RECKINGER, R. (In press). Gender and Food. From Unequitable Kitchen Tasks and Dietary Consumption to Sustainable Political Reinterpretations. To be confirmed.
Peer reviewed
RECKINGER, R., Le Roux Yves, & FRAGNON, A. C. (In press). Approvisionnement alimentaire de qualité et de proximité dans la Grande Région : freins et leviers de la relocalisation alimentaire à l’échelle transnationale. Revue Géographique de l'Est.
Nous examinons la faisabilité d’un approvisionnement de qualité et de proximité dans la restauration hors domicile collective (RHDC) de la Grande Région (Luxembourg, Lorraine, Wallonie, Sarre, Rhénanie-Palatinat), basée sur le projet INTERREG « Approvisionnement Régional Organisé pour une Meilleure Alimentation » (AROMA).
L’adéquation théorique quantitative entre l’offre et la demande montre que la faible part de produits de la Grande Région retrouvés actuellement en RHDC n’est pas due à une absence de production, mais à une organisation inadaptée des filières. L’enquête qualitative auprès d’agriculteurs, d’intermédiaires et d’acheteurs confirme la nécessité de la structuration des filières pour envisager un approvisionnement régulier et de long terme de la RHDC en produits de proximité et de qualité. Elle se fait par le biais de mutualisations tant des denrées de producteurs régionaux que de la logistique – basée sur une démarche partenariale, sur un soutien public en subsides ciblés et en optimisation de la rédaction de marchés publics durables, ainsi que sur l’adhésion de partenaires de terrain par la désignation de priorités, de valeurs et de ressources, collectivement endossés et ainsi contractuels. Sera analysée la charte de valeurs communes que le consortium AROMA a co-construite dans un processus participatif. Nous examinerons ensuite la proposition d’Organisme Transfrontalier d’Approvisionnement (OTA). Celui-ci est conçu comme conciliant activités économiques et finalités sociales, et s’efforçant d’inclure les défis de la logistique.
Ainsi, l’hypothèse pragmatique d’une structuration des filières agri-alimentaires en vue d’augmenter la part de produits de proximité et de qualité dans la RHDC à l’échelle de la Grande Région fait sens au niveau de l’envergure, de l’offre alimentaire et de proximité des territoires. Néanmoins, elle représente un processus de longue haleine et l’étude empirique montre qu’il faut d’abord passer par des phases de structurations nationales (pour un petit pays comme le Luxembourg) ou régionales dans la limite des contours nationaux (pour des pays plus grands).
Peer reviewed
RECKINGER, R. (09 July 2024). Goodness Groceries! Une application mobile d'achat d'aliments durables et son impact sur une culture alimentaire éco-responsable et éthique. Enjeux pour fournisseurs, citoyens et chercheurs [Paper presentation]. XXIIe Congrès international des sociologues de langue française: Sciences, savoirs et sociétés, Ottawa, Canada.
Dans les préoccupations sur la durabilité des systèmes alimentaires, à côté du fossé pratique entre ce que les citoyens savent qu'ils devraient faire et ce qu'ils font réellement, il y a un fossé du savoir : le savoir de ce qu'est un produit durable tend à être brouillé par des injonctions discordantes entre différentes affirmations.
Au lieu de quantifier des caractéristiques de durabilité par des mesures ou une notation, nous proposons une Appli qui rend transparentes les différentes composantes de durabilité, qualifiant ainsi les facettes de cette notion. Notre objectif n'est pas de déterminer hiérarchiquement le "meilleur" choix, mais plutôt de permettre aux citoyens de choisir le produit dont les critères de durabilité correspondent le mieux à leurs valeurs et priorités.
L'Appli pilote fournit des informations éco-responsables et éthiques sur une sélection d’aliments quotidiens, dans quatre thèmes principaux (environnement, bien-être social, bien-être économique et bonne gouvernance (SAFA, FAO 2014)). L'Appli permet de scanner des alternatives du même produit via un code QR pendant les achats, afin d'analyser si cela aide les consommateurs à faire un choix éclairé – ou non, et pourquoi.
Seront discutées les implications de l'Appli en termes d'obstacles structurels pour les chercheurs, d'adaptations nécessaires de la chaîne d'approvisionnement pour les fournisseurs et d'analyse des habitudes d'achat des citoyens et de leur évaluation de l'utilisation de l'Appli.
Peer reviewed
RECKINGER, R. (09 April 2024). Values-Based Territorial Food Networks (VTFN): Qualifying Sustainable and Ethical Transitions of Alternative Food Networks (AFN) [Paper presentation]. Laboratoire des Etudes Rurales (LER) / AGRAPOLE - ISARA LYON research exchanges, Lyon, France.
This comparative literature review of local food systems, short
food supply chains, and civic food networks, subsumed under alternative
food networks (AFN), suggests converging them into the novel
umbrella-term values-based territorial food networks (VTFN). Based on
the analysis of specifi cities and shortcomings in the four concepts, VTFN
aims to enhance conceptual clarity, while the current coexistence conceals
structural and systemic commonalities—relevant for understanding
pathways to ethical and sustainable food system transformations. Taking
stock of issues in the four concepts, VTFN strives to be overarching and
pragmatic. It qualifi es AFN’s “alternativeness” through social, economic,
environmental and governance “sustainability values” and through the
co-construction of “territoriality” in varying constellations. Thus, it fosters
integrated scientifi c dialogue about conceptual determinations of
emerging networks of food system transitions worldwide.
RECKINGER, R. (2024). Modération du débat après le spectacle "Nourrir l'Humanité – Acte II" (Compagnie de théâtre documentaire Adoc). Differdange, Luxembourg: Compagnie de théâtre documentaire Adoc.
En 2011, un comédien fils d’agriculteur, décide de créer un spectacle sur le monde agricole : « Nourrir l’Humanité c’est un métier ».
Mais en 10 ans le paysage agricole a changé. Le modèle intensif ou conventionnel est toujours bien présent, cependant de plus en plus de personnes retournent à la terre et font le choix de produire autrement. Pour être au plus près de la réalité, la compagnie Adoc est retournée sur les routes recueillir de nouveaux témoignages. Que sont devenus les agriculteurs et agricultrices rencontrés lors de la première création ? Et qui sont ces nouvelles personnes qui pratiquent une autre agriculture ? Et pourquoi ?
C’est pour continuer à rendre hommage à ceux et celles qui nous nourrissent que la compagnie Adoc vous présente aujourd’hui : « Nourrir l’Humanité – Acte 2 ».
RECKINGER, R. (February 2024). Parler Vin. Entre normes et appropriations. Ce que l'oenophilie débutante nous enseigne [Paper presentation]. Université ouverte des Sciences gastronomiques de la Villa Rabelais – IEHCA, cycle d'atelier 2023-2024, Tours, France.
Partant du constat d’une culturalisation croissante de la consommation de vin, je propose une analyse micro-sociologique de la pratique discursive œnophile contemporaine, au Luxembourg, en me concentrant sur sa normativité inhérente (morale et esthétique) et ses appropriations ordinaires (éthiques et hédoniques). Cette articulation est constituée par la dégustation ‘pour débutant-e-s’, enseignée dans le cadre de la formation tout au long de la vie.
Les catégories d’analyse des food studies sont pertinentes pour tracer l’évolution historique de la pratique discursive œnophile – singularisée, esthétisante et réflexive –, cernée dans sa rationalisation (régulation législative, consolidation scientifique et diffusion médiatique). Ainsi cristallisée, l’œnophilie a entraîné une gouvernementalité de la consommation ; son institutionnalisation concrète, sous la forme de cours du soir étatiques, véhicule une normativité spécifique.
Les publics de cette institution – majoritairement masculins et appartenant à des milieux aisés – font montre de motivations ‘opératoires’ et ‘hédoniques’, actualisant la gouvernementalité et l’orientation intérieure des expériences. Les appropriations de la normativité œnophile véhiculée sont réactives – positives ou négatives : se constatent des recours tactiques à des dispositions ou à des régimes d’action tactique, liées à des différenciations verticales (trajectoire et position sociale) et, surtout, horizontales (milieux, interactions et expérimentations effectuées dans un projet de subjectivation).
Ces dispositions et tactiques font le lien avec les logiques d’actions œnophiles domestiques – actives, stratégiques et hédoniques. En contraste à la normativité œnophile (axée sur le vin), les pratiques discursives ordinaires se déclinent autour de préoccupations liées à la vie personnelle et sociale, avant de se centrer sur le vin. Néanmoins, c’est la canonisation œnophile esthétique qui comporte la matière nécessaire aux subjectivations, fussent-elles appropriées de manière hédonique, égo- et sociocentrée. Transparaît ainsi l’imbrication consubstantielle et flexible entre normes et plaisirs, menant à un empowerment personnel et social (à potentiel majoritairement éthique, mais également distinctif), via l’usage discursivisé d’un aliment.
RECKINGER, R., & Kapgen Diane. (2024). Food system knowledge and democratic food governance as a precondition for building food sovereignty and security in an inclusive, just, and sustainable way. In M. Hamdi & Thewes Guy, Catalogue of the temporary exhibition "All you can eat" (October 2023-July 2024). Luxembourg, Luxembourg: Lëtzebuerg City Museum.
Editorial reviewed
RECKINGER, R. (28 August 2023). Can an innovative, mobile sustainable food shopping app foster more equity in food literacy and ethical choices? Experimental insights from the pilot ‘Goodness Groceries’ [Paper presentation]. ESA RN5 2023 Mini Midterm Meetings in multiple locations « The Sociology of Consumption: Bonding Beyond Boundaries », Paris, France.
Within the currently rising concerns around sustainability of food systems, in the related economic areas of regenerative production modes, responsible supply chains and informed consumption, there often remains a practice gap between what people know they should do and what they actually do. This is preceded by a knowledge gap, which oftentimes corresponds, at least partially, to an inequity gap: the knowledge of what a sustainable product specifically is tends not to be entirely consensual, blurred with potentially contradicting injunctions between different claims of sustainability. Instead of trying to solve this puzzle with metrics, we propose an App that makes various components of sustainability transparent, thus qualifying sustainability complexity. Our aim is not to hierarchically determine ‘the best’ sustainable choice, but rather to relationally empower consumers to choose the product with the sustainability criteria that most fit their values and priorities.
‘Goodness Groceries’ is a transdisciplinary University of Luxembourg innovative and digital consumer study, piloting a mobile sustainable food shopping app in partnership with a supermarket chain. The App acts as a virtual shopping companion providing eco-responsible and ethical product information of selected staple food products, each time for up to four types: local organic, local conventional, imported organic and imported conventional. The information provided is based on self-assessments made by product suppliers. Each food item is granted criteria in the four main areas of Environment, Social Well-being, Economic Well-being and Good Governance, subdivided into relevant indicators (cf. SAFA guidelines, FAO 2014) – marked with easy-to-recognise icons. The user-friendly App is designed to scan alternatives of the same product via a QR code whilst shopping, and thus to analyse if such contextual information can foster more equity in food literacy and ethical choices – or not, and why.
After an experimental run from Autumn 2023 to Spring 2024, empirical results about the study and App in terms of structural obstacles for researchers, necessary supply chain adaptations for suppliers and scrutiny of consumers’ shopping habits and App usage feedback will be discussed, based on interview and survey data with participants.
Peer reviewed
RECKINGER, R. (29 July 2023). Values-Based Territorial Food Networks (VTFN): Qualifying Sustainable and Ethical Transitions of Alternative Food Networks (AFN) [Paper presentation]. The XX ISA World Congress of Sociology, Melbourne, Australia.
Localized food growing and livestock rearing initiatives with more direct transformation and commercialization structures, often at comparably small scales, gained ground worldwide. They represent various types of ‘alternatives’ to industrialised agri-food processes and to standard producers/consumers divides characterizing the global food system. While these alternatives are not always new, they have sparked growing scholarly interest.
Over time, the literature has addressed them via four main conceptual denominations: Local Food Systems (LFS), Short Food Supply Chains (SFSCs), Civic Food Networks (CFS), Alternative Food Networks (AFN). These concepts have distinct foci, partial overlaps, and they seek to capture an immense heterogeneity of empirical phenomena. Yet this conceptual plurality risks to conceal that these empirical initiatives, despite their differences, have structural commonalities at food system level, relevant for understanding pathways to a sustainable food system transformation.
Therefore, I argue for an overarching concept subsuming the existing ones. Values-based Territorial Food Networks (VTFN) would take into account the diverse perspectives from the four main concepts in this field, classify their specificities and address their shortcomings. The social critique at their core, leading to transitions, is constructed around values of ’doing things differently’, at the level of specific territories. The more robust and authentic these sustainability values in VTFN are – in terms of environmental integrity, social well-being, economic resilience and ethical governance – the more likely they are to be incorporated into practices, to become more and more legitimate and gain a voice at negotiation tables, in order to help reorient the current corporate agrifood regime.
Peer reviewed
RECKINGER, R. (27 June 2023). Goodness Groceries! Can a mobile sustainable food shopping App foster food literacy and ethical choices? Entailments for suppliers, citizens and researchers [Paper presentation]. XX ISA World Congress of Sociology, Melbourne, Australia.
Within currently rising concerns around sustainability of food systems, in the related economic areas of regenerative production modes, responsible supply chains and informed consumption, there often remains a practice gap between what citizens know they should do and what they actually do. This is preceded by a knowledge gap: the knowledge of what a sustainable product specifically is tends not to be entirely consensual, blurred with potentially contradicting injunctions between different claims of sustainability. Instead of trying to solve this puzzle with metrics, we propose an App that makes various components of sustainability transparent, thus qualifying sustainability complexity. Our aim is not to hierarchically determine ‘the best’ sustainable choice, but rather to relationally empower citizens to choose the product with the sustainability criteria that most fit their values and priorities.
Goodness Groceries! is a University of Luxembourg consumer study piloting a mobile sustainable food shopping App in partnership with a supermarket chain. The App acts as a virtual shopping companion providing eco-responsible and ethical product information of selected daily food products, each time for up to four types: local organic, local conventional, imported organic and imported conventional. The information provided is based on self-assessments made by product suppliers. Each food item is granted criteria in the four main themes of Environment, Social Well-being, Economic Well-being and Good Governance, subdivided into relevant indicators (SAFA guidelines, FAO 2014) – marked with easy-to-recognise icons. The user-friendly App is designed to scan alternatives of the same product via a QR code whilst shopping, to analyse if this helps consumers make an informed choice – or not, and why.
Starting in Autumn 2022, entailments of the (ongoing) study and App in terms of structural obstacles for researchers, necessary supply chain adaptations for suppliers and analysis of citizens’ shopping habits and App usage feedback will be discussed.
Peer reviewed
Nikolaidou, S., Loudiyi, S., & RECKINGER, R. (Crit. Eds.). (23 June 2023). Special Issue: New directions in governance of urban food systems transitions. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, 7.
Increasing food poverty and insecurity for urban dwellers resulting from multiple causes have generalized fears of food shortages in cities, especially in terms of physical food access, food quality production, distribution, and retail capacity. The growing fragility of food supply chains, combined with environmental hazards related to pressing issues around food waste, food access, safety, sovereignty, and democracy seems to increase public and civic interest in transitioning to more sustainable and just food systems. Urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA), as well as small scale-farming are being advanced by social food movements, institutional resources and the public sector that all claim new roles in governance, which affects all actors of the food chain, including citizens.
The goal of this Research Topic is to address governance and policy reforms of urban and peri-urban agriculture in diverse contexts of the transitions of food systems while discussing the role these challenges and developments play in a transition to more sustainable and just food systems. This Research Topic is focused on food policy reforms, planning initiatives and new governance models involving public engagement and the inclusion of relevant stakeholders and civil society into the decision-making processes that are required for a transition to more sustainable agri-food circuits and practices.
Questions that guide this Research Topic are: how do local governments and civil society contribute governance initiatives to overall sustainable and just food system transitions beyond addressing hunger and food insecurity during precarious times? What are the perspectives of small-scale farmers, disadvantaged consumers, civil society groups and social movement actors in new directions of governance in urban and peri-urban areas? Can we really talk about more inclusive and ‘democratized’ models of participation in the governance of agriculture and food – and even food sovereignty? How can governance initiatives of social entrepreneurship, social innovation and institutional deep reforms be triggered from social movements and craft new ways for organizing transactions and relationships around peri(urban) agriculture and food issues?
The Research Topic focuses on:
- food policy reforms and planning initiatives;
- new governance models aiming at some degree of food sovereignty;
- governance of food production and consumption within the context of social and solidarity economy and eco-social transformation in urban and peri-urban areas.
More precisely, we encourage the submission of manuscripts that explore theoretical, empirical and institutional aspects of urban and peri-urban agriculture related to the following themes:
- Critical perspectives on the emergence and evolution of alternative agri-food networks and practices that are related to UPA and their potential for creating food policy reforms and governance that enable a just transition to sustainability in this enduring crisis context;
- Governance dimensions of food sovereignty or food democracy narratives and their contribution to building resilient place-based food systems, including the role of urban and peri-urban agriculture;
- New governance directions of social movements and social entrepreneurship for food democracy and food sovereignty (UPA, producer organizations, consumer cooperatives, CSA, agro-ecological activism etc.) and their potential for transforming public policies (food justice, inclusiveness and solidarity, food security, nutrition and health policies, integrated food policies);
- The role of politics and planning for the empowerment of UPA farmers and the inclusion of producers, consumers and citizens in participatory governance schemes (sustainable food planning and urban food strategies, agroecological urbanism, local food councils, community-building, multi-stakeholder and collaborative governance).
Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi
Delvaux, C., & RECKINGER, R. (2023). Accompagnement scientifique du projet de développement d'abattoirs mobiles au Grand-Duché de Luxembourg. Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg: University of Luxembourg. https://orbilu.uni.lu/handle/10993/59953
Les dix dernières années ont vu fleurir chez les voisins du Luxembourg de multiples projets d’abattage de bovins innovants dans un contexte général de disparition des abattoirs traditionnels. Le Grand-Duché, bien que protégé à ce sujet par sa superficie limitée, compte pourtant, lui aussi, plus que deux abattoirs de bovins encore en activité sur son territoire.
Parallèlement, on assiste à une montée générale des préoccupations en matière de bien-être animal, d’environnement et de circuits-courts un peu partout dans l’Union Européenne qui vient, par ailleurs, de légiférer pour autoriser l’abattage à la ferme.
Une fenêtre d’opportunité s’ouvre donc pour cette innovation au Grand-Duché où de nombreux éleveurs de bovins réclament de pouvoir bénéficier de ce type de technologie depuis quelques années. Le Ministère de l'Environnement, du Climat et du Développement durable du Grand-Duché du Luxembourg, en sa compétence de développement de la biodiversité rurale (notamment via le soutien au pâturage extensif) a donc initié, à partir de l’été 2018, une dynamique de développement d'abattage mobile sur le territoire du Grand-Duché.
