Abstract
Abstract Laws and norms can change the production processes of an organization, with repercussions for the tangible and symbolic composition of its products. Based on this assumption of Cultural Studies, we seek to understand how the practice of cultural regulation by a group of small producers is (re)signifying the rennet cheese produced artisanally in the Agreste region of the Brazilian state of Pernambuco. We use discourse analysis to analyze interviews and documents such as the decrees and regulations that deal with processing dairy products in Brazil, as well as those governing the process of Geographical Indication, and compare the cultural meanings that have emerged in two spheres of regulation: the public and the private. Findings reveal governmental characterization of artisanal rennet cheese has been justified by a discourse of “quality” at both the state and federal levels. However, the regulation put in place in the private sphere of the Producers Association makes use of different arguments to construct the discourse of quality with respect to the same food.
Highlights
Demand for artisanal cheese is on the rise because “[it] generates gustatory pleasure and social status for its consumers [. . .]” (Paxston, 2013, p. 4)
There is more to analyze about regulation than merely presenting the formal laws and regulations that establish standards for the product and its production process
Understanding a set of meanings attributed to artisanal rennet cheese on the basis of regulatory practices makes greater sense when these are considered in conjunction with those from other meaning systems
Summary
Demand for artisanal cheese is on the rise because “[it] generates gustatory pleasure and social status for its consumers [. . .]” (Paxston, 2013, p. 4). It may be applied to specific government policies and regulations and, in others, to the operating rules of social and moral conduct For this reason, Thompson (1997) suggests that studies on cultural regulation investigate both the policy and the politics involved in the struggle to establish meanings, values, forms of subjectivity, and identification. 13) “the value of such actions [e.g., regulation] is material and symbolic.” It is the juncture of the economic, moral, and social/cultural dimensions of regulation that result in the development of a material artifact that conjugates the values of the artisanal producer and those of the consumers and appreciators of their cheese in the context of a market society As noted by Paxston (2013, p. 13) “the value of such actions [e.g., regulation] is material and symbolic.” It is the juncture of the economic, moral, and social/cultural dimensions of regulation that result in the development of a material artifact that conjugates the values of the artisanal producer and those of the consumers and appreciators of their cheese in the context of a market society
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