Showing papers in "Sociologia Ruralis in 2014"
TL;DR: In this article, the authors use interviews with 22 farm families in Scotland to outline the concept of endogenous succession cycles based on the iterative and interlinked development of successor identity and farm structure, and suggest that the key to succession lies in the development and maintenance of these endogenous cycles as, when they are broken or uninitiated, attracting a successor on to the farm is likely to be exceptionally difficult.
Abstract: European agriculture is experiencing a recruitment crisis that threatens the continuation of both family farming and associated rural communities. Conventionally, researchers and policymakers see farm succession as driven by discrete factors such as education level, farm size, profitability, enterprise type, and so on. This article offers an alternative perspective. Drawing on in-depth interviews with 22 farm families in Scotland, it uses a single case-study to outline the concept of endogenous succession cycles based on the iterative and interlinked development of successor identity and farm structure. In this way, succession is seen as predominantly socially constructed. We suggest that the key to succession lies in the development and maintenance of these endogenous cycles as, when they are broken or uninitiated, attracting a successor on to the farm is likely to be exceptionally difficult whatever the policy incentive. We conclude that the current crisis can partly be explained by the breakdown of early childhood socialisation, a key stage of the cycle, caused by changes to agriculture such as the use of larger machinery, more health and safety regulations, fewer farm workers, and so on. As a result, the process of constructing successor identities in early childhood through extended contact between the farmer, the child and the farm is becoming increasingly difficult.
118 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors conducted interviews with 32 male farmers from Quebec, Canada focusing on stress and coping strategies and highlighted important connections between rurality, farming and masculinities in the context of men's mental health.
Abstract: In many ways, male farmers can be considered to be a vulnerable group in relation to mental health, experiencing high rates of suicide, psychological distress and low use of health services. This study highlights important connections between rurality, farming and masculinities in the context of men's mental health. In-depth interviews with 32 male farmers from Quebec, Canada were completed focusing on stress and coping strategies. Findings include informal and formal strategies. Many participants had previous positive experience of formal help and would be willing to use such help again and to recommend it to others in need. Those without such experience are sceptical about services but recognise the courage it requires to seek help. Pride and lack of knowledge about services are the main barriers to help-seeking, but it can be legitimated in certain contexts, such as divorce or other psychosocial crisis, and by alignment with particular male ideals. Role models at national or local levels can also help farmers prioritise their own and their family's wellbeing over stigmas and rigid, traditional masculine ideals. Furthermore, gender-based strengths and recommendations for practice are also discussed.
72 citations
TL;DR: In this article, six types of tacit knowledge were identified as a result of working closely with a sustainable food network: the Brighton and Hove Food Partnership (B&HFP).
Abstract: Whilst objectivist epistemologies have been dominant in productivist agriculture, the local, cultural and environmental contexts of sustainable agriculture are more fully informed by constructivist epistemologies. Within constructivism, tacit knowledge - an intuitive knowledge that cannot be formalised - is explored empirically. Six types of tacit knowledge were identified as a result of working closely with a sustainable food network: the Brighton and Hove Food Partnership. Customs cohere around integrating food with other sustainable activity; developing a complex unregulated organisation requires savoir-faire. The unique character of Brighton has developed an operational folklore, and network identity is important, particularly in relation to conventional agriculture and to the city as a whole. A confidence in people's roles has helped define network development and using different discourses, communicating the network in diverse contexts, is important for understanding the network. All these tacit knowledge elements have a strong influence over the network but have to be assimilated knowledge rather than learned.
60 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors address the disconnect between housing and rural development research by examining models of rural development (exogenous, endogenous and neo-endogenous) in the rural housing context.