Une mission d’accompagnement de ce processus a été lancée en collaboration avec l’Université du Luxembourg, au mois de mars 2020 pour informer les éleveurs ; accompagner le projet dans sa mise en place et son développement ; observer la dynamique ; pointer les difficultés structurelles, mais aussi des leviers d'innovations sociotechniques liés à l'abattage et aider les éleveurs à résoudre les potentiels difficultés du projet.
En outre, cet accompagnement devait nourrir la démarche avec un benchmark des expériences similaires dans les pays limitrophes et d’en tirer des leçons pour le Luxembourg. Les acteurs de 14 projets européens d’abattage à la ferme ont donc été rencontrés et leurs projets finement analysés.
Ce benchmark a permis de mettre en avant les grandes tendances communes de ce type de projet : des dynamiques nécessairement collectives oeuvrant dans des dispositifs collaboratifs soutenus par un sous-groupe de « champions ». Il a aussi été montré que ces projets, loin de se cantonner à de simples remplacements des abattages traditionnels, participent au maintien et au développement d’une agriculture et d’un élevage de proximité, essentiels aux circuits-courts.
Une autre observation saillante de cette comparaison internationale est l’utilisation majoritaire d’une technique particulière pour le protocole d’abattage : l’unité mobile d’abattage (UMA). Cette technique peu coûteuse, simple à mettre en place et à entretenir crée une grande satisfaction chez les éleveurs qui la pratiquent, tant concernant le bien-être animal que pour la création de nouveaux débouchés de commercialisation de leurs produits.
Il a également permis de mettre en garde face aux problème récurrents qui minent ce type de projet : la lenteur des processus, notamment causée par des incompréhensions mutuelles entre les acteurs, et les investissements nécessaires en énergies, en temps et en capitaux.
Sur base de cette comparaison internationale ; en nous appuyant en outre sur une cinquantaine d’interviews d’éleveurs et d’experts, ainsi que sur une revue extensive des littératures scientifiques et techniques, nous discutons les enjeux de cette innovation pour le Luxembourg et concluons notre rapport par des recommandations concrètes pour son développement au Grand-Duché.
Stoll, E., Keßler, S., Leimbrock-Rosch, L., Schader, C., Bohn, T., RECKINGER, R., Herzig, C., & Zimmer, S. (08 March 2023). Potential der Biolandwirtschaft zur Steigerung der ökologischen Nachhaltigkeit des Agrarsektors in Luxemburg [Paper presentation]. 16. Wissenschaftstagung Ökologischer Landbau.
Organic agriculture is often hailed as an environmentally friendly food production system. The aim of this study was to analyse the effect of the management system (organic (org.)/conventional (conv.)) on the sustainability performance of farms and derive the possible environmental impact of a 100% conversion to organic agriculture in Luxembourg. During a sustainability assessment at farm level using the SMART-Farm Tool, org. farms achieved significantly higher goal achievements in 13 of the 14 sub-themes of the sustainability dimension “Environmental Integrity”. Thus, org. agriculture shows promise for improvement of the Luxembourgish agricultural sector. However, some differences in goal achievement between the org. and conv. farms, especially in the sub-theme Greenhouse Gases, are relatively small and show that org. agriculture also still has a large potential for improvement when we want to tackle environmental challenges such as climate change.
Peer reviewed
Nemes, G., RECKINGER, R., & Lajos, V. (Crit. Eds.). (27 January 2023). Special Issue: Values-Based Territorial Food Networks’— Benefits, Challenges and Controversies. Sociologia Ruralis, 63 (1), 246.
The special issue titled ‘Values-based Territorial Food Networks – Benefits, challenges and controversies’ and this introductory editorial aim to bridge conceptual and disciplinary differences within the literature on alternative agro-food networks and related concepts. In the editorial we outline a new umbrella term, Values-based Territorial Food Networks (VTFNs), which synthesises the key commonalities that characterise alternatives to the mainstream food system (see Reckinger 2022 for a more detailed analysis). VTFNs are defined as networks that connect agro-food and related stakeholders within a defined territory that operate according to a coherent set of ethical values centred on social justice and wellbeing, environmental integrity, participatory governance and economic fairness. We discuss how VTFNs relate to earlier concepts, showing the evolution from ‘alternative’ to ‘values based’, from ‘local’ to ‘territorial’ and from ‘supply chains’ to ‘networks’. The editorial also gives an overview of the empirical case studies in the special issue, which explore 10 place-based food initiatives (from Austria, France, Greece, Germany, The Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Hungary, Australia, Brazil and Japan) and address benefits, challenges, social learning and controversies associated with VTFNs. The cases are grouped into three thematic areas. ‘Social learning and resilience’ focuses on collaboration through diverse partnerships as a necessary condition for social innovation and for understanding new socio-technical practices. ‘Agency, negotiations and food governance’ explores the socioeconomic struggles, interrelations and negotiated values associated with VTFNs. ‘Sociocultural environments, social capital and reflexive localism’ discusses the interplay between the economic and sociocultural dimensions related to VTFNs. The transversality of VTFN allows us to think about these dimensions from a systemic perspective, thus advancing debates on the diverse sites and modes of agro-food sustainability.
Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi
Nemes, G., RECKINGER, R., Lajos, V., & Zollet, S. (January 2023). Editorial: ‘Values-based Territorial Food Networks’ — Benefits, challenges and controversies (editorial of the special issue). Sociologia Ruralis, 63 (1), 3-19. doi:10.1111/soru.12419
The special issue titled ‘Values-based Territorial Food Networks – Benefits, challenges and controversies’ and this introductory editorial aim to bridge conceptual and disciplinary differences within the literature on alternative agro-food networks and related concepts. In the editorial we outline a new umbrella term, Values-based Territorial Food Networks (VTFNs), which synthesises
the key commonalities that characterise alternatives to the mainstream food system. VTFNs are defined as networks that connect agro-food and related stakeholders within a defined territory that operate according to a coherent set of ethical values centred on social justice and wellbeing, environmental integrity, participatory governance and economic fairness. We discuss how VTFNs
relate to earlier concepts, showing the evolution from ‘alternative’ to ‘values based’, from ‘local’ to ‘territorial’ and from ‘supply chains’ to ‘networks’. The editorial also gives an overview of the empirical case studies in the special issue, which explore 10 place-based food initiatives (from Austria, France, Greece, Germany,The Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Hungary, Australia, Brazil and Japan) and address benefits, challenges, social learning and controversies associated with VTFNs. The cases are grouped into three thematic areas. ‘Social learning and resilience’ focuses on collaboration through diverse partnerships as a necessary condition for social innovation and for understanding new
socio-technical practices. ‘Agency, negotiations and food governance’ explores the socioeconomic struggles, interrelations and negotiated values associated with VTFNs. ‘Sociocultural environments, social capital and reflexive localism’ discusses the interplay between the economic
and sociocultural dimensions related to VTFNs. The transversality of VTFN allows us to think about these dimensions from a systemic perspective, thus advancing debates on the diverse sites and modes of agro-food sustainability.
Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi Dataset
Nikolaidou, S., Loudiyi, S., & RECKINGER, R. (2023). Editorial: New directions in governance of urban food systems transitions. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, 7, 1-3. doi:10.3389/fsufs.2023.1229550
Increasing food poverty and insecurity for urban dwellers resulting from multiple causes have generalized fears of food shortages in cities, especially in terms of physical food access, food quality production, distribution, and retail capacity. The growing fragility of food supply chains, combined with environmental hazards related to pressing issues around food waste, food access, safety, sovereignty, and democracy seems to increase public and civic interest in transitioning to more sustainable and just food systems. Urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA), as well as small scale-farming are being advanced by social food movements, institutional resources and the public sector that all claim new roles in governance, which affects all actors of the food chain, including citizens.
The goal of this Research Topic is to address governance and policy reforms of urban and peri-urban agriculture in diverse contexts of the transitions of food systems while discussing the role these challenges and developments play in a transition to more sustainable and just food systems. This Research Topic is focused on food policy reforms, planning initiatives and new governance models involving public engagement and the inclusion of relevant stakeholders and civil society into the decision-making processes that are required for a transition to more sustainable agri-food circuits and practices.
Questions that guide this Research Topic are: how do local governments and civil society contribute governance initiatives to overall sustainable and just food system transitions beyond addressing hunger and food insecurity during precarious times? What are the perspectives of small-scale farmers, disadvantaged consumers, civil society groups and social movement actors in new directions of governance in urban and peri-urban areas? Can we really talk about more inclusive and ‘democratized’ models of participation in the governance of agriculture and food – and even food sovereignty? How can governance initiatives of social entrepreneurship, social innovation and institutional deep reforms be triggered from social movements and craft new ways for organizing transactions and relationships around peri(urban) agriculture and food issues?
The Research Topic focuses on:
- food policy reforms and planning initiatives;
- new governance models aiming at some degree of food sovereignty;
- governance of food production and consumption within the context of social and solidarity economy and eco-social transformation in urban and peri-urban areas.
More precisely, we encourage the submission of manuscripts that explore theoretical, empirical and institutional aspects of urban and peri-urban agriculture related to the following themes:
- Critical perspectives on the emergence and evolution of alternative agri-food networks and practices that are related to UPA and their potential for creating food policy reforms and governance that enable a just transition to sustainability in this enduring crisis context;
- Governance dimensions of food sovereignty or food democracy narratives and their contribution to building resilient place-based food systems, including the role of urban and peri-urban agriculture;
- New governance directions of social movements and social entrepreneurship for food democracy and food sovereignty (UPA, producer organizations, consumer cooperatives, CSA, agro-ecological activism etc.) and their potential for transforming public policies (food justice, inclusiveness and solidarity, food security, nutrition and health policies, integrated food policies);
- The role of politics and planning for the empowerment of UPA farmers and the inclusion of producers, consumers and citizens in participatory governance schemes (sustainable food planning and urban food strategies, agroecological urbanism, local food councils, community-building, multi-stakeholder and collaborative governance).
Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi Dataset
RECKINGER, R. (01 December 2022). Values-based territorial food networks. Qualifying sustainable and ethical transitions of alternative food networks. Regions & Cohesion, 12 (3, Winter 2022), 78-109. doi:10.3167/reco.2022.120305
This comparative literature review of local food systems, short food supply chains, and civic food networks, subsumed under alternative food networks (AFN), suggests converging them into the novel
umbrella-term values-based territorial food networks (VTFN). Based on the analysis of specificities and shortcomings in the four concepts, VTFN aims to enhance conceptual clarity, while the current coexistence conceals structural and systemic commonalities—relevant for understanding pathways to ethical and sustainable food system transformations. Taking stock of issues in the four concepts, VTFN strives to be overarching and pragmatic. It qualifi es AFN’s “alternativeness” through social, economic,
environmental and governance “sustainability values” and through the co-construction of “territoriality” in varying constellations. Thus, it fosters integrated scientific dialogue about conceptual determinations of emerging networks of food system transitions worldwide.
Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi
RECKINGER, R., KAPGEN, D., KORJONEN, M. H., & PAX, A. C. (2022). The methodological approach of developing the interactive infographic: ‘Food System Discovery – Actors and activities in Luxembourg’. An explanatory overview for users.
The methodology behind creating the interactive infographic: ‘Food System Discovery – Actors and activities in Luxembourg’ included several rounds of literature reviews, other data collection methods, data analysis and data visualisation.
The initial methodological step was a two-fold literature review; the first to find out how food systems are usually conceptualised and depicted in literature, find strengths and gaps in these conceptualisations, and provide a further development to food system approaches. It led to a broad view of the foodscape, made from the food supply circuit actors and the broader food system actors as one inseparable entity or system. The second literature review concerned theories of visualisation of data as well as theories of information and knowledge representation to find a method to depict food system data in an as complete as possible while still accessible way.
Data collection after the initial literature reviews consisted in gathering information on food system actors and their activities, and the specificities of actors and their activities in Luxembourg. We relied on grey and published literature, Internet browsing, media monitoring, and other data collection activities such as interviews, brainstorming, snowballing with food actors as well as feedback sessions with students, food system actors and fellow researchers.
A large database of collected data was created to organise actors and their activities in several classification levels. To do this, we analysed each actor’s mission and their main activity, and described their activities by using descriptors (descriptive keywords) for main action, sub-action, refined sub- action, produce/output and in some cases hierarchy. For the interactive infographic, this led to a four- level depiction with each new level refining the previous one (Level 1=Actor categories, each one represented by a different colourful bubble; Level 2=Actor groups, represented as elements composing the bubbles; Level 3=Actor types; Level 4=Actor examples). Regarding transposability to different contexts (other than Luxembourg), levels one and two are mostly transposable to food systems in general whereas level three is more Luxembourg-specific and level four is Luxembourg-exclusive.
This document outlines the methodological approach and creation process of the interactive infographic to a varied audience, with due regard to communicating the approach to the general public. It can be used as an accompanying guide for discovering the infographic interactively.
RECKINGER, R., KAPGEN, D., KORJONEN, M. H., & Pax, A. (2022). Infographic 2: Food System Discovery - Actors and Activities in Luxembourg.
This infographic forms part of a larger series of infographics produced by the Sustainable Food Practices team at the University of Luxembourg. The first infographic is titled ‘Food System Synopsis – The Foodscape in Luxembourg’ and is available on our website.
The second and interactive infographic, titled ‘Food System Discovery – Actors and activities in Luxembourg’, derives from our first infographic and provides a deeper level of analysis, a description and definitions of all the actor groups and their activities in the food system. The interactive online version is available here.
The purpose of the series of infographics produced by the Sustainable Food Practices team at the University of Luxembourg is to analyse the food system in Luxembourg in four steps – from mapping the existing foodscape in Luxembourg to elaborating pathways for the transition processes towards a more sustainable food system.
This 2nd Infographic ‘Food System Discovery – Actors and activities in Luxembourg’ (reference: IG2-v.A) allows a user to explore the previously published, first static Infographic (‘Food System Synopsis – The foodscape in Luxembourg’) in further depth using playful and interactive navigation tools.
Our methodological approach to this infographic will be made available here soon.
Our research resulted in the two overarching kinds of actors: those that deal directly ‘with’ food – operating at the level of the food supply circuit, and actors engaging in a varied array of activities revolving ‘around’ food – operating at the broader food system level. These two combined comprise the whole food system. The research then led to an ensuing distillation of these actors into: actor categories, actor groups, and actor types, with each level further specifying the activities taken by actors. The definitions of the actor categories, actor groups and actor types allows the infographic to be transposed to other contexts, while only the example actors from Luxembourg are context-specific to the country. For these reasons, the depicted food system is not only Luxembourg’s food system, but a more general view of food systems.
In the future we will build on the two first infographics to demonstrate interrelationships, pressure points, gaps and opportunities – and the outcome of this analysis will provide the basis for the research team to unfold pathways for potential optimisation of different leverage points within the system.
RECKINGER, R. (2022). Qu’est-ce que des réseaux d’acteurs basés sur des valeurs communes et la territorialité peuvent apporter pour une alimentation durable? [Paper presentation]. Webinaire du projet Interreg FRUGAL: La mise en réseau pour une meilleure gestion des pertes, surplus et invendus alimentaires, Luxembourg, Luxembourg.
RECKINGER, R., KAPGEN, D., KORJONEN, M. H., & Pax, A. (August 2022). Goodness Groceries! A mobile sustainable food shopping app advocating for food literacy and ethical choices. Entailments for suppliers, consumers and researchers [Paper presentation]. ESA RN5 – Midterm Meeting of the Research Network of Sociology of Consumption, Oslo, Norway.
Within the currently rising concerns around sustainability of food systems, in the related economic areas of regenerative production modes, responsible supply chains and informed consumption, there often remains a practice gap between what people know they should do and what they actually do. This is preceded by a knowledge gap: the knowledge of what a sustainable product specifically is tends not to be entirely consensual, blurred with potentially contradicting injunctions between different claims of sustainability. Instead of trying to solve this puzzle with metrics, we propose an App that makes various components of sustainability transparent, thus qualifying sustainability complexity. Our aim is not to hierarchically determine ‘the best’ sustainable choice, but rather to relationally empower consumers to choose the product with the sustainability criteria that most fit their values and priorities.
Goodness Groceries is a University of Luxembourg consumer study piloting a mobile sustainable food shopping app in partnership with a supermarket chain. The App acts as a virtual shopping companion providing eco-responsible and ethical product information of selected staple food products, each time for up to four types: local organic, local conventional, imported organic and imported conventional. The information provided is based on self-assessments made by product suppliers. Each food item is granted criteria in the four main areas of Environment, Social Well-being, Economic Well-being and Good Governance, subdivided into relevant indicators (cf. SAFA guidelines, FAO 2014) – marked with easy-to-recognise icons. The user-friendly App is designed to scan alternatives of the same product via a QR code whilst shopping, to analyse if this helps consumers make an informed choice – or not, and why.
Starting in Spring 2022, entailments of the (ongoing) study and App in terms of structural obstacles for researchers, necessary supply chain adaptations for suppliers and analysis of consumers’ shopping habits and App usage feedback will be discussed.
Igos, E., & RECKINGER, R. (29 June 2022). The environmental impact of our food [Paper presentation]. Sustainability Lunchtalk Series of the University of Luxembourg, Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg.
RECKINGER, R. (08 June 2022). Priorities of a Food Policy Council for Luxembourg towards a Just, Diversified and Sustainable Food System: Surveys with Citizens and Food System Professionals [Paper presentation]. FUSILLI (Urban PLanning): WP1 & WP2 Workshop, Periodic & Workpackage leaders meeting, General Assembly & Review meeting, Oslo, Norway.
RECKINGER, R. (2022). Kiss the Ground. Screening followed by a discussion with Philippe Nathan (2001) + Rachel Reckinger (University of Luxembourg) [Paper presentation]. Kiss the Ground. Screening by LUCA (Luxembourg Center for Architecture) followed by a discussion, Luxembourg, Luxembourg.
RECKINGER, R., & Le Roux, Y. (29 March 2022). Enjeux de la transition pour des systèmes alimentaires durables [Paper presentation]. Journée AROMA: Résultats, bilan et perspectives. Pour une plateforme qui facilite l’achat et la vente de produits locaux en Grande Région, Longwy, France.
RECKINGER, R. (2022). Exploring Priorities of a Food Policy Council for Luxembourg: Empirical Results of Two Surveys Conducted with Citizens and Food System Professionals [Paper presentation]. Réunion plénière du Conseil supérieur pour un Développement Durable (CSDD), Luxembourg, Luxembourg.
RECKINGER, R. (02 February 2022). Was haben mein Tofu-Burger und mein Rindersteak mit dem Klima zu tun? [Paper presentation]. #LecturesForFuture – Klimawandel in den (Weit)Blick nehmen – Winter Semester 21/22, Trier, Germany.
In diesem Vortrag werden zunächst die Zusammenhänge zwischen Klima und Ernährungssystem aufgezeigt und mit alltagsrelevanten Beispielen illustriert. Hierbei wird sowohl die Ebene der Konsument_innen in den Blick genommen als auch die systemische Ebene von öffentlichen Einrichtungen, Labelvergebung und Nachhaltigkeitsbildung. Zudem wird die Rolle von mehr oder weniger kohärenten Agrar- und Ernährungspolitiken beleuchtet. Die anzustrebende Transition zu Ernährungssouveränität innerhalb planetarer Grenzen wird erläutert.
