Resourcing Children in a Changing Rural Context: Fathering and Farm Succession in Two Generations of Farmers

Abstract

AbstractDespite an abundant amount of international literature on fatherhood and fathering, there has been limited research on men's fathering practices in a rural/agricultural context. This article deals with two generations of farmers in Norway and their practices as fathers of young children, and shows how fathering practices have changed from the 1960s until today. While the older generation fathered in accordance with the expectation that their children would take over the farm and become farmers in the future, the younger generation of fathers practiced childcare more in terms of the contemporary norms of ‘intensive’ parenting. Contemporary farming fathers see it as important to equip children with skills and competences that are generally demanded in late modern society, with changes in the agricultural labour process being identified as influencing this change. Combined with the norms of modern childhood, the ‘new parenting culture’ strongly impacts on fathering practices for farming fathers. The study contributes knowledge to the ways in which family relations play an important role in succession processes in farming