bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Getting Into It: Farm Roles and Careers of New Zealand Women1
Authors: Keating Norah C. , Little Heather M.
Published: August 2010

Abstract Researchers have challenged the stereotype that farm women's roles and influence are primarily domestic by documenting the number of women's on‐farm roles. This study extends this approach by considering the interrelationships among women's roles and influence in reproductive and productive domains. A qualitative research method was used to investigate women's ways of describing the range of their on‐farm roles and the process of entry into and exit from those roles. Participants were farm women from south island, New Zealand. Findings showed women's wide range of involvement in household and farm labor, management, and ownership of their farms. Levels of involvement differed throughout the three phases of their farm careers: making a place, getting into it, retirement. Hypotheses were developed from the findings for further delineation of the range of women's on‐farm involvement and barriers and opportunities to the development of women's on‐farm careers.
Community Solidarity, Political Competitiveness, and Social Rigidity: Relationships With Social and Health Services1
Authors: Moxley Robert L. , Proctor Charles
Published: August 2010

Previous work suggests that solidarity, political competitiveness, and rigidity influence the nature of social and economic change. Hypotheses that these three phenomena affect social well‐being at the institutional level of the community beyond the effects of basic socioeconomic and population characteristics are examined in this study. Using data from a sample of North Carolina county‐seat communities, a regression analysis with six controls indicates positive relationships of community solidarity and political competitiveness with social and health services. However, there is little indication that social rigidity has any effect on such services. Contrary to theories claiming the relative unimportance of communities, results indicate that community populations with high levels of solidarity and political competitiveness can have a positive influence on institutional growth and structural change.
Local Government Fiscal Burden in Nonmetropolitan America1
Authors: Johnson Kenneth M. , Pelissero John P. , Holian David B. , Maly Michael T.
Published: August 2010

Rising fiscal pressure on local governments in rural areas of the United States is documented in this study. The level of fiscal burden on taxpayers to support local governments in nonmetropolitan areas is found to be higher than that in metropolitan areas between 1977 and 1987. Using a model from the urban fiscal literature, the level of fiscal burden in nonmetropolitan areas is found to be influenced by a combination of demographic, socioeconomic, intergovernmental, and historical factors. Intergovernmental revenue transfers from the state and federal government play a critical role in determining the level of fiscal burden rural taxpayers bear. These findings have implications for rural economic development and for understanding how rural areas are influenced by the larger society.
American Indian High School Completion in Rural Southeastern Montana1
Authors: Ward Carol
Published: August 2010

Factors related to dropping out of school are examined among a rural population of American Indians in southeastern Montana. Analyses assess the relative effects of community location, type of school, and student, family, and school variables on dropout behavior. Findings reveal the importance of students' community residence, parental education, and school experiences. The effects of these factors vary by school, however, suggesting that schools create different environments, opportunities, and relationships with specific communities that affect school outcomes. This research suggests the need to examine interactions among schools and Indian students, their families, and communities to understand school dropout patterns.
Urban Residents' Views of Rurality and Contacts with Rural Places1
Authors: Willits Fern K. , Luloff A. E.
Published: August 2010

Little is known about how rural people and places are viewed by the urban majority or the extent to which these images are related to first‐hand contact with rurality. Data from a recent mail survey of a sample of people living in Pennsylvania cities suggest that urban people view rural places in positive terms and feel that rural areas and rural lifestyles should be preserved. When asked to consider the desirability of various development strategies, most urban residents indicated that priority should be given to promoting traditional extractive economic activities (farming, forestry, mining); there was little support for other types of business or industrial development Urban residents who visited rural locales for recreation and/or environmental contact were most likely to want to preserve those areas; visiting for social reasons was related to support for development activities. Policy implications of these findings are suggested.
Farm Structure and Chemical Use in the Corn Belt1
Authors: Lighthall David R.
Published: August 2010

Why do certain full‐time farming operations embrace low‐chemical input production practices and not others? Historical records of production from 25 randomly‐sampled participants reflecting the conventional approach to production were systematically compared with 14 purposively‐chosen low‐input farming operations in three Iowa counties. Empirical indicators revealed a consistent relationship between increasing scale and chemical use intensity. In addition, younger family farm operators were more likely to adopt low‐input practices. The causal mechanisms that account for these differences in chemical use are presented and related to long‐standing debates regarding farm structure and class differentiation in capitalist agriculture.
Women and Their Work on Australian Farms
Authors: Alston Margaret
Published: August 2010