Danach werden Lösungsvorschläge erarbeitet, wie ein solches nachhaltiges, sozial gerechtes und ethisches Ideal erreicht werden kann. Hierbei spielen partizipative Ansätze – wie etwa Ernährungsräte – eine grundlegende Rolle, da sie staatliches Handeln mit Marktinitiativen und Innovationen aus Zivilgesellschaft und Forschung kombinieren. Durch gemeinschaftliches Engagement können konkrete Projekte zur systemischen Ernährungswende initiiert und gelebte Ernährungsdemokratie umgesetzt werden. Damit sowohl Tofu-Burger wie Rindersteaks klima-, umwelt- und sozialverträglich sein können.
PAX, A. C., & RECKINGER, R. (2022). Exploring Priorities of a Food Policy Council for Luxembourg: Empirical Results of Two Surveys Conducted with Citizens and Food System Professionals. Luxembourg, Luxembourg: University of Luxembourg. https://orbilu.uni.lu/handle/10993/50552
Stoll, E., Schader Christian, Bohn Torsten, RECKINGER, R., Leimbrock Laura, Altmann Gilles, & Zimmer Stéphanie. (08 September 2021). Integrated analysis of the impacts of organic farming at farm and food system level in Luxembourg [Paper presentation]. Organic World Congress 2020.
The Luxembourg government aims to achieve 20% organic agriculture until 2025 and 100% organic agriculture until 2050. The aim of the project is to analyse the impact such a change will have at the farm, as well as on the food system level in Luxembourg. This will be done by conducting a sustainability assessment at the farm-level and the food system-level. For the farm-level sustainability assessment, farm management systems and their respective sustainability implications according to the FAO SAFA Guidelines (Guidelines for the Sustainability Assessment of Food and Agriculture Systems) will be assessed using the SMART-Farm Tool. At the food system-level, the mass-flow model of the agriculture and food sector Soil and Organic Livestock (SOL)-Model will be employed to analyse the environmental implications of dietary patterns and agriculture production systems, where the data from the farm-level assessment will be used to increase specificity of the scenarios.
Peer reviewed
RECKINGER, R. (02 September 2021). Values-Based Territorial Food Networks (VTFN): conceptual framework spanning Local Food Systems (LFS), Short Food Supply Chains (SFSC), Civic Food Networks (CFN) and Alternative Food Networks (AFN) [Paper presentation]. 15th European Sociological Association Conference: "Sociological knowledges for alternative futures", Barcelona, Spain.
Localized food growing and livestock rearing initiatives with more direct transformation and commercialization structures, often at comparably small scales, gained ground worldwide. They represent various types of ‘alternatives’ to industrialised agri-food processes and to standard producers/consumers divides characterizing the global food system. While these alternatives are not always new, they have sparked growing scholarly interest.
Over time, the literature has addressed them via four main conceptual denominations: Local Food Systems (LFS), Short Food Supply Chains (SFSCs), Civic Food Networks (CFS), Alternative Food Networks (AFN). These concepts have distinct foci, partial overlaps, and they seek to capture an immense heterogeneity of empirical phenomena. Yet this conceptual plurality risks to conceal that these empirical initiatives, despite their differences, have structural commonalities at food system level, relevant for understanding pathways to a sustainable food system transformation.
Therefore, I argue for an overarching concept subsuming the existing ones. Values-based Territorial Food Networks (VTFN) would take into account the diverse perspectives from the four main concepts in this field, classify their specificities and address their shortcomings. The social critique at their core, leading to transitions, is constructed around values of ’doing things differently’, at the level of specific territories. The more robust and authentic these sustainability values in VTFN are – in terms of environmental integrity, social well-being, economic resilience and ethical governance – the more likely they are to be incorporated into practices, to become more and more legitimate and gain a voice at negotiation tables, in order to help reorient the current corporate agrifood regime.
RECKINGER, R., & Adami, J. (2021). Ernährungssouveränität: Transformation des Ernährungssystems. Woxx.
Adami, J., Schneider, N., & RECKINGER, R. (2021). Ernährungssouveränität : Zweckentfremdeter Rat. Woxx.
RECKINGER, R. (2021). Conseils de politique alimentaire : un rôle-clé dans la démocratie. Le Quotidien.
RECKINGER, R., Nemes, G., Chiffoleau, Y., Zollet, S., Collison, M., Benedek, Z., Colantuono, F., Dulsrud, A., Fiore, M., Holtkamp, C., Kim, T.-Y., Korzun, M., Mesa-Manzano, R., Ruiz-Martinez, I., Smith, K., Tamura, N., Viteri, M. L., & Orban, E. (June 2021). The impact of COVID-19 on alternative and local food systems and the potential for the sustainability transition: Insights from 13 countries. Sustainable Production and Consumption, 28 (2021), 591–599. doi:10.1016/j.spc.2021.06.022
The COVID-19 pandemic has been a major stress test for the agri-food system. While most research has analysed the impact of the pandemic on mainstream food systems, this article examines how alternative and local food systems (ALFS) in 13 countries responded in the first months of the crisis. Using pri- mary and secondary data and combining the Multi-Level Perspective with social innovation approaches, we highlight the innovations and adaptations that emerged in ALFS, and how these changes have cre- ated or supported the sustainability transition in production and consumption systems. In particular, we show how the combination of social and technological innovation, greater citizen involvement, and the increased interest of policy-makers and retailers have enabled ALFS to extend their scope and engage new actors in more sustainable practices. Finally, we make recommendations concerning how to support ALFS’ upscaling to embrace the opportunities arising from the crisis and strengthen the sustainability transition
Peer reviewed
BECKER, T., CANE, F., Charitonidou, M., EVRARD, E., Faber, C., FERREIRA SILVA, M., HADJI-MINAGLOU, J.-R., HANSEN, J., HESSE, M., KATSIKIS, N., König, A., MARIC, M., MIESSEN, M., NEUPANE, S., ODENBREIT, C., POPOVA, S. B., RECKINGER, R., SCHULZ, C., SWINNEN, P., ... BABIC, E. (Other coll.). (2021). Luxembourg 2050 - Prospects for a Regenerative City Landscape : Report Phase 2. (2). Luxembourg: Luxembourg in Transition. https://orbilu.uni.lu/handle/10993/50260
RECKINGER, R. (2021). Pathways to designing a truly sustainable food system for Luxembourg: Take-home messages from crises. In C. Reckinger, R. Urbé, ... C. Weirich, Sozialalmanach 2021. Schwéierpunkt: Wéi ee Lëtzebuerg fir muer? Raus aus der Kris – mee wohin? (pp. 179-192). Luxembourg, Luxembourg: Caritas Luxembourg.
Peer reviewed
RECKINGER, R., KAPGEN, D., & KORJONEN, M. H. (2021). Food Governance durch Qualitätszertifizierungen. In J. Godeman & T. Bartelmeß, Handbuch Ernährungskommunikation. Interdisziplinäre Perspektiven im Kontext von Nachhaltigkeit (1). Springer DE. doi:10.1007/978-3-658-27315-6_27-1
In diesem Beitrag wird das Potential von Qualitätszertifizierungen zur Förderung eines nachhaltigen oder ethisch verantwortlichen Lebensmitteleinkaufs, sowohl in Bezug auf VerbraucherInnen als auch Akteure des öffentlichen Beschaffungswesens, vorgestellt. Es wird gezeigt, dass Governance-basierte Qualitätszertifizierungen wie Label effiziente Kommunikationsinstrumente für nachhaltigkeitsorientierte Ernährung sein können, indem sie Ernährungskompetenz und nachhaltigeres Einkaufsverhalten bei potentiell widersprüchlichen Interessen fördern, insbesondere, wenn die Zertifizierung den Mehrwert des Produktes transparent aufzeigt und die definierten Nachhaltigkeitskriterien gesetzlich verpflichtend sind.
Political food communication may take many forms, including direct recommendations to public institutions and private households (cf. Reckinger/Régnier 2017), or more indirect labelling schemes that certify various types of quality – from sustainable via nutritious to ethical. The underlying governance claims differ in those cases: in the first one, priority is given to analytical, top-down information to procurement actors and to individuals of a given population; in the second one, action is rather taken in the direction of food production and transformation, be it top-down or participatory, with an associated effort to make the communicated guarantees transparent to consumers.
In this article, we will analyse in a praxeological perspective the contrasting governance claims that structure a selection of labelling schemes in contemporary Luxembourg: official ones (such as organic produce, among others), voluntary and regional ones, international ones, as well as supermarket brands blurring boundaries and using overlaps of several labels. We will compare the guarantees and transparency that labels tend to offer in the socio-ecological, socioeconomic, sociocultural and socio-political dimensions of food certification, viewed as a potentially enabling or disabling form of food communication. At the same time, we will examine the potential of these aids for individual consumers’ priorities and public procurement actors’ legal framework in selecting foodstuffs with added sustainable or ethical value, asking the question if such certifications are efficient tools of food communication and ultimately of an enhanced food literacy in an arena of potentially conflicting and crowded messages.
Peer reviewed
BENETTO, E., Gibon, T., Hitaj, C., HESSE, M., Molz, M., Karine, P., SCHULZ, C., HERTWECK, F. (Ed.), Babic, E. (Other coll.), BECKER, T. (Other coll.), Biwer, A. (Other coll.), Coignet, P. (Other coll.), EVRARD, E. (Other coll.), HADJI-MINAGLOU, J.-R. (Other coll.), JUNK, J. (Other coll.), HANSEN, J. (Other coll.), Hardy, D. (Other coll.), Katsikis, N. (Other coll.), Kessler, S. (Other coll.), ... Abdullah, A. (Other coll.). (2021). Luxembourg 2050 - Prospects for a Regenerative City Landscape : Report Phase 1. (1). Luxembourg: Luxembourg in Transition. https://orbilu.uni.lu/handle/10993/50573
Babi Almenar, J., Coignet, P., Gibon, T., Hitaj, C., Kessler, C., MARIC, M., Molz, M., Paris, K., Schneider, N., SCHULZ, C., Fox, K., ZIMMER, C., HERTWECK, F. (Ed.), Abdullah, A. (Other coll.), Babic, E. (Other coll.), BECKER, T. (Other coll.), BENETTO, E. (Other coll.), Biwer, A. (Other coll.), Braun, C. (Other coll.), ... Wengler, J. (Other coll.). (2021). Luxembourg 2050 - Prospects for a Regenerative City-Landscape - Report Phase 2. (2). Luxembourg: Luxembourg in Transition. https://orbilu.uni.lu/handle/10993/50609
RECKINGER, R. (October 2020). Some Reflections on the Resilience of Luxembourg's Food System. Sustainability IMS Mag, 10, p. 68-69 puis 161.
Moments of crisis like the current one sparked by Covid-19, engage social, economic, cultural and political institutions of a society and stress-test their resourcefulness, while individual and collective food supplies become primary concerns. Where does even the wealthiest of EU member States stand when it comes to food sovereignty and specific vulnerabilities, what needs to change and which food policies are needed to facilitate a sustainable food system – both locally and internationally? Combining qualitative, empirical research methods to textual and statistical analysis, as well as transformative research, I focus on key areas of Luxembourg’s food system presenting challenges – specific ones and structural ones intertwined with issues in other countries – and discuss current and planned pathways of optimisation. I will start out with an analysis of agricultural and commercial specificities of a food system with low self-sufficiency rates, linked to meat and dairy specialisations, but also to market accessibility and market structure issues, leading to heavy imports. I will then shed light on pathways currently put into practice by the State, by economic actors, by educational actors and by social movements and coalitions of the willing, advocating ecological, ethical and qualitative production methods. Finally, I will show how the first Food Policy Council at national level that Luxembourg is currently founding is favoring a deliberate shift towards a multi-stakeholder-lead effective food policy.
RECKINGER, R. (2020). The resourcefulness of Luxembourg’s food system as put to the test by the Coronavirus lock-down. In G. Mein & J. PAUSE, The Ends of Humanities - Volume 2: Self and Society in the Corona Crisis. Perspectives from the Humanities and Social Sciences (pp. 403-423). Luxembourg, Luxembourg: Melusina Press. doi:10.26298/yx5h-6770
Moments of crisis like the current one sparked by Covid-19, engage social, economic, cultural and political institutions of a society and stress-test their resourcefulness, while individual and collective food supplies become primary concerns. Where does even the wealthiest of EU member States stand when it comes to food sovereignty and specific vulnerabilities, what needs to change and which food policies are needed to facilitate a sustainable food system – both locally and internationally? Combining qualitative, empirical research methods to textual and statistical analysis, as well as transformative research, I focus on key areas of Luxembourg’s food system presenting challenges – specific ones and structural ones intertwined with issues in other countries – and discuss current and planned pathways of optimisation. I will start out with an analysis of agricultural and commercial specificities of a food system with low self-sufficiency rates, linked to meat and dairy specialisations, but also to market accessibility and market structure issues, leading to heavy imports. I will then shed light on pathways currently put into practice by the State, by economic actors, by educational actors and by social movements and coalitions of the willing, advocating ecological, ethical and qualitative production methods. Finally, I will show how the first Food Policy Council at national level that Luxembourg is currently founding is favoring a deliberate shift towards a multi-stakeholder-lead effective food policy.
Peer reviewed
RECKINGER, R. (July 2020). Food Sovereignty and Resilience in Luxembourg. Forum für Politik, Gesellschaft und Kultur in Luxemburg, 408, 31-35.
Peer reviewed
RECKINGER, R., KAPGEN, D., & KORJONEN, M. H. (July 2020). An infographic synopsis of Luxembourg’s Food System. Forum für Politik, Gesellschaft und Kultur in Luxemburg, 408, 39-42.
Peer reviewed
RECKINGER, R., & Schneider, N. (July 2020). Stichwort Ernährungsdemokratie. Ein Ernährungsrat auf nationaler Ebene als greifbares Konzept für Luxemburg. Forum für Politik, Gesellschaft und Kultur in Luxemburg, 408, 44-47.
Peer reviewed
RECKINGER, R. (2020). How resilient is Luxembourg’s food system? RISC-RISE blog.
Moments of crisis like the current one sparked by Covid-19, engage social, economic, cultural and political institutions of a society and stress-test their resourcefulness, while individual and collective food supplies become primary concerns. Where does even the wealthiest of EU member States stand when it comes to food sovereignty and specific vulnerabilities, what needs to change and which food policies are needed to facilitate a sustainable food system – both locally and internationally? Combining qualitative, empirical research methods to textual and statistical analysis, as well as transformative research, I focus on key areas of Luxembourg’s food system presenting challenges – specific ones and structural ones intertwined with issues in other countries – and discuss current and planned pathways of optimisation. I will start out with an analysis of agricultural and commercial specificities of a food system with low self-sufficiency rates, linked to meat and dairy specialisations, but also to market accessibility and market structure issues, leading to heavy imports. I will then shed light on pathways currently put into practice by the State, by economic actors, by educational actors and by social movements and coalitions of the willing, advocating ecological, ethical and qualitative production methods. Finally, I will show how the first Food Policy Council at national level that Luxembourg is currently founding is favoring a deliberate shift towards a multi-stakeholder-lead effective food policy.
RECKINGER, R. (2020). How resilient is Luxembourg’s food system? ORBilu-University of Luxembourg. https://orbilu.uni.lu/handle/10993/45205.
Moments of crisis like the current one sparked by Covid-19, engage social, economic, cultural and political institutions of a society and stress-test their resourcefulness, while individual and collective food supplies become primary concerns. Where does even the wealthiest of EU member States stand when it comes to food sovereignty and specific vulnerabilities, what needs to change and which food policies are needed to facilitate a sustainable food system – both locally and internationally? Combining qualitative, empirical research methods to textual and statistical analysis, as well as transformative research, I focus on key areas of Luxembourg’s food system presenting challenges – specific ones and structural ones intertwined with issues in other countries – and discuss current and planned pathways of optimisation. I will start out with an analysis of agricultural and commercial specificities of a food system with low self-sufficiency rates, linked to meat and dairy specialisations, but also to market accessibility and market structure issues, leading to heavy imports. I will then shed light on pathways currently put into practice by the State, by economic actors, by educational actors and by social movements and coalitions of the willing, advocating ecological, ethical and qualitative production methods. Finally, I will show how the first Food Policy Council at national level that Luxembourg is currently founding is favoring a deliberate shift towards a multi-stakeholder-lead effective food policy.
Evelyne, S., Schader, C., Bohn, T., RECKINGER, R., Leimbrock, L., Altmann, G., & Zimmer, S. (04 May 2020). Climate SMART Agriculture: How well does the agricultural sector in Luxembourg perform in terms of climate change? [Paper presentation]. EGU General Assembly 2020, Vienna (the physical evant was cancelled du to the Coronavirus pandemic and replaced by an online event), Austria. doi:10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-18677
In Luxembourg, the agricultural sector was responsible for 711.7 Gg CO2-equivalents in 2016, which corresponds to 6.95 % of the total country greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Over 50 % of the farms are specialist grazing livestock farms. The beef and cattle milk production account globally together for over 60 % of the sector’s global emissions. Thus, the climate impact of the whole agricultural sector in Luxembourg can be significantly lowered by reducing the GHG emissions of the specialist grazing livestock sector. However, beyond farm type, the GHG emissions of a farm are also influenced by other factors, such as management systems and farming practices. To enable a transition towards a more climate-positive agriculture, insights into the sustainability performance in terms of climate change are needed.
The aim of this study is to determine the current sustainability performance of the Luxembourgish specialist grazing livestock sector in terms of climate change. The climate impact of the different specialist grazing livestock farm types (OTE (orientation technico-économique) 45 - Specialist dairying; OTE 46 - Specialist cattle - rearing and fattening and OTE 47 - Cattle - dairying, rearing and fattening combined) and of different management systems (conventional or organic) was assessed at farm-level. Furthermore, the relationship between the sustainability performance in terms of climate change and other areas of sustainability is being studied. Farming practices of 60 farms typical for Luxembourg in regard to their share of arable land and permanent grassland (OTE 45: 3 farms; OTE 46: 15; OTE 45: 11; Conventional: 44; Organic: 16) and their respective sustainability implications were assessed in 2019 according to the FAO SAFA Guidelines (Guidelines for the Sustainability Assessment of Food and Agriculture Systems, 2014) using the Sustainability Monitoring and Assessment RouTine (SMART)-Farm Tool (v5.0). Organic farms were highly overrepresented, with 26.7 % in the sample compared to 5 % of all Luxembourgish farms. The data was collected during a farm visit and a 3 h interview with the farm manager. The impact of management system and farm type on the SAFA-goal achievement for the sub-theme Greenhouse Gases (GHG) were studied.
