Food, Work and Organization
The editors of Human Relations intend to publish a special issue of the journal on the subject of Food, Work and Organization.
Guest editors: Rob B Briner (Birkbeck College) and Andrew Sturdy (Warwick Business School)
Eating and drinking have long been recognised as being of sociological and psychological significance and yet have been largely neglected in the context of paid work and organisations. Food, drink and their consumption can play important roles for individuals, groups, organizations and communities both reflecting and shaping numerous social and organizational processes such as: identity, work-nonwork relationships, socialization, status, power, intimacy, deviance, the body, sexuality, organizational boundaries, and so on.
Empirical and theoretical papers are invited from any social science discipline or mix of disciplines including sociology, folklore studies, organizational psychology, history, anthropology and organizational behaviour. Papers should make a contribution by showing ways in which food, drink and their consumption are relevant to and elaborate understanding of social and organizational processes and/or theories.
Although the study of food and drink industries and organisations is important, in this issue, we are particularly concerned with the acts of eating and drinking. For example, the relationships between food, work and organization can be observed in a number of contexts such as:
Food occasions and events
- Coffee/tea/cigarette breaks
- People bringing in their own meals
- Celebratory food, drinks and parties
- The Business lunch, dinner and breakfast
- The conference buffet
- After-work and other drinking
- Going out to get lunch for other people
- Asking work colleagues out for dinner or lunch
- Shopping at lunchtime for food to take home (and companies that deliver groceries to the office)
- Food and drink for visitors and in meetings
Food technologies and artefacts
- Drinking water machines/water coolers
- Vending machines (drinks, crisps, etc)
- Coffee and tea 'schemes' at work (like who buys the milk, keeps the fridge clean, and clean tea towels, who doesn't pay?)
- Food/drink related equipment - microwaves, kettles, sandwich toasters, corkscrews, plates, tea mugs, fridges
- The office kitchen - the sink, cleaning, etc
- Canteens and food on the shopfloor, farm etc
Foods and drinks
- Chewing gum
- Office snacks
- Sweets and candy
- Left over food from visitors being put in public places for everyone to eat
- Foodstuffs brought back from holiday for 'the office' - chocolates, local delicacies, etc
- Food as reward
People in organizations and food
- People on diets
- People fasting or eating particular foods for religious or other reasons
- Influences of food on behaviour
- Meals and group dynamics and processes
The above list is not intended to be exhaustive and we welcome submissions which explore other aspects of eating and drinking in organisations. Please address any initial queries about any intended submissions to both the guest editors.
Contributors should note the following:
- This call is open and competitive, and the submitted papers will be blind reviewed in the normal way.
- Submitted papers must be based on original material not under consideration by any other journal or outlet.
- The Editors will select five papers to be included in the special issue, but other papers submitted in this process may be published in other issues of the journal.
The deadline for submissions is 30 November 2006. Authors will be notified by the end of December if their papers have not been accepted for review. Those accepted will be sent for blind peer review in the journal's standard way. The special issue is intended for publication in the second half of 2007.
Papers to be considered for this special issue should be submitted online.
Please note: Manuscripts should include the title of this special issue, 'Food, work and organisation' at the top of the title page.
Rob B Briner
Department of Organizational Psychology
Birkbeck College
University of London
Malet Street
LONDON WC1E 7HX UK
r.briner@bbk.ac.uk
Phone +44 (0)20 7631 6751
Direct +44 (0)20 7631 6755
Fax +44 (0)20 7631 6750
Mobile +44 (0)7968 748470
Andrew Sturdy
Room E2.10 (Social Studies Building)
Warwick Business School
The University of Warwick
Coventry CV4 7AL UK
Andrew.Sturdy@wbs.ac.uk
Phone +44 (0)24 7652 4658
