Koinonia through commensality?: Ethnography on social inclusion and urban theology in Finnish food assistance.

Drawing from ethnography in six faith-based community food banks located in urban Finland, this paper explores the dynamics of social inclusion and exclusion as manifested in everyday life in food assistance. The findings propose that different framings, social distances and power hierarchies affect both promoting and experiencing social inclusion and exclusion that appear situational and relational through the everyday discourse and praxis. By reflecting on these dynamics from a theological perspective and employing the concept of 'lived koinonia', the discussion shows that the food banks are still hesitant to imagine themselves as a source of liberation that would challenge structural, epistemic inequalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]