Suchergebnisse

AbstractIn this paper, I assess the utility of two targeted qualitative interview questions: descriptions of a 'good farmer' and a 'good day', for eliciting rich textual data. Studies where farmers have been asked to describe or define a good farmer have been utilized across a growing range of international contexts in order to identify farmers' cultural scripts, symbolic capital and social norms. The constitution of a 'good day' is new to rural studies but has been employed academically to assess perceptions of well‐being and job satisfaction. I employ document analysis to analyse the multiple uses of the 'good farmer' question in the rural studies literature and introduce a contrasting empirical application the 'good day' question in a rural case study in the United Kingdom. Findings demonstrate that both interview questions can generate rich textual descriptions of embodied performances. 'Good farmer' definitions may also include a moral judgement, whereas the 'good day' question specifically yields descriptions of affect. Farmers are reluctant to identify 'bad farmers', but asking about a 'bad day' can open up discussion of the vulnerabilities of farming life. Both questions are thus suited to more‐than‐representational research, gaining utility from their congruence between common parlance and academic conceptualization.

AbstractThis paper presents a methodology for undertaking research with a 'difficult to reach population' – hobby farmers. In an investigation designed to assess agrarian transition processes in a peri‐urban locale, data was sought on every agricultural holding in a Scottish parish (municipality). This 'parish study' methodology combined participant mapping and qualitative interviewing with photo elicitation. Participant mapping was found to be useful for identifying farmers who are not normally included in rural social research, leading to a high response rate and a respondent pool for photo elicitation. The method also enabled the analysis of agrarian identity and land use. However, the parish study method is not suited to studies of dispersed groups and is more resource intensive than standard qualitative interview‐based studies. A number of ethical and EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) issues also arise around identifying participants, mapping, photos and incentivising participation in the research. The utility of the parish study method is demonstrated through two key findings of the research: the problematic definition of 'hobby farmers' in the study site and the trajectories towards de facto land abandonment in a peri‐urban locale.

This paper addresses the question of farmer objectives associated with private farming in Eastern Europe. Drawing on qualitative interviews with private farmers in Bulgaria and southern Russia, the instrumental objectives of business development and job-replacement consistent with recent literature are demonstrated, but also intrinsic, social, and personal objectives, such as enjoyment of agricultural production, desire for independence, and proving oneself. These objectives are described in relation to associated farm size, investment practices, and succession plans, resulting in five idealized farming types which are similar in the two study states: agribusinessmen, primary farmers, pluriactive farmers, reluctant farmers, and minority horticulturalists. It is argued that differences in farming objectives have important implications for farming longevity and succession, opening up a research agenda for the study of private farming in post-Soviet states.

AbstractRecent years have seen a proliferation of state supports to increase agriculture and rural economic development through co‐operative ventures. Implicit or explicit in these activities is the mobilisation of social capital to achieve economic aims. To date, few studies have addressed the long term evolution of social capital‐based relationships. In this article, we assess the evolving role of social capital in an agricultural co‐operative, using the development of machinery rings in Scotland as a case‐study. Drawing on Bourdieu's conceptualisation of capital exchange, we explore the establishment, formalisation, and commoditisation of different capitals embedded in the rings. Findings demonstrate that a range of capital types was important at each stage of machinery ring development, enabling them to evolve in relation to the changes affecting the agriculture industry in Scotland. Early adoption of advanced information technologies enabled the mobilisation of network resources and successful service provision across increasing geographical scales. Through formalisation, the rings became sources of human, social, and economic capitals – access to which could be purchased by new ring members. This formalisation process ultimately led to the establishment of the rings as economically viable businesses, but also a shift in identity from farmer collaboration to commercial service provision.

