Navigating entangled shame: Examining the sociomaterialities of food assistance programs

In the United States, individuals in precarious circumstances navigate numerous programs to supplement their food access. These programs operate in relation to stigmatizing discourses about poverty and food insecurity. This paper explores the sociomaterial meanings of food assistance, including SNAP, food pantries, and nonprofit food distribution. Using qualitative methods, we introduce the notion of entangled shame. This concept describes how discourses about poverty, material agencies, and (in)visibility collide to produce shame. Last, we identify methods of challenging and alleviating entangled shame. Results illuminate possibilities for centering dignity in food assistance programs.

Automated summary

This paper explores the impact of stigmatizing discourses on poverty and food insecurity on food assistance programs in the United States. Using qualitative methods, the concept of entangled shame is introduced to describe the collision of discourses about poverty, material agencies, and (in)visibility that produce shame. The study also identifies methods to challenge and alleviate entangled shame, highlighting the importance of centering dignity in food assistance programs.