Distance as a hybrid actor in rural economies

Abstract

This paper argues that the notion of distance ought to be re-conceptualized and promoted to the theoretical foreground of sociological analyses of rural economic action. Using research in rural British Columbia, Canada, I argue that current changes in rural political economy (for instance, the restructuring of industrial resource production, the promotion of local economic diversification, and advances in communications and transportation infrastructures) mean that the “performance” of connections between local and extra-local economic spaces are increasingly significant to economic relationships and exchange in rural settings. In re-conceptualizing the role of distance in a Post-Fordist rural economy, I borrow two key insights from actor-network theory: the notion of hybridity, and the strong influence that ‘hybridized’ networks have on (rural) actors. Rather than being a static fact, I argue that distance is itself a hybrid actor that ‘behaves’ differently according to the particular configuration of its natural, technological, and social dimensions. Thinking about distance in this manner makes a novel contribution to understanding rural development, as it asserts that the capacity to organize and configure distance (as opposed to simply acting ‘at a distance’) is a key source of power and variance in rural economies.