Sociologia Ruralis 

About: Sociologia Ruralis is an academic journal published by Wiley-Blackwell. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Rural area & Agriculture. It has an ISSN identifier of 0038-0199. Over the lifetime, 1377 publications have been published receiving 52999 citations. The journal is also known as: Zeitschrift der Europäischen Gesellschaft für Ländliche Soziologie & Revue de la Société Européenne de Sociologie Rurale.

Food supply chain approaches: exploring their role in rural development.

Abstract: This paper explores the role of short food supply chains in rural development. By developing a theoretical perspective, it seeks to contribute to debates on the generalized theory of rural development. It argues that in order to more fully understand their role and potential we need to move beyond descriptions of product flows to examine how supply chains are built, shaped and reproduced over time and space. Consideration is given to the definition of short food supply chains, and a three level typology is presented. The paper examines the dimensions and evolution of short food supply chains, and identifies four types of evolution: temporal, spatial, demand and associational or institutional. Case studies from the impact research programme are positioned within this framework, and it is argued that we need conceptualizations that reflect the dynamic and evolutionary nature of supply chains and the businesses they involve. A case study of the Llyn Beef Producers Co-operative in Wales is expanded to illustrate the evolution of supply chains and their role in rural development, both at the farm level and within the wider rural economy.

AGRICULTURE AND THE STATE SYSTEM: The rise and decline of national agricultures, 1870 to the present

Abstract: This paper explores the role of agriculture in the development of the capitalist world economy, and in the trajectory of the state system. At present, when food security and foreign debt command policy attention, it is useful to examine the assumptions behind attempts to build up national agricultures in Third World countries. We maintain that these assumptions, when considered from a world-historical perspective, have certain shortcomings in theory and real obstacles in practice. Our argument is that contrary to the prevailing development model of the ideal national economy in which agriculture and industry complement one another dynamically (Rostow 1960; Johnston & Kilby 1975; Senghaas 1988), the historical relations between 'agriculture' and 'industry' have been rather more fluid and global in scope. The very distinction between advanced capitalist and underdeveloped or peripheral economies assumes that the former, in contrast to the latter, are articulated, that is, the main growth dynamic derives from intersectoral exchanges within the national economy (Amin 1974; de Janvry 1981). We argue, however, that this unexamined assumption applies possibly to one nation-state only, and then only for a brief historical period in a context of growing transnational capital movement that has increasingly precluded the model's extension to other countries. This case is the United States, in which agriculture was a source of demand for domestic industry during the period of protectionism accompanying late nineteenth century British hegemony and its decline through to the end of the Second World War. Yet even then US agriculture was principally export-oriented. The ideal of national inter-sectoral balance nevertheless stems from this historical conjuncture, and gained currency with the rise of American hegemony and the proliferation of modernization and dependency theories that generalized the American model. Our goal, then, is to reconstruct a preliminary history of agriculture to shed light on its impact on the state system, and thereby to offer a critique

Rural Development: From Practices and Policies towards Theory

Abstract: Both in practice and policy a new model of rural development is emerging. This paper reflects the discussions in the impact research programme and suggests that at the level of associated theory also a fundamental shift is taking place. The modernization paradigm that once dominated policy, practice and theory is being replaced by a new rural development paradigm. Rural development is analyzed as a multi-level, multi-actor and multi-facetted process rooted in historical traditions that represents at all levels a fundamental rupture with the modernization project. The range of new quality products, services and forms of cost reduction that together comprise rural development are understood as a response by farm families to both the eroding economic base of their enterprises and to the new needs and expectations European society has of the rural areas. Rural development therefore is largely an autonomous, self-driven process and in its further unfolding agriculture will continue to play a key role, although it is a role that may well change. This article provides an introduction to the nine papers of this ‘special issue’ and the many reconfiguration processes embodied in rural development that they address.in rural development

Local development and heritage: traditional food and cuisine as tourist attractions in rural areas

Abstract: This paper analyses the transformation and redefinition of local identity in rural France from the perspective of heritage – more precisely food and gastronomy – and local rural tourism. As an identity marker of a geographic area and/or as a means of promoting farm products, gastronomy meets the specific needs of consumers, local producers and other actors in rural tourism. The paper considers the meaning of food from a theoretical perspective. The current interest in traditional food and cuisine is part of a general desire for authentic experiences. At the regional level, the dynamics of building up heritage consist in actualizing, adapting, and re-interpreting elements from the past, thus combining conservation and innovation. Local development can be seen as a process of territorial and heritage construction. Culinary heritage is a social construction and an important resource for local action. The paper examines the case of the Haut Plateau de l’Aubrac (Central France), where the local development process is closely linked to the valorization and the re-creation of gastronomic knowledge and skill.

Seeing Through the ‘Good Farmer's’ Eyes: Towards Developing an Understanding of the Social Symbolic Value of ‘Productivist’ Behaviour

Abstract: Developments in the agricultural industry are requiring dramatic changes in the role of the farmer away from intensive production oriented approaches towards more sustainable forms of agriculture. While this may appear to require a relatively simply change in emphasis, production based roles not only contain economic value, but contain social value in that they are used to communicate status as a 'good farmer'. Thus, when farmers are asked to change approaches to agriculture, they are not only incurring economic costs but also social costs and this is rarely, if at all, acknowledged. This study uses a symbolic interactionist framework to investigate the symbolic meaning of intensive agricultural production: how crops/livestock are perceived by farmers, how they convey status, and how they are linked with the status of the farm family within the farming community. It concludes that understanding the true meaning of agricultural activities on the farm and considering these factors in the development of policy may reduce the potential loss of established farm families from the land and the subsequent loss of decades or even centuries of experience, knowledge and local history.