Traditional definitions of farm work have been narrow and commodity‐based, allowing the efforts of women to be discounted because they have not been viewed as directly contributing to production. This paper examines the structural gender arrangements that operate to render farm women powerless and to discount their contributions. Data are presented on the extent of women's economic contribution on Australian farms.
Question Order and Fair Play: Evidence of Even‐Handedness in Rural Surveys1
Authors: Lorens Frederick O. , Saltiel John , Hoyt Danny R.
Published: August 2010

The norm of even‐handedness is a question‐order effect known to occur in face‐to‐face interviews when respondents favor one of two complementary or competing opinion questions, both written at the same level of specificity. After defining and illustrating the concept, evidence of even‐handedness in opinion questions is explored in a Montana mail survey and in recall of recent behavior in Iowa telephone interviews. The Montana survey provides evidence of education effects that are not consistent with previous theories of cognitive sophistication, suggesting that future research must consider the interaction between substantive issues and cognitive processes. The Iowa poll provides evidence that respondents' recall of their recent behaviors and the behaviors of their partner also are subject to context effects. This poll also provides evidence that even‐handedness operates independently of social desirablity, especially among women.
Question Order Effects on Subjective Measures of Quality of Life1
Authors: Willits Fern K. , Saltiel John
Published: August 2010

The effects of question order on respondents' ratings of general and specific aspects of community life were assessed using data from separate mail surveys in Montana and Pennsylvania, The samples differed in locale, composition, and size and the relevant questions varied in number, format, and specific focus. Nevertheless, for both data sets the general question was more likely to be answered and more likely to receive positive responses when it was asked after—rather than before—the specific questions. There was some indication that carryover from the specific items to the general question responses were somewhat greater for those questions asked most recently and less for those asked earlier. Implications of these findings are discussed.
Assimilation and Contrast Effects in General/Specific Questions1
Authors: Carlson John E. , Mason Robert , Saltiel John , Sangster Roberta
Published: August 2010

Abstract Data from five surveys that included specific and general questions on a similar topic are examined. Results suggest that when specific and general questions are paired in surveys, significant patterns will appear. In each of the five studies, correlations between pairs of questions were significantly different when the general followed the specific item compared with the general/specific order. But there was no consistent pattern of assimilation (answers to second item agree with the first) or contrast (response to second question opposite that of the first). One study showed clear evidence of assimilation; the other four showed varying degrees of contrast effects.
Effects of Category Order on Answers in Mail and Telephone Surveys1
Authors: Dillman Don A. , Brown Tommy L. , Carlson John E. , Carpenter Edwin H. , Lorenz Frederick O. , Mason Robert , Saltiel John , Songster Roberta L.
Published: August 2010

Abstract Past research suggests that mail surveys encourage a primacy effect, which is a tendency to choose the first answers from a list, whereas telephone surveys encourage a recency effect, a tendency to choose the last answers from a list. This paper summarizes results from 82 new experiments conducted in 12 separate surveys in seven states. Only four of 33 mail survey comparisons exhibited significant primacy effects, while five of 26 experiments in telephone surveys exhibited recency effects. In addition, only three of 23 cross‐method comparisons produced a significant primacy/recency effect in the expected manner. The conclusion is that the prevalence of primacy and recency effects has been over‐estimated by past research and a new theoretical approach that takes into account multiple causation is needed for examining these effects.
Psychological Distress and Size of Place: The Epidemiology of Rural Economic Stress
Authors: Hoyt Danny R. , O'Donnell David , Mack Kristin Yagla
Published: August 2010

Abstract Size‐of‐place differences in the distribution of psychological distress are examined. Residents in communities of less than 2,500 population are predicted to have higher levels of distress than persons living in farm, rural nonfarm, and larger places. A research instrument was designed to measure economic stress, personal resources, and psychological distress in a survey of adult householders in a midwestern state. Results support the interpretation that long‐term demographic and social trends had a negative impact upon the psychological well‐being of residents in rural communities. Residents of these rural communities have higher levels of distress than persons living on farms or in towns of up to 9,999 population. Levels of psychological distress are not significantly different between persons living in rural communities and those in small cities or urban centers.
Where the Grass Grows Again: Knowledge Exchange in the Sustainable Agriculture Movement1
Authors: Hassanein Neva , Kloppenburg Jack R.
Published: August 2010

Abstract Many analysts of sustainable agriculture have given considerable attention to issues of knowledge production, but in general they have not engaged social movement theory. This neglect is addressed by examining the emergence of intensive rotational grazing as a local expression of the sustainable agriculture movement. Conceptual frameworks drawn from recent contributions to social movement theory are used to describe the cognitive praxis of graziers along technological, cosmological, and organizational dimensions. Contrary to current interpretations, which emphasize the idiosyncratic character of local knowledge in agriculture, this analysis shows that through horizontal forms of organizing and information exchange, graziers overcome the limits of their personal experience and usefully share local knowledge in networks that they have forged expressly for that purpose.
Family Structure Among Urban, Rural and Farm Populations: Classic Sociological Theory Revisited
Authors: Albrecht E. , Albrecht Stan L.
Published: August 2010

