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Что делает фриганов фриганами? Исследование фриганских практик в Москве и Санкт-Петербурге
Most research on freeganism focuses on the political ideas and activism that drive freegan activities. In contrast, my study explores a different side of freeganism—not as a movement or subculture, but as a diverse range of individual practices by people seeking food. These individuals are united or distinguished by their methods of handling containers, gathering food, and transporting it home. Their activities were not coordinated by volunteer groups with central leadership or manifestos, but were structured in their own informal ways, often resembling each other across different locations. Some freegans sorted, cleaned, and processed food at home and took measures to keep their finds separate from other freegans and contaminants. Others built devices from found materials to transport large quantities of food, devised complex routes for sourcing different products, and adapted their interactions with the environment to make gathering food more efficient. Additionally, employees did not simply discard food—sometimes they intentionally hid it in certain places and created material barriers to keep freegans from taking it, so they could retrieve it later.
This study is based on over two years of participant observation at eight freegan sites in Moscow and Saint Petersburg. It examines how similar practices and strategies emerge and persist across locations without centralized coordination or political programs. By exploring how different systems, each with its own problems and principles, interact, the study reveals recurring patterns of freegan activity and employee behavior. It also considers how these patterns are shaped by the material environment and transformed by the actions of other participants.