Mjölk - en kulturanalys av mejeridiskens nya ekonomi

Summary, in English

This dissertation is to be regarded as a contribution to the discussion about a "cultural economy". The aim of the study is to gain a perspective as to how a new economy can be shaped and take its place in everyday life, as well as identify the cultural values and ideas created in the process, by analysing the production and consumption of dairy products. Theoretical inspiration is derived from studies of material culture and food consumption. The empirical material consists of dairy counters and the products sold, which are analysed with a commodity chain approach methodology. The introducing chapter give a historical background by examining the role milk got in the emerging new economy of the late nineteenth century. Special attention is given to how the cooperative Scandinavian dairy industry got significant political influence in the early twentieth century. Milk appears to have been significant in that it could be attributed with qualities that characterised the narrative of modern progress. The special position of the cooperative dairy companies, as well as the reputation of their products as being particularly healthy, have been challenged during the last decades. By four case studies of products that are said to be transnational, old-fashioned/natural, healthy and fast/light, the author examines how the dairy industry responds to these challenges. The production of such "value-added products" can be seen as a part of a general conversion to an experience economy, but it is suggested that it can just as well be that the economy is increasingly bent on trying to capture experiences that have always been conveyed via food. Food has the capacity to activate and stimulate all the senses, transforming the experience from a visual impression into something that is felt, heard, tasted and smelled. Similar to that of the late 1800s, today's dairy production is characterised by new forms of production, distribution and consumption. The special consumption position that milk now holds has developed from the fact that it has shown that it can be used for many different things: sensual pleasure, an expression of the adult desire to take care of children, health considerations and a number of different political standpoints. It also works as a condensate of the context in which it was created. Through milk, war-time Swedes discovered what was wholesome, pure and Swedish. Thanks to this recurring learning process, these ideas became durable. The changes that are described mean that we now learn something different from milk than we did seventy years ago. Milk has been packed and repacked with differing interpretations of natural, wholesome, quick, light and much more, but milk as both foodstuff and raw material will continue to influence all those of us who consume it and allow it to become a part of our body.

• Author: Håkan Jönsson
• Department/s: Division of Ethnology
• Publishing year: 2005
• Language: Swedish
• Document type: Dissertation
• Publisher: Brutus Östlings Bokförlag Symposion
• Topic: Ethnology
• Keywords: dairy; milk; food culture; new economy; cultural economy; material culture; consumption; functional foods; Cultural anthropology; Øresund; etnologi; Kulturantropologi; ethnology
• Status: Published
• Supervisor: Orvar Löfgren
• ISBN/ISSN/Other: ISBN: 91-7139-705-1
• Defence date: 29 April 2005
• Defence time: 10:15
• Defence place: Kulturens Auditorium Tegnérsplatsen Lund
• Opponent: Helene Brembeck (Docent)