Abstract As predicted by the classic sociological theories of Durkheim, Tonnies, and others, early sociological researchers found extensive differences between urban and rural residents in the United States. In recent decades, many of these differences have appeared to wane, or in some cases, totally disappear. Based on these classic theories, we maintain that many of the urban/rural differences found in the past were actually farm/nonfarm differences. Further, we argue that many of these differences continue to exist in rural America, but they have been suppressed by major demographic transitions. Utilizing Current Population Survey data on family structure, we found that there were few significant differences between urban and rural nonfarm residents, but both varied extensively from various segments of the farm population.
Attitudes and Values of Scottish Farmers: “Yeoman” and “Entrepreneur” as Factors, Not Distinct Types1
Authors: Austin Elisabeth J. , Deary Ian J. , Gibson Gavin J. , McGregor Murray J. , Dent J. Barry
Published: August 2010

Abstract We investigate the validity of the classification of farmers into two or more distinct types on the basis of attitudes, objectives, and values. Factor analysis of data from a survey of farm pluriactivity in Scotland (N=472) shows that attributes ascribed to “yeoman” and “entrepreneur” types emerge as separate factors rather than as a single bipolar factor. No clustering of the factor scores corresponding to distinct types is found. We also present correlations of the factor scores with attitudes to on‐ and off‐farm pluriactivity and with observables such as age and off‐farm employment. The desirability of analyzing survey data by methods which do not make assumptions about typology is discussed.
Response to Pennsylvania's Agricultural Preservation Programs1
Authors: Bourke Lisa , Jacob Steve , Luloff A. E.
Published: August 2010

Abstract Agriculture is the leading industry in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. At the same time, encroaching development has pressured prime agricultural land to change uses, a change usually considered irreversible. Some regions of Pennsylvania have used zoning to control and plan for the development of agricultural land, but these decisions have not always been agreed on. In response to conflicts over zoning and calls for more effective restrictions of development of prime agricultural soils, the state government implemented agricultural preservation programs designed to ensure the future viability of Pennsylvania's agriculture. While response has been reported as favorable, most reviews relied on voters' support of a state referendum to fund agricultural preservation programs. Few have examined local responses to the implementation of these programs. This paper explores local community responses to agricultural preservation and the state's programs in three regions of Pennsylvania which differ in levels of urban presence and pressure. Using secondary sources, qualitative data, and general population surveys, this analysis provides implications about strategies of agricultural preservation in a state which leads in such efforts.
Rediscovering Families and Households: Restructuring Rural Society and Rural Sociology1
Authors: Bokemeier Janet L.
Published: August 2010

Abstract The debate on rural restructuring is extended by redefining families and households and their study; by considering the contributions of family scholarship to rural sociological issues; by assessing the methodological implications and challenges of integrating a family focus in rural sociology; and by reengaging rural sociology around important policy issues. The structure and dynamics of family and household shape explanations of rural experiences. By integrating and building on family studies, rural sociology can enrich its knowledge base and further its relevance and power of explanation.
Making the Transition from Conventional to Sustainable Agriculture: Gender, Social Movement Participation, and Quality of Life on the Family Farm1
Authors: Meares Alison C.
Published: August 2010

Abstract This qualitative study of a non‐random sample of six farm couples in southeastern Minnesota was shaped by a question originally posed by the participating couples: Is quality of life changing in the same ways for women and men as a consequence of the transition to sustainable farming systems? Historically, the family farm has been treated in research and policy debates as a single unit, with little analysis applied to the multiplicity of interests and roles within the family. Some organizations of the sustainable agriculture movement have followed suit and largely ignored women's roles on the farm, despite their importance to farm operations. The social construct of gender has implications for how farmers in this study define quality of life which, in turn, affects participation in the sustainable agriculture movement. Much of what men emphasize in describing quality of life reflects the values the sustainable agriculture movement itself espouses. For their wives, descriptions of quality of life are largely entwined with their highly elastic gendered roles and responsibilities on the farm, in the household, in paid and unpaid work in the community, and much less with their involvement in the movement. Because women's different and important contributions to the farm and family are not institutionally recognized and addressed by the sustainable agriculture movement, the movement's goals, vision, and activities are gender‐specific, dominated by men's participation and contributions.
Images of Success: How Illinois Farmers Define the Successful Farmer1
Authors: Walter Gerry
Published: August 2010