Abstract: This article aims to address the disconnect between housing and rural development research. We do this by examining models of rural development (exogenous, endogenous and neo-endogenous) in the rural housing context. Drawing on in-depth documentary analysis of planning and rural development policy and research in the Republic of Ireland, we demonstrate a series of policy failures in implementing exogenous and pseudo-endogenous approaches to housing policy in rural areas. Subsequently, we propose a neo-endogenous framework for a more effective integration of housing and rural development theory and practice. In an international context Ireland represents an insightful case for studying the relationship between rural development and housing, due to the emphasis on housing development in rural areas, which in essence has represented a ‘quick fix’ for development, as evidenced by the country's liberal planning regime during an extraordinary housing boom period until the more recent property crash. While the article focuses on Ireland as a case-study, lessons and a framework for a neo-endogenous model of rural development and housing are also drawn internationally.
58 citations
TL;DR: This paper explored how Irish farming offspring who will not or are highly unlikely to be farm successors frame their relationship with the farm, as well as their attitude to and role in the succession process and the continuity of the farm within the family.
Abstract: Studies of farm families have largely neglected the position of farm offspring who, through necessity or choice, live their lives away from the farm. This article explores how Irish farming offspring who will not or are highly unlikely to be farm successors frame their relationship with the farm, as well as their attitude to and role in the succession process and the continuity of the farm within the family. Particularly, the concern is to know how attachment to/detachment from the farm and home life are shaped and the implications for how they construct their identities. The article is based on a qualitative narrative study of 30 young adults from farm backgrounds attending university. It is argued that the ‘non-successors’ in this cohort have a deep attachment to the farm as an enduring place in their lives. This has key implications for the desire to retain the farm within the family. The article demonstrates that while there is acceptance of enduring gendered cultural scripts surrounding succession, non-successors demonstrate their attachments in key terms, namely through a collective and secure sense of ownership; a sense of responsibility in maintaining the intergenerational legacy and continuity; and the articulation of the farm as a repository of memories.
46 citations
TL;DR: The authors examined how farm women represent rurality and agriculture within the context of farm tourism and found that women represent rural life in multiple and seemingly contradictory ways, at times they paint portraits of rural life that reproduce human-nature and masculine-feminine binaries affiliated with tradition and cultural heritage, at other times they choreograph, stage, and perform modernity by accentuating materials, ideals, and roles more accurately articulated as a product of contemporary society.
Abstract: This article examines how farm women represent rurality and agriculture within the context of farm tourism. We draw upon qualitative data analysis of a farm women's agritourism network in southern France centred on sheep milk production for Roquefort cheese. Through the use of choreography, staging, performances, and their bodies, we found that women represent rurality and agriculture in multiple and seemingly contradictory ways. At times they paint portraits of rural life that reproduce human-nature and masculine-feminine binaries affiliated with tradition and cultural heritage. At other times, they choreograph, stage, and perform modernity by accentuating materials, ideals, and roles more accurately articulated as a product of contemporary society. The result is a complex amalgam of agriculture and rural life representations constructed for tourist consumption. We conclude by discussing the opportunities such representations hold for enabling farm women to access cultural influence in agriculture. Juliette threw open the doors to her 125 year old barn and invited us in. She had a big smile and seemed warm. She lives on a 71 ha family farm and she was excited to show us her farm tourism operation. The barn is where she welcomes guests for the tour and 'farm snack'. This beautiful old barn was erected with limestone harvested from the area. There was a massive fireplace opposite the entryway. Antique scythes, wagon wheels, and ox yokes were hung on the walls for art, not cultivation. It was very rustic, traditional ... old world France! We admired it, asked questions about the setting, and complimented her. She is very proud of the renovations and says she wants tourists to appreciate the cultural heritage of Roque-fort when they come here. Then we looked up above the fireplace and into the vaulted ceiling
42 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors propose a typology of counterurban migration strategies based on quantitative research in rural areas in the Czech Republic, and demonstrate both general and specific features of the counterurbanization stream in Czech Republic.
Abstract: Urban-rural research in post-socialist countries has focused on urban transformation, the impact of international migration and the spread of suburbanisation; little attention has been paid to counterurban migration. The aim of this article is to propose a typology of counterurban migration strategies based on quantitative research in rural areas in the Czech Republic. Firstly, the article discusses the differences and similarities of counterurbanisation in western and post-socialist countries by bringing together counterurbanisation and post-socialist research literature. Secondly, detailed information about the counterurbanisation migration stream is provided on the basis of extensive field research. Thirdly, the article presents four basic types of counterurbanisation migration strategies, two lifestyle-oriented types and two economic-oriented types, based on household motivation, preferences and household employment location. The research demonstrates both general and specific features of counterurbanisation stream in the Czech Republic.
