From Body Fuel to Universal Poison

Buscemi, Francesco

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-72086-9

Cited by 17 publications

(21 citation statements)

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“…Given the significant amount of recent works devoted to studying and critically analyzing meat in human cultures (e.g. Zaraska, 2016;Sexton, 2016;Warren, 2018;Buscemi, 2018;Wurgaft, 2019;Oleschuk et al, 2019), I conceptualize 'meat studies' as a specified sub-discipline of food studies (and, by extension, cultural studies). Generally speaking, I argue that meat studies ought to be understood as a sub-discipline within the social sciences and humanities wherein meat and human cultures, economics, and politics intersect.…”

Section: The Emergence Of 'Meat Studies'mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Zaraska's (2016) Meathooked offers a generalized and accessible expose of humanity's persistent relationship with meat, beginning with the bio-social evolution of our meat-based diets and concluding with current trends in meat consumption. Buscemi's (2018) From Body Fuel to Universal Poison delves into the bio-semiotics of meat's cultural history, showcasing and theorizing the symbolic significances of meat in Western cultures from 1900 to the present. Finally, Johnston's many project collaborations over the past decade have produced foundational groundwork in investigating the cultural sociology of meat in the twenty-first century, with a recurring emphasis on the relationships between meat consumption and social status.…”

Section: The Emergence Of 'Meat Studies'mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In doing so, the author identifies several ways in which meat's allure has hooked humans (what Zaraska calls 'meathooks'), as well as the potential entry points for meat studies scholars. For example, Zaraska delves into the powerful symbolism of meat as representing vitality, wealth, and social dominance across various times, spaces, and cultures-which Buscemi (2018) addresses in a narrower and more theoretically refined way. Zaraska, Buscemi's (2018) contribution to the development of meat studies acknowledges the persistent symbolic significance of meat in the Western world (arbitrarily defined as Western Europe, Canada, and the U.S.).…”

Section: The Emergence Of 'Meat Studies'mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Critical consumer studies includes examining the purchases and uses of commodities (Sadian, 2018), consumer beliefs and perceptions (Baumann, Szabo, & Johnston, 2019;Cairns & Johnston, 2018), consumerism as an ideological orientation (Bishop, 2010;Shepherd, Chartrand, & Fitzsimons, 2015), histories of consumer cultures (Coulter, 2014;Buscemi, 2018), and advertising and promotional cultures (Leiss et al, 2005;Davis, 2013;Berger, 2019). While critical consumer studies and critical advertising studies are sometimes treated as interchangeable terms, I am primarily interested in how consumer discourses contribute to the promotional campaigns of plant-based meat companies on social media as part of an ongoing marketing phenomenon.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Meaning of 'Meat': Boundary Objects in the Promotional Cultures of Plant-Based Meat

Phillips

2024

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<p>This dissertation interrogates the use of boundary objects in the rhetorical framing strategies of plant-based meat companies. I address the framing, categorization, and boundary work of foods such as ‘vegan’, ’meat’, and ‘burger’ from a Bourdieuian, class-focused perspective. I use rhetorical framing analysis to critically engage with the Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods burger campaigns—including CEO interviews (with Patrick Brown and Ethan Brown), trade journal articles (Fortune and Business Insider), company websites (Beyond Meat, Impossible Foods, A&W, and Burger King), Twitter posts (@AWCanada and @BurgerKing), and consumer engagements on Twitter—between 2014-2018. This project contributes to the theoretical refinement of boundary objects by demonstrating how they can be used to rhetorically situate non-dominant social actors within the categorical boundaries of dominant groups. In this case, plant-based meat companies redefine ‘meat’ along chemical and nutritional lines in order to situate themselves and their products within the privileged socio-cultural category of meat. I also enhance the usefulness of rhetorical framing analysis as a method of studying communication by adding agenda-dismissal to the methodological repertoire of agenda-setting theory. I find that, while vegetarianism and veganism have historically constituted anti-consumerist subjectivities, Beyond Meat, Impossible Foods, and the rhetoric of plant-based meat serve to reinforce a dominant ideological frame of individuals-as-consumers by encouraging people to consume more ‘good’ food. From a class-based perspective, this rhetorical strategy places the consumerist logic of plant-based meats at odds with the conspicuous and distinguished consumption ideals of bourgeois veganism. Beyond Meat, Impossible Foods, and plant-based meat rhetorics thus perpetuate neoliberal hegemony by emphasizing a nutricentric framing of food products, which dismisses other relevant social, cultural, and economic elements of food. Finally, I use this project as an interjection into the larger field of cultural studies in order to identify and name an emerging sub-discipline of critical analysis: ‘meat studies’. Ultimately, I argue that the rhetoric of plant-based meat companies reinforce rather than challenge both meat’s privileged cultural status and the foundations upon which consumer capitalism exists.</p>

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Section: The Emergence Of 'Meat Studies'mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Emergence Of 'Meat Studies'mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Emergence Of 'Meat Studies'mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

The Meaning of 'Meat': Boundary Objects in the Promotional Cultures of Plant-Based Meat

Phillips

2024

Preprint

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show abstract

“…Usually, this is done from a 'progressive' angle, blending vegetarianism with feminism, socialism, anti-racism, etc. Yet, Buscemi (2018) has outlined in detail how it can also appeal to ultra-right side of the political spectrum, giving expression to ecofascism. Both fractions thereby rely on an ecological rationale, in an attempt to convert those who are not convinced by the animal rights or health arguments.…”

Section: Retracing the Origins And Understanding The Dynamicmentioning

confidence: 99%