CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2018
| Author | Fidan, Selim Isik |
|---|---|
| Title | 'You Are What You Eat': Consuming Health-Foods As a Self-Forming Practice in the Context of Istanbul |
| Summary | Organic food consumption and interest in other health-foods have been growing worldwide since late 90s. Contemporary consumerism in Turkey is not exempt from this global trend towards health-foods. Based on qualitative research in Istanbul, this thesis argues that consuming organic and local food is an ethical choice and also a class-specific practice. More clearly, this study’s main objective is to understand how consumers construct their ethical self-identity through health-conscious eating. It seeks to explore how this self-forming process is affected and mediated by the rhetoric of ‘natural-ness’ and ‘health’ within the market and by how consumers react to it discursively. Building on intensive fieldwork at a local food cooperative and in-depth semi-structured interviews with organic and local food consumers and sellers, this research aims to approach food consumption as a practice beyond survival, arguing that consumers form their selves through eating-healthy and this is deeply affected and meditated through the socialized dimensions of becoming a healthier person. |
| Supervisor | Bodnar, Judit; Kowalski, Alexandra |
| Department | Sociology MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2018/fidan_selim.pdf |
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