Abstract Farmers' views of farming success help frame their responses to information about farming, including alternative agriculture. A Q‐analysis of 68 commercial farmers' subjective images of the successful farmer and the relative importance they accord different personal values and characteristics revealed four “model” images of the successful farmer. The Steward recognizes a moral responsibility to sustain land resources; the Manager succeeds largely by virtue of analytical skill; the Conservative's main goal is long‐term preservation of the farm business; and the Agrarian values the rural life style and community participation. Farmers holding the Steward image tended to be older and to farm fewer acres; those with the Manager image included a large proportion of less experienced farmers. Approximately 40 percent of the farmers' views of success did not fit any of the four “model” images. Analysis of the findings suggests that images of success may be associated with life stage or generational differences in farming goals and values.
Perspectives on Regional and Enterprise Marginality: Dairying in Michigan's North Country1
Authors: Schwarzweller Harry K. , Davidson Andrew P.
Published: August 2010

Abstract Dairy farmers in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, an economically marginal rural region, are encumbered by contextual constraints that are not similarly faced by their downstate counterparts. However, this does not mean that they are any less ambitious or less efficient in dealing with the resources available to them. Indeed, dairying and similar small‐scale economic enterprises in this and other marginal contexts may be quite competitive and sustainable if appropriate sociopolitical supports are instituted and, in the case of dairying, if marketing orders and regulatory policies are formulated and implemented in light of their impact upon the economic growth and viability of the wider region. To explore this issue, we consider the situations, basic characteristics, and restructuring trends over time of dairy farms in three upstate localities as compared with that of a downstate dairy farming community.
Precision Farming: Environmental Legitimation, Commodification of Information, and Industrial Coordination1
Authors: Wolf Steven A. , Wood Spencer D.
Published: August 2010

Abstract Precision farming—use of digital geographically referenced data in farming operations—is the leading example of a cluster of emerging information technologies in agriculture. To date, the vast majority of academic and promotional literature addressing precision farming has focused on the field and farm‐level economic and environmental benefits of site‐specific allocation of crop inputs (fertilizer, pesticides, and seeds). In this paper, we question popular perceptions of the technology and pursue a sociological analysis through identification of consistencies between precision farming and the political and economic requirements of an industrializing agriculture. Through promotion of a public commitment and a technical mechanism to mitigate farm chemical pollution, precision farming legitimates chemically‐based agriculture in an era of rising environmentalism. Further, precision farming is based on, and will advance, the commodification of agricultural information—appropriation of field and farm‐level decision processes through substitution of capital for local knowledge. By automating farm‐level data collection and information management and by reducing agriculturalists' reliance on public sector agricultural research and extension, precision farming supports further integration of on‐farm activity into a coordinated system of industrial manufacture.
Does Class Consciousness Exist in Rural Communities? The Impact of Restructuring and Plant Shutdowns in Rural Canada1
Authors: Winson Anthony
Published: August 2010

AbstractThis paper examines qualitative data on class consciousness derived from a study of corporate restructuring and the impacts of layoffs in rural Ontario communities. In particular, the study examines how the rural environment might impinge on the development of class consciousness among the workers there in the context of severe economic stress brought on by plant shutdowns. It is argued that an ideology specific to a farm and small town environment plays a significant role in shaping their response to crisis. The more standard predictors of class consciousness such as age, gender, past union membership, and employment status are also considered. The paper aims to deepen our understanding of the seemingly contradictory belief structures of working class people.
Vertical Coordination, Producer Response, and the Locus of Control over Agricultural Production Decisions1
Authors: Welsh Rick
Published: August 2010

Abstract Structural change in U.S. agriculture in part has been characterized by shifts in control over agricultural production decisions from the farm‐level to off‐farm firms. In the past decade, this process has accelerated as increasing concentration in production and processing has led to increased vertical integration and contract production. To retain control, some farmers have formed bargaining units, have created production and marketing networks, and have petitioned subnational state governments for regulation of production contracts. Concurrently, there has been an impressive increase in alternative marketing outlets linked with smaller‐scale production based on farm‐level control over production decisions. Structural change and producer collective response has a long history in U.S. agriculture. Using Mooney's and Hunt's (1996) recent contribution on recurrent ideologies of agrarian social movements, this paper outlines recent structural changes and collective responses to those changes with reference to the shifting locus of control over agricultural production decisions.
The Association of Outdoor Recreation and Environmental Concern: Reexamining the Dunlap‐Heffernan Thesis1
Authors: Theodori Gene L. , Luloff A. E. , Willits Fern K.
Published: August 2010

