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Contested space: The contradictory political dynamics of food banking in the UK

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  • Andrew Williams
  • Paul Cloke
  • Jon May
  • Mark Goodwin

Abstract

This paper offers a critical reappraisal of the politics of food banking in the UK. Existing work has raised concerns about the institutionalisation of food banks, with charitable assistance apparently – even if inadvertently – undermining collectivist welfare and deflecting attention from fundamental injustices in the food system. This paper presents original ethnographic work that examines the neglected politics articulated within food banks themselves. Conceptualising food banks as potential spaces of encounter where predominantly middle-class volunteers come into contact with ‘poor others’ (Lawson and Elwood, 2013), we illustrate the ways food banks may both reinforce but also rework and generate new, ethical and political attitudes, beliefs and identities. We also draw attention to the limits of these progressive possibilities and examine the ways in which some food banks continue to operate within a set of highly restrictive, and stigmatising, welfare technologies. By highlighting the contradictory dynamics at work in food bank organisations, and among food bank volunteers and clients, we suggest the political role of food banks warrants neither uncritical celebration nor outright dismissal. Rather, food banks represent a highly ambiguous political space still in the making and open to contestation.

Suggested Citation

  • Andrew Williams & Paul Cloke & Jon May & Mark Goodwin, 2016. "Contested space: The contradictory political dynamics of food banking in the UK," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 48(11), pages 2291-2316, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:48:y:2016:i:11:p:2291-2316
    DOI: 10.1177/0308518X16658292
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Unknown, 2014. "Media Coverage 2014," 2014: Ethics, Efficiency and Food Security: Feeding the 9 Billion, Well, 26-28 August 2014 225573, Crawford Fund.
    2. Dowler, Elizabeth A. & O’Connor, Deirdre, 2012. "Rights-based approaches to addressing food poverty and food insecurity in Ireland and UK," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 74(1), pages 44-51.
    3. Garthwaite, K.A. & Collins, P.J. & Bambra, C., 2015. "Food for thought: An ethnographic study of negotiating ill health and food insecurity in a UK foodbank," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 38-44.
    4. Andrew Williams & Paul Cloke & Samuel Thomas, 2012. "Co-Constituting Neoliberalism: Faith-Based Organisations, Co-Option, and Resistance in the UK," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 44(6), pages 1479-1501, June.
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    Cited by:

    1. Christopher M. Bacon & Gregory A. Baker, 2017. "The rise of food banks and the challenge of matching food assistance with potential need: towards a spatially specific, rapid assessment approach," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 34(4), pages 899-919, December.
    2. Jorge Coque & Pilar L. González-Torre, 2017. "Adapting Nonprofit Resources to New Social Demands: The Food Banks in Spain," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(4), pages 1-16, April.
    3. Mary Phillips, 2019. "“Daring to Care”: Challenging Corporate Environmentalism," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 156(4), pages 1151-1164, June.
    4. Thompson, C. & Smith, D. & Cummins, S., 2018. "Understanding the health and wellbeing challenges of the food banking system: A qualitative study of food bank users, providers and referrers in London," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 211(C), pages 95-101.

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