Women’s food work, food citizenship, & transnational consumer capitalism: a case study of a feminist food cooperative in South Korea

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article joins studies of food citizenship and feminist food studies to examine complex ways in which women’s food work as domestic carework is connected to food citizenship in the context of transnational consumer capitalism. It defines food citizenship as practices of rights and responsibilities tied to food consumption. Specifically, drawing upon qualitative research spanning over a decade, it focuses on a feminist food cooperative (coop) in South Korea which experimented with food consumption as a vehicle for broader social change. Reflecting the mainstreaming of alternative food movements in the global North, this study contributes to feminist critique of the discourse of food citizenship in three ways. First, women’s food work, as a key feature of the gendered social organization of food production and consumption, does not automatically lead to food citizenship in the context of transnational capitalism; its development necessitates tapping on women’s desire for broader social recognition and connection. Second, a potential for women’s food citizenship is caught between the capitalism that is deeply fragmenting and individualizing and the coop’s goal of promoting local and deterritorialized solidarity. Finally, the study highlights the centrality of larger social and political contexts to the transformation of consumption.