AbstractRecent decades have seen a gradual erosion of farming incomes across the UK due to falling commodity prices and changes to the subsidy regime. This study examines what resources farmers are able to access informally and how this 'social capital' is generated and maintained in farming communities. Using a conceptual framework based on Bourdieu's conceptualisations of social and cultural capital, this study explores the evolving informal exchange relationships between farmers in a case study of Upper Deeside, Scotland. We find that although cultural capital is important for accessing social capital, the technological treadmill characteristic of 'good farming' creates a disincentive for informally sharing machinery amongst large‐scale farmers. However, social capital remains an important resource for smaller scale farmers, particularly in terms of their access to labour. We conclude by suggesting that, far from being a low‐cost means of facilitating community economic development, increasing the level of social capital will be difficult in communities where labour is a scarce or expensive resource.

- ; Recent decades have seen a gradual erosion of farming incomes across the UK due to falling commodity prices and changes to the subsidy regime. This study examines what resources farmers are able to access informally and how this 'social capital' is generated and maintained in farming communities. Using a conceptual framework based on Bourdieu's conceptualisations of social and cultural capital, this study explores the evolving informal exchange relationships between farmers in a case study of Upper Deeside, Scotland. We find that although cultural capital is important for accessing social capital, the technological treadmill characteristic of 'good farming' creates a disincentive for informally sharing machinery amongst large-scale farmers. However, social capital remains an important resource for smaller scale farmers, particularly in terms of their access to labour. We conclude by suggesting that, far from being a low-cost means of facilitating community economic development, increasing the level of social capital will be difficult in communities where labour is a scarce or expensive resource ; Scottish Government Rural and Environment Research and Analysis Directorate EU Framework Programme 6 New and Emerging Science and Technology Pathfinder Initiative on Tackling Complexity in Science

This study looks at how farm families coped with the 1998 ice storm in Eastern Ontario, in particular stress and health impacts. It is based on a mail survey (N = 171) and follow-up qualitative interviews with households (N = 40). Beyond the severity of the event, finances were identified as a key factor in reported incidence of stress symptoms during the ice storm, related to uncertainties with insurance claims and arrangements with banks. Afterwards, off-farm income was found to moderate ongoing stress. Although the social resources the farm community utilized in coping with the storm and its aftermath were identified as highly important by respondents, these did not act to differentially moderate the stress and health impacts. Instead, the findings suggest farm families addressed the financial implications of the ice storm at the household level, compounding existing stress- linked responses to chronic financial strain among farms in the region.

AbstractIt is generally accepted that gendered occupational closure is a thing of the past and the inequalities that women now experience in the labour market are due to segregation and segmentation of employment. In this article it is argued that agriculture still displays gendered occupational closure. Previous research has considered structural closure, focusing on patrilineal inheritance and exclusion from farming organizations. Here structural exclusion is considered, but more attention is paid to the interactional processes of occupational closure. Consideration is given to symbolic interaction, non‐verbal communication, exclusionary tactics and language. How the dominant group justify their actions is considered along with the justification sometimes offered by the subordinate group. How structure and agency intertwine is considered alongside how change occurs. The research is based on qualitative interviews and focus groups conducted in Scotland. The article concludes that change does and has occurred, but the rate of change in agriculture remains low because of processes of gendered structural and interactional social closure.

AbstractIn this paper we assess the relationship between how women access the land they farm, and their farming identities, roles, and future succession plans. Utilizing a Bourdieusian approach, we conceptualize inheritance of farmland as a long‐term process of symbolic and economic investment. We conducted a cohort analysis of women living or working on farms in Scotland, UK who (a) were or were not raised on farms; and (b) bought into or inherited agricultural land (directly or through their spouses). Data comprised on‐line survey responses, qualitative interviews and focus groups. Analysis demonstrated that women who were raised on farms and either inherited farms or established new farms, were more likely to identify themselves as farmers, engage in machinery work and identify female successors. Women who accessed farmland through marriage tended to engage in more home‐making tasks, to identify themselves as farmers' wives, and to occupy larger farms. These largest, potentially most viable farms thus continue to be inherited by men. However, when women inherit farms, a step change occurs, where daughters are much more likely to be identified as future successors. Enabling women raised on farms to inherit and/or establish new farms is thus critical to altering patriarchal succession cycles.