“EN DJURISK KOSTHÅLLNING” En antropologisk studie av incitament för karnivorkosten, och hur kosthållningen konstrueras och förstås av dess utövare.

Abstract

While the Swedish Board of Agriculture admits that the total meat consumption is decreasing in Sweden, on social media one can perceive what can closer be described as a meat trend – where an increasing group of people are advocating for a carnivorous lifestyle. Therefore, the following study aims to provide insight into some of the incentives that drive people towards consuming an exclusively animal based diet, how the carnivore diet is constructed and understood by its practitioners, as well as what role social networks play in conveying knowledge about the carnivore diet. This thesis is based on anthropological fieldwork consisting of participant observations, netnographic methods in carnivorous discussions forums, and interviews with people who are eating according to the carnivore diet. By incorporating theories of purity and danger, social capital, and embodiment with the ethnographic material gathered during the fieldwork, this paper argues that the informants in the study strive towards eating, what they perceive as, pure and natural food. Additionally, it includes a discussion of how the informants are using their bodies’ signals as guidance for when and how to eat. Finally, the thesis explains how carnivores relate to each other through relationships that are largely based on social capital, where information and guidance are shared among themselves to accomplish both individual and collective goals. By discussing the informants’ experiences of the diet, rather than relying solely on medical studies, light is shed on a broader understanding of the practice of the carnivore diet. The thesis is written in swedish.