Farm Couples and Crisis Politics: The Importance of Household, Spouse, and Gender in Responding to Economic Decline

Abstract

A relatively large literature examines the responses of households and individuals to economic decline. Although analysts look at a variety of responses, most studies remain inwardly directed toward households' or members' adaptations and survival strategies. This study extends the literature by examining outwardly directed, political action. Data are from a 12-state study of farming couples during the 1980s farm crisis. We link two literatures, one on political action, which has tended to ignore the household, and the second that has focused on internal, household responses to change, but neglected political action. We find support for hypotheses indicating the importance of the household and gender-based relationships to political responses during economic decline. Key Words: economic crisis, farm households, farm women, gender, household survival strategies, political behavior. The household is often recognized as a strategic location where people deal with and respond to economic and social crises (Voydanoff, 1990). A growing body of literature has considered how economic downturns differentially impact households and bring about a variety of household survival responses. Almost all studies, however, center on internal household survival strategies and adaptations rather than on political responses that involve shaping outward social structure. Although macro-change is seen to affect micro-level family behavior, the reverse is seldom considered. This study extends the literature by examining the political response of couples to various levels of economic difficulty. The farm crisis of the 1980s provides the context for assessing how household economic conditions, gender and spousal relationships, and other factors affect the political actions of couples from approximately 2,500 Midwestern farm households. Research on managing crises, including those of farm families during the 1980s, focuses on social-psychological adaptations and outcomes, individual coping mechanisms both cognitive and behavioral, and personal network definition and support (Berkowitz & Perkins, 1984; Godwin, Draughn, Little, & Marlowe, 1991). Political action, however, is also a means of coping with crisis, one that involves efforts to change conditions beyond the household and individual. Particularly for crises experienced collectively across an occupational group or region, political action represents attempts to change social structure. Political action refers to responses that are external to the household and that involve conventional activities, such as attending meetings, communicating with public officials, and signing petitions, as well as unconventional activities, such as protest. To analyze the political responses of farm couples to crisis, we build from two literatures. The first is general political sociology, which provides a guide for delineating personal and organizational variables relevant to political action, but which has neglected the household and its gendered relationships. The second is research that examines the responses of households to economic crisis, but that, as noted, neglects political responses. We focus on the household economic context and gendered relationships within it, and we explain how these are intertwined and why they contribute to illuminating political response to the greatest financial upheaval in farming since the Depression. POLITICAL SOCIOLOGH AND BASES OF POLITICAL RESPONSE Research in political sociology highlights the individual and organizational factors important in understanding political responses to economic crisis. Traditional literature on general populations and farm populations centers on individual attributes and motivations. Individuals act politically in order to overcome perceived economic hardships and psychological stresses (Davies, 1962; Gurr, 1970) or, conversely, to achieve individualized economic and psychological gains (Moe, 1980; Popkin, 1979). …