41 citations
TL;DR: The authors argue that the suicides of older male farmers, both real and within discourse, raise complex questions concerning reasons for suicide, embedded within subjective, social and cultural contexts, and examine the cultures of farming masculinity, rural cultures of ageing and the ways in which old age and suicide are problematised.
Abstract: The literature on suicide reveals an academic praxis that largely overlooks the group potentially at highest risk of suicide, namely older male farmers. Within the broader literature on suicide, a small and constrained body of articles has provided empirical evidence and review of the individual risk factors for older male suicides. The rural studies literature on suicide has predominantly focused on the risk factors of suicide for farmers and rural youth and the ways in which masculinities are implicated in suicide. This article engages with these literatures for what they might reveal about the suicides of older male farmers but also critiques their limitations and makes suggestions about potentially revealing avenues for empirical investigation. It argues that the suicides of older male farmers, both real and within discourse, raise complex questions concerning reasons for suicide, embedded within subjective, social and cultural contexts. Examination of cultures of farming masculinity, rural cultures of ageing and the ways in which old age and suicide are problematised may therefore provide critical insights into the suicides of older farming men. Language: en
31 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a ten-country study examining the nature and key points of discussion concerning the new reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), finally agreed in September 2013, examined stakeholder views on the Commission's November 2010 Communication, the Impact Assessment and the October 2011 draft legislative proposals for the 2014-2020 period.
Abstract: Europe's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), its evolving role and financial and political significance have long been hot topics among rural stakeholders. This article analyses a ten-country study examining the nature and key points of discussion concerning the new reform of the CAP, finally agreed in September 2013. The study examined stakeholder views on the Commission's November 2010 Communication, the Impact Assessment and the October 2011 draft legislative proposals for the 2014–2020 period. Case-studies for each country and comparative analysis were used to stimulate discussion at an international policy conference in early 2012. The article updates Erjavec et al.'s analysis of the changing discourse in Brussels, contrasting its move from a neoliberal to a more neo-mercantilist position, with the nuanced, heavily path-dependent attitudes and negotiating stances in the Member States, even when key interest groups express consistent views across national boundaries. In this context, we see why what looked from Brussels like a consensus-oriented package still failed to offer a clear way forward for the Council and Parliament. Taking stock in October 2013, we note the outcome – a potentially greener and slightly more cohesion-sensitive policy, with weaker differentiation between its pillars but much increased national differentiation – and its future implications.
28 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the value that new farmers attach to different forms of knowledge, in particular the discrepancies between formal scientific and local knowledges, is discussed in relation to the individual experiences of farmers, as well as formal networks that exist to impart technical knowledge of agriculture.
Abstract: Back-to-the-land migration offers a unique and insightful opportunity to explore how individuals from non-agricultural backgrounds adopt, adapt and perceive the demands of farming. There is considerable variation in the forms of study and methods of preparation that back-to-the-landers undertake before trying to create a livelihood from the land, not to mention highly disparate results from their efforts. This article considers the value that new farmers in Italy attach to different forms of knowledge, in particular the discrepancies between formal scientific and local knowledges. The utility of different forms is discussed in relation to the individual experiences of farmers, as well as formal networks that exist to impart technical knowledge of agriculture. Two case-study organisations, Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF) and Associazione per Esperienze (APE) are analysed with regard to their abilities to assemble and transmit specific forms of knowledge to new and aspiring farmers, thus strengthening the viability of back-to-the-land as a lifestyle choice and farming as a vocation.
26 citations
TL;DR: What it is to be a dweller in the modern countryside and how much the residential status has to do with people's interests and use of space is asked.
