Abstracts Category : Other

A Poststructural Feminist and Narrative Analysis of Food andBodies: Community Organizing for Social Change in a SustainableAgriculture Initiative

by Kristen E Okamoto

This dissertation explores organizing strategiessurrounding rural food insecurity. Through ethnographic andinterview-based research, I worked alongside Rural Action, a socialenterprise that seeks to foster sustainable food systems for thepeople of Appalachia Ohio. Guided by poststructural feminist andnarrative sensibilities I worked with this organization over thecourse of one year. I volunteered as a clerk at a produce auction,worked in community gardens, and attended planning meetings. Overthe course of these activities I collected discourse, includingparticipant observation field notes, semi structured interviews,promotional materials, and participatory sketching. Three researchquestions guided my research: What mobilizing narratives about foodare composed and circulated by Rural Action? How does thecommunicative labor of Rural Action foster stakeholders capacityto act? How does the communicative labor of Rural Action fostersocial movement outcomes?I present my analysis in chapters four,five, and six. In chapter four I argue that organizational originstories have the ability to both mobilize for action, as well asmoralize bodies. For organizations centered around a food-basedmission, this becomes even more complicated. In chapter five, Ipresent discourse that supports how our assessment of risk, interms of the food we consume, is impacted by how we aestheticallyevaluate that food. Finally, in chapter six, I present atheoretical concept that I term narrative resilience. Thisframework is built upon a pragmatic orientation towards socialproblems. I demonstrate in this chapter how Rural Actiondemonstrates such an ethos. I conclude with a discussion oftheoretical and practical implications.Advisors/Committee Members: Harter, Lynn (Advisor).