The results show that the sustainability performances of the participating farms were moderate to good. Goal achievement for the sub-theme GHG was moderate and did not differ significantly between the three farm types (OTE 45: 53.3 % ±3.9 SD goal achievement; OTE 46: 55.6 % ±7.3 SD; OTE 47: 54.6 % ±6.9 SD). Organic farms showed a significantly higher mean goal achievement for GHG than conventional farms (p-value < 0.001) (organic: 58.3 % ±6.0 SD; conventional: 52.6 % ±4.4 SD). For indicators positively impacting GHG, the organic and the OTE 46 farms had generally higher ratings. Correlations between GHG and the other sub-themes were mainly in the Environmental Integrity dimension, showing that implementing climate-positive farming practices can also improve other ecological aspects. The indicator analysis identified the following linchpins: increase in protein autarky, closing of farming cycles and holistic approach with strategic decision making leading to harmonized actions towards a sustainable and climate positive farming system.
Stoll, E., Schader Christian, Bohn Torsten, RECKINGER, R., Leimbrock Laura, Altmann Gilles, & Zimmer Stéphanie. (04 May 2020). Climate SMART Agriculture: How well does the agricultural sector in Luxembourg perform in terms of climate change? [Paper presentation]. EGU General Assembly 2020.
In Luxembourg, the agricultural sector was responsible for 711.7 Gg CO2-equivalents in 2016, which corresponds to 6.95 % of the total country greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Over 50 % of the farms are specialist grazing livestock farms. The beef and cattle milk production account globally together for over 60 % of the sector’s global emissions. Thus, the climate impact of the whole agricultural sector in Luxembourg can be significantly lowered by reducing the GHG emissions of the specialist grazing livestock sector. However, beyond farm type, the GHG emissions of a farm are also influenced by other factors, such as management systems and farming practices. To enable a transition towards a more climate-positive agriculture, insights into the sustainability performance in terms of climate change are needed.
The aim of this study is to determine the current sustainability performance of the Luxembourgish specialist grazing livestock sector in terms of climate change. The climate impact of the different specialist grazing livestock farm types (OTE (orientation technico-économique) 45 - Specialist dairying; OTE 46 - Specialist cattle - rearing and fattening and OTE 47 - Cattle - dairying, rearing and fattening combined) and of different management systems (conventional or organic) was assessed at farm-level. Furthermore, the relationship between the sustainability performance in terms of climate change and other areas of sustainability is being studied. Farming practices of 60 farms typical for Luxembourg in regard to their share of arable land and permanent grassland (OTE 45: 3 farms; OTE 46: 15; OTE 45: 11; Conventional: 44; Organic: 16) and their respective sustainability implications were assessed in 2019 according to the FAO SAFA Guidelines (Guidelines for the Sustainability Assessment of Food and Agriculture Systems, 2014) using the Sustainability Monitoring and Assessment RouTine (SMART)-Farm Tool (v5.0). Organic farms were highly overrepresented, with 26.7 % in the sample compared to 5 % of all Luxembourgish farms. The data was collected during a farm visit and a 3 h interview with the farm manager. The impact of management system and farm type on the SAFA-goal achievement for the sub-theme Greenhouse Gases (GHG) were studied.
The results show that the sustainability performances of the participating farms were moderate to good. Goal achievement for the sub-theme GHG was moderate and did not differ significantly between the three farm types (OTE 45: 53.3 % ±3.9 SD goal achievement; OTE 46: 55.6 % ±7.3 SD; OTE 47: 54.6 % ±6.9 SD). Organic farms showed a significantly higher mean goal achievement for GHG than conventional farms (p-value < 0.001) (organic: 58.3 % ±6.0 SD; conventional: 52.6 % ±4.4 SD). For indicators positively impacting GHG, the organic and the OTE 46 farms had generally higher ratings. Correlations between GHG and the other sub-themes were mainly in the Environmental Integrity dimension, showing that implementing climate-positive farming practices can also improve other ecological aspects. The indicator analysis identified the following linchpins: increase in protein autarky, closing of farming cycles and holistic approach with strategic decision making leading to harmonized actions towards a sustainable and climate positive farming system.
Peer reviewed
RECKINGER, R. (2020). Luxemburgs Ernährungssystem im Stresstest. Luxemburger Wort.
RECKINGER, R., KAPGEN, D., & KORJONEN, M. H. (20 April 2020). Nous voulons apporter notre soutien sur le fond du débat. Brennpunkt. Le magazine critique sur le développement, 309 (Mars 2020), p. 25-26.
RECKINGER, R. (2020). How resilient is Luxembourg's food system? [Paper presentation]. Resilience café N° 2, Luxembourg.
RECKINGER, R. (2020). Constructions contestées et contrastées de la notion de terroir. Symbolique Politique, Savoir Scientifique, Typicité Culturale et Culturelle. In L. Yengué & K. Stengel, Le terroir viticole. Espace et figures de qualité (pp. 247-265). Tours, France: Presses Universitaires François Rabelais.
Peer reviewed
RECKINGER, R. (2020). Reprise de conscience de la saisonnalité via la régionalité. In C. Adamiec, M.-P. Julien, ... F. Régnier, L’alimentation au fil des saisons. La saisonnalité des pratiques alimentaires (pp. 71-92). Tours, France: Presses Universitaires François Rabelais.
Basé sur deux études empiriques, conjointement quantitatives et qualitatives, menées dans le contexte de deux projets interdisciplinaires à l’Université du Luxembourg (IDENT – Identités socio-culturelles et politiques identitaires au Luxembourg (2007-2010) et IDENT2 – Processus de régionalisation et constructions identitaires dans des espaces transfrontaliers (2011-2016)), l’argumentaire porte sur l’interface régionalité / saisonnalité tant au Grand-Duché que dans les régions limitrophes.
En effet, dans les populations considérées, la régionalité comme qualification alimentaire prime largement sur la saisonnalité, qui, elle, demande une réflexivité et une conscience agricole plus importante. Mais la forme locavore de la notion de régionalité est actuellement une tendance montante et elle favorise, justement, une (re)prise de conscience des contextes géolocalisés de la production alimentaire. Sa diffusion pourrait avoir un impact positif sur la saisonnalité tant dans les représentations que dans les pratiques des consommateurs – en tant que facteur de réduction d’émissions liées au transport, de potentiel d’identification communautaire et de valorisation locale, ainsi que de lutte contre le gaspillage alimentaire.
Peer reviewed
Stoll, E., Schader, C., Bohn, T., RECKINGER, R., Leimbrock, L., Altmann, G., & Zimmer, S. (2020). Integrated analysis of the impacts of organic farming at farm and food system level in Luxembourg [Paper presentation]. Organic World Congress 2020 (postponed to 2021), Rennes, France.
The Luxembourg government aims to achieve 20% organic agriculture until 2025 and 100% organic agriculture until 2050. The aim of the project is to analyse the impact such a change will have at the farm, as well as on the food system level in Luxembourg. This will be done by conducting a sustainability assessment at the farm-level and the food system-level. For the farm-level sustainability assessment, farm management systems and their respective sustainability implications according to the FAO SAFA Guidelines (Guidelines for the Sustainability Assessment of Food and Agriculture Systems) will be assessed using the SMART-Farm Tool. At the food system-level, the mass-flow model of the agriculture and food sector Soil and Organic Livestock (SOL)-Model will be employed to analyse the environmental implications of dietary patterns and agriculture production systems, where the data from the farm-level assessment will be used to increase specificity of the scenarios.
Peer reviewed
RECKINGER, R. (26 June 2019). Ambivalences in the Governmentality of Alternative Food Networks: convenience, social selectivity and marketability [Paper presentation]. European Society for Rural Sociology Conference 2019: Rural futures in a complex world, Trondheim, Norway.
Recently, a number of resourceful community-driven initiatives for local food production and retail have arisen in Luxembourg, where low organic agricultural rates are paired with high consumer demands for organic produce. The main impact that heterodox actors can have seems to be the creation of resourcefulness from innovative niches, not designed to be upscaled but spread by ubiquitous networking. The motivations of actors involved in such social movements, albeit diverse, tend to stem from a stance of care and ethical (self)government, often using community self-organisation-tools.
Based on qualitative interviews and participant observation, we expand on four case studies of fruit and vegetable production as well as unpackaged and socially responsible food retail in Luxembourg. One has been established since the 1980s with over 200 employees, partly in social insertion measures, producing and importing organic fruit and vegetables. Since 2014, three significantly smaller initiatives with higher citizen involvement have emerged. These recent initiatives are more radical in their agro-ecological and/or permaculture practices, proposing a political enacting of circular economy precepts.
Yet, daily practices stay embedded in social, cultural and economic constraints and in routines, which are built on tacit knowledge and engrained convenience. By analysing ethical entrepreneurship and the governmentality at its core as well as ambivalences and paradoxes within convenience, social selectivity and marketability, this paper touches on interrelations between food policies and the politics of contested claims for, and practices of, social and environmental justice.
Peer reviewed
RECKINGER, R., Nemes, G., & Lajos, V. (25 June 2019). Benefits, challenges, social learning and controversies around Local Food Systems [Paper presentation]. European Society for Rural Sociology Conference, Trondheim, Norway.
Objectives:
Our WG touches upon three main elements among the themes of the conference:
(1) innovation, (2) social justice and (3) knowledge production.
Innovative local food systems and alternative food networks, approached from a collaborative and participatory angle, bring about a cultural shift by associating prosumers through a renewed form of trust, reciprocity and community, thus reinforcing social and ecological justice. At the same time, such heterodox actors in the transition to more sustainable food systems create new forms of knowledge, that are contested, co-constructed and potentially conflictual – along with enabling or disabling policymaking and, often, in dialogue with research.
Our main objective is in this topic to start the process of creating an edited special issue of a peer reviewed journal (Sociologia Ruralis, Studies of Agricultural Economics or similar) should raise from this WG. We invite researchers working in the area of (local) food systems, alternative food networks, short food supply chains and related topics (rural tourism, community supported agriculture, etc.). We consider both the benefits and possible conflicts/problems in the connected socio-economic, cultural and environmental processes and welcome theoretical papers and case studies, too.
Topic:
By welcoming case studies from all geographical areas, in a comparative manner, this Working Group’s aim is to address different understandings and dynamics happening within and around different types of Local Food Systems (LFS).
Alternative food networks, local food systems and short food supply chains have long been viewed as a sustainable, green way of raising the value added and creating opportunities for sur/re-vival of rural economy and society. They induce many benefits in terms of environmental impact, cultural exemplification, ethical entrepreneurship, social justice or rural development.
Conceptually, LFS can be understood as ‘local food for local people’, as for example in the Slow Food or the community supported agriculture (CSA) movements. They are then associated with low food miles, environmental protection (Jones 2002), enhanced social networks and revitalised local communities (Fenstra 1997). From a local economic development perspective, in particular when LFS produce high quality products, they can equally be considered as ‘local food for non-local people’, either transported to urban centres, or attracting flows of tourists into rural areas. Here LFS can still enhance local businesses, economic and rural development, yet social and environmental benefits (Guthman 2004) of such foodstuffs, marketed with the added value of environmental and social responsibility, are more difficult to trace.
Therefore, besides benefits, we would also like to analyse potential dissonances, that the distinction between local or extra-local target groups help to identify – for instance:
• established, certified organic producers might criticize non-certified yet organically producing CSAs as fragmenting an already minority market or showing a lack of solidarity by not contributing to organic labels;
• when LFS end up producing high quality, expensive products, a dynamic of social exclusion might occur, favoring the wealthy;
• enhanced local production, tourism, and visitor pressure can cause social, economic, and environmental degradation, multiplier effects do not always occur to build more businesses and sustain social and economic capital;
• innovative alternative food networks tend to struggle with territorial competition over land and resources, but if they rely on external investments, they might additionally be confronted – more insidiously – with the risk of co-option by neoliberal corporate agendas.
We welcome analyses focusing on negotiations and struggles among actors in a multifaceted foodscape, where some block and some enhance transitions. Viewing the relationships, interconnectedness and agency of niche innovations, local and non-local appropriations as well regime hegemonies opens up the theoretical perspective of contested knowledge claims.
We look for questions and answers including:
• How are dynamics of “knowing and growing food in a contested arena” (Goodman, DuPuis, Goodman, 2014) negotiated – sometimes in a mutually enhancing and locally beneficial way, sometimes in more conflictual ways?
• What are the local and extra-local stakeholders’ (producers, intermediaries, customers, tourists) different and often conflicting interests and responsibilities in LFS?
• What can we learn from the tensions and local problems of LFS in order to support relevant policies to solve current controversies within the sector?
• How can rural sociologists use their knowledge and influence to support local rural stakeholders of LFS?
Peer reviewed
RECKINGER, R. (06 June 2019). Networks and Governance of Local Food Systems. The case of Food Policy Councils [Paper presentation]. Fifth International Convention on Food History and Food Studies, Tours, France.
CARR, C., König, A., RECKINGER, R., SCHULZ, C., SIEBENTRITT, S., & TEFERLE, F. N. (2019). "Keine Schwarzseher" Forscher der Universität Luxemburg unterstützen Jugendliche von "Fridays for Future". Luxemburger Wort, p. 12.
RECKINGER, R., & Schneider, N. (02 January 2019). Wege zur Ernährungsdemokratie. Rückblick auf den 2. Vernetzungskongress der Ernährungsräte in Frankfurt. Transition Luxembourg Magazine ö!, 39 (January 2019), p. 23-25.
Face à la mondialisation et l’intégration verticale des maillons de la chaîne alimentaire aux mains des géants multinationaux de l’industrie agroalimentaire, des initiatives alternatives se développent pour relocaliser et transformer la gouvernance de nos systèmes alimentaires. Au cœur de ce mouvement, on retrouve l’émergence de Conseils de Politique Alimentaire (en anglais : Food Policy Council). Il s’agit d’organes et de plateformes multi-acteurs qui ont pour objectif d’identifier et de proposer des solutions innovantes et transdisciplinaires en vue d’améliorer les systèmes alimentaires à l’échelle territoriale, en s’assurant qu’ils soient plus durables du point de vue environnemental et plus justes du point de vue social. Le Conseil alimentaire intègre des représentants des différents secteurs tout au long de la chaîne alimentaire (production, transformation, distribution, consommation et recyclage), mais également des acteurs de la gouvernance du système alimentaire (politique, administration, éducation, société civile, recherche). En Allemagne, ces initiatives foisonnent depuis que le premier Cpnseil de politique alimentaire ait été créé en 2016 à Cologne. Le 2ème congrès des initiatives germanophones, à Frankfort fin novembre 2018, a permis une meilleure compréhension de cet instrument participatif de promotion de la souveraineté alimentaire et du droit à l’alimentation et à la nutrition. Si vous voulez en savoir plus, merci de nous contacter : norry@cell.lu et rachel.reckinger@uni.lu
RECKINGER, R. (2019). Converging Terroir Typicity for Political Usage and Didactic Normativity. The Metonymical Institutionalization of Wine in Luxembourg. In S. A. Conca Messina, S. Le Bras, P. Tedeschi, ... M. Vaquero Piñeiro, A History of Wine in Europe, 19th to 20th Century: Volume II: Markets, Trade and the Regulation of Quality (pp. 213-232). London, Unknown/unspecified: Palgrave Macmilan. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-27794-9
The current aestheticization and hyper-differentiation of wines in terms of their region of origin is part of a broader historical process of rationalization. Three vectors have since the 19th century played a key role in the forming of oenophilia: these are regulation by the state, scientific consolidation and dissemination via the media – whose convergent effects have contributed in constructing an object with particular characteristics. This seemingly homogenous object – whose plural even conflictual construction is hardly visible – requires specific consideration also in terms of its consumption: the oenophile gesture, i.e. a reflective, contemplative and comparative attitude, mixing aesthetic and analytical registers, in order to rationalize the pleasure of wine. This cultural figure draws on the normativity of these three vectors, all of which have underscored the importance of the geographical provenance of wine in order to use it depending on their respective positions.
What political usage and didactic normativity regarding the subject of wine have in common is the reference to its 'origin'. In the economic-juridical and political-symbolic manifestations of the vector of state regulation, this 'origin' refers to a cultural region of national sovereignty which is constructed in a metonymic way as the native region of national specificity. In the didactic realizations of oenophile normativity, emerging from the vector of scientific consolidation, this 'origin' refers in an epistemic way to parcellated vineyard regions which are constructed as terroirs by the interaction of traditional, man-made viticultural techniques and the natural conditions, holding sensory potentials whose sub-text is of a moral order. Wine’s 'origin' is the argument necessary to convey an impression of absoluteness: in the case of politics it is the symbolic uniqueness of the nationality in question, in the case of oenophile normativity, what is aimed for is the sensory and moral uniqueness of every wine whose intention of production was an "expression of the terroir".
Peer reviewed
RECKINGER, R. (December 2018). Social Change for Sustainable Localized Food Sovereignty. Convergence between Prosumers and Ethical Entrepreneurs. Sociologia del Lavoro, 152 (4), 174-192. doi:10.3280/SL2018-152010
Some resourceful community-driven initiatives for local food production and retail have
recently appeared in Luxembourg, where low organic agricultural rates are paradoxically
paired with high consumer demands. This niche of social innovators combines agroecology
with circular economy practices. Four cases of alternative food networks are
presented here – studied with qualitative interviews and participant observation. One was
established in the 1980s and has about 200 employees, partly linked to social assistance.
The more recent and smaller initiatives are characterised by cooperative governance, a
community-supported agricultural outlook, hands-on workshops and time banks, all
enabled by social media. These initiatives are more radical in their agro-ecological or
permaculture practices, focusing on regenerative land use without relying on imports and
fostering the integration of consumers with varying degrees of prosumer involvement.
This politicised step goes further than mere (and possibly industrialised) organic
production. It represents a cultural shift in the food system by attracting media and policy
interest, diverting attention away from individuals and focusing instead on the collective
efforts that are necessary to build a more resilient food system.
Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi
RECKINGER, R., & WILLE, C. (November 2018). Situative Interdisciplinarity: Empirical Reflections on Ten Years of Cross-Disciplinary Research. Academic Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies, 7 (3), 9-34. doi:10.2478/ajis-2018-0055
Given the current call for interdisciplinarity, we reflect on pragmatic methodological implementations of collaborative research – by drawing on empirical evidence from two large-scale cross-disciplinary research projects and by theoretically framing them in trilingual contexts (German, French, and English). These are two major innovations compared to the existing body of literature in this domain. Our empirical analysis shows that multi-, inter- or trans-disciplinary collaboration is an oscillating process along a spectrum of cross-disciplinarity – spanning additive, converging and synthesizing work patterns, i.e. multi-, inter-, and transdisciplinarity. Such an umbrella-term avoids the common amalgamation of ‘interdisciplinarity’ as the overarching category (cross-disciplinarity of whatever form) and one of the relevant subcategories (the specific work form that a research team chooses). Concretely, if the majority of methods are developed through communal negotiation processes, then a truly interdisciplinary analysis of research results can only be guaranteed through recursive self-reflexive loops. Initial research questions may still be additive and interactions can oscillate during the project process between addition und tentative convergence. We label this process situative interdisciplinarity. Multi-, inter- and transdisciplinarity are thus subsumed as a processual entity: flexible, possibly hybrid subforms of cross-disciplinarity. It needs constant reactivation, framing, timing and mediation by project managers. The major challenge lies in the collaborative transfer of concepts, theories, methods and research subjects. This transfer requires translation, explication and transposition of the various disciplinary ‘languages’ and can only be converged in an open-minded, team-oriented and reflexive work environment.
Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi
RECKINGER, R. (2018). Alternative Food Networks in Luxembourg [Paper presentation]. Lunch debate: Sustainable Food Practices, Luxembourg, Luxembourg.
Dr. Rachel Reckinger is a food sociologist and anthropologist at the University of Luxembourg. She is the principal investigator of Sustainable Food Practices, spanning Luxembourg’s foodscape from production, governance, distribution to consumption. Her research focuses on policy gaps and changes of everyday practices within the transition towards a more circular economy (https://food.uni.lu). During this lunch debate, she will critically discuss a few emerging alternative food networks in Luxembourg: currently still a heterodox minority, they contribute to a cultural shift with the creation of resourcefulness for biodiversity, environmental and social justice.
RECKINGER, R. (30 August 2018). Contested Claims for Social and Environmental Justice. Ambivalences between Mundane and Deliberate Consumption in Alternative Food Networks [Paper presentation]. European Sociological Association Mid-term Conference "Consumption and consumerism: Conceptual and empirical sociological challenges", Copenhagen, Denmark.
Recently, a number of resourceful community-driven initiatives for local food production and retail have arisen in Luxembourg, where low organic agricultural rates are paired with high consumer demands for organic produce. The main impact that heterodox actors can have seems to be the creation of resourcefulness from innovative niches, not designed to be upscaled but spread by ubiquitous networking. The motivations of actors involved in such social movements, albeit diverse, tend to stem from a stance of care and ethical (self)government, often using community self-organisation-tools.
Based on qualitative interviews and participant observation, we expand on four case studies of fruit and vegetable production as well as unpackaged and socially responsible food retail in Luxembourg. One has been established since the 1980s with over 200 employees, partly in social insertion measures, producing and importing organic fruit and vegetables. Since 2014, three significantly smaller initiatives with higher citizen involvement have emerged. These recent initiatives are more radical in their agro-ecological and/or permaculture practices, proposing a political enacting of circular economy precepts.
Yet, daily practices stay embedded in social, cultural and economic constraints and in routines, which are built on tacit knowledge, collective learning and engrained practices; even though repetitive, they can account for both reproduction and innovation. By analysing ethical entrepreneurship and the governmentality at its core as well as ambivalences and paradoxes between mundane and deliberate forms of consumption, this paper touches on interrelations between food policies and the politics of contested claims for, and practices of, social and environmental justice.
RECKINGER, R. (07 June 2018). Alternative Actors in the Foodscape: Enabling Policies and Politics of Contested Claims for Social and Environmental Justice [Paper presentation]. 4e Convention d'Histoire et des Cultures de l'Alimentation, Tours, France.
Recently, a number of resourceful community-driven initiatives for local food production and retail have arisen in Luxembourg, where low organic agricultural rates are paired with high consumer demands for organic produce, leading to a largely imported organic market. As an encompassing reaction, a niche of social innovators are combining agro-ecological land use and food production with locavorousness and circular economy.
Based on qualitative interviews and participant observation, we expand on four case studies of fruit and vegetable production as well as unpackaged and/or socially responsible food retail in today’s Luxembourg. One has been established since the 1980s with over 200 employees, partly in social insertion measures, producing and importing organic fruit and vegetables. Since 2014, three significantly smaller initiatives with higher citizen involvement have emerged, with a cooperative governance structure, a claimed community-supported agricultural outlook, a dynamic presence on social media and regular hands-on workshops and activities. These recent initiatives are more radical in their agro-ecological and/or permaculture practices. In a renewed enacting of circular economy precepts, they focus on local production without relying on imports, as a politicized step further than (possibly industrialized) organic production.
Grounded in heterodox experiences of alternative actors in food production and retail niches, we analyse ethical entrepreneurship and the governmentality at its core, political enabling or disabling structures and regulations, as well as commodification and upscaling issues. Therefore, this paper touches on governance interrelations between food policies and politics the politics of contested claims for, and practices of, social and environmental justice.
RECKINGER, R., & Wahlen, S. (07 June 2018). Foodscapes in Transition: Policies and Politics Advancing Sustainable Development and Social Justice [Paper presentation]. 4e Convention Internationale d'Histoire et des Cultures de l'Alimentation, Tours, France.
In this session, we would like to discuss the impact, risks and motivations of producers and consumers altering foodscapes. Of particular interest are enabling types of governance that improve ecological balance and social justice in policies of governmental regulation and institutions but also in the politics of for example alternative food movements.
The main impact that heterodox actors can have seems to be, on one hand, the creation of resourcefulness from innovative niches, not designed to be upscaled but spread by ubiquitous networking and, on the other hand, the exemplification of heterodox economic practices that reduce the current deskilling of producers and consumers and the depletion of natural resources. The risk associated with heterodox initiatives is, besides basic economic viability, territorial competition over land and resources, as well as – more insidiously – the potential of co-option by neoliberal corporate agendas. The motivations of actors involved in such social movements, albeit diverse, tend to stem from a stance of care and ethical (self)government, often using community self-organisation-tools. Such an analysis of food value chain practices focuses on negotiations and struggles among actors in a multifaceted foodscape, where some block and some enhance transitions. Viewing the relationships, interconnectedness and agency of niche innovations and regime hegemonies opens up the perspective of contested knowledge claims. Additionally, the ways in which actors in the regulatory field advance transitions by policy measures and initiatives need to be considered, and in particular the processes of politicization as interdependencies between movement actors and the public sphere.
Yet, the daily practices stay embedded in social, cultural and economic constraints and in routines, which are built on tacit knowledge, collective learning and engrained practices; even though repetitive, they can account for both reproduction and innovation. Which types of governance at all levels have shown themselves to be effective in supporting and empowering such bottom-up changes in “knowing and growing food in a contested arena” (Goodman, DuPuis, Goodman, 2014)?
RECKINGER, R. (December 2017). Bei Innovationen geht es nicht um Wachstum oder Upscaling, sondern um Ubiquität und Exemplarität. Agrikultur. Magazin für ökologische Agrar- und Esskultur in Luxemburg, 66, p. 6-10.
RECKINGER, R. (14 November 2017). Alternative Paths Towards Sustainable Localized Food Sovereignty. Convergence between Prosumers and Ethical Entrepreneurs over Time [Paper presentation]. 8th Annual Conference of the AESOP Sustainable Food Planning Group: Re-Imagining Sustainable Food Planning, Building Resourcefulness: Food Movements, Insurgent Planning and Heterodox Economics, Coventry, United Kingdom.
Recently, a number of resourceful community-driven initiatives for local food production and retail have arisen in Luxembourg, in a context of particularly low organic agricultural rates paradoxically paired with high consumer demands for organic produce, leading to a specific market of largely imported organic goods. As an encompassing reaction to this situation, a niche of social innovators are combining agro-ecological land use and food production with locavoracity and circular economy.
Based on qualitative in-depth interviews and participant observation, we would like to expand on four micro-case studies of circular-economy-type fruit and vegetable production as well as unpackaged and/or socially responsible food retail in today’s Luxembourg. One has been established since the 1980s with over 150 employees, partly in social insertion measures, producing and importing organic fruits and vegetables, delivered via a classical box scheme system. Additionally, over the last three years three significantly smaller initiatives with higher citizen and/or community involvement have emerged. They are characterized by a cooperative governance structure, a claimed community-supported agricultural outlook, a more dynamic presence on social media and regular hands-on workshops and activities. These more recent initiatives are also more radical in their agro-ecological and/or permaculture practices, focusing on local production without relying on imports, as a politicized step further than mere (possibly industrialized) organic production, which is an altogether renewed enacting of circular economy precepts. Yet their position on the market is for the moment more fragile and marginal. Particularly, the retailers among them have to build creative consensus – according to specific priorities and stances – between their standards and the adjustment to consumers who, albeit sensitized, are in search for a certain variety and convenience.
By focusing on heterodox experiences of more or less established alternative actors in diverse yet complementary food production and retail niches, we will explore topics such as emotional collective commitment and consensus-building, ethical entrepreneurship in relation to possibly reframed standards over time, governmentality, political enabling or disabling structures and regulations, as well as commodification and upscaling issues. Therefore, this paper touches on political processes and strategies, urban agro-ecological practices as well as post-capitalist economics.
RECKINGER, R. (2017). Die Bedeutung des Tieres in Landwirtschaft und Ernährung (Podiumsdiskussion mit Sarah Wiener, Fernand Etgen, Martin von Mackensen, Camille Müller und Rachel Reckinger) [Paper presentation]. 3. Bio-Symposium in Luxemburg: Die Bedeutung des Tieres in Landwirtschaft und Ernährung, Junglinster, Luxembourg.
RECKINGER, R. (19 October 2017). Models of Sustainable Local Food Sovereignty. Prosumers’ and Ethical Entrepreneurs’ Social Innovation Practices [Paper presentation]. October Days for Sustainable Development, Luxemborug, Luxembourg.
RECKINGER, R., & Régnier, F. (30 August 2017). Diet and Public Health Campaigns: Implementation and Appropriation of Nutritional Recommendations in France and Luxembourg [Paper presentation]. 13th Conference of the European Sociological Association. (Un)Making Europe: Capitalism, Solidarities, Subjectivities, Athens, Greece.
Based on two surveys – a French and a Luxembourgish one – with in-depth-interviews, this paper examines the implementation of nutritional recommendations in two European countries. Each of them has promoted at governmental level a public health campaign regarding food consumption and daily diet. In which way – and by which social categories – are the recommendations taken in and put into practice, and if so, which appropriation processes and interpretations occur? Do the social, societal and cultural differences between Luxembourg and France, in terms of standard of living and dissemination of norms account for differentiated appropriations of dietary incentives? We will first compare the overarching goals as well as the dietary norms these two programs promote, in terms of similarities versus particularities both of the recommendations’ content and of the way they are communicated. We will then examine the perception of these norms. The comparison France / Luxembourg shows that socio-cultural logics override national ones: the way in which individuals perceive the recommendations and appropriate them reflect more the social affiliation than the national one; gender and the events of the life cycle, particularly parentality, are also relevant to the reception of dietary recommendations. Transversal to all social milieus and in both national contexts, interviewees operate a selective internalisation of the perceived recommendations in a proactive yet pragmatic posture of personal responsibility. Ultimately, public dietary recommendations are only appropriated if they match people’s daily priorities and constraints, as well as the general cultural values of their social milieu. This allows us to conclude to transnational, transversal, plural and distinctive everyday-cultural models of food consumption and differing notions of a “proper” diet.
RECKINGER, R. (27 June 2017). Gender and Food [Paper presentation]. IPSE Tea Time "Femininity & Masculinity", Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg.
RECKINGER, R., & Régnier, F. (22 June 2017). Do Public Health Campaigns Have an Impact on Diet? Institutional Set-Up and Everyday Appropriations of Nutritional Recommendations in France and Luxembourg [Paper presentation]. Comparing Health across Societies (CHASE). 4th workshop on comparative health sociology, Ghent, Belgium.
Since the early 2000s nutrition has increasingly established itself in various European countries as a major element of public health policies. The launching at governmental level of the Programme National Nutrition Santé in France in 2001, and of the National Action Plan “Gesond iessen, méi bewegen” in Luxembourg in 2006 has generated a number of public health campaigns and the dissemination of a series of nutritional recommendations. However, while these policies were developed concomitantly in numerous European countries, the work on their institutional implementation, but also the appropriation of nutritional recommendations by individuals, has rarely been put in European comparison, even less so in the field of social sciences and sociology.
Based on a mixed-methodology combining an institutional analysis of how national models and on two field surveys with in-depth interviews, this contribution will examine the political implementation and societal appropriation of nutritional recommendations in two European countries, France and Luxembourg. Based on this comparison, the paper explores the following research question: in which way – and by which social categories – are the recommendations taken in and put into practice, and if so, which appropriation processes and interpretations occur? Do the social, societal and cultural differences between Luxembourg and France (as well as within them), in terms of standard of living, cultural values and dissemination of norms, account for differentiated appropriations of dietary incentives? Which socio-cultural factors and everyday constraints favour a frontal internalisation of dietary recommendations, as opposed to a more creative appropriation or even a critical avoidance? By means of the recommendations issued in the framework of public health, we pose the more general question of how and why dietary norms are perceived and integrated by individuals.
This contribution will highlight that, in France as in Luxembourg, these two nutritional policies show striking similarities in term of contents, but marked differences in their structuring and their implementation.
The dissemination of recommendations is based on policies, which are received, understood and appropriated in different ways. The comparison France / Luxembourg shows that socio-cultural logics override national ones: the way in which the individuals perceive the recommendations and appropriate them reflect more the social affiliation than the national one; gender and the events of the life cycle, particularly parentality, are also relevant. The recommendations disseminated by France's PNNS and Luxembourg's GIMB primarily reach people whose dietary habits are already orientated in the ‘desired’ direction. But even those persons sort out between the information that strikes them as being more or less pertinent – they only ever appropriate a selection of the recommendations. Ultimately, it is on the basis of their priorities and personal constraints, on the one hand, as well as of the agreement between the political recommendations with the previous societal practices and values on the other, that credit is given to this or that message. In the same way, the recommendations are only appropriated (albeit, again, in a selective and pragmatic way) if they match people’s daily priorities and constraints, as well as the general cultural values of their social milieu. No matter how much cognitive effort is put into nutritional composition in everyday experience, interviewees compensate it by a personal focus on the hedonistic communicative value and community formation through eating – which always comes first in their mind.
Finally, the comparison of two European countries’ political institutionalisation on the one hand, and the appropriation and the putting into practice of nutritional recommendations on the other, allows us to comprehend more general societal evolutions: namely, a globalisation of national policies and of food cultures and a differentiation of social contrasts, cutting across national frontiers – but which take on specific forms depending on the standard of living and the social structure of the societies under review. The findings revealed by this comparison between France and Luxembourg can without doubt be further extended and point to the challenges that all European societies face in the future in a context of mounting health inequalities.
RECKINGER, R. (01 June 2017). Good for Me and Good For My Region. The Ambivalences of Responsible Everyday Food Literacy Between Self-Referentiality and Locavoracity [Paper presentation]. 3e Conférence Internationale d’Histoire et des Cultures de l’Alimentation Third International Conference on Food History and Food Studies, Tours, France.
Good for Me and Good For My Region. The Ambivalences of Responsible Everyday Food Literacy Between Self-Referentiality and Locavoracity.
This paper is based on two interdisciplinary empirical surveys at the University of Luxembourg (quantitative and qualitative), carried out in the transnational context of Luxembourg and the surrounding Greater Region, allowing for comparative results of consumption dynamics between regions in Luxembourg, Germany, France and Belgium. It aims to analyse everyday appropriations of ‘responsible’ eating habits – seen as a set of plural ways of how people put into practice plural ideas of sustainability.
To find out by which motivations the motor for ‘responsible’ consumption is driven, the notion of sustainability is characterised by quantitative indicators of possible sustainability in the food domain, relating to consumed foods or to individual criteria of food selection. Subsequently, qualitative interviews provide insights into the meanings of, and values behind, those indicators, uncovering everyday priorities, appropriations and strategies of consumption, as well as its justifications in a perspective of spatial identification.
By contrasting arguments about food consumption ideals and practices, the results show a marked dialectic between self-referentiality and a general interest in food’s provenance, understood as regionally produced. This ‘locavorous’ form of regionality favours a (new) consciousness of geolocalized context of food production, which may, in turn, have an impact on the overall food literacy, increasingly seen as a political field of citizen action for lowering carbon transport emissions, fostering community identifications and anchoring local socio-economic valorizations. This shows which aspects of the polysemic idea of sustainability are relevant to consumers’ preoccupations, and to what extent consumers are reflexive in their ‘responsible’ food choices.
RECKINGER, R. (17 May 2017). Von den Food Studies zur Food Literacy. Eine engagierte Reise durch die kulturanthopologische Erforschung der gesellschaftlichen Zusammenhänge des Essens [Paper presentation]. Seminar "Einführung in die Kultur- und Sozialanthropologie", Esch-sur-Alzette, Belval, Luxembourg.
RECKINGER, R. (2017). Nohalteg Liewensmëttelproduktioun (Podiumsdiskussion mit Carole Dieschbourg, Fernand Etgen, Christiane Wickler, Felix Wildschütz, Tom Jungblut and Rachel Reckinger) [Paper presentation]. RTL Radio, Program "Background", Luxembourg, Luxembourg.
RECKINGER, R., & Régnier, F. (30 January 2017). Diet and Public Health Campaigns: Implementation and Appropriation of Nutritional Recommendations in France and Luxembourg. Appetite, 112, 249-259. doi:10.1016/j.appet.2017.01.034
Based on two surveys e a French and a Luxembourgish one e with in-depth-interviews, this article
examines the implementation of nutritional recommendations in two European countries. Each of
them has promoted at governmental level a public health campaign regarding food consumption and
daily diet. In which way e and by which social categories e are the recommendations taken in and
put into practice, and if so, which appropriation processes and interpretations occur? Do the social,
societal and cultural differences between Luxembourg and France (as well as within them), in terms
of standard of living and dissemination of norms account for differentiated appropriations of dietary
incentives? We will first compare the overarching goals as well as the dietary norms these two
programs promote, in terms of similarities versus particularities both of the recommendations'
content and of the way they are communicated. We will then examine the perception of these norms.
The comparison France / Luxembourg shows that socio-cultural logics override national ones: the way
in which individuals perceive the recommendations and appropriate them reflect more the social
affiliation than the national one; gender and the events of the life cycle, particularly parentality, are
also relevant to the reception of dietary recommendations. Transversal to all social milieus and in
both national contexts, interviewees operate a selective internalisation of the perceived recommendations
in a proactive yet pragmatic posture of personal responsibility. Ultimately, public dietary
recommendations are only appropriated if they match people's daily priorities and constraints, as well
as the general cultural values of their social milieu. This allows us to conclude to transnational,
transversal, plural and distinctive everyday-cultural models of food consumption and differing notions
of a “proper” diet.
Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi
RECKINGER, R. (11 January 2017). Chez nous, les fraises ne poussent pas en hiver. Le rôle de la locavoracité dans la (re)prise de conscience de la saisonnalité des aliments [Paper presentation]. L’alimentation au fil des saisons. La saisonnalité des pratiques alimentaires, Lunéville, France.
Basé sur deux études empiriques, conjointement quantitatives et qualitatives, menées dans le contexte de deux projets interdisciplinaires à l’Université du Luxembourg, l’argumentaire porte sur l’interface régionalité / saisonnalité tant au Grand-Duché que dans les régions limitrophes.
En effet, dans les populations considérées, la régionalité comme qualification alimentaire prime largement sur la saisonnalité, qui, elle, demande une réflexivité et une conscience agricole plus importante. Mais la forme locavore de la notion de régionalité est actuellement une tendance montante et elle favorise, justement, une (re)prise de conscience des contextes géolocalisés de la production alimentaire. Sa diffusion pourrait avoir un impact positif sur la saisonnalité tant dans les représentations que dans les pratiques des consommateurs – en tant que facteur de réduction d’émissions liées au transport, de potentiel d’identification communautaire et de valorisation locale, ainsi que de lutte contre le gaspillage alimentaire.
