous empirical research on all things food. At Observatoire Sociologique du Changement, I thrived in a culture defined by hard work and practice of academic and 3 linguistic diversity. I have warm feelings about the International Studies Program at Northwestern – an inclusive and unassumingly collegial workplace. Lastly, I used my time at the Department of Sociology to discover American sociology and learn English academic writing. In this regard, I thank the diligent undergraduate staffers at the Writing Place, who edited some tentative pieces of writing in the past. Anne Lhuissier has been a generous mentor for several years. I like her patient approach to the research process and her incredible capacity to include me into pleasurable collective projects. On this note: saludos cariñosos to Claudia Giacoman and Giselle Torres. To many more chorrillanas and co-authored papers. I remain grateful to Willibald Sonnleitner for introducing me to research while I was completing my undergraduate degree at El Colegio de México. Happy times, fond memories. I have blissful thoughts of his confidence and mentorship. Yannick Savina (a.k.a. OSC's GIS Guru) helped access institutional databases and provided cartographic advice, fixing my curious taste for jaune poussin (“chick yellow”) with patience and humor. Marie Ferrant (incidentally, my little sister) designed fine pictograms. Bernard Corminboeuf was always glad to add pieces of Hispanophone cultural writing to my departmental web page. Roughly 15% of interview records were transcribed by others: Guilhem Bertu, Melissa Díaz, Aurélien Froissart, Lillyam González, Frances Ho, Maxime Leplat, Molly Sheridan, Kylie Stover, and Arthur Templé did a great job. In this regard, I acknowledge funding from the French Ministry of Higher Education, Research, and Innovation, the Buffett Institute for Global Affairs, and the 4 Department of Sociology at Northwestern. Students at Northwestern University and Sciences Po warmed me with their pure and unbounded curiosity. They helped maintain a sense of intellectual wonder, tell things in sharper ways, and distinguish what is truly significant from what is not. In particular, I extend much mentorly appreciation to Molly Sheridan for a pleasant and productive collaboration on a project about barriers to participation in the WIC Program, facilitated with funding from Undergraduate Research Assistant Program at Northwestern. Anonymous reviewers greatly contributed to my learning. A version of Chapter 2 is forthcoming at City & Community (“An Agentic Approach to Food Access and Acquisition: The Case of Mixed Neighborhoods in the Paris Metropolis”) and a version of Chapter 3 is being revised and resubmitted at Cities. If I knew you, Reviewer 2, I would invite you to a Breton galette (probably a complète andouille – cheese, egg, pork guts) with brut cider. Alain Besoin, Odile Bouffard, Carine Boutillier, Marie Ferrazzini, Murielle Harris, Julia Harris-Sacony, Bianca Jiménez, Parth Joshi, Sylvie Lesur, Christine Percheski, Linda Remaker, Sylvie Rezard, Ryan Sawicki, Janzoille Sotero, and Christine Tignoux solved bureaucratic mysteries with agreeableness and efficiency. In France, Spain, Mexico, and Chile, family, friends, and comrades kept me grounded with good humor and genuine talk. Their emotional support has been invaluable. In Englewood, Chicago, landlords Annie Wonsey and Charles Ibiang, and many 5 housemates, have welcomed me like an old friend from day one. Oh, and that virus: it delayed my defense, and a dream job as well. But I did transform an article-based manuscript into a monograph (hopefully, it reads better), and the lockdown was exceptionally comfortable (at home, with family, co-authored writing projects, and sweet online teaching gigs). I have been a happy, lucky graduate student. Thank you all. 6 Contents Acknowledgments (p. 3) Contents (p. 7) List of Tables (p. 16) List of Maps (p. 17) List of Pictures (p. 18) Abstract (p. 19) *** Introduction (p. 23) 1. Research Topic (p. 23) 1. 1. Introduction (p. 23) 1. 2. Theoretical Background (p. 25) 1. 3. Historical Backdrop (p. 29) 2. Contextual Analysis (p. 32) 2. 1. Contextualism in the Sociology of Culture (p. 32) 7 2. 1. 1. Context in Action (p. 32) 2. 1. 2. The Social Space of Lifestyles (p. 34) 2. 1. 3. Personal Culture in Context (p. 35) 2. 2. Contextualism in Urban Sociology (p. 40) 2. 2. 1. Context-Boundedness (p. 40) 2. 2. 2. Space-Mindedness (p. 41) 2. 2. 3. Neighborhood Effects (p. 42) 2. 3. Application (p. 44) 2. 3. 1. This Dissertation Is (p. 44) 2. 3. 2. This Dissertation Is Not (p. 46) 3. Contexts (p. 49) 3. 1. France and the United States (p. 49) 3. 2. Paris and Chicago (p. 55) 3. 3. Sites in Paris and Chicago (p. 58) 3. 3. 1. Goutte d’Or (p. 59) 3. 3. 2. Aulnay-Nord (p. 64) 3. 3. 3. Pilsen and Gage Park (p. 66) 4. Data and Methods (p. 68) 4. 1. Ethnographic Methods and Fieldwork Techniques (p. 68) 4. 1. 1. Ethnographic Methods (p. 68) 4. 1. 2. Collected Dataset (p. 72) 4. 1. 3. Techniques of Data Management and Analysis (p. 75) 8 4. 2. Sociodemographic Characteristics of Interviewed Informants (p. 76) 4. 3. Fieldwork Relationships (p. 81) 4. 3. 1. Reception (p. 82) 4. 3. 2. Positionality (p. 84) 5. Outline (p. 101) 5. 1. Topics (p. 101) 5. 2. Questions and Theoretical Backgrounds (p. 102) 5. 3. Findings (p. 103) 5. 4. Analytical Designs (p. 104) *** Chapter 1: Dietary Tastes and Culinary Practices of First- and Second- Generation Immigrants in Paris and Chicago (p. 107) 1. Introduction (p. 107) 1. 1. The Immigrant Nutritional Paradox (p. 107) 1. 2. The Reinvention of Food Traditions (p. 109) 1. 3. The Deromanticization of Culinary Authenticity (p. 111) 1. 4. Centering on First- and Second-Generation Immigrants as Creative Agents (p. 113) 9 2. Consuming Fresh Produce (p. 115) 2. 1. Taste (p. 115) 2. 1. 1. Defining Fresh Produce (p. 115) 2. 1. 2. Emic Fresh Produce, Etic Organic Standards (p. 117) 2. 2. Distastes (p. 118) 2. 2. 1. Canned and Frozen Foods (p. 118) 2. 2. 2. Processed Foods (p. 122) 2. 2. 3. Commercially Prepared Foods (p. 124) 2. 3. Benefits (p. 130) 2. 3. 1. Flavor (p. 130) 2. 3. 2. Health (p. 131) 2. 3. 3. Strength (p. 139) 2. 3. 4. Discipline (p. 143) 2. 4. Identification (p. 145) 2. 4. 1. Visual Skills (p. 145) 2. 4. 2. Emotional Skills (p. 146) 2. 4. 3. Tradition and Life Experience (p. 148) 3. Cooking Simply (p. 152) 3. 1. Culinary Techniques (p. 152) 3. 1. 1. Batch Cooking (p. 152) 3. 1. 2. Batch Acquiring (p. 155) 3. 1. 3. Produce Substitution (p. 161) 3. 2. Problem-Solving Accommodations (p. 167) 10 3. 2. 1. Time Constraints (p. 167) 3. 2. 2. Space Constraints (p. 171) 3. 3. The Meaningfulness of Simplicity (p. 173) 3. 3. 1. An Enjoyable Activity (p. 173) 3. 3. 2. A Reflection of Good Character (p. 175) 3. 4. Men “Can Cook Simple Things” (p. 177) 4. Appreciating Culinary Commonalities and Singularities (p. 182) 4. 1. French and American Cuisines: Global Mainstream Food (p. 183) 4. 2. The Cuisine of Origin Regions and Countries: Universalized Here, Globalized There (p. 188) 4. 3. The Cuisines of Fellow Immigrant Groups: Observation and Appreciation (p. 196) 4. 3. 1. Common Produce, Singular Culinary Techniques (p. 196) 4. 3. 2. Acquisition Practices (p. 200) 4. 3. 3. Gift-Giving Practices (p. 203) 4. 3. 4. Eating Out Practices (p. 209) 5. Discussion and Conclusion (p. 212) 5. 1. The Recraft of the Judgement of the Good Quotidian Diet (p. 212) 5. 2. Immigrants' Environmental Values, Knowledge, and Behavior (p. 214) 5. 3. French and American Dietary Guidelines (p.