The DOI matches its Crossref record; 67 of the 68 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
A Brief Pre-History of Food Waste and the Social Sciences
Abstract
Food waste is a compelling and yet hugely under-researched area of interest for social scientists. In order to account for this neglect and to situate the fledgling body of social science scholarship that is starting to engage with food waste, the analysis here does a number of things. It explores the theoretical tendencies that have underpinned the invisibility of waste to the sociological gaze alongside the historical transitions in global food relations that led to the disappearance of concerns about food scarcity – and with them, concerns about food waste – from cultural and political life. It also sketches out some of the processes through which waste has recently (re-)emerged as a priority in the realms of food policy and regulation, cultural politics and environmental debate. Particular attention is paid to the intellectual trajectories that have complemented food waste's rising profile in popular and policy imaginations to call forth sociological engagement with the issue. With this in place, the stage is set for the individual contributions to this Sociological Review Monograph – papers that engage with food waste in a number of contexts, at a variety of scales and from a range of disciplinary perspectives. Together they represent the first attempt collectively to frame potential sociological approaches to understanding food waste.
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Citations
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Cited by
Sorted by citations
Items 101–137 of 137
Understanding the drivers of consumer level food waste in a university cafeteria
Özokcu, S., & Özdemir, Ö. (2026) · Discover Environment · doi:10.1007/s44274-025-00509-y · Cited by 2
Mattar, D. V., Thrivikraman, J. K., & Martínez, E. B. (2023) · Frontiers in Sustainability · doi:10.3389/frsus.2023.1259793 · Cited by 3
Banal Sustainability: Renewing the Cultural Norm of Not Wasting Food
Raippalinna, L.-M. (2022) · Ethnologia Europaea · doi:10.16995/ee.4804 · Cited by 2
Want All, Waste All: Exploring Food Waste in the United States
Esenyan, A. (2014) · Fordham Research Commons (Fordham University) · Cited by 2
Principato, L. (2018) · SpringerBriefs in environmental science · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-78887-6_2 · Cited by 2
Click to Feed. Mobile Phone Applications’ Role in Improving Food Access in Romania
Ioniță, I. (2018) · Interações: Sociedade e as novas modernidades · doi:10.31211/interacoes.n34.2018.a8 · Cited by 2
RobotFarm: A Smart and Sustainable Hydroponic Appliance for Meeting Individual and Collective Needs
Angeloni, S., & Pontetti, G. (2019) · Advances in intelligent systems and computing · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-22263-5_26 · Cited by 3
Landsberger, S. R. (2019) · Amsterdam University Press eBooks · doi:10.1515/9789048542871 · Cited by 7
Arnold, N., & Bouwmeester, O. (2025) · Agriculture and Human Values · doi:10.1007/s10460-025-10754-9 · Cited by 1
The mechanisms of food waste prevention: theory, design, and practice for changing behaviours
Busetti, S., & Dente, B. (2019) · Edward Elgar Publishing eBooks · doi:10.4337/9781788118194.00012 · Cited by 1
Valuable Waste: Soviet management of food scarcity in the early 1930s
Nérard, F. (2023) · Global Food History · doi:10.1080/20549547.2023.2228626 · Cited by 1
Economy of production: A theory of household labor organization and material reuse
Meyers, M. S. (2024) · Economic Anthropology · doi:10.1002/sea2.12320 · Cited by 1
Spaces of difference, spaces of possibility?
