Fat in four cultures: a global ethnography of weight

Abstract

I was thrilled to see the title Fat in Four Cultures: A Global Ethnography of Weight – and I also wondered how an ethnography on such a rich and complex topic, in four different countries, could possibly yield such a slim volume. The researchers, while having done ethnographic work in their specialty regions, were actually conducting interviews on the topic of fat. As a qualitative researcher myself, I’m not immediately dismayed by focused interviews and small sample sizes, but I am on the lookout for lack of depth, leading questions, and analysis that doesn’t adequately explore the position of the researcher vis-àvis the subject matter. I’m sorry to say, I found all of those things in this book. Indeed, the Fat Studies journal editor had seen the book and decided it wasn’t using fat studies as a lens, and therefore passed on reviewing it. So, why did I go to the trouble? I think Fat in Four Cultures offered the opportunity to consider and discuss what’s happening in research about bodies, food and fat culture as fat studies evolves and influences (or fails to influence) research in the social sciences. The four authors are anthropologists and seem to have solid backgrounds and training in the methods they undertook. They even reference fat studies texts and approaches and then fail to use them: