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Paper short abstract:

Michael Foucault defined heterotopias as places outside of time, spaces which simultaneously connect and divide, that variously braid the natural and the cultural into a political network of power flows. I will try to decode how they impact our imaginaries, practices and materiality of foodworks.

Paper long abstract:

Michael Foucault defined heterotopias as places outside of time, spaces which simultaneously connect and divide, that variously braid the natural and the cultural into a political network of power flows. Places associated with food: gardens, allotments, kitchens and green markets are distinctive examples of such heterotopias. Their role is not limited to moderating processes of purchase, sale or consumption. In doing so, entanglements of food and places are not just a lens through which social processes can be seen. They take an active part positioning actors and have social consequences by mediating or separating humans and objects. In the spirit of Doreen Massey and her critical geography, I assume that the Foucaultian microphysics of power or Arjun Appadurai's gastropolitics are manifested in food heterotopias. By analysing the weaving processes of the domestic garden, one can observe how its space changes, what grows in it, how we process it, what tools, objects and techniques are part of this practice, who can participate and who is excluded from it. In the analyses, I will focus on the social consequences of those entanglements. Looking deep into kitchens, gardens, farmers’ backyards and other food heterotopies, I will try to decode how they impact our imaginaries, practices and materiality of foodworks. I will put special emphasis on how the uncertainties and risks are mitigated through those spaces.