Understanding lived experiences of food insecurity through a paraliminality lens

Moraes, C; McEachern, M; Gibbons, AR; Scullion, LC

Abstract

This article examines lived experiences of food insecurity in the United Kingdom as a
liminal phenomenon. Our research is set within the context of austerity measures, welfare
reform and the precarity experienced by increasing numbers of individuals. Drawing on
original qualitative data, we highlight diverse food insecurity experiences as transitional,
oscillating between phases of everyday food access to requiring supplementary food, which
are both empowering and reinforcing of food insecurity. We make three original
contributions to existing research on food insecurity. First, we expand the scope of empirical
research by conceptualising food insecurity as liminal. Second, we illuminate shared social
processes and practices that intersect individual agency and structure, co-constructing
people’s experiences of food insecurity. Third, we extend liminality theory by
conceptualising paraliminality, a hybrid of liminal and liminoid phenomena that co-generates
a persistent liminal state. Finally, we highlight policy implications that go beyond short-term
emergency food access measures.

Citation

Moraes, C., McEachern, M., Gibbons, A., & Scullion, L. (2021). Understanding lived experiences of food insecurity through a paraliminality lens. Sociology, 55(6), 1169-1190. https://doi.org/10.1177/00380385211003450

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Feb 9, 2021
• Online Publication Date: Apr 30, 2021
• Publication Date: Dec 1, 2021
• Deposit Date: Feb 16, 2021
• Publicly Available Date: Mar 8, 2021
• Journal: Sociology
• Print ISSN: 0038-0385
• Electronic ISSN: 1469-8684
• Publisher: SAGE Publications
• Volume: 55
• Issue: 6
• Pages: 1169-1190
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/00380385211003450
• Publisher URL: https://doi.org/10.1177/00380385211003450
• Related Public URLs: http://www.uk.sagepub.com/journals/Journal201569