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Food as a Matter of Being: Experiential Continuity in Transnational Lives

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Food Parcels in International Migration

Part of the book series: Anthropology, Change, and Development ((ACD))

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the materiality of food and food-related objects and practices, in order to illustrate how they help creating normalcy and continuity in conditions of transnational migration. Research-based examples of individual experiences concerning transportation and consumption of food across the borders show that methodological individualism allows for an approach to transnational migration that does not prioritise the analytical dyads of “old” and “new” homes as the only relevant routes inscribed by food parcels. Methodological individualism allows for treating transnational practices motivated by individual habits and preferences as equally important as the practices that may be typical for particular groups of migrants. It thereby clarifies the distinction between the ways of being and the ways of belonging in transnational social fields.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Global Political Studies, Malmö University, Malmö, Sweden

    Maja Povrzanović Frykman

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  1. Maja Povrzanović Frykman
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona, Spain

    Diana Mata-Codesal

  2. University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK

    Maria Abranches

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Povrzanović Frykman, M. (2018). Food as a Matter of Being: Experiential Continuity in Transnational Lives. In: Mata-Codesal, D., Abranches, M. (eds) Food Parcels in International Migration. Anthropology, Change, and Development. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-40373-1_2

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