Abstract Building upon earlier studies, two hypotheses concerning the association between participation in outdoor recreational activities and pro‐environmental behavior are tested using data collected in a general population survey from a random sample of individuals in four communities in Pennsylvania. The first hypothesis, that there is a positive association between outdoor recreational participation and pro‐environmental behavior, received substantial support. In contrast to previous research, the results did not support the second hypothesis which stated that there will be differences between/among different types of outdoor activities with respect to their impact on pro‐environmental behaviors. Clarifications are made with respect to previous classifications of outdoor recreation activities.
Fields of Action: Australian Women's Agricultural Activism in the 1990s1
Authors: Liepins Ruth
Published: August 2010

Abstract In recent years, women's contribution to farming has been increasingly recognized by academics, decision makers, and some sectors of the farming community. In contrast, women's activism in agricultural politics is less well accepted or understood. This paper investigates data from a number of farm activist groups operating on a variety of scales in Australia. The paper examines the ways in which farm women develop political agency and then mobilize across a number of “fields of action” to effect both personal and industry‐wide change.
Beyond Politics: Rethinking the Future of Democracy1
Authors: Busch Lawrence
Published: August 2010

Abstract The problem of order is central to all societies. Bacon, Hobbes and Smith each proposed to resolve the problem of order by investing moral authority in a “Leviathan” that would guarantee order: science, state and market, respectively. Later scholars adapted their works to other ends. But putting the Leviathans into practice had the unintended effect of relieving individuals of moral responsibility and creating wide‐spread disorder. Widespread networks of democracy in all spheres of social life are proposed as an alternative solution to the problem of order, one that encourages the collective discovery of moral values.Such networks put moral responsibility neither on the shoulders of individuals where it becomes crushingly heavy, nor on society where it becomes unbearably light.
Systemic Constraints to Ecological Well‐Being: The Case of the 1985 Food Security Act1
Authors: Glenna Leland L.
Published: August 2010

Abstract Although the conservation title of the 1985 Food Security Act was hailed by many as revolutionary in its attempts to control soil erosion, it has failed to live up to its billing. A theory is used that asserts that the state's systemic commitment to promoting capitalist growth constrains it from establishing and implementing policies that accomplish anything more than displacing one environmental problem onto others. The theory is tested through a discourse analysis of the hearings surrounding the Federal government's attempt to control soil erosion through the 1985 Food Security Act, which revealed that policy recommendations challenging the drive to maximize efficiency and production were declared flawed and unacceptable. Hence, the hearings were systematically distorted in favor of the dominant instrumental rationality. It is concluded that government policy initiatives alone are insufficient and that creating alternative social organizations of production is necessary to promote ecological well‐being.
Rural Women and Decision Making: Women's Role in Resource Management During Rural Restructuring1
Authors: Rickson Sarah Tufts , Daniels Peter L.
Published: August 2010

Abstract The intense, uneven, and often contradictory processes of agricultural restructuring impact upon the family farm in ways that are gendered. Those impacts may create, reproduce, or exacerbate contradictions within the farm family. We interviewed farm women about the decision making structure of families on Australian cereal properties and about land use and resource management strategies. Key informants working in government, agriculture, and management were asked about effects of restructuring on farm women and their role in resource management on the family farm. Different patterns were found: most decision making structures remain sex segregated, with women making more decisions about “inside” and men about “outside” resource management issues; shared decision responsibility was greater than expected. Farm women have views about farming, soil conservation, and the environment that have an influence on strategic planning in the sector whether they maintain their traditional family position or increase their agency and visibility.
Corporate Environmentalism and Organic Agriculture in Australia: The Case of Uncle Tobys1
Authors: Lyons Kristen
Published: August 2010

Abstract Recent expansion in the organic food industry represents an increasing awareness amongst an array of actors of the implications of conventional agriculture. In particular, the organic agriculture movement has been driven by both organic producers and consumers concerned about the environmental implications of food production and the health effects associated with food consumption. The recent institutionalization of the organic movement in organic regulatory bodies and through the involvement of food companies has encapsulated other actors within this network. This paper looks specifically at Uncle Tobys, a producer of breakfast cereals, which joined this network when it decided to produce an organic breakfast cereal called “Organic Vita Brits.” The integration of this company has expanded the range of actors participating within the organic network and altered the relationships between them. The temporary involvement of Uncle Tobys in the organic food industry has also resulted in a shift in the construction of meaning of “organic.” The limited success, despite many efforts to appeal to green consumers, of Uncle Tobys within this network suggests that organic food remains a niche product, consumed by a minority of consumers.
Farm Work Satisfaction and Acceptance of Sustainability Goals by Australian Organic and Conventional Farmers1
Authors: Rickson Roy E. , Saffigna Paul , Sanders Richard
Published: August 2010

