Book Review: Redeeming Leadership by Helena Liu

Abstract

avoid going to court. In contrast, families in upper-middle class America, which are most likely the experts’ audience, are generally free from the aforementioned issues; for such a public, home cooking is perhaps a feasible, recommended option. Regardless, while getting back into the kitchen may not be one-size-fits-all solution, it may help those who are not doing it and if it is possible to do so. The book is very much a gendered take on food in American culture. The authors make it clear that even in contemporary egalitarian-motivated America, women bear the grunt of shopping, preparing, and cleaning up food; men continue to play a side, almost apathetic role in what is described as the invisible work of food provision (it may be added that follow-up studies may analyze life from the male perspective). There is a fair bit of discussion on trying to become a good mom and working towards serving the idealized meal and distress at not being able to do so. Relatedly, young children (which each of the families has) are a central issue in the accounts and the authors’ compassionate analytical gaze casts sufficient light on how the next generation of under-privileged Americans are being brought up. The solutions to America’s food worries are deeper than one imagines. The concluding section offers some answers, like improving regulation, multi-use of large school kitchens, and increasing base incomes. However, this is the part of the book that could have been developed further considering that the subtitle of the book leads readers to this direction. Nevertheless, the book does offer more than an icebreaker to start the discussion on engrained problems. Pressure Cooker is an excellent read for any social scientist who intends to study food preparation in modern homes. The book may be light on theory, but it is vivid in description. While the setting is the American lower-middle class, many of the issues are universal. Hence, even if fine details do not apply to another context, they are useful as a point of comparison. In this regard, the book is accessible to any global lay reader. In sum, Pressure Cooker needs to be lauded for its very accessible approach to pervasive complexities in America’s food dilemma.