Border Crossing: Bricolage and the Erosion of Categorical Boundaries in French Gastronomy

Abstract

International audienceSociological researchers have studied the consequences of strong categorical boundaries, but have devoted little attention to the causes and consequences of boundary erosion. This study analyzes the erosion of categorical boundaries in the case of opposing category pairs. The authors propose that categorical boundaries weaken when the borrowing of elements from a rival category by high-status actors triggers emulation such that the mean number of elements borrowed by others increases and the variance in the number of elements borrowed declines. It is suggested that penalties to borrowing in the form of downgraded evaluations by critics exist, but decline as the number of peers who borrow increases. The research setting is French gastronomy during the period from 1970 to 1997, when classical and nouvelle cuisines were rival categories competing for the allegiance of chefs. The results broadly support the authors' hypotheses, indicating that chefs redrew the boundaries of culinary categories, which critics eventually recognized. Implications for research on blending and segregating processes are outlined

A Cultural Quest: A Study of Organizational Use of New Cultural Resources in Strategy Formation

“…A fundamental insight emerging from our study is that this process of cultural repertoire enrichment is a distinct pattern of using cultural resources that differ from cultural bricolage (Rao et al 2005;Zilber 2006) and holding cultural resources in reserve (Swidler 2001). Cultural repertoire enrichment therefore generates distinct pattern for using cultural resources.…”

“…Cultural bricolage refers to the ad hoc use of available cultural resources to address specific problems and opportunities in the environment (Baker and Nelson 2005;Rao et al 2005;Zilber 2006). The process we observed differs from such occasional or temporary uses because it involves a) deliberate incorporation of new and diverse cultural resources into the organization's repertoire, and b) their proactive and integrative use to effect long-term changes in organizational patterns of thought and action.…”

The Art of Creating Culinary Innovations

“…This restaurant guide is described as the most authoritative and widely recognised benchmark for the ranking of chefs and is said to be neutral towards different philosophies of cooking (cf. Durand et al ., 2007 ;Rao et al ., 2005 ). Elite chefs are further interesting in the light of culinary innovation, because they are part of the cultural fi eld of Haute Cuisine that, like no other style of cooking, ties food to an intellectual discourse and expands cooking to theoretical codes and categories of practices ( Ferguson, 2004 ;Rao et al ., 2005 ).…”

“…Durand et al ., 2007 ;Rao et al ., 2005 ). Elite chefs are further interesting in the light of culinary innovation, because they are part of the cultural fi eld of Haute Cuisine that, like no other style of cooking, ties food to an intellectual discourse and expands cooking to theoretical codes and categories of practices ( Ferguson, 2004 ;Rao et al ., 2005 ). This paper claims that this intellectual dimension is important to let the yet generally unknown concept of culinary innovation emerge beyond the limited views of current studies.…”

'I have a chameleon-like existence': A duoethnographic account of border crossing by two academic development practitioners

“…Discipline-specific knowledge is therefore used by professions to position insiders and outsiders, and discursive practices are used to establish epistemic authority (Lamont and Molnar 2002). Rao, Monin and Durand (2005) offer a conceptual framework which is useful for understanding border work, especially since their framework highlights the way in which power differentials militate against or support border crossing. They suggest that what is important in sustaining borders is not that the 'insider' should conform to all the conventions of the domain all the time, but rather that she must conform to some of the conventions most of the time.…”