Eating in Theory

“Its writing limpid, its organization elegant, its argument scintillating, this book is inspirational. And radical. Annemarie Mol effectively unseats the mindset that cannot see past people as thinking and embodied beings. While her address is to questions as they are posed in philosophy, this book will find huge sympathy among those dealing with anthropological materials of all kinds and stages a striking provocation for the general reader who asks whether scholarship can tell us anything new.” -- Marilyn Strathern, author of * Relations: An Anthropological Account *
“In characteristically crisp and inviting prose, Annemarie Mol thinks through eating—its social acts, sensory experiences, and metabolic processes—to re-metabolize the wisdoms so many of us have absorbed about knowing and relating, being and doing, subjectivity and agency. Eating in Theory offers a nourishingly pluralistic vision of humans permeable to their surroundings, interdependent rather than autonomous, and hungry for further thinking. It’s a book to savor.” -- Heather Paxson, Professor of Anthropology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
"Eating in Theory is a tasty and satisfying treat for anyone interested in human-nature relationships, refreshing theoretical perspectives, food studies, ethnography and more." -- Ola Plonska * LSE Review of Books *
"[I]n detailing much of her critical reflection on a certain valued practice of thinking over those of eating, Mol eloquently brings into the limelight the vitality of abandoning grand theories aimed at explaining all human beings, and especially those not situated in their own theorization." -- Elin Linder * Anthropology Book Forum *
"A remarkable book. . . . By dispensing with the ontological need for knowledge to be universal, Eating in Theory lives up to its title and truly theorizes eating as an act of meaning and meaning making. . . . Mol’s analysis unfolds fluidly and clearly. . . . Highly recommended. Graduate students, faculty, and professionals." -- M. A. Lange * Choice *
"I know of no health researcher who so compellingly takes health out of individual bodies and situates it in the collective ecology that bodies depend on. . . . No writings seem more relevant to the crises of the present moment." -- Arthur W. Frank * Journal of Medical Humanities *
"[A] terrific little book. . . . . Anthropologists and sociologists with an interest in Food Studies can easily make strong use of Eating in Theory, as well as of course philosophers of many disciplines preoccupied with the question of what we can wrap our collective Western mouth—rather than our head—around the most pernicious theoretical effects of the Anthropocene." -- Megan Volpert * Popmatters *
"I find this book a valuable philosophical and theoretical contribution to our understanding of eating and food. I find it especially useful because Annemarie Mol demonstrates, through her scrutiny of such philosophical categories as Being, Knowing, Doing, and Relating, the multiple entanglements between people, between humans and nonhumans, that highlight the complexities of eating. As she successfully demonstrates, this traditionally banalized act can be productive for thinking about what it means to be human at a time when multiple empirical realities challenge universal philosophical understandings." -- Steffan Igor Ayora-Diaz * Journal of Anthropological Research *
"Eating in Theory proves to be not only brief and approachable, but exciting and thought-provoking for foodways scholars. Reminiscent of Sarah Pink’s work on sensory ethnography, Mol introduces the reader to exciting new approaches in studying food and eating. Through thoughtful fieldwork passages and engaging analysis, Mol teaches us to view the world through eating, relating it to larger issues of overconsumption and ecological sustainability." -- Ema Noëlla Kibirkstis * Digest *
"This book unravels the particular and ever-present model of the human derived from Western epistemologies while demonstrating its perniciousness by experimenting with alternatives. . . . Mol's voice is precise, challenging, and insightful. . . . Mol's ideas inspire a way of laboring in the world, of which the academia is part." -- Jessica Hardin * Anthropological Quarterly *
"Eating in Theory brings Mol’s sophisticated approach to materiality and its enactment to bear on the prosaic topic of eating. This fascinating yet complex topic is much enriched by her approach and clarity. . . . Mol’s choice of the familiar yet always fascinating topic of eating has allowed her to create a very helpful primer and companion for a posthuman understanding of being, knowing, thinking, and relating. Naturally it is of interest to anyone interested in the topic of food and eating but should also be read widely across the humanities and social sciences for its contributions to thinking around ecological sustainability and philosophy." -- Hannah Drayson * Leonardo *