Abstract: Rural communities are getting more diversified in terms of people's backgrounds, sources of livelihood and interests towards the rural landscape. A common way to discuss rural community change has been to contrast in-migrants and seasonal residents with long-term rural residents. In this article, we aim to challenge this segmentation. We ask what it is to be a dweller in the modern countryside and how much the residential status has to do with people's interests and use of space. Based on a postal survey in a case study area in Finland, we look into the differences in the valuation of different leisure activities performed in rural space between second home owners and permanent residents. After dividing permanent residents and second home owners into further subgroups based on their spatial and temporal possibilities to engage in rural leisure, we found that there are no specific activities or groups of activities typical for certain groups of rural leisure space users. Differences between local residents and second-home owners are rarely explained by this simple dichotomy, rather the differences are better explained by spatial and temporal accessibility.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors show that migration intentions are a moderate to strong predictor of individual-level migration across a wide range of countries, but their value for predicting community-level population change remains unclear.
Abstract: Prior research has demonstrated that migration intentions are a moderate to strong predictor of individual-level migration across a wide range of countries, but their value for predicting community-level population change remains unclear. Analyses of census data 1972–2012 and a population survey of Icelandic adolescents in 1992 show that each percentage point difference in adolescent migration intentions is associated with 1.36 per cent change in the surveyed cohort and 1.25 per cent change in the total population over a 20-year period. Roughly half of the predictive value of migration intentions can be attributed to remoteness and long-term population change prior to the survey. On average, communities only experienced long-term population decline when more than half the adolescent population had intended to leave, but lower levels of adolescent migration intentions are associated with changes in the age composition. These results strongly suggest that adolescent migration intentions signal future population development.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that the prohibition of the commercial cultivation of GMOs in some Central and Eastern European member states must be interpreted in light of the EUwide public and political contestation of GMOs.
Abstract: By the joining of the European Union (EU), the Central and Eastern European states had to align their agricultural biotechnology regulations to EU standards In some cases, this meant the adoption of stricter regulations such as for the co-existence of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and conventional crops In other cases, harmonisation with EU rules entailed the need to give up more restrictive national regulation, for example: to allow the cultivation of a limited number of GMOs This article examines why some Central and Eastern European states joined the group of Western European countries that instituted bans on the commercial cultivation of GMOs in the EU This study contributes to the literature in two ways First, it contends that the prohibition of the commercial cultivation of GMOs in some Central and Eastern European member states must be interpreted in light of the EU-wide public and political contestation of GMOs Second, this piece of research shows that the ideological composition of governments matters in explaining the regulation of agricultural biotechnology This second contribution allows for going beyond the predominant focus on public opinion when analysing the regulation of GMOs in the EU
TL;DR: In this article, the current state of and developments in biogas systems around the world are analyzed using a sociology of networks and flows frame, and it is concluded that biogen-based systems are most likely to further globally integrate, but that it remains to be seen whether that will result in similar sustainability controversies as with respect to liquid biofuels.
Abstract: Compared to liquid biofuels biogas has hardly drawn any attention from social sciences researchers lately. Although the share of biogas and liquid biofuels in the energy portfolio of many countries are comparable, biogas systems are strongly place-based and are non-controversial in terms of sustainability. But is that a fundamental distinction between the two biofuel systems; or is it just a matter of time before biogas becomes globally integrated and subject to sustainability controversies? In using a sociology of networks and flows frame, the current state of and developments in biogas systems around the world are analysed. It is concluded that biogas systems are most likely to further globally integrate, but that it remains to be seen whether that will result in similar sustainability controversies as with respect to liquid biofuels. One determining factor is whether governance arrangements manage to condition the sustainability of globalising biogas developments.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors identify four main controversies within the complex theoretical and political debates about multifunctional agriculture, namely whether or not multifunctionality is: (1) a survival strategy mostly followed by small and marginal farms, (2) at the expense of food production, (3) primarily driven by governmental programs, and (4) only relevant at the farm level.
