Balancing the line — the relation between waiting and activity among people in need of food in Sweden

Datos Bibliográficos

ID12605446
AutoresM Herz (0000-0002-6555-3875, University of Gothenburg, autor de correspondencia)
Año2022
Volumen25
Número6
Páginas1082-1092
Fecha de publicación2022-02-17
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaEuropean Journal of Social Work (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1369-1457 • E-ISSN: 1468-2664
EditorialTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/13691457.2022.2040438
OpenAlexW4213387036
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas2
Referencias citadas14

At a food bank in Sweden, people stand in line, waiting to receive donated food, which can easily be interpreted as passively receiving hand-outs. But this line is full of activity, and it is very demanding to keep holding the line. However, a common perception of people in need of help from the social services and other authorities is that they need activation. This article aims to explore the relation between waiting and activity among the people visiting a food bank in Sweden. The line is used as an analytical tool to explore how people are balancing on a line between food insecurity and having food for the day, but also standing in a very concrete line, waiting for donations. The empirical material is based on a one-year ethnographic study of a food bank. It is argued that the people waiting are aligned to reach, in this case, the donated food, but consequently also aligned away from other possible solutions. This can be interpreted as a way of keeping people in line. Herein lies a challenge for social work: it risks reproducing social inequalities rather than working towards social justice and social change

Business · Economic growth · Economic Justice · Economics · Ethnography · Inequality · Line (geometry · Line management · Perception · Political science · Public relations · Relation (database · Sociology · Work (physics · Computer Science · Engineering · Food Security and Health in Diverse Populations · Food Waste Reduction and Sustainability · Homelessness and Social Issues · Psychology · Social Work · Marketing