RECKINGER, R. (2017). Méi mat manner: Emissioun vu 5 Episoden ronderëm d’Thema vum nohaltege Liewensmëttel-Konsum. Et geet ëm méi Nohaltegkeet a manner Verschwendung vu Ressourcen [Paper presentation]. TV program of 5 episodes "Méi mat manner", Luxembourg.
RECKINGER, R. (29 November 2016). Gender and Food: From Polarization in Dietary Consumption and Kitchen Tasks to Politically Sustainable Reinterpretations [Paper presentation]. Lecture Series / Ringvorlesung: Interdisziplinäre Perspektiven auf die Kategorie Geschlecht, Belval, Luxembourg.
RECKINGER, R. (2016). Rebondissements d’un demi-siècle de production et de consommation alimentaires. De la subsistance à la ‘sufficience’ et à la ‘locavoracité’ [Paper presentation]. S’organiser pour manger local en Grande Région. Producteurs, consommateurs, collectivités, cuisiniers… tous réunis pour manger sain et créer de l’emploi durable en respectant la planète, Villerupt, France.
RECKINGER, R. (2016). Die Bedeutung des Tieres in Landwirtschaft und Ernährung (Podiumsdiskussion mit Sarah Wiener, Fernand Etgen, Martin von Mackensen, Camille Müller und Rachel Reckinger) [Paper presentation]. 3.Bio-Symposium in Luxemburg: Die Bedeutung des Tieres in Landwirtschaft und Ernährung, Junglinster, Luxembourg.
RECKINGER, R. (2016). Vinophilie. Die zunehmende Kulturalisierung von Weinkonsum. In Vinsmoselle (Ed.), Muselchronik 2. 1992-2016 (pp. 87-92). Luxembourg, Luxembourg: Binsfeld.
RECKINGER, R. (15 April 2016). L’apprentissage amateur de la dégustation de vins: entre normes et appropriations [Paper presentation]. Culture(s) Alimentaire(s), Belval, Luxembourg.
RECKINGER, R. (2016). Sustainable Everyday Eating Practices from the Perspective of Spatial Identifications. In C. WILLE, R. RECKINGER, S. KMEC, ... M. HESSE (Eds.), Spaces and Identities in Border Regions. Politics – Media – Subjects (pp. 252-266). Bielefeld, Germany: transcript.
Peer reviewed
RECKINGER, R., & KMEC, S. (2016). Processes of (Self)Identification. In C. WILLE, R. RECKINGER, S. KMEC, ... M. HESSE (Eds.), Spaces and Identities in Border Regions. Politics – Media – Subjects (pp. 36-44). Bielefeld, Germany: transcript.
Peer reviewed
RECKINGER, R., & WILLE, C. (2016). Exploring Constructions of Space and Identity in Border Regions. In C. WILLE, R. RECKINGER, S. KMEC, ... M. HESSE (Eds.), Spaces and Identities in Border Regions. Politics – Media – Subjects, Bielefeld, transcript (p (pp. 9-13). Bielefeld, Germany: transcript Verlag.
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RECKINGER, R., WILLE, C., BOESEN, E., & Schnür, G. (2016). Subjectifications and Subjectivations. In C. WILLE, R. RECKINGER, S. KMEC, ... M. HESSE (Eds.), Spaces and Identities in Border Regions. Politics – Media – Subjects (pp. 241-252). Bielefeld, Germany: transcript.
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WILLE, C., RECKINGER, R., KMEC, S., & HESSE, M. (Eds.). (2016). Spaces and Identities in Border Regions. Politics – Media – Subjects. Bielefeld, Germany: transcript.
Spatial and identity research operates with differentiations and relations. These are particularly useful heuristic tools when examining border regions where social and geopolitical demarcations diverge. Applying this approach, the authors of this volume investigate spatial and identity constructions in cross-border contexts as they appear in everyday, institutional and media practices. The results are discussed with a keen eye for obliquely aligned spaces and identities and relinked to governmental issues of normalization and subjectivation. The studies base upon empirical surveys conducted in Germany, France, Belgium and Luxembourg.
RECKINGER, R. (2015). Auswertung der Selbstevaluation des IDENT2-Projekts (2011-2014). ORBilu-University of Luxembourg. https://orbilu.uni.lu/handle/10993/23529.
RECKINGER, R. (2015). Les accords mets-vins, la complexité d'une norme. In F. Chevrier & L. Bienassis (Eds.), Le repas gastronomique des Français (Patrimoine de l'Humanité / Unesco, pp. 183-189). Paris, France: Gallimard.
Peer reviewed
RECKINGER, R. (August 2015). Responsibility in Everyday Practices of Sustainable Food Choices between Self-Referentiality and Regional Identification [Paper presentation]. 12th European Sociological Association Conference: Differences, Inequalities and Sociological Imagination, Prague, Czechia.
The aim of this paper is to analyse everyday appropriations of ‘responsible’ eating habits – seen as a set of plural ways of how people put into practice plural ideas of sustainability. The qualitative (N = 47) and quantitative survey (N = 3 300) were carried out in the transnational context of Luxembourg and the surrounding Greater Region, allowing for comparative results of consumption dynamics between regions in four countries (Luxembourg, Germany, France and Belgium).
To find out by which motivations the motor for ‘responsible’ consumption is driven, the notion of sustainability is not addressed directly, but is characterised by quantitative indicators of possible sustainability in the food domain, relating to consumed foods or to individual criteria of food selection. Subsequently, qualitative interviews provide insights into the meanings of, and values behind, those indicators, uncovering everyday priorities, appropriations and strategies of consumption, as well as its justifications in a perspective of regional/spatial identification.
By contrasting arguments about food consumption ideals and practices, the results show a marked dialectic between egocenteredness and a general interest in food’s provenance, understood as regionally produced. This shows which aspects of the polysemic idea of sustainability are relevant to people’s preoccupations, and to what extent consumers are reflexive in their ‘responsible’ food choices.
WILLE, C., & RECKINGER, R. (2015). Räume und Identitäten als soziale Praxis. Europa Regional, 21 (1-2), 92.
Peer reviewed
WILLE, C., & RECKINGER, R. (2015). Räume und Identitäten als soziale Praxis. Europa Regional, 21 (1-2), 3-8.
Peer reviewed
RECKINGER, R. (2014). Nachhaltige Ernährung und räumliche Identifizierungen. In C. WILLE, R. RECKINGER, S. KMEC, ... M. HESSE (Eds.), Räume und Identitäten in Grenzregionen. Politiken – Medien – Subjekte. Bielefeld, Germany: transcript.
Peer reviewed
RECKINGER, R. (July 2014). ‘Gutes’ Essen. Politische Ernährungsempfehlungen und individuelle Selbstverständnisse. Forum für Politik, Gesellschaft und Kultur in Luxemburg, 342, 24-26.
Peer reviewed
RECKINGER, R. (March 2014). Mosaïque chatoyante et interférences inextricables Compte-rendu de « Au centre de l’Europe / Im Reich der Mitte 2 ». Forum für Politik, Gesellschaft und Kultur in Luxemburg, 338, 68-70.
RECKINGER, R. (2014). Alltagspraktiken nachhaltiger Ernährung aus der Perspektive von räumlichen Identifizierungen. In Räume und Identitäten in Grenzräumen. Politiken – Medien – Subjekte (pp. 257-270). Bielefeld, Germany: transcript.
Peer reviewed
RECKINGER, R., & KMEC, S. (2014). Identifikations- und Identifizierungsprozesse. In C. WILLE, R. RECKINGER, S. KMEC, ... M. HESSE (Eds.), Räume und Identitäten in Grenzräumen. Politiken – Medien – Subjekte (pp. 35-43). Bielefeld, Germany: transcript.
Peer reviewed
RECKINGER, R., WILLE, C., BOESEN, E., & SCHNUER, G. (2014). Subjektivationen und Subjektivierungen. In C. WILLE, R. RECKINGER, S. KMEC, ... M. HESSE (Eds.), Räume und Identitäten in Grenzräumen. Politiken – Medien – Subjekte (pp. 247-257). Bielefeld, Germany: transcript.
Peer reviewed
WILLE, C., & RECKINGER, R. (2014). Zur Untersuchung von Raum- und Identitätskonstruktionen in Grenzregionen. In C. WILLE, R. RECKINGER, S. KMEC, ... M. HESSE (Eds.), Räume und Identitäten in Grenzregionen. Politiken – Medien – Subjekte (pp. 9-13). Bielefeld, Unknown/unspecified: transcript.
Peer reviewed
WILLE, C., RECKINGER, R., KMEC, S., & HESSE, M. (Eds.). (2014). Räume und Identitäten in Grenzregionen. Politiken – Medien – Subjekte. Bielefeld, Unknown/unspecified: transcript.
Die Raum- und Identitätsforschung arbeitet mit Unterscheidungen und Relationen. Diese sind als heuristische Instrumente besonders in Grenzregionen gewinnbringend, wenn soziale und geopolitische Markierungen auseinanderfallen.
Die Beiträge des Bandes setzen hier an. Anhand empirischer Erhebungen in Deutschland, Frankreich, Belgien und Luxemburg untersuchen sie Raum- und Identitätskonstruktionen in grenzüberschreitenden Bezügen, wie sie sich in alltäglichen, institutionellen und medialen Praktiken manifestieren. Die Ergebnisse werden mit sensiblem Blick für quer liegende Räume und Identitäten diskutiert und an gouvernementale Fragen der Normierung und Subjektivierung rückgebunden.
RECKINGER, R. (November 2013). Introduction et Synthèse [Paper presentation]. Conférence d’évaluation du programme d’éducation au goût de 6 séances à l’attention d’enfants de 6 à 9 ans, Tandel, Luxembourg.
RECKINGER, R. (September 2013). Implicit Competence and Responsibility in Everyday Practices of Sustainable Food Choices [Paper presentation]. 11th European Sociological Association Conference : Crisis, Critique and Change, Turin, Italy.
The aim of this paper is to analyse everyday appropriations of ‘responsible’ eating habits – seen as a set of plural ways of how people put into practice plural ideas of sustainability.
In order not to pre-empt normative or socially desirable results, but to find out if the motor for ‘responsible’ consumption is driven by personal, social, ecological, geopolitical or political motivations, the notion of sustainability is not addressed directly in my empirical surveys. It is rather characterised, in a first stage, by quantitative indicators of possible sustainability in the food domain. These indicators are related either to the consumed foods themselves such as organic, fair trade, regional, seasonal, etc. or to the individual practices, namely the array of places where people procure different food stuffs – commercial ones ranging from hard discounters, supermarkets, etc. to more specific ones (groceries, delicatessens, retailers, box subscription scheme, etc.) and non-commercial ones (common, own garden, exchange barter, etc.). This survey (N = 3000), situated in Luxembourg and the surrounding Greater Region, is completed, in a second stage, by 50 qualitative, semi-directive interviews, which provide in-depth insights into the meanings of, and values behind, those indicators. What is of interest here are the everyday priorities, criteria, appropriations and strategies of consumption, as well as the justifications of this consumption in a perspective of regional/spatial identification.
This approach not only shows which aspects of the polysemic idea of sustainability are relevant to people’s preoccupations (shaped by their everyday constraints and, in turn, shaping selective purchases), but uncovers to what extent people are reflexive in their ‘responsible’ food choices and in which ways, as well as for which reasons, consumers engage in the political domain of food issues.
RECKINGER, R. (2013). Der Gouvernementalitätsbegriff. Eine Perspektive zur Untersuchung von Raum- und Identitätskonstruktionen. ORBilu-University of Luxembourg. https://orbilu.uni.lu/handle/10993/20032.
RECKINGER, R. (2013). Wege zur vinophilen Kennerschaft. Die Verschränkung von Normen und deren Aneignungen beim Weinkonsum. Mitteilungen, (N° 20), 18-22.
Peer reviewed
RECKINGER, R., BOESEN, E., WILLE, C., Schnür, G., & HESSE, M. (Other coll.). (2013). Subjektivationen und Subjektivierungen. In Räume und Identitäten in Grenzregionen. Politiken – Medien – Subjekte. transcript.
Peer reviewed
RECKINGER, R. (2012). Présentation de l’ouvrage Parler Vin. Entre Normes et Appropriations.
HESSE, M., KMEC, S., WILLE, C., & RECKINGER, R. (06 September 2012). Regionalisation processes as practices of borderisation [Paper presentation]. Unpacking Cross-Border Governance, Luxembourg, Luxembourg.
RECKINGER, R. (September 2012). Paths to wine connoisseurship. Inter-relations of public norms and domestic appropriations within wine consumption [Paper presentation]. European Sociological Association Consumption Research Network Interim Meeting , Berlin, Germany.
Contribution :
Wine consumption is becoming ever more culturalised and reflexive. I propose a micro-sociological approach to contemporary œnophile discursive practices, in Luxembourg, by concentrating on their inherent normativity (moral and aesthetic) and ordinary appropriation (ethical and hedonistic). The empirical context for this articulation are wine tasting lessons ‘for beginners’, which convey a specific type of normativity.
The publics of this institution – mainly male and affluent – have both ‘operational’ and ‘hedonistic’ motivations. Appropriations of the œnophile normativity are reactive – either positively or negatively : interviewees adopt tactical usages of specific dispositions and of tactical courses of action, related to vertical differenciations (social trajectory and position), but mainly to horizontal ones (milieus, interactions and experiments carried out through various projects of subjectivation).
These dispositions and tactics are linked to the domestic œnophile logics of action – which are active and strategic. Contrasting with the œnophile normativity (focusing on wine), ordinary discursive practices relate to preoccupations with one’s personal and social life, rather than to wine. Nonetheless, it is the aesthetic-based œnophile canonisation that contains essential prerequisites of subjectivation, even if it is appropriated in a hedonistic, socio- or egocentric way. This shows the consubstantial and flexible interweaving of norms and pleasure, leading to a personal and social empowerment (with a potential that is mainly ethical, but also distinctive), via one particular food item.
Theoretical framework :
Foucault (discursive practices, governmentality, ethics/morals), Carré (motivations), Bourdieu (dispositions, distinction), De Certeau (strategy/tactics) and Dubet (logics of action).
Methodology :
Grounded theory (Strauss/Glaser), in-depth interviews and participant observation.
RECKINGER, R. (August 2012). L’embarras du choix. Réflexions sur la durabilité de la consommation ordinaire. Forum für Politik, Gesellschaft und Kultur in Luxemburg, 320, 40 - 42.
Peer reviewed
RECKINGER, R., & WILLE, C. (July 2012). Projektpräsentation IDENT2 – Regionalisierungen als Identitätskonstruktionen in Grenzräumen [Paper presentation]. International Conference: Räume und Identitäten als soziale Praxis. Theorien – Konzepte – Methoden / Espaces et Identités en tant que Pratiques Sociales. Théories – Notions – Méthodes, Luxembourg, Luxembourg.
BINSFELD, A., CAREGARI, L., RECKINGER, R., & WILLE, C. (2012). Räume und Identitäten als soziale Praxis. Theorien – Konzepte – Methoden. Tagungsbericht. (IDENT2-Working Papers 2). ORBilu-University of Luxembourg. https://orbilu.uni.lu/handle/10993/1000.
Raum und Identität sind zentrale Kategorien der modernen Sozial- und Kulturwissenschaften. Ihre Prominenz spiegelt sich in den vielfältigen und teilweise auch widersprüchlichen Konzepten der beiden Forschungsfelder wider, ebenso wie in diversen wissenschaftstheoretischen Wenden. Dabei haben sich disziplinenübergreifend konstruktivistische und kontingenzorientierte Auffassungen von Räumen und Identitäten durchgesetzt, die in der sozialen Praxis ihren Kristallisationspunkt finden.
HESSE, M., KMEC, S., RECKINGER, R., & WILLE, C. (2012). Regionalisation processes as practices of borderisation. (IDENT2-Working Papers 1). ORBilu-University of Luxembourg. https://orbilu.uni.lu/handle/10993/999.
RECKINGER, R. (2012). Judd mat Gaardebounen & Co. – les cuisines de terroir. In S. KMEC & P. Péporté (Eds.), Lieux de mémoire au Luxembourg (vol. 2, pp. 187-192). Luxembourg, Luxembourg: Saint-Paul.
Peer reviewed
RECKINGER, R. (2012). Parler vin. Entre normes et appropriations. Tours, Unknown/unspecified: Presses Universitaires François Rabelais.
S’y connaître en vins est chic – mais pas si facile. Dans un contexte actuel général d’esthétisation des expériences personnelles, de plus en plus d’amateurs se tournent vers les médiateurs de ce savoir, ou savoir-faire, qui s’est progressivement professionnalisé et canonisé ; désormais, nombreux sont ceux qui acquièrent les rudiments de l’œnophilie. Les cours d’œnologie que ces personnes suivent véhiculent une normativité implicite spécifique, vécue de façon inégalement aisée, en fonction de leurs motivations à la formation, mais aussi des dispositions et des tactiques qu’elles arrivent à activer à son encontre. Ce rapport ambivalent et pluriel aux normes œnophiles se creuse dans leur appropriation domestique, déployant des stratégies bien davantage centrées sur le soi et sur les autres que sur le vin en lui-même. En analysant la rencontre entre des experts de vin et des novices intéressés à devenir des connaisseurs, ce livre fournit des clés de compréhension des raisons et des façons d’un processus d’expertisation, entre recommandations et valeurs. Il s’adresse à qui désire avoir une vision approfondie des ressorts identitaires de la consommation de vins.
RECKINGER, R. (2012). Produits culinaires régionaux. In S. KMEC & P. PEPORTE (Eds.), Lieux de mémoire au Luxembourg. Vol. 2: Jeux d'échelles. Erinnerungsorte in Luxemburg. Bd. 2: Perspektivenwechsel (pp. 181-186). Luxembourg, Unknown/unspecified: Saint-Paul.
Le deuxième volume des Lieux de mémoire au Luxembourg montre que la mémoire collective n’a pas uniquement un ancrage national. Elle se sert également de cadres locaux, régionaux ou transnationaux. Elle change selon le point de vue employé. Les auteurs ici rassemblés se réfèrent au Luxembourg actuel, mais essaient à la fois de voir plus loin et de regarder de plus près, en se penchant sur les différences internes de la société luxembourgeoise. Ils offrent ainsi un nouveau regard sur des personnalités connues (de Yolande de Vianden à Thierry van Werveke), sur les guerres et conflits, les mouvements contestataires et les pratiques de la vie de tous les jours. Les 40 articles montrent qu’un lieu de mémoire peut avoir plusieurs significations, parfois contradictoires. De St. Willibrord aux frontaliers, en passant par le Kirchberg, Cattenom et le Congo… tous les lieux de mémoire suscitent certaines images auprès du lecteur. Mais d’où viennent ces images ? Ce livre richement illustré donne des réponses … souvent surprenantes !