Abstract: Theoretical approaches to multifunctional agriculture often posit a dichotomy between ‘productivist’ and multifunctional agriculture. However, this theoretical dichotomy runs counter to the tendency among many ‘productivist’ farms to now rely, to varying extents, on newly-developed multifunctional activities. In this article we identify four of the main controversies within the complex theoretical and political debates about multifunctional agriculture. These concern whether or not multifunctionality is: (1) a survival strategy mostly followed by small and marginal farms, (2) at the expense of food production, (3) primarily driven by governmental programmes, and (4) only relevant at the farm-level. We use the results of a representative survey among 795 larger farmers across Italy in order to empirically evaluate these arguments. The research results show that larger farmers are also investing in new, multifunctional activities, alongside investments in food production; in fact, these farmers are keeping pace with, or moving ahead of, farmers who only invest in food production. They consider investments in new activities to be a ‘life-jacket’ that strengthens their agricultural activities. The results also show that government programmes are not decisive factors for farms engaging in or further developing multifunctional activities. The main drivers are family centred, with some farmers also having ‘broader’ motivations and seeing the wider benefits of multifunctional agriculture
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated why the different stakeholders came to occupy such mutually exclusive positions towards the trial and concluded that the institutional handling of the trial as if it represented a single reality that merited only epistemological struggles contributed to turning a multifaceted debate into a dichotomous one, figuring field trial proponents and opponents.
Abstract: In 2011, a Belgian field trial with genetically modified crops triggered fierce public protests and debates. Opponents of the trial protested against its performance and some advocated its destruction, in response to which scientists and the government defended a scientific freedom to perform the trial. This article investigates why the different stakeholders came to occupy such mutually exclusive positions towards the trial. Based on analyses of qualitative interviews with key stakeholders, document analyses, and field observations, the article argues that the different stakeholders were involved in an ontological politics. This politics centred on the question of which ontologically different, co-existing versions of the trial should be attended to in institutionalised scientific and political appraisals of the trial. The article concludes that the institutional handling of the trial as if it represented a single reality that merited only epistemological struggles contributed to turning a multifaceted debate into a dichotomous one, figuring field trial proponents and opponents. As such, the opposition between the different stakeholders was not antecedent to the institutional handling of the trial – as different stakeholders claimed – but rather an outcome of it.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors use interviews and survey data from Norwegian farms to investigate how farmers make use of various forms of exchange to acquire labour and capital and how these exchange practices depend on community structure.
Abstract: Using interviews and survey data from Norwegian farms, I address the questions of how farmers make use of various forms of exchange to acquire labour and capital and how these exchange practices depend on community structure. The article questions the commonly used dichotomy of ‘hired’ versus ‘family’ labour, and argues that the notion of farming as a family business should be supplemented by the notion of farming as a community-based moral economy in which multiple forms of exchange and payment are used flexibly in a market that is embedded in several types of long-term relationships. I argue that the embeddedness of this market affects farm economies in ways that may enhance their viability. The study draws on three traditions of economic sociology: political economy, the New Economic Sociology, and social exchange theory. I argue that public policies have protected a community structure that provides for a local, socially embedded labour and capital market. This social embeddedness facilitates two exchange forms that have been neglected by previous research on modern farming: reciprocal and non-monetised exchange.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors employ quantitative methods to answer the question, how will the current shift in European and Norwegian agriculture towards increased diversification affect the recruitment of young women to rural areas?
Abstract: Female potential successors of farm properties are increasingly choosing not to take over the farm, with the result that rural areas are becoming masculinised. The question asked in this article is, how will the current shift in European and Norwegian agriculture towards increased diversification affect the recruitment of young women to rural areas? This study employs quantitative methods to answer this question. The findings are a significant and positive relationship between the potential recruitment of women, a higher level of education among farm property owners, and farm property owners’ involvement in farm diversification associated with farm tourism and Green Care. The article concludes that there are more options for a farm-based life than there used to be, and that this increases the probability that daughters are wanted as successors of their parents’ farm properties. This outcome is of importance for recruitment of women to rural areas and for rural viability.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined four platforms in southeastern France to understand the sociological stakes for the establishment of a local organic intermediary sales structure and found that the question of direct interaction between farmers and buyers was touchy for platform participants, manifesting itself in a discomfort with "intermediaries" and in a debate over who should assure deliveries.
