Food on the Move (Paperback)

A Polynesian restaurant in Abu Dhabi or a Greek Taverna in London would in their different ways signal inter-cultural food exchange performed across an uneven and unequal world. The movement of food, of tastes and fragrances, insist on a history marked by cultural differences, imperial projects and the movement of capital. In this issue of new formations the ethnically diverse food cultures of our contemporary world are explored in a way that refuses the 'boutique multiculturalism' of those who want to celebrate international cuisine but chose to ignore the social inequalities that exist alongside it. Instead the essays here promote a close materialist scrutiny of food as Kangaroo meat travels to the Czech Republic or as migrant workers frequent Thai cafes in Taiwan. Food on the Move offers a perspective for viewing cultural complexity as simultaneously somatic and symbolic, as a constant negotiation of the possibilities of social transformation.