Abstract Farmer dependence on large‐scale organizations for inputs to production is an attribute of Australian agriculture and has changed the character of farm work and how farmers see the future of agriculture. We discuss how these changes are related to farmer satisfaction with their work and their commitment to an alternative or conventional agricultural paradigm. Organic and conventional farmers are compared and findings show that organic farmers experience higher levels of work satisfaction and endorse the alternative agricultural paradigm more strongly than conventional growers. Personal success in using organic methods explains differences between organic farmers in their work satisfaction and commitments to the alternative paradigm. Similarly, conventional farmers confident about the future of their farms are satisfied with their work and express some commitment to the sustainability paradigm. Organic and conventional farmers share concerns about environmental sustainability, but are thinking differently about what sustainable farming is and how it will affect the future of Australian agriculture.
Australia as the Supermarket to Asia? Governments, Territory, and Political Economy in the Australian Agri‐food System
Authors: Pritchard Bill
Published: August 2010

Abstract The changing role of the nation state in agri‐food systems is illustrated through a case study of the Supermarket to Asia, a recent policy initiative of the Australian government. The Supermarket to Asia provides a policy discourse that fills gaps created through policies of deregulation and self‐reliance. It involves the creation of bureaucratic mechanics that straddle the public‐private interface and gives explicit attention to small and medium‐sized enterprises. In these ways, the state constructs a new set of relations, alliances, and allegiances with agri‐food capital. The durability of these arrangements depends on the extent to which these policy arrangements are perceived to be consistent with the new realities of global agri‐food trade.
Green Protectionism and Organic Food Exporting from New Zealand: Crisis Experiments in the Breakdown of Fordist Trade and Agricultural Policies
Authors: Campbell Hugh R. , Coombes Brad L.
Published: August 2010

Abstract The exporting of organic produce from New Zealand is a response to the ongoing breakdown of Fordist regulatory measures for agriculture in destination markets. The unambiguous neoliberal revolution in New Zealand has survived only through the expansion of food exports, especially by large corporate entities and producer marketing boards. It has also rendered the country's exporters of food products particularly sensitive to the trade and agricultural policies of the United States, Japan, and the European Union. Some commentators consider New Zealand's experiment in agricultural deregulation indicative of a wider coherence in global food trade, a new stability institutionalized in the Uruguay Round of the GATT and regulated under the auspices of the World Trade Organization. The case of organic and low‐input food exporting from New Zealand shows that no such ‘new times’ exist. Rather, these new types of food exporting are crisis experiments induced by green protectionism—the use of health and food safety issues as an impediment to trade. In turn, green protectionism is a direct result of the continuing breakdown of Fordist agricultural regulation in key nations: the global trade in food products remains in crisis.
How Green is My Valley? Tracking Rural and Urban Environmentalism in the Southern Appalachian Ecoregion1
Authors: Jones Robert Emmet , Fly J. Mark , Cordell H. Ken
Published: August 2010

Abstract  Research on the social bases of environmentalism in the United States has generally found that urban residents are more concerned about the environment than rural residents. Recent research suggests this may no longer be the case, particularly in specific settings or under certain conditions. This paper examines the issue by reviewing recent survey research on rural and urban environmentalism. Tests for significant differences between urban and rural inhabitants of the Southern Appalachian Ecoregion on cognitive and behavioral dimensions of environmentalism are also conducted using data obtained from 1,239 telephone interviews. Findings are consistent with previous research showing that younger people, those with higher levels of education, and political liberals generally express higher levels of environmentalism. However, no significant rural‐urban differences were found on several indicators of environmentalism. A range of conditions that are rapidly changing the character and composition of the region may help to explain why the findings do not conform to the general pattern of rural‐urban differences. Overall, it appears that environmentalism has broadened its appeal in rural areas, especially in communities located near national and state parks, wildlife refuges, and other outdoor recreation sites.
Dismissal of a Sociologist: The AAUP Report on Carl C. Taylor1
Authors: Larson Olaf F. , Williams Robin M. , Wimberley Ronald C.
Published: August 2010

ABSTRACT The dismissal in 1931 of a distinguished sociologist, Carl C. Taylor, after 11 years as an influential faculty member, and the investigation by the American Association of University Professors which followed has received little attention in the literature on the history of sociology. Taylor did not have the security of a tenure system. Years later, he received an honorary degree from the same institution, now North Carolina State University, from which he had been dismissed.

