Abstract
The paper uses food as an analytical tool to understand experiences of cosmopolitanism and urbanity in a city in Gujarat, Western India. In a rapidly urbanising city of Ahmedabad, food serves as a powerful reflection of deep hegemonic cultural codes, people’s aspirations and their engagement with modernity. The study uses qualitative ethnographic data collection methods in order to unpack and answer these questions. The findings of the study adds a nuanced understanding to the changing urban landscape of a city and its relationship with food, the entanglement of food with the politics of space and urbanisation, religion and caste. The concept of vegetarianism and non vegetarianism, Hindu Muslim spatial politics are explored through the case study of the cheliya muslims (a community that owns the majority of restaurants and hotels of the State) of Gujarat.
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
URBAN, CITY, FOOD POLITICS, COSMOPOLITANISM, RELIGION, SPATIAL POLITICS, CULTURAL HEGEMONY
