Is there Lettuce in Greek Salad?
Fabricating Authenticity - Jason W.M. Ellsworth
Russell T. McCutcheon [+]
University of Alabama
Russell T. McCutcheon is University Research Professor and, for 18 years, was the Chair of the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Alabama. He has written on problems in the academic labor market throughout his 30-year career and helped to design and run Alabama’s skills-based M.A. in religion in culture. Among his recent work is the edited resource for instructors, Teaching in Religious Studies and Beyond (Bloomsbury 2024).
Description
In this chapter, McCutcheon complicates the notion of authentic Greek food. Using personal stories based on encounters with popular food such as Greek salad and dolmas (grape leaves) he shows how claims of authenticity and legitimacy are not innocent descriptions of obvious facts, but instead are examples of how identity is asserted and contested making these mundane moments some of the most interesting opportunities scholars can have to study how people the world over manage and justify how they organize their lives.