This paper makes accessible the AAUP's full report on the Taylor case and highlights his career and contributions. The AAUP report summarizes alternative explanations for the dismissal, concluding that the compelling cause was not the budgetary pressures cited by the president of the university. Our interpretation is that the university president had Taylor dismissed because of deterioration in their interpersonal relations and the cumulative effect of anti‐liberal, conservative forces in the state at the time.
The Implications for Participatory Fisheries Management of Intensified Commercialization on Lake Victoria
Authors: Wilson Douglas C. , Medard Modesta , Harris Craig K. , Wiley David S.
Published: August 2010

ABSTRACT Participation by stakeholders in fisheries management has become widely accepted. It is held that it increases both the effectiveness and the legitimacy of management. Many empirical studies of fisheries management, however, have found that political struggles over the profits from fishing drive management decisions. The present paper looks to sociological debates about agency, structure, and embeddedness for guidance in theorizing about the social dimensions of fisheries management in a way that considers both the need for participation and the political economy of the fishery. It argues that focusing on the effect that economic and political structures have on communications between stakeholder groups is one way to link participation and political economy, and we present the management of the Nile perch on Lake Victoria in Tanzania as a case study. The paper evaluates potentials for participatory management by asking how changes in economic and political realities affect stakeholders'claims about the resource, create social distances that affect communications, and privilege particular claims and perspectives. The paper concludes that management measures are undercut when they ignore the needs of groups excluded from the resource. Effective management of the Nile perch fishery is possible, but would require changes in the approaches of the responsible agencies.
Misrepresenting Communities: The Politics of Community‐Based Rural Ecotourism in Gales Point Manatee, Belize1
Authors: Belsky JiU M.
Published: August 2010

ABSTRACT While the celebration of community in conservation provides legitimization to contest centrist and coercive protected area management strategies, representations of community in resource management writings and in particular strategies such as ecotourism, are often based on simplistic images and generic models that ignore politics. Based on research in a community‐based rural ecotourism project in Gales Point Manatee, Belize, from 1992–1998, the paper provides concrete examples of how the politics of class, gender, and patronage inequities limit the co‐management of ecotourism associations, equitable distribution of ecotourism income, and support for conservation regulations across the community. Attention to multiple interests and identities within the rural community and their relationships to external actors, political institutions, and national policies are critical to understanding the challenges facing community‐based conservation in Belize and demonstrated the relevance of such attention elsewhere.
Shelves and Bins: Varieties of Qualitative Sociology in Rural Studies*
Authors: Gillespie Gilbert W. , Sinclair Peter R.
Published: August 2010

It did not take us long to discover that the “field” of qualitative research is far from a unified set of principles promulgated by networked groups of scholars. In fact, we have discovered that the field of qualitative research is defined primarily by a series of essential tensions, contradictions, and hesitations. These tensions work back and forth among competing definitions and conceptions of the field.

Further, these tensions exist in a less‐than‐unified arena. We discovered that the issues and concerns of qualitative researchers in nursing are decidedly different from those of researchers in cultural anthropology. Symbolic interactionist sociologists deal with questions that are different from those of interest to critical theorists in educational research. Nor do the disciplinary networks of qualitative researchers necessarily cross each other, speak to each other, or read each other. (Denzin and Lincoln 1994:ix

It is an interesting time to be leaning over the fences of American farms. There are discussions, even arguments, in the land about whether farmers ought to change the way they farm …There have been arguments like this heard before …[T]he basic question about farming splits into many smaller ones. The answers multiply and become contradictory. Hence this effort to sort the questions onto different shelves, the answers into different bins …There is only one new idea developed here: there are really no new ideas in arguments about agriculture. (Wojcik 1989:ix, x, xii)
Standpoint Epistemology and the Uses of Self‐Reflection in Feminist Ethnography: Lessons for Rural Sociology*
Authors: Naples Nancy A. , Sachs Carolyn
Published: August 2010

Abstract We explore how feminist researchers informed by standpoint theoretical frameworks employ the process of self‐reflection to counter the reproduction of inequalities in ethnographic investigation. Although it is not a cure for this dilemma, we argue that researchers can be self‐conscious about the ways in which they reproduce power in the course of their work; furthermore, sustained attention to these dynamics will enrich ethnographic accounts. We begin by outlining the diverse ways in which feminist ethnographers draw on standpoint epistemology to generate strong reflexive methodological strategies. Then we describe challenges posed by postmodern and postcolonial critics, and outline how feminists have contributed to these debates and have responded with innovative methodological strategies, especially in relation to self‐reflexive techniques. In conclusion, we discuss how rural sociologists might incorporate these methodological insights into their ethnographic investigations.
Powers and Limits of Transnational Corporations: The Case of ADM
Authors: Bonanno Alessandro , Constance Douglas H. , Lorenz Heather
Published: August 2010

