masters dissertation abstract
This is the abstract for my masters dissertation, entitled 'Exploring Localism in Alternative Food Networks Eating Locally and Eating Well in Fife, Scotland':
Research examining alternative food networks has highlighted the importance of localism as a political strategy in the construction of alternatives to conventional food systems. Critical readings have argued that alternative food network localism represents a politics of place that is unreflexive or defensive. This dissertation draws on case study research with those involved with alternative food politics in Fife, Scotland, and seeks to explore the role that localism plays as a political strategy. This dissertation also looks critically at the ways in which scale is mobilized as an analytical category and argues for an approach to scalar politics that treats scale as a category of practice. Through the analysis of qualitative interview data from a range of groups involved in alternative food network activities in Fife, this dissertation examines the processes through which the ‘local’ is constructed as a reified entity that is associated with certain normative attributes and values. This process of construction is read as taking place through the practices and representations of the ‘local’ enacted by those involved. It is argued that despite the presence of some of the uncritical or unreflexive assumptions described by critiques of alternative food network localism, such constructions of the ‘local’ also play a positive role in building new social relations between actors and organizations. The development of new ‘local’ social relations indicates a trend towards greater inclusivity in the emergent alternative food network in Fife. These findings are then used to reflect upon questions about the politically progressive or regressive nature of place-based politics, and to suggest that such a distinction risks imposing scalar categories of analysis that mask the complexity of the politics of place.