Abstract: Producers' platforms are wholesale sales outlets for ‘local’ foods developed in the French organic sector to reclaim the success of mainstream organic distribution for its founders. This article examines four platforms in southeastern France (akin to ‘food hubs’ in North America) to understand the sociological stakes for the establishment of a local organic intermediary sales structure. The two-year study used semi-directive interviews and participant-observation of platform and institutional actors, who widely consider platforms to be ‘short food supply chains’ (circuits courts). The question of direct interaction between farmers and buyers was touchy for platform participants, manifesting itself in a discomfort with ‘intermediaries’ and in a debate over who should assure deliveries. By evoking the ‘short chain’ label platforms assimilate themselves with direct sales, distinguishing themselves as the ‘real’ organic, as opposed to newcomers profiting from the organic ‘trend’. In the process, actors frame and adapt to organic sector evolutions in a way that is consistent with their awkward position as activists making a living off their cause.
TL;DR: In this paper, a case study of the contemporary representation of the Finnhorse as a national breed in the context of Finnish discourses of national identity is presented, where the authors investigate the definition of the animal as a representative of a 'national breed' and its support to nation-building.
Abstract: In eco-national discourses, animals and other nonhumans are represented as national through their position as native breeds or species. In this article, we investigate the definition of the animal as a representative of a ‘national breed’ and its support to nation-building. This article is a case-study of the contemporary representation of the Finnhorse as a ‘national breed’ in the context of Finnish discourses of national identity. The materials analysed consist of documents and reports seeking to develop and ‘rebrand’ the Finnhorse, as well as the representation of the breed in contemporary Finnish popular music and culture. The materials are analysed using discourse analysis. According to the study, nationality is a central part of the representation of the Finnhorse, and nature is an essential element in defining the animal as native, therefore claiming its nationality to be natural. The Finnhorse is often also portrayed in the context of nostalgia. In the new contexts of contemporary equine activities, the horse is also provided with a role in rural development.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined how different socio-demographic trends interrelate with alterations in the traditional forms of social and interpersonal relationships in rural communities, focusing on two Portuguese municipalities using the concept of rural community as an analytic starting point for framing and examining the different dimensions of social capital.
Abstract: This article examines how different socio-demographic trends interrelate with alterations in the traditional forms of social and interpersonal relationships. We will focus on two Portuguese municipalities using the concept of rural community as an analytic starting point for framing and examining the different dimensions of social capital. The survey’s data shows that the generalised nature of mutual knowledge and trust, that used to characterise more traditional communities, tends now to depend on new social categories and groups that live and interact in these places. The study contains a multivariate, multiple correspondence analysis, which shows three different profiles of social capital coexisting in the two areas.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss the sociological knowledge produced by studies that highlight the own experiences and knowledge of rural actors, farmers, to understand and interpret the narrated identities of farmers, and their agency in the changing circumstances of farming.
Abstract: Social change is often narrated as a sequential process from traditional society to industrial or urban society. In this kind of a narrative, the countryside and agricultural livelihoods are often interpreted as undeveloped and as a contrast to the urban. Furthermore, rural development has often happened unnoticed. This article intends to discuss the sociological knowledge produced by studies that highlight the own experiences and knowledge of rural actors, farmers. The aim is to understand and interpret the narrated identities of farmers, and their agency in the changing circumstances of farming. Farmers act and face societal changes individually, while utilising cultural patterns of action that emerge from their own background. If they perceive the general circumstances and societal structures as constant and unchangeable, then their ability to react to external changes can be limited. In the success stories farmers defined their life through agency. This strengthened their possibilities of expressing different identities and redefining them in a flexible way in a changing environment.
TL;DR: It is suggested that not only is there still quite a bit going on in the ‘worlds of food’, but that the pathway to a climate changed world is not only accelerating but doing so in ways that are surprising the majority of climate scientists.
