TY - JOUR

T1 - Chicken for Everyone? A cultural political economy of the popularity of chicken meat in Bolivia.

AU - Kollnig, Sarah

PY - 2020

Y1 - 2020

N2 - Over the last fifty years, the production and consumption ofchicken meat have soared in Bolivia. This article analyzes the political,economic, and cultural developments that have led to the popularity ofchicken meat in this country. It also asks who has benefited from thissuccess story. The author relies on data from one year of multisited ethnographicfieldwork in Bolivia to provide an account of the history ofindustrial chicken meat production in the country. This article particularlyfocuses on the role that national elites and their political entanglementshave played in the development of the poultry sector.Marketing campaigns playing on desires to join Western modernityhave fostered a taste for industrial chicken meat. Constant overproductionhas kept market prices low, so that chicken has become availablefor the masses. The supply of cheap chicken meat also has been on thepolitical agenda. This article concludes that the expansion of industriallyproduced chicken meat has mostly favored the upper and middleclasses, leaving the poorer population with products that are cheap butof doubtful quality. Under the guise of a “sovereign” supply of cheapmeat, an immense business opportunity has been created.

AB - Over the last fifty years, the production and consumption ofchicken meat have soared in Bolivia. This article analyzes the political,economic, and cultural developments that have led to the popularity ofchicken meat in this country. It also asks who has benefited from thissuccess story. The author relies on data from one year of multisited ethnographicfieldwork in Bolivia to provide an account of the history ofindustrial chicken meat production in the country. This article particularlyfocuses on the role that national elites and their political entanglementshave played in the development of the poultry sector.Marketing campaigns playing on desires to join Western modernityhave fostered a taste for industrial chicken meat. Constant overproductionhas kept market prices low, so that chicken has become availablefor the masses. The supply of cheap chicken meat also has been on thepolitical agenda. This article concludes that the expansion of industriallyproduced chicken meat has mostly favored the upper and middleclasses, leaving the poorer population with products that are cheap butof doubtful quality. Under the guise of a “sovereign” supply of cheapmeat, an immense business opportunity has been created.

M3 - Article

VL - 2020

SP - 36

EP - 48

JO - Gastronomica

JF - Gastronomica

SN - 1529-3262

IS - 4*Winter

ER -