Searching for the “politics of the possible” in flexitarianism

Morris, Carol; Kelsey, Sarah; Harper, Lauren-Rose

Abstract

The paper builds on recent flexitarianism scholarship by approaching this heterogeneous dietary category as a socio-cultural and political economic, rather than just a psychological phenomenon. It does this by drawing on Edmund Harris’s conceptualization of alternative food provisioning activities and subject-making as a “politics of the possible.” The paper addresses the following questions: does flexitarianism and the making of flexitarian subjectivities represent a “politics of the possible” and if so how; what are the limits of these politics and how might these limits be overcome? Empirically, the paper undertakes a qualitative analysis of UK national print news media coverage of flexitarianism and semi-structured interviews with self-identified flexitarians. Data from these two sources are interwoven in the discussion of themes that provide some evidence in support of flexitarianism as a politics of the possible, but which also draw attention to the limits of these politics. The paper concludes that only by addressing these limits can a full and critical assessment be made of flexitarianism’s contribution to a food system less dependent on animal-based foods.

Citation

Morris, C., Kelsey, S., & Harper, L. (2023). Searching for the “politics of the possible” in flexitarianism. Food, Culture and Society, Article 2175993. https://doi.org/10.1080/15528014.2023.2175993

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jan 23, 2023
• Online Publication Date: Feb 22, 2023
• Publication Date: Feb 22, 2023
• Deposit Date: Jan 26, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 22, 2023
• Journal: Food, Culture and Society
• Print ISSN: 1552-8014
• Electronic ISSN: 1751-7443
• Publisher: Routledge
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Article Number: 2175993
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/15528014.2023.2175993
• Keywords: Flexitarianism; flexitarian; politics of the possible; dietary subject-making; United Kingdom
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/16501618
• Additional Information: Peer Review Statement: The publishing and review policy for this title is described in its Aims & Scope.; Aim & Scope: http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?show=aimsScope&journalCode=rffc20; Received: 2022-01-18; Accepted: 2023-01-23; Published: 2023-02-22