Abstract: of May, 2013, the concentration of C02 in the atmosphere tipped over 400 parts per million (ppm) suggesting that the pathway to a climate changed world is not only accelerating but doing so in ways that are surprising the majority of climate scientists (Bawden, 2013). The supreme irony of this is that, as part of the continuing effort to deliver ever greater quantities of greenhouse gas-rich cheap protein sources, the political ground is being sown in the UK for the growth of US-styled ‘mega’ livestock and fish farms (Milmo and Levitt, 2013). Meanwhile parallel news reports spoke of how UK supermarkets will begin to source chicken fed with GM feeds at the behest of ‘food cartels and GM food giants’ (Dorward, 2013) and, in the US, a unanimous Supreme Court decision strengthenedcorporate control over seed patents to the benefit of the likes of Monsanto (Goldenberg, 2013). At the same time all this was going on, other more ostensibly quotidian stories were being told about how, in Britain, there has not only been a rise in austerity-fuelled hunger (Carr, 2013), but that scientific evidence reveals growing links amongst middle-age obesity, ill-health and dementia (McKie, 2013). To top it all off, the UN is now recommending ‘insect farming’ as a way to not only reduce the environmental impacts of farming, but also feed growing global populations (Vidal, 2013). What all of these seemingly unrelated reports suggest is that not only is there still quite a bit going on in the ‘worlds of food’ (Morgan, et al 2006)—indeed, the above events and reports happened within two
TL;DR: In this article, the authors draw on empirical research that examined the lives of migrant communities in Northern Ireland and reveal how attention to professional ethics can contribute to effective, situated and reflexive practice, thus transforming ethics to become an asset to professional researchers.
Abstract: In recent years concerns over litigation and the trend towards close monitoring of academic activity has seen the effective hijacking of research ethics by university managers and bureaucrats. This can effectively curtail cutting edge research as perceived ‘safe’ research strategies are encouraged. However, ethics is about more than research governance. Ultimately, it seeks to avoid harm and to increase benefits to society. Rural development debate is fairly quiet on the question of ethics, leaving guidance to professional bodies. This study draws on empirical research that examined the lives of migrant communities in Northern Ireland. This context of increasingly diverse rural development actors provides a backdrop for the way in which the researcher navigates through ethical issues as they unfold in the field. The analysis seeks to relocate ethics from being an annoying bureaucratic requirement to one where it is inherent to rigorous and professional research and practice. It reveals how attention to professional ethics can contribute to effective, situated and reflexive practice, thus transforming ethics to become an asset to professional researchers.
TL;DR: This paper used Bourdieu's analysis of peasant life in the Bearn to illuminate a changing but resilient rural culture in mid-twentieth century Wales, where Welsh speaking participants in this biographical study used the education system to build upon their existing cultural capital previously cultivated through religious and informal civic institutions.
Abstract: This article uses Bourdieu's analysis of peasant life in the Bearn to illuminate a changing but resilient rural culture in mid-twentieth century Wales. Rather than finding their culture and language eroded by economic and social change, Welsh speaking participants in this biographical study used the education system to build upon their existing cultural capital previously cultivated through religious and informal civic institutions. A distinctive habitus enabled exchange of locally acquired cultural capital for the symbolic capital of qualifications, in the face of declines in the farming and quarrying industries and consequent loss of employment opportunities. Anglicising influences of upward social mobility were counteracted by Welsh language activism, combined with a sense that Wales was heir to a tradition of Bards and scholars. This helped maintain the illusio that ‘Welsh culture’ was a game worth playing. Unlike peasant life in the Bearn, this story is of transformation rather than demise.
TL;DR: Sage as discussed by the authors defines a sustainable food system (SFS) as a vision of food futures where individual, societal, and nutritional wellbeing is enhanced because of their sustainable nature rather than in spite of it.
