schedule
The following is a basic outline of the stages involved in the research project. Click on the links for more information about each stage.
August-September, 2007
Identification of initial interests - these focus on sustainability and social change - and choice of a topic which allows me to explore these themes. Alternative food networks emerged from these interests as a suitable topic for my research. More detail on my personal background is available here.
September-November, 2007
A review of academic literature concerning alternative food networks. This review clarified the ways in which academics are currently thinking about alternative food networks and their role within wider debates around sustainability and social change. The concept of localism emerged as a current conceptual theme. There is more information about the theoretical themes behind the research here.
November, 2007
Research theme identified - the role of localism in alternative food networks. At this stage, this website was established for the research project, containing introductory information about the research and a blog which I have used to keep up with current public, media and political interest in local foods. The blog is here.
November-December, 2007
Further review of academic literature, both on the subject of alternative food networks, and in related areas including commentaries on the nature of neoliberalism, relational perspectives of place and power, the politics of scale, and poststructuralist re-conceptualization of capitalist economies. Again, further information is available here.
January, 2008
Selection of research questions. These include a broad focus, and a more specific set of areas which I wish to explore. These are detailed here.
February-March, 2008
Development of the research methodology. The methodology details how the research questions will be answered through contact with a participant group. The proposed methodology uses a series of interviews with a range of stakeholder groups to explore the role localism plays in an emergent alternative food network.
April-May, 2008
During this period I will contact potential interviewees and invite them to participant in the research. Interviews will be carried at a time and location convenient to the interviewee during this period, with the aim of completing all research meetings by the end of May 2008.
June-July, 2008
Analysis of information from research period, writing of project report. During this period, the final project report will be produced using the information gathered from the interviews, in combination with the academic literature. During this period, the focus will be on allowing the information gathered from these conversations to ’speak back’ to the theoretical debates explored during the earlier review phases - with the intention that this research will make an original contribution to this body of literature. Throughout the research process, I will consider what form this contribution might take, and will elaborate here.
August, 2008
Submission of final report and feedback of outcomes to participant groups. The level and nature of the feedback provided will be flexible, depending on the wishes of participants. If appropriate, the results of the research may form the basis for a submission to an academic journal or media report, in addition to a report on this website.