Peer reviewed
RECKINGER, R. (October 2011). Auswertung der Selbstevaluation des IDENT-Projekts (2007-2010) [Paper presentation]. Auftakttreffen des Forschungsprojekts IDENT2 – Regionalisierungen als Identitätskonstruktionen in Grenzräumen, Université du Luxembourg, Luxembourg.
RECKINGER, R. (02 March 2011). Identität : Dekonstruktion eines Begriffs – Alltag [Paper presentation]. Ringvorlesung: Identität: Dekonstruktion eines Begriffs, Walferdange, Luxembourg.
Anhand des Beispiels von unterschiedlichen Verständnissen von ‘gutem’ Essen wird verdeutlicht, wie institutionelle Identifikationsangebote und individuelle Identifikationsentwürfe interagieren. Diese Beziehung ist weder eindeutig noch gleichbleibend, doch auch nicht beliebig. Zuschreibungen und Aneignungen auf diesem Gebiet werden alltagsweltlich konstruiert, konfliktuell oder harmonisch gelebt, sowie pragmatisch umschifft.
RECKINGER, R. (2011). Auswertung der Selbstevaluation des IDENT-Projekts (2007-2010). ORBilu-University of Luxembourg. https://orbilu.uni.lu/handle/10993/28903.
RECKINGER, R. (March 2011). Présentation du projet de recherche IDENT – Identités Socio-Culturelles et Politiques Identitaires au Luxembourg [Paper presentation]. Identités Socio-Culturelles et Politiques Identitaires au Luxembourg, Collège Echevinal, Ville de Luxembourg, Luxembourg.
BALTES-LÖHR, C., PRÜM, A., RECKINGER, R., & WILLE, C. (2011). Cultures du quotidien et identités. In IPSE – Identités, Politiques, Sociétés, Espaces (Ed.), Construire des identités au Lxembourg. Appropriations subjectives – Projections institutionnelles – Milieux socio-culturels (pp. 245-306). Paris, Unknown/unspecified: Berg International.
Le Luxembourg – un centre financier international, un centre administratif européen, une terre d’immigration ? Cette étude empirique propose quelques approches d’une société jusqu’à présent en grande partie éludée par la recherche scientifique et observe les processus de construction identitaire dans des conditions de globalisation. L’équipe interdisciplinaire des auteurs expose les processus d’appropriation subjective et de projection institutionnelle à l’œuvre dans le domaine des langues, des espaces, des perceptions de soi-même et des autres, mais également dans les cultures du quotidien. Elle identifie pour la première fois des milieux socioculturels du Grand-Duché. Les découvertes faites à l’issue de ce projet de recherche d’une durée de trois ans mettent au jour les ambivalences et les dynamiques d’une société multiculturelle et plurilingue. Dans l’Unité de Recherche IPSE (Identités. Politiques, Sociétés, Espaces) à l’Université du Luxembourg, les chercheurs s’intéressent à des thèmes qui ont une pertinence sociale. L’accent est mis plus particulièrement sur l’analyse de processus de construction d’identités sociales et culturelles.
Peer reviewed
BALTES-LÖHR, C., PRÜM, A., RECKINGER, R., & WILLE, C. (2011). Everyday Cultures and Identities. In IPSE – Identités, Politiques, Sociétés, Espaces (Ed.), Doing Identity in Luxembourg. Subjective Appropriations – Institutional Attributions – Socio-Cultural Milieus (pp. 233-290). Bielefeld, Unknown/unspecified: transcript.
Luxembourg – international financial center, European administrative center, destination country for immigration? This empirical study provides insights about a society that has hitherto largely eluded scientific investigation and observes the processes of identity construction in globalised conditions. The interdisciplinary team of authors exposes the processes of subjective appropriations and institutional attributions at work in the fields of languages, spaces, perceptions of self and others as well as everyday cultures, and identifies for the first time socio-cultural milieus in the Grand Duchy. The findings of the three-year research project uncover the ambivalences and dynamics of a multicultural and multilingual society.
Peer reviewed
RECKINGER, R. (2011). De la terre natale symbolique au terroir sensoriel. Usage politique et normativité didactique du discours sur l’origine des vins. In S. Wolikow, O. Jacquet, ... C. Lucand (Eds.), De Jules Guyot à Robert Parker : 150 ans de construction des territoires du vin (pp. 259-268). Dijon, Unknown/unspecified: Editions Universitaires de Dijon.
Peer reviewed
RECKINGER, R. (2011). ‘Good’ Food. Oscillation between Political Concept and Individual Everyday Practice. In IPSE (Identités, Sociétés, Politiques, Espaces) (Ed.), Doing Identity in Luxembourg. Subjective Appropriations – Institutional Attributions – Socio-Cultural Milieus (pp. 255-271). Bielefeld, Germany: transcript.
Peer reviewed
RECKINGER, R. (2011). Une ‘bonne’ alimentation. Oscillation entre principe directeur politique et pratique individuelle au quotidien . In IPSE (Identités, Politiques, Sociétés, Espaces) (Ed.), Construire des identités au Luxemburg. Appropriations subjectives – projections institutionnelles – milieus socio-culturels (pp. 270-286). Paris, France: Berg International.
Peer reviewed
RECKINGER, R., SCHULZ, C., & WILLE, C. (2011). Auswertung der Selbstevaluation des IDENT-Projekts (2007-2010). Luxembourg, Unknown/unspecified: UR IPSE, Universität Luxemburg. https://orbilu.uni.lu/handle/10993/1011
RECKINGER, R., SCHULZ, C., & WILLE, C. (2011). Constructions d'identités au Luxemborug. In IPSE – Identités, Politiques, Sociétés, Espaces (Ed.), Construire des identités au Lxembourg. Appropriations subjectives – Projections institutionnelles – Milieux socio-culturels (pp. 307-310). Paris, Unknown/unspecified: Berg International.
Le Luxembourg – un centre financier international, un centre administratif européen, une terre d’immigration ? Cette étude empirique propose quelques approches d’une société jusqu’à présent en grande partie éludée par la recherche scientifique et observe les processus de construction identitaire dans des conditions de globalisation. L’équipe interdisciplinaire des auteurs expose les processus d’appropriation subjective et de projection institutionnelle à l’œuvre dans le domaine des langues, des espaces, des perceptions de soi-même et des autres, mais également dans les cultures du quotidien. Elle identifie pour la première fois des milieux socioculturels du Grand-Duché. Les découvertes faites à l’issue de ce projet de recherche d’une durée de trois ans mettent au jour les ambivalences et les dynamiques d’une société multiculturelle et plurilingue. Dans l’Unité de Recherche IPSE (Identités. Politiques, Sociétés, Espaces) à l’Université du Luxembourg, les chercheurs s’intéressent à des thèmes qui ont une pertinence sociale. L’accent est mis plus particulièrement sur l’analyse de processus de construction d’identités sociales et culturelles.
Peer reviewed
RECKINGER, R., & WILLE, C. (2011). A la recherche des constructions d'identité. In P. S. IPSE – Identités (Ed.), Construire des identités au Lxembourg. Appropriations subjectives – Projections institutionnelles – Milieux socio-culturels (pp. 11-40). Paris, Unknown/unspecified: Berg International.
Le Luxembourg – un centre financier international, un centre administratif européen, une terre d’immigration ? Cette étude empirique propose quelques approches d’une société jusqu’à présent en grande partie éludée par la recherche scientifique et observe les processus de construction identitaire dans des conditions de globalisation. L’équipe interdisciplinaire des auteurs expose les processus d’appropriation subjective et de projection institutionnelle à l’œuvre dans le domaine des langues, des espaces, des perceptions de soi-même et des autres, mais également dans les cultures du quotidien. Elle identifie pour la première fois des milieux socioculturels du Grand-Duché. Les découvertes faites à l’issue de ce projet de recherche d’une durée de trois ans mettent au jour les ambivalences et les dynamiques d’une société multiculturelle et plurilingue. Dans l’Unité de Recherche IPSE (Identités. Politiques, Sociétés, Espaces) à l’Université du Luxembourg, les chercheurs s’intéressent à des thèmes qui ont une pertinence sociale. L’accent est mis plus particulièrement sur l’analyse de processus de construction d’identités sociales et culturelles.
Peer reviewed
RECKINGER, R., & WILLE, C. (2011). Researching Identity Constructions. In IPSE – Identités, Politiques, Sociétés, Espaces (Ed.), Doing Identity in Luxembourg. Subjective Appropriations – Institutional Attributions – Socio-Cultural Milieus (pp. 11-35). Bielefeld, Unknown/unspecified: transcript.
Luxembourg – international financial center, European administrative center, destination country for immigration? This empirical study provides insights about a society that has hitherto largely eluded scientific investigation and observes the processes of identity construction in globalised conditions. The interdisciplinary team of authors exposes the processes of subjective appropriations and institutional attributions at work in the fields of languages, spaces, perceptions of self and others as well as everyday cultures, and identifies for the first time socio-cultural milieus in the Grand Duchy. The findings of the three-year research project uncover the ambivalences and dynamics of a multicultural and multilingual society.
Peer reviewed
RECKINGER, R., WILLE, C., & SCHULZ, C. (2011). Identity Constructions in Luxembourg. In IPSE – Identités, Politiques, Sociétés, Espaces (Ed.), Doing Identity in Luxembourg. Subjective Appropriations – Institutional Attributions – Socio-Cultural Milieus (pp. 291-294). Bielefeld, Unknown/unspecified: transcript.
Luxembourg – international financial center, European administrative center, destination country for immigration? This empirical study provides insights about a society that has hitherto largely eluded scientific investigation and observes the processes of identity construction in globalised conditions. The interdisciplinary team of authors exposes the processes of subjective appropriations and institutional attributions at work in the fields of languages, spaces, perceptions of self and others as well as everyday cultures, and identifies for the first time socio-cultural milieus in the Grand Duchy. The findings of the three-year research project uncover the ambivalences and dynamics of a multicultural and multilingual society.
Peer reviewed
RECKINGER, R. (2010). Le goût et les produits régionaux [Paper presentation]. Journée nationale "Leader Lëtzebuerg – Eis Regiounen, ee Genoss!", Grevenmacher, Luxembourg.
RECKINGER, R. (October 2010). Das ‚Erlernen’ von globaler Weinkultur anhand regionalen Weinen. Normen und Aneignungen einer sensorischen Expertise [Paper presentation]. 35. Kongress der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Soziologie. Panel: Zukunft regionaler Esskulturen – Reservoire und Widerpart globaler Ernährung, Frankfurt/Main, Germany.
Das aktuelle Spannungsfeld der Globalisierung des Essens- und Getränkeangebot sowie des gleichzeitigen Bedeutungsgewinns von regionalen (Nischen-)Produkten erscheint besonders deutlich am Beispiel vom Wein.
Einerseits lässt sich, auf der Seite der Produktion, eine Standardisierung der Herstellungsweisen und eine Konzentration der Besitzverhältnisse, insbesondere in den ‚neuen’ Weinländern – aber gleichzeitig, wenngleich in andersartiger Form, in den ‚alten’ Weinländern – ausmachen. Parallel dazu werden ‚Terroir’-orientierte Weinproduzenten als Hüter von valorisiertem, vermeintlich tradiertem Wissen und als Boten einer letztlich geografisch determinierten Geschmackspalette konstruiert. Andererseits ist, auf der Seite des Konsums, seit den 1980er Jahren eine ständig steigende Tendenz zur Ästhetisierung vom Weingenuss zu verzeichnen, der durch das degustative, mitunter mikro-parzellarische, Weinwissen von einem (publizistischen) Expertentum rationalisiert wird.
So erleben alltagsweltliche Weintrinker/-innen diese Tätigkeit als einen Bereich, der, um in seinen Potenzialitäten ausgeschöpft werden zu können, nur mittels Wissens zugänglich sei. Dementsprechend steigt die Anzahl an Personen, die an Weinverkostungskursen ‚für Anfänger/-innen’ teilnehmen.
Die drei Kurse in Luxemburg, die durch teilnehmende Beobachtung und mittels Experten/-innengesprächen mit den Kursleitern/-innen und Tiefeninterviews mit Teilnehmenden analysiert wurden (Reckinger 2008), zeichnen sich durch jeweils unterschiedliche – jedoch engagierte – Positionierungen in Bezug auf globalisierte und regionale Produkttypen aus. Dabei erscheinen Transnationalität, Regionalisierung und Einzigartigkeit (der Winzer/-innen sowie der geografischen Gegebenheiten) als performative Werte, die jedoch ausschliesslich durch ,autonomes’ sensorisches Wahrnehmen und Einordnen zu erschliessen seien, d.h. durch Subjektivität und Kontingenz. Dieses normative Angebot wird von den Kursteilnehmenden ambivalent rezipiert, je nachdem wie selbstzentriert, soziabilitätszentriert oder objektzentriert sie motiviert sind. Letzteres wird von den Kursleitern/-innen als Faktor zur Evaluierung von Qualität(en) hervorgehoben – seien sie standardisiert, pluralisiert oder hybridisiert. Demgegenüber bleibt das alltagsweltliche polysensorische Erleben einer alternativen Normativität von Identifikationspotential verhaftet.
RECKINGER, R. (2010). Doing Identity. Approche constructiviste d’un concept pluriel [Paper presentation]. l’exposition : "Regards à Luxembourg. Identités architecturales / Identidades arquiteturais par des architectes luso-luxembourgeois", Luxembourg, Luxembourg.
BALTES-LÖHR, C., PRÜM, A., RECKINGER, R., & WILLE, C. (July 2010). Alltagskulturen und Identitäten [Paper presentation]. International Conference: Doing Identity in Luxemburg. Subjektive Aneignungen – institutionelle Zuschreibungen – sozio-kulturelle Milieus, Luxembourg, Luxembourg.
Dieses Buch gibt Einblicke in eine wenig erforschte Gesellschaft und Hinweise auf Identitätskonstruktionen unter globalisierten Bedingungen. Das interdisziplinäre Autorenteam arbeitet subjektive Aneignungs- und institutionelle Zuschreibungsprozesse auf den Gebieten »Sprache«, »Raum«, »Alltagskultur« sowie »Selbst-« und »Fremdbild« heraus und ermittelt erstmals sozio-kulturelle Milieus im Großherzogtum. Der materialreiche Band zeigt Ambivalenzen und Dynamiken in einer multikulturellen und mehrsprachigen Gesellschaft auf.
RECKINGER, R. (July 2010). Alltagskulturen und Identitäten – ‘Gutes’ Essen. Oszillation zwischen politischem Leitbild und individueller Alltagspraxis [Paper presentation]. International Conference: Doing Identity in Luxemburg. Subjektive Aneignungen – institutionelle Zuschreibungen – sozio-kulturelle Milieus, Luxembourg, Luxembourg.
RECKINGER, R., SCHULZ, C., & WILLE, C. (July 2010). International Conference: Doing Identity in Luxemburg. Subjektive Aneignungen – institutionelle Zuschreibungen – sozio-kulturelle Milieus: Schlusswort und Ausblick [Paper presentation]. International Conference: Doing Identity in Luxemburg. Subjektive Aneignungen – institutionelle Zuschreibungen – sozio-kulturelle Milieus, Luxembourg, Luxembourg.
RECKINGER, R., SCHULZ, C., & WILLE, C. (July 2010). Vorstellung des IDENT-Projekts [Paper presentation]. International Conference: Doing Identity in Luxemburg. Subjektive Aneignungen – institutionelle Zuschreibungen – sozio-kulturelle Milieus, Luxembourg, Luxembourg.
RECKINGER, R. (February 2010). A la Découverte du Goût: Conclusions et synthèse du colloque [Paper presentation]. A la Découverte du Goût, Brandenbourg, Luxembourg.
BALTES-LÖHR, C., PRÜM, A., RECKINGER, R., & WILLE, C. (2010). Alltagskulturen und Identitäten. In IPSE – Identités, Politiques, Sociétés, Espaces (Ed.), Doing Identity in Luxemburg Subjektive Aneignungen – institutionelle Zuschreibungen – sozio-kulturelle Milieus (pp. 235-293). Bielefeld, Germany: transcript.
Luxemburg – internationaler Finanzplatz, europäisches Verwaltungszentrum, Einwanderungsland? Dieses Buch gibt Einblicke in eine wenig erforschte Gesellschaft und Hinweise auf Identitätskonstruktionen unter globalisierten Bedingungen. Das interdisziplinäre Autorenteam arbeitet subjektive Aneignungs- und institutionelle Zuschreibungsprozesse auf den Gebieten »Sprache«, »Raum«, »Alltagskultur« sowie »Selbst-« und »Fremdbild« heraus und ermittelt erstmals sozio-kulturelle Milieus im Großherzogtum. Der materialreiche Band zeigt Ambivalenzen und Dynamiken in einer multikulturellen und mehrsprachigen Gesellschaft auf.
Peer reviewed
RECKINGER, R. (2010). ‘Gutes Essen’. Oszillation zwischen politischem Leitbild und individueller Alltagspraxis. In IPSE (Identités, Politiques, Sociétés, Espaces) (Ed.), Doing Identity in Luxemburg. Subjektive Aneignungen – institutionelle Zuschreibungen – sozio-kulturelle Milieus (pp. 257-274). Bielefeld, Germany: transcript.
Peer reviewed
RECKINGER, R., SCHULZ, C., & WILLE, C. (2010). Identitätskonstruktionen in Luxemburg. In IPSE – Identités, Politiques, Sociétés, Espaces (Ed.), Doing Identity in Luxemburg. Subjektive Aneignungen – institutionelle Zuschreibungen – sozio-kulturelle Milieus (pp. 295-298). Bielefeld, Unknown/unspecified: transcript.
Luxemburg – internationaler Finanzplatz, europäisches Verwaltungszentrum, Einwanderungsland? Dieses Buch gibt Einblicke in eine wenig erforschte Gesellschaft und Hinweise auf Identitätskonstruktionen unter globalisierten Bedingungen. Das interdisziplinäre Autorenteam arbeitet subjektive Aneignungs- und institutionelle Zuschreibungsprozesse auf den Gebieten »Sprache«, »Raum«, »Alltagskultur« sowie »Selbst-« und »Fremdbild« heraus und ermittelt erstmals sozio-kulturelle Milieus im Großherzogtum. Der materialreiche Band zeigt Ambivalenzen und Dynamiken in einer multikulturellen und mehrsprachigen Gesellschaft auf.
Peer reviewed
RECKINGER, R., & WILLE, C. (2010). Identitätskonstruktionen erforschen. In IPSE – Identités, Politiques, Sociétés, Espaces (Ed.), Doing Identity in Luxemburg. Subjektive Aneignungen – institutionelle Zuschreibungen – sozio-kulturelle Milieus (pp. 11-36). Bielefeld, Unknown/unspecified: transcript.
