Reconsidering Individualisation of Eating: a cross-cultural analysis on determinants of commensality and solo-eating

Abstract

Sharing meals (commensality) is a common everyday practice and a symbol of sociality in many human societies. Growing industrialisation, urbanisation, and modernisation of lifestyles, however, has drawn public and academic attention to speculation that traditional and collective ways of eating such as family meals are being replaced by individual dining, and this shift may contribute to global prevalence of nutrition insecurity and mental health issues. Based on multi-method, qualitative, cross-cultural analysis of young adults in urban Australia and Japan, this thesis explores the socio-cultural dynamics lying behind everyday eating, working, and family practices in two urban societies, and examines which aspects of eating are individualised. Both Australian and Japanese groups viewed commensality as an ideal eating practice and shared nostalgia for the middle-class domesticity. Nevertheless, differences between the two cultural groups were identified in timings of solo-eating, perceptions on solo-eating in public, gender conflicts associated with food provision for commensality, and notions of individual autonomy. Additionally, differences between gender groups were identified. These cross-cultural findings demonstrate that the development of solo-eating is not as homogeneous as the individualisation theory has stressed. Instead, the growth of solo-eating is shaped by daily negotiation with the following socio-cultural determinants (times, spaces, gender dynamics, and social relations) and their interactions with global trends (e.g. female participation to labour force). This thesis asserts that the absence of critical understanding of cultural variations within and across societies in current public health research and policies may expand rather than reduce the gulf between ideal behaviours promoted by public health and everyday practices across the globe. This gulf is particularly significant for less powerful groups (e.g. women and young single adults). Japanese participants, in comparison to Australians, experienced difficulty conforming the global ideal because they often had to apply translated knowledge and practices from outside of their cultural context.