Cake and the open plan office: A foodscape of work through a Lefebvrian lens

Shortt, Harriet

Abstract

This chapter puts food on the workplace menu and explores the interconnectedness of food, work, people and space using Lefebvre’s spatial triad framework (1991) and considers how the social production of space and the micro-geographies of the workplace influence food consumption, social interactions and relationships at work. There is no doubt that food and eating in the workplace is a common occurrence for most of us; we might frequent a coffee shop on our way to work in search of the first caffeine fix of the day, we might take sandwiches from home to the office for lunch or take advantage of hot meals in our workplace canteens, and we might enjoy after work drinks and dinners with colleagues or clients. Food and drink are an integral part of daily working life but what this chapter seeks to do is raise questions about the nexus of food and space at work; in what ways does space influence where we eat, what we eat and with whom; what is the role of food in our organisational environment and how does it impact everyday spatial practices?; how might formal and informal eating practices alter our lived experiences of space at work?

• Publication Date: Jun 18, 2018
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Series Title: Routledge Studies in Management, Organizations and Society
• Book Title: Organisational Space and Beyond: The Significance of Henri Lefebvre for Organisation Studies
• Chapter Number: 9
• ISBN: 9781138236400
• Keywords: food, drink, space, foodscape, Lefebvre, work
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/903326
• Publisher URL: https://www.routledge.com/Organisational-Space-and-Beyond-The-Significance-of-Henri-Lefebvre-for/Dale-Kingma-Wasserman/p/book/9781138236400