My research investigates the social reproduction of inequality, with a focus on the social determinants of health and diet. I also conduct research on gender, family, poverty, social movements, and activism.
Book Project: The Taste of Inequality: Food and the Reproduction of Class in America
Growing inequality manifests in what individuals eat. Indeed, significant dietary disparities in the United States follow a socioeconomic gradient. Scholars commonly account for these dietary disparities using structural explanations that highlight differences in people's access to healthy food. But eating is about much more than physically nourishment: food connects, motivates, and offers emotional fulfilment in ways that transcend its health value. Leveraging in-depth interviews with 160 parents and adolescents and over 100 hours of participant observations with families across socioeconomic status, my dissertation shows how the symbolic, emotional and morally imbued meanings of food help drive dietary disparities.
Peer-Reviewed Publications:
Swethaa Ballakrishnen, Priya Fielding-Singh, and Devon Magliozzi. 2018. “Intentional Invisibility: Professional Women and the Navigation of Workplace Constraints." Sociological Perspectives.
Jennifer Wang and Priya Fielding-Singh. 2018. "How Food Rules at Home Influence Independent Adolescent Food Choices." Journal of Adolescent Health.
Priya Fielding-Singh. 2017. "A Taste of Inequality: Food's Symbolic Value Across the Socioeconomic Spectrum." Sociological Science.
Priya Fielding-Singh. 2017. "Dining with Dad: Fathers' Influences on Family Food Practices." Appetite.
Priya Fielding-Singh and Jennifer Wang. 2017. "Table Talk: How Mothers and Teenagers Across Socioeconomic Status Discuss Food." Social Science and Medicine.
Ardoin, Nicole, Rachelle Gould, Elin Kelsey, and Priya Fielding-Singh. 2014. "Collaborative and Transformational Leadership in the Environmental Realm." Journal of Environmental Policy & Planning.
Works Under Review:
Priya Fielding-Singh. "'You're Worth What You Eat: Adolescent Beliefs about Healthy Eating and Social Class." (Revise and Resubmit at Social Science and Medicine).
Works In Progress:
Priya Fielding-Singh. The Taste of Inequality: Food and the Reproduction of Class in America. Book manuscript in progress.
Doug McAdam, Priya Fielding-Singh, and Jennifer Hill. On Second Thought: Rethinking Social Movement Participation. Under Contract with Cambridge University Press.