Abstract This analysis employs the case of lysine price fixing involving the food‐processing transnational corporation (TNC) Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) and Asian‐based firms. In an “economy and society” conceptual framework grounded in the sociology of agriculture and food, we investigate the powers and limits of TNCs in the global era. We argue that TNCs maintain significant powers which allow them to avoid the laws and regulations of nation‐states. ADM was able to organize an illegal global cartel to control the world production and price of the feed supplement lysine. In addition, TNCs' actions in the global arena are limited by their inability to trust business partners and to organize and maintain systems of social control; these roles historically have been played by the nation‐state. We conclude that despite their significant powers, TNCs' contradictory position in the global arena provides opportunities that can be used to democratize society.
Farm Boys and Wild Men: Rurality, Masculinity, and Homosexuality*
Authors: Bell David
Published: August 2010

Abstract In this paper I explore cultural constructions of “rural gay masculinity,” focusing first on the stereotype of the “rustic sodomite” seen in a number of Hollywood movies; second, on the construction of an idyllic Eden in the gay imaginary; and third, on gendered and sexualized performances among members of the men's movement and the “radical fairies.” In doing so, I suggest how the rural/urban divide is meshed, in complex and distinct ways, with homosexual/heterosexual and masculine/feminine dichotomies in cultural texts and practices. Set against these representations, of course, are the lives of homosexual men born and raised in the country: I discuss accounts of the lives of “farm boys” as a way of contextualizing and complexifying the dominant modes of representation outlined. In all of these portrayals, “rural gay masculinity” is figured in distinct ways, especially in relation to urban effeminacy. I end by calling for further exploration of these issues in an effort to more fully theorize the cultural meanings and experiences of “rural gay masculinity.”
Masculinity, Gender, and Rural Policy*
Authors: Little Jo , Jones Owain
Published: August 2010

Abstract This paper explores the operation of gender relations in the context of rural policy. Framed by debates on new rural governance, it considers how both the content and the culture of recent rural regeneration policy reflect highly masculine values and the maintenance of traditional power relations. New forms of decision making in rural areas promote a style of policy making that values and grants priority to male networks in the construction of elite groups and styles of management, and devalues community participation. We use examples from the United Kingdom to demonstrate the implications of shifts in the mechanisms and practice of policy making and implementation for men's and women's differential involvement and experience with rural regeneration. We go on to show how gender relations are also reflected in the content of contemporary rural regeneration policy. Decisions concerning the most appropriate types of initiative are predicated on a male‐oriented view of previous economic activity and local labor markets, and represent a highly masculinist approach to regeneration.
Environmentalism, New Social Movements, and the New Class: A Cross‐National Investigation*
Authors: Mertig Angela G. , Dunlap Riley E.
Published: August 2010

AbstractThe environmental movement is one of the most successful social movements in recent decades, garnering substantial public support throughout western Europe and the United States. Environmentalism is also considered a key “new social movement” (NSM), assumed to share fundamental characteristics with other NSMs such as the women's, antinuclear, and peace movements. Using the results of a 1990 cross‐national survey of western Europe and the United States, we examine three broad suppositions regarding public support for the environmental movement and other NSMs. We first examine the idea that the general public distinguishes between two branches of contemporary environmentalism—the more traditional one of nature conservation and the newer, broader one of general environmental protection—and find that the general publics in 18 nations make little distinction between them. We next examine the degree to which public support for environmental protection is related to support for other NSMs, and find a strong relationship between the two‐thereby validating a widely assumed but seldom‐tested tenet found in the NSM literature.Finally, we examine the presumed bases of support for environmental protection and other NSMs, particularly the notion that NSM supporters are drawn heavily from the “new class.” We find that demographic variables, including membership in the new class, are poor predictors of support for the goals of NSMs in general and of support for environmentalism in particular.
Review Essay:Place, Social Structure, and Culture: A Review Essay on Community
Authors: Sharp Jeff S.
Published: August 2010

Prairie City: The Story of an American Community, by Angie Debo. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press

Rural Wales: Community and Marginalization, by Paul Cloke, Mark Goodwin, and Paul Milbourne. Cardiff: University of Wales Press

Teaching the Commons: Place, Pride, and the Renewal of Community, by Paul Theobald. Boulder: Westview
Review Essay:Analyzing Slavery and the Slave Narrative
Authors: Garrett Reviewed by Patricia
Published: August 2010

Many Thousands Gone: The First Two Centuries of Slavery in North America, by Ira Berlin.

Remembering Slavery: African Americans Talk About Their Personal Experiences of Slavery and Emancipation, edited by Ira Berlin, Marc Favreau, and Steven F. Miller.