Rural geography I Changing expectations and contradictions in the rural
TL;DR: In this paper, rural geographers' critique of agriculture and small-scale farming in sustainable rural futures and the changing expectations and contradictions that currently abound are explored, with the focus on rural livelihoods and rural sustainability.
Abstract: Rural areas are increasingly thought of in terms of opportunity, as engines of growth in a world of economic uncertainty, they are being challenged in terms of their role in providing safe and secure food supplies, and they are being lauded and criticized in terms of climate change and mitigation. The multiple scales of these discussions, and the intensity and increased volume of rural debate that has emerged, see rural geographers occupy an interesting space in terms of conceptualizations, engagement and understanding of rural livelihoods and rural sustainability. Through the lens of agriculture and related spheres, the principal issues pertaining to agriculture as a sectoral activity and an instrument of rural and regional development, this report explores rural geographers’ critique of agriculture and small-scale farming in sustainable rural futures and the changing expectations and contradictions that currently abound.
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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present a systematic review of 157 papers on digital developments and rural development in advanced countries, focusing on the general conclusions, in order to better understand the potential impacts of the coming Next Generation Access revolution.
469 citations
Cites background from "Rural geography I Changing expectat..."
...Malecki (2003: 201) frames this as ‘the rural penalty’ (see also Hite, 1997), meaning that people in rural areas ‘pay a price’ for living in remote areas, which affects many different economic sectors and social groups (Woods, 2005; Bosworth, 2010; Velaga et al., 2012; Stockdale and MacLeod, 2013)....
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TL;DR: In this article, a community resilience framework is used to critically examine the digital-rural policy agenda, and three resilience motifs are explored: resilience as multi-scalar; resilience as entailing normative assumptions; and as integrated and place-sensitive.
100 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explore the role of private sector enterprises in building the resilience of rural Scotland and identify changes in rural enterprise activities and their impact on rural life, based on quantitative secondary data analysis and two qualitative case studies.
Abstract: This paper explores the role of private sector enterprises in building the resilience of rural Scotland. In addition, the paper seeks to identify changes in rural enterprise activities and their impact on rural life. The paper is based on quantitative secondary data analysis and two qualitative case studies. These demonstrate how rural enterprises contribute to economic and social development in rural communities and the wider resilience of rural locations. Analysis of the secondary data highlights an increasing contribution by private sector enterprises to overall employment in rural Scotland. The data verify the importance of SMEs and, in particular, micro businesses in rural job creation. They also show the role of rural businesses in increasing the diversification of the local economy and therefore in building wider rural community resilience. The results identify changing employment patterns in rural areas (such as an increasing level of self-employment, part-time and home working and multiple job ho...
65 citations
Cites background from "Rural geography I Changing expectat..."
...Rural areas represent both places of production and consumption (Woods, 2005)....
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TL;DR: Approaches to new IB theory are developed, addressing the interdependencies of MNEs and city-regions that are a crucial avenue for future research, and two generic MNE strategies are contrasted.
Abstract: Much of the rising international connectedness of city-regions has developed from MNEs replacing local connections with (superior) international ones. This often creates local disconnectedness that energizes the current populist backlash against MNE activities. We develop approaches to new IB theory, addressing the interdependencies of MNEs and city-regions that we propose as a crucial avenue for future research. We contrast two generic MNE strategies. The first is the traditional one: the 'global orchestration' of resources and markets. We argue that it exacerbates local disconnectedness. The second, that we call 'local spawning,' involves engaging with the local entrepreneurial eco-system to create and renew local connectedness, diffusing populist responses. Some MNEs are better able to implement a local spawning strategy, due to industry factors like innovation clock-speed, and firm characteristics like organizational path dependency. Finally, we distinguish between disconnection, which is an outcome of MNE strategy, and global disruptions, like the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, which are primarily stochastic events. Addressing disconnections requires MNEs to re-orient their strategies while dealing with disruptions requires undertaking risk mitigation. We present empirical evidence from city-regions around the world to illustrate our theory.
59 citations
Cites background from "Rural geography I Changing expectat..."
...No longer in a reciprocal relationship with core cities, such catchment areas often suffer from depopulation and problems of social exclusion (Sinclair, 1967; Pacione, 1984).9 Wealth and economic opportunities are also likely to be distributed in a socially uneven manner....
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...No longer in a reciprocal relationship with core cities, such catchment areas often suffer from depopulation and problems of social exclusion (Sinclair, 1967; Pacione, 1984)....
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References
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TL;DR: In this paper, rural development is analyzed as a multi-level, multi-actor and multi-faceted process rooted in historical traditions that represents at all levels a fundamental rupture with the modernization project.
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
918 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that for the rural poor to benefit from rural non-farm growth, policy makers must stimulate buoyant rural economies, with robust nonfarm income growth, not simply low-productivity employment.
571 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors reviewed the difficulties that smallholders face accessing services and showed how incentives for commercial delivery of services to smallholders differ between staple food, traditional cash crop, and high value product supply chains.
477 citations
"Rural geography I Changing expectat..." refers background in this paper
...In fact, the recent contribution of Poulton et al. (2010) on service delivery to smallholders in Africa, Valdés and Foster’s (2010) work on the importance of agriculture in reducing poverty in Latin America and Diao et al.’s (2010) exploration of challenges in Africa reinforce such challenges and…...
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TL;DR: In this article, a critique of post-productivism is presented to demonstrate its invalidity, presenting empirical evidence to refute five supposed characteristics relating to quality food, pluriactivity, sustainability, production dispersion and regulation.
Abstract: It has become fashionable to conceptualize recent shifts in agrarian priorities as a ‘postproductivist’
transition from a previously ‘productivist’ agriculture. This notion became more
popular throughout the 1990s as a way to capture in one convenient package the complex
changes experienced by both the agricultural sector specifically and within rural areas more
generally. However, the widespread and uncritical use of such an all-encompassing term is
rather surprising given debates elsewhere in human geography on the rejection of dualistic
thinking. Yet, in agricultural and rural studies, the active creation and reinforcement of a productivist/
post-productivist dualism has emerged as a means of explaining the uneven
development of rural areas. This paper develops a critique of post-productivism to demonstrate
its invalidity, presenting empirical evidence to refute five supposed characteristics relating to
quality food, pluriactivity, sustainability, production dispersion and regulation. It is argued that
future progress in agricultural research will only be made if post-productivism is abandoned.
Effort should be refocused upon understanding deeper processes underpinning agricultural
change using existing theoretical perspectives developed in human geography but which lack
application in the agricultural context. Ecological modernization is provided as a brief exemplar
of how such progress may be achieved.
385 citations
TL;DR: The authors examined whether the conventional wisdom about agriculture's contribution to the development process can still be applied to Africa today and found that while Africa does face many new challenges unlike those faced by Asian countries, there is little evidence to suggest that these countries can bypass a broad-based agricultural revolution to successfully launch their economic transformations.
371 citations