Luxemburg – internationaler Finanzplatz, europäisches Verwaltungszentrum, Einwanderungsland? Dieses Buch gibt Einblicke in eine wenig erforschte Gesellschaft und Hinweise auf Identitätskonstruktionen unter globalisierten Bedingungen. Das interdisziplinäre Autorenteam arbeitet subjektive Aneignungs- und institutionelle Zuschreibungsprozesse auf den Gebieten »Sprache«, »Raum«, »Alltagskultur« sowie »Selbst-« und »Fremdbild« heraus und ermittelt erstmals sozio-kulturelle Milieus im Großherzogtum. Der materialreiche Band zeigt Ambivalenzen und Dynamiken in einer multikulturellen und mehrsprachigen Gesellschaft auf.
Peer reviewed
RECKINGER, R. (2009). Braukultur – traditionell und innovativ. In P. BOUSCH, T. CHILLA, P. GERBER, O. KLEIN, C. SCHULZ, C. SOHN, ... D. WIKTORIN (Eds.), Der Luxemburg Atlas / Atlas du Luxembourg (pp. 124-125). Köln, Germany: Hermann-Joseph-Emons Verlag.
Luxemburg, einer der Gründerstaaten der Europäischen Union, ist reich an Geschichte und Geschichten. In knapp hundert Beiträgen von mehr als achtzig Autorinnen und Autoren aus Wissenschaft, Planungspraxis und Kultur werden vielfältige Themen in eindrucksvollen Karten, Luftbildern und Fotos sowie französischen und deutschen Texten präsentiert. Damit eröffnet der Atlas überraschende Einblicke in Stadt und Nation und liefert fundierte Informationen zu den unterschiedlichsten Facetten einer blühenden Region in der Mitte Europas.
Peer reviewed
RECKINGER, R., & WILLE, C. (January 2009). IDENT – Identités socio-culturelles et politiques identitaires au Luxembourg. Projektpräsentation [Paper presentation]. International Conference: IDENT1 – Identités Socio-Culturelles: Représentations et Interactions, Luxembourg, Luxembourg.
RECKINGER, R. (2008). De la terre natale au terroir sensoriel. Usage politique et normativité didactique du discours sur l’origine des vins. In S. Wolikow, O. Jacquet, ... C. Lucand (Eds.), De Jules Guyot à Robert Parker : 150 ans de construction des territoires du vin. Dijon, France: Editions Universitaires de Dijon.
L’esthétisation actuelle et l’hyper-différenciation des vins en fonction de leur terroir (lui-même défini comme conjointement naturel et humain) s’inscrit dans un processus historique de rationalisation plus large. Dans le cas du vin, trois vecteurs (la régulation étatique, la consolidation scientifique et la diffusion médiatique) ont été décisifs, depuis le XIXe siècle, dans la cristallisation de l’œnophilie. Cette figure culturelle – institutionnalisée au point d’être enseignée dans des cours étatiques de formation continue pour adultes, au Grand-Duché de Luxembourg – puise précisément dans la normativité épistémique des trois vecteurs, qui ont tous mis en évidence, pour l’utiliser en fonction de leurs positions respectives, l’importance de la provenance géographique des vins.
D’abord, je me concentrerai sur le vecteur étatique, qui a le pouvoir d’intégrer des aspects des deux autres et dont la performativité est la plus élevée : l’implication de l’Etat luxembourgeois dans la viticulture construite comme proprement nationale. Le contrôle étatique comporte un volet économico-juridique et un volet politico-symbolique, dont des exemples concrets (tant législatifs que culturels) montreront qu’ils se renforcent réciproquement, pour aboutir à un usage métonymique d’une ‘terre natale’ inaliénable, se prêtant à une mémorisation et à une identification topophile collective.
De leur côté, les œnologues-chargés de cours, en tant que médiateurs scientifiques, se basent sur la notion de terroir pour en déduire les caractéristiques sensorielles des échantillons, mais également, dans une extrapolation politique, la démarche anti-industrielle des producteurs de ces vins. Ce faisant, ils véhiculent une normativité épistémique, posant d’emblée l’analysabilité du vin (ce qui est socialement spécifique) et faisant un usage moral de la science. Elle pourvoit les individus consommateurs de rapports à soi – qui sont censés les autonomiser, alors qu’ils canalisent leurs jugements.
Peer reviewed
RECKINGER, R. (July 2008). S’engager dans la culture œnophile. L’imbrication ordinaire entre la singularité des expériences et la collectivité des références [Paper presentation]. XVIIIe Congrès International des Sociologues de Langue Française : Être en société. Le lien social à l’épreuve des cultures, Istanbul, Turkey.
Partant du constat de la croissance de la réflexivité alimentaire en général, et de la culturalisation de la consommation de vin en particulier, je propose une analyse micro-sociologique de la pratique discursive œnophile contemporaine, au Grand-Duché de Luxembourg, en me concentrant sur sa normativité inhérente et ses appropriations ordinaires. Cette articulation est constituée par la dégustation ‘pour débutant-e-s’, enseignée dans le cadre de la formation tout au long de la vie, institutionnalisée par l’Etat.
La scientifisation (historiquement rationalisée) du jugement esthétique œnophile, véhiculant une normativité située et épistémique, est imbriquée dans des dynamiques hédoniques et éthiques de réalisation de soi : elle problématise et entend façonner les choix individuels.
Ces derniers se construisent par des appropriations variées du canon œnophile véhiculé, liées à des différenciations socio-économiques et structurales (trajectoire, position sociale et genre), ainsi que – avant tout – culturelles et contextuelles (milieux d’élection, interactions, choix, techniques et expérimentations effectuées dans un projet de subjectivation).
Par l’analyse d’un point de friction et de négociation entre les pratiques discursives ‘ordinaires’ et leur pendant ‘ambiant’, on aperçoit les mécanismes de la fabrication du lien social abstrait à partir des liens concrets, toujours potentiellement compétitifs/sélectifs (créant du pouvoir) ou sublimés/créatifs (créant du sens).
RECKINGER, R. (2008). Les pratiques discursives œnophiles entre normativité et appropriation. Contribution à une sociologie des cultures alimentaires [Doctoral thesis, Centre Norber Elias EHESS]. ORBilu-University of Luxembourg. https://orbilu.uni.lu/handle/10993/13005
Partant du constat d’une culturalisation croissante de la consommation de vin, je propose une analyse micro-sociologique de la pratique discursive œnophile contemporaine, au Luxembourg, en me concentrant sur sa normativité inhérente (morale et esthétique) et ses appropriations ordinaires (éthiques et hédoniques). Cette articulation est constituée par la dégustation ‘pour débutant-e-s’, enseignée dans le cadre de la formation tout au long de la vie.
Les catégories d’analyse des food studies sont pertinentes pour tracer l’évolution historique de la pratique discursive œnophile – singularisée, esthétisante et réflexive –, cernée dans sa rationalisation (régulation législative, consolidation scientifique et diffusion médiatique). Ainsi cristallisée, l’œnophilie a entraîné une gouvernementalité de la consommation ; son institutionnalisation concrète, sous la forme de cours du soir étatiques, véhicule une normativité spécifique.
Les publics de cette institution – majoritairement masculins et appartenant à des milieux aisés – font montre de motivations ‘opératoires’ et ‘hédoniques’, actualisant la gouvernementalité et l’orientation intérieure des expériences. Les appropriations de la normativité œnophile véhiculée sont réactives – positives ou négatives : se constatent des recours tactiques à des dispositions ou à des régimes d’action tactique, liées à des différenciations verticales (trajectoire et position sociale) et, surtout, horizontales (milieux, interactions et expérimentations effectuées dans un projet de subjectivation).
Ces dispositions et tactiques font le lien avec les logiques d’actions œnophiles domestiques – actives, stratégiques et hédoniques. En contraste à la normativité œnophile (axée sur le vin), les pratiques discursives ordinaires se déclinent autour de préoccupations liées à la vie personnelle et sociale, avant de se centrer sur le vin. Néanmoins, c’est la canonisation œnophile esthétique qui comporte la matière nécessaire aux subjectivations, fussent-elles appropriées de manière hédonique, égo- et sociocentrée. Transparaît ainsi l’imbrication consubstantielle et flexible entre normes et plaisirs, menant à un empowerment personnel et social (à potentiel majoritairement éthique, mais également distinctif), via l’usage discursivisé d’un aliment.
RECKINGER, R. (February 2007). Normativités esthétiques et appropriations éthiques. Le cas de l’œnophilie institutionnalisée [Paper presentation]. Seminar "Les institutions de la musique savante" by Emmanuel Pedler, Marseille, France.
RECKINGER, R. (2007). La Bière. In M. MARGUE, S. KMEC, B. MAJERUS, ... P. Péporté (Eds.), Lieux de mémoire au Luxembourg. Usages du passé et construction nationale (pp. 311-317). Luxembourg, Luxembourg: Saint-Paul.
Peer reviewed
RECKINGER, R. (2007). Le vin. In M. MARGUE, S. KMEC, B. MAJERUS, ... P. Péporté (Eds.), Lieux de mémoire au Luxembourg. Usages du passé et construction nationale (pp. 305-310). Luxembourg, Luxembourg: Saint-Paul.
Peer reviewed
RECKINGER, R. (February 2006). Le vin dans l’entre-soi. Une expérience hédonique en toute(s) logique(s) [Paper presentation]. Seminar "Les institutions de la musique savante" by Emmanuel Pedler, Marseille, France.
RECKINGER, R. (2005). Developing a taste for quality ? Educationg palates through wine (dis)courses. In A. Blogowski, L. Lagrange, ... E. Valceschini (Eds.), Actes du colloque international SFER (Société Français d’Economie Rurale) : Au nom de la qualité. Quelle(s) qualité(s) demain, pour quelle(s) demande(s)?Clermont-Ferrand, Unknown/unspecified: ENITA.
‘Exigence de qualité’ et ‘vin’ sont devenus presque des synonymes pour quiconque veut acheter une bouteille. Peu d’autres composants que le vin ne sont convoqués pour juger de la qualité d’ensemble d’un repas, indiquant un statut similaire du commentaire sur la ‘qualité individuelle’ du vin servi et sur le ‘talent d’ensemble’ de la personne qui a conçu et préparé le repas. Mais qui dit ‘juger’, dit ‘communiquer’, ‘donner un avis’ tant soit peu argumenté – chose délicate, étant donné que les discours sur le vin se sont peu à peu complexifiés et multipliés . D’où le succès public des cours du soir en œnologie, censés enseigner le discernement sur la qualité, si utile lors de la consommation du vin. Mais peut-on parler d’apprentissage de la qualité ?
La consommation de vin peut être schématisée en trois étapes actives – en omettant ici l’étape passive de l’encavement domestique : l’achat après une sélection, le service (en général combiné à un repas), et le fait de boire le vin. Quand la filière professionnelle parle de la nécessité d’ « éducation du consommateur », elle fait référence surtout à un aiguisement sensoriel, permettant d’affiner la perception au nez et en bouche de ce produit très nuancé, dans le double but de faire valoir la qualité intrinsèque de vins élaborés dans cet esprit et, en conséquence, d’infléchir les comportements de consommation, plus conscients car formés et informés, dans cette direction .
Or, dans la verbalisation de personnes fréquentant des cours du soir en œnologie, c’est précisément cette troisième étape de la consommation qui est majoritairement présentée comme non problématisée. Ce n’est pas la perception sensorielle de la qualité qui soulève des questions aux yeux des buveurs, mais la sélection lors de l’achat, ainsi que le service de vins de qualité, combinés de manière avantageuse à un plat – c’est-à-dire de sorte que la qualité initiale du vin soit manifeste à tous les convives. De plus, le service devient seulement « difficile » quand il a lieu dans une situation publique : avec des invités ou au restaurant – alors que le choix du vin à apprécier en famille se fait « juste comme ça », de lui-même, sans élaboration de discours. Paraît ainsi une distinction opératoire entre ‘qualité en sphère privée’ et ‘qualité en sphère publique’, plus normée et du coup plus subtile à mettre en œuvre.
En conformité avec les attentes générales de la filière professionnelle, les œnologues chargé(e)s des cours du soir en œnologie, se positionnant « dans le sens du terroir », entendent – chacun dans son style d’enseignement individuel – à la fois construire et consolider des compétences cognitives et développer des savoir-faire sensoriels. Afin d’atteindre l’objectif consensuel d’une plus grande autonomie « du consommateur », capable de juger et de départir sans aide extérieure, ce sont les capacités de perception et d’évaluation sensorielle de la qualité qui constituent l’outil ultime. Tandis que les connaissances sur le contexte et le mode de production du vin, constituent un savoir en toile de fond, utile seulement dans ses combinaisons pratiques avec des expériences gustatives directes.
Mais les personnes fréquentant ces cours sont surtout attentives à l’exposé oral fait par l’œnologue et voient la dégustation (composée de vins aux propriétés sensorielles ‘didactiques’ et ‘démonstratives’, car toujours « typiques » de leur origine) comme un simple agrément. Les questions qui reviennent le plus souvent sont celles de ‘recettes’ toutes faites sur l’achat et le service des vins, dans un désir de transposabilité à l’identique. Les œnologues résistent à ces pressions en prônant l’entraînement sensoriel (« l’on ne peut que recommander aux gens de goûter »), aboutissant à des opinions individuelles – ce dans un cadre qualitatif maîtrisé, tel qu’il a été présenté dans le cours : « après le cours, les gens ont une possibilité de trouver si un vin est bon ou pas bon ».
Au terme de cette interaction entre ‘consommateur apprenant’, désireux de se retrouver dans la jungle des vins espérés de qualité, et les chargé(e)s de cours, on pourrait parler de « malentendu culturel » (Pedler, 2004 : 127) diffus. Comme dans d’autres domaines culturels, effectivement « rien n’indique qu’il existe une adéquation entre offres et réceptions cultivées » (idem : 130). Entre le fait d’entendre ‘dire la qualité’ (par l’œnologue) et l’apprendre dans un cours (pour soi), les médiations semblent incertaines, et les inhibitions ne se lèvent qu’à des conditions individuelles particulières. Notamment la famille et la curiosité affranchie sont des incitateurs puissants pour dépasser la renonciation majoritaire d’aller au bout du voyage entamé. Ces facteurs permettent d’aboutir du « j’aime » ou « je n’aime pas » vers un plaisir de découverte, d’expérimentation et d’énonciation du ‘pourquoi’ de la qualité.
Peer reviewed
RECKINGER, R. (September 2005). Apprendre à s’approprier le vin. Socio-anthropologie des pratiques culturelles autour d’un aliment relationnel [Paper presentation]. IIIe Université d’Eté Européenne : Changes, innovations and alimentary mutations, Tours, France.
RECKINGER, R. (June 2005). Lernen sich Wein anzueignen [Paper presentation]. International Colloquium for Graduate Students, Bonn, Germany.
RECKINGER, R. (May 2005). Qu’institue le cours du soir en œnologie ? ‘Serious drinking’ au Luxembourg [Paper presentation]. Seminar "Les institutions de la musique savante" by Emmanuel Pedler, Marseille, France.
RECKINGER, R. (2005). Comment apprendre à goûter la qualité ? Le cours du soir en œnologie : entre mots et perceptions. In A. Blogowski, L. Lagrange, ... E. Valceschini (Eds.), Actes du colloque international SFER (Société Français d’Economie Rurale) : Au nom de la qualité. Quelle(s) qualité(s) demain, pour quelle(s) demande(s) ? (pp. 99 - 108). Clermont-Ferrand, France: Lempdes : Éd. ENITA.
Si c’est devenu une évidence que le vin qu’on boit est censé être ‘de qualité’, il est moins évident de la juger et de la communiquer à d’autres. D’où le succès public des cours du soir en œnologie ‘pour débutants’, organisés, au Luxembourg, par des œnologues optant pour des méthodologies contrastées. Cependant, le point commun est l’attention portée à l’autonomisation du « consommateur » par la cognition et surtout l’aiguisement sensoriel. L’originalité déstabilisante de ce dernier implique des tactiques d’apprentissage différenciées.
Peer reviewed
RECKINGER, R. (2003). Automutilation révoltée ou expression culturelle ? Le cas du body piercing à Rome. Quasimodo, (7), 37 - 60.
Le marquage des chairs à des fins esthétiques, identitaires ou politiques (tatouages, piercings, scarifications, implants, amputations, etc.), la chirurgie, le transsexualisme, les biotechnologiques, l’entraînement sportif et le dopage, constituent autant de pratiques visant à modifier un corps qu’il s’agit d’amplifier, d’embellir, de réparer ou d’altérer. Ces effractions parfois radicales, ces blessures volontaires, ces inscriptions éphémères ou définitives, visibles ou secrètes, posent la question de l’acceptable et du respect de la norme corporelle. Elles ouvrent la perspective concrète d’esquiver ou d’infléchir le destin biologique et social. Les stratégies identitaires s’incarnent alors dans l’effacement ou la revendication des différences, la quête ou le refus des canons esthétiques.
Peer reviewed
RECKINGER, R. (2003). Automutilation révoltée ou expression culturelle ? Le cas du body piercing à Rome. Quasimodo, 7, 37-59.
Le marquage des chairs à des fins esthétiques, identitaires ou politiques (tatouages, piercings, scarifications, implants, amputations, etc.), la chirurgie, le transsexualisme, les biotechnologiques, l’entraînement sportif et le dopage, constituent autant de pratiques visant à modifier un corps qu’il s’agit d’amplifier, d’embellir, de réparer ou d’altérer. Ces effractions parfois radicales, ces blessures volontaires, ces inscriptions éphémères ou définitives, visibles ou secrètes, posent la question de l’acceptable et du respect de la norme corporelle. Elles ouvrent la perspective concrète d’esquiver ou d’infléchir le destin biologique et social. Les stratégies identitaires s’incarnent alors dans l’effacement ou la revendication des différences, la quête ou le refus des canons esthétiques.
Peer reviewed
RECKINGER, R. (2003). L’analyse sensorielle et ses potentialités d’objectivation des préférences de consommateurs [Bachelor/master dissertation, Université du Vin]. ORBilu-University of Luxembourg. https://orbilu.uni.lu/handle/10993/13007
RECKINGER, R. (June 2002). Le piercing à travers ses verbalisations par des professionnels : ritualité, thérapie, douleur [Paper presentation]. Journée d’Etudes : Marques corporelles de l’identité, Toulouse, France.
RECKINGER, R. (2001). Etat des lieux des formations et de la recherche en ethnobotanique du domaine européen. ORBilu-University of Luxembourg. https://orbilu.uni.lu/handle/10993/13003.
RECKINGER, R. (2000). Une lecture anthropologique des cartes postales de Marseille. De l’image à l’imaginaire [Bachelor/master dissertation, Université de Provence]. ORBilu-University of Luxembourg. https://orbilu.uni.lu/handle/10993/13011
RECKINGER, R. (1999). La cuisine bonifacienne. Un marqueur emblématique face au changement. Strade. Travaux du Centre d’Etudes Corses, 101 - 116.
Peer reviewed
RECKINGER, R. (1999). Metalmorphosis – Ou les délices inorganiques de quelques pierceurs à Rome [Bachelor/master dissertation, Université de Provence]. ORBilu-University of Luxembourg. https://orbilu.uni.lu/handle/10993/13013