Beacham, J. (2018) · Lancaster EPrints (Lancaster University) · doi:10.17635/lancaster/thesis/482 · Cited by 2
Messner, R. (2021) · Queensland University of Technology · doi:10.5204/thesis.eprints.207785 · Cited by 1
Closed-loop sustainable food supply chain management
Fadhel, A. W. (2021) · doi:10.17760/d20409211 · Cited by 1
Réduire les déchets alimentaires par la créativité et la convivialité
Wathelet, O., & Joncheray, J. (2018) · Techniques & culture · doi:10.4000/tc.8826
From Dumpster Dives to Disco Vibes
Barnard, A. V., & Mourad, M. (2020) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.4324/9780429462795-29
Sharing as an Antidote to Food Waste: Understanding Food Rescuing Apps and Their Users
Rau, J. M. H., & Högberg, J. (2021) · Gothenburg University Publications Electronic Archive (Gothenburg University)
Sweet, B. L. (2020) · Digital Repository Service (Northeastern University) · doi:10.17760/d20398291
Reflections on Food System Transitions
Edwards, F. (2023) · Alternatives and futures · doi:10.1007/978-981-19-5795-6_5
Food waste governance in small scale restaurants in Australia
Adan, N. (2023) · Queensland University of Technology · doi:10.5204/thesis.eprints.238821
Gregson, N. (2023) · Bristol University Press eBooks · doi:10.51952/9781529232462.bm002
Alakavuklar, O. N. (2024) · Bristol University Press eBooks · doi:10.51952/9781529216264.bm002
Surplus Food Donations and Intentions to Throw Leftover Food: A Model and Empirical Analysis
Ashraf, N., Habib, M. D., Khidmat, W. B., & Awan, M. (2024) · Global Business Review · doi:10.1177/09721509241257253
Salonen, A. S., & Pollari, M. (2024) · Diakonian tutkimus · doi:10.37448/dt.143962
Living Lab exploring routinized kitchen practices to reduce cross-sectoral waste
Clausen, A., Kristensen, N. H., & Hansen, S. R. (2025) · Journal of Agriculture Food Systems and Community Development · doi:10.5304/jafscd.2025.143.020
Psychological Drivers and Strategic Interventions for Reducing Consumer Food Waste
Aprile, M. C., & Testa, F. (2025) · IGI Global eBooks · doi:10.4018/979-8-3373-2424-1.ch002
Coşkun, A., & Ozer, İ. (2025) · International Journal of Food Design · doi:10.1386/ijfd_00080_1
Social representations of food waste among young Brazilians: A weekday vs. weekend analysis
ACÁCIO, B. R., Cheung, T. L., & da Silva, M. B. D. O. (2026) · International Journal of Gastronomy and Food Science · doi:10.1016/j.ijgfs.2026.101485
Kopnina, H., Tran, V. T. A., Goddard, M., & Goh, C. S. (2026) · Anthropological Forum · doi:10.1080/00664677.2026.2673519
Padovani, G., Pasca, M. G., & Arcese, G. (2026) · Journal of Wine Research · doi:10.1080/09571264.2026.2696590
Actions to reduce food loss and food waste: stakeholder perspectives
Bonte, G., Compernolle, T., Jaeger, S. D., & Rousseau, S. (2026) · Journal of Environmental Planning and Management · doi:10.1080/09640568.2026.2683644
Cook, N. T., Stanes, E., Gibson, C., Waitt, G., Wall, T., Quirk, S., Ames, E. R., Smith, A., Rankin, K. J., & Holland, J. (2026) · Urban Studies · doi:10.1177/00420980261484438
Understanding out-of-home food waste among young Chinese adults: a photo-elicitation study
Fu, R., Richards, C., White, K. M., & Obst, P. L. (2026) · British Food Journal · doi:10.1108/bfj-03-2026-0340
Taking the transformation pathway : food waste prevention measures in day-care centres in Copenhagen
Heidenreich, A. (2015) · Lund University Publications Student Papers (Lund University)
Metadata
- Authors
- Evans, D., Campbell, H., & Murcott, A.
- Venue
- The Sociological Review
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2012-12
- Volume
- 60
- Issue
- 2_suppl
- Pages
- 5-26
- ISSN
- 0038-0261 (ISSN-L)
- 1467-954X
- OpenAlex
- W1758569442
- Cited by
- 139
- References
- 68
- Citations by year
- 2026: 7 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 13 · 2023: 11 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 10 · 2020: 20 · 2019: 17 · 2018: 13 · 2017: 12 · 2016: 9 · 2015: 10 · 2014: 1 · 2013: 1
- FWCI
- 5.90
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- The Sociological Review (publishedVersion)
- Research Explorer (The University of Manchester) (publishedVersion)
- Explore Bristol Research (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Food Science › Food Waste Reduction and Sustainability
- Social Sciences › Anthropology › Food, Nutrition, and Cultural Practices
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Waste Management and Disposal › Waste Management and Recycling
- Keywords
- food waste, food shortages, food policy, food regulation, cultural politics, environmental debate
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