Abstract: H ats off to Colin Sage. His Environment and Food (Sage 2012) provides a definitive account of the wickedly messy relationships between food, environment, and society, even though the latter is conspicuously absent in the title. The overall argumentative thrust of the book is to highlight that while we strive to enrol the Earth’s resources for purposes of food production we remain subject to certain ecological realities. The goal, then, is to strive to turn these ecological constraints into enablements: a vision of food futures where individual, societal, and nutritional wellbeing is enhanced because of their sustainable nature rather than in spite of it. I should say that the book does not go into too much detail about what those futures look like. Though I appreciate this point, for, as Sage rightfully notes, such a future cannot (and should not) be determined by any one person or organisation – if we learned anything from the Green Revolution it is that there is no magic bullet when it comes to implementing real food security. Sustainable food futures begin, as Sage notes in the book’s concluding paragraph, with highly inclusive social mobilisations. Yet given that ecological realities are, after all, real, I do think there are some things that we can say now about sustainable future food systems. Those conversations hinge on our understanding of ‘need’ and ‘consumer choice’. The book defines a ‘sustainable food system’ (SFS) as follows:
TL;DR: Sage's book Environment and Food (Sage 2012) as discussed by the authors is quintessential geography as it is about the human/environment relationship with respect to food and how we might have much greater care for this relationship as we move forward.
Abstract: A s commentators on Colin Sage’s book Environment and Food (Sage 2012) and with one of us as a member of the ‘meet the critics’ ’ session at AAG 2012, we are pleased to collaborate with fellow critics and Sage on furthering the compelling debates he develops in his timely and sharply executed book. Together, as a geographer (David) dedicated to coupled human-land systems – and as a reviewer for Routledge of Colin’s manuscript – and a food security expert (Anna) having worked many years at the FAO, we are delighted by an invigorated interest in food systems and implications for the people and the planet. Here, we focus on a few major insights from the book to stir further debate and engagement with issues related to food and the environment. First, Sage’s book is quintessential geography as it is about the human/ environment relationship with respect to food and how we might have much greater care for this relationship as we move forward. Other colleagues (e.g., Smith et al. 2000; Freidberg 2004) have explored and discussed human implications of food and the environment and the especially important issues of inequality in the context of food production and the consumption. These surely are critical and deserve even further explication, engagement and critique. But what about the geography of land use/cover change as connected to questions of food environments? What are the implications of current food systems for the land? And, what about population geography? What is the human population component of food’s environments? The following is a central argument we posit to frame our discussion of Sage’s book: How many people eating what, produced where, produced how will describe the greatest changes on the face of the earth going forward. It will also describe much of human well-being vis à vis nutrition and health. Related to this overarching argument are the following questions: Is research on sustainable agriculture a fait accompli or is there much more we can learn? Can 8 billion plus all grow organic food locally? If so how? If not, how many people can? Under what circumstances? And where? What is the most harmonious way for us to produce and consume food going forward (Guthman 2004)? What role might population and health dynamics play in food production and, ultimately then, what role might maternal and child health play in improved nutrition in the developing world and the promotion of access to quality health care for all (e.g., Bremner et al. 2010)? In this, how can we get people to eat
TL;DR: In this paper, a deconstructive analysis of both the discourses and practices associated with risk assessment, analysis and management is carried out through a deconstructionive reading of both information and data.
Abstract: This article explores risk assessment, analysis and management as strategic responses to the threat of animal disease outbreaks. Such strategies, and the techniques, technologies and practices they give rise to, are conceptualised here as thoroughly bio-political strategies which induce particular disciplinary effects. These effects are critically explored along three key analytical dimensions: space, place and mobility. This analysis is carried out through a deconstructive reading of both the discourses and practices associated with risk assessment, analysis and management. Whilst the deployment of these strategies acts to classify, categorise, control, order, render visible, distribute (or fix) in space, a heterogeneous array of agents (human and non-human) and objects, as the article argues, these strategies do not merely delimit or inhibit. Rather, their deployment effects a proliferation of opportunities for resistance, negotiation, transgression and misappropriation, not to mention technical failure. Such strategies are therefore characterised as much by congenital failure and indeterminacy as by efficacy and completion.