Rural Sociology Research Articles

Indigenous Perspectives on Dismantling the Legacies of Settler Colonialism in Rural Sociology☆

AbstractRural Sociology has failed to incorporate Settler‐colonialism and Indigenous theory in studying rural social relations. This presents a serious gap in the discipline's conceptualization of land as the foundation of social reproduction. Indigenous theory provides rich insights about humans' relations among themselves and with the more‐than‐human that inform our understanding of Settler colonialism as a driver of social formation, and human–environmental interactions more generally. This paper, written by four Indigenous environmental social scientists and one Settler rural sociologist, invites the discipline to engage Indigeneity and Settler colonialism in methodologically, theoretically, and ethically appropriate ways.

Anthropology and Rural Sociology: Combining Qualitative Methods to Analyze Rural Life and Beliefs

This paper explores the application of qualitative methods in analyzing rural life and beliefs through the perspectives of anthropology and rural sociology. Qualitative research methods, such as participant observation, in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, and text analysis, can reveal the complexities of rural social structures, cultural changes, and religious beliefs. By integrating the perspectives of anthropology and rural sociology, this paper demonstrates the unique advantages of qualitative methods in understanding the internal mechanisms, cultural traditions, and community interactions in rural societies. The study emphasizes the importance of interdisciplinary research in interpreting the diversity and complexity of rural societies. The findings indicate that qualitative methods not only capture the dynamic processes of rural society but also provide rich first-hand data, offering scientific evidence for policy formulation and social practice.

2024 RSS Presidential Address: Reconceptualizing Rurality and Nurturing Rural Sociological Souls☆

AbstractThis address focuses on the importance of inclusivity and diversity to the future of the Rural Sociological Society. It begins by sharing the author's experiences within the society as a rural‐focused scholar trained in a Sociology department without strong ties to the RSS, and the challenges she faced in earning recognition in the RSS. It goes on to explore the development of the RSS and the ways in which this history continues to shape who is and isn’t perceived as a rural sociologist. It then argues that the society should strive to be more inclusive in the ways it conceptualizes both rurality and rural sociology. This inclusivity should be extended to those who care about rural places and populations and treat them with respect, regardless of whether they were trained in historic departments of Rural Sociology. The Society should view multidisciplinarity as a benefit, not a detriment to its long‐term health and flourishing. The address ends by calling upon members to engage in the work of nurturing rural sociological souls wherever they are trained and working. It emphasizes the importance of a renewed commitment to diversity and inclusivity in multiple forms.

GLEHWE ET ZUNME, UNE APPROCHE CRITIQUE PAR LA MONDIALISATION DU MIMETISME RURALISTE CARTESIEN MANICHEISTE. POUR UNE RUPTURE EPISTEMOLOGIQUE PAR LA REFLEXION MANTIQUE DU VODUN

Glehwe, called in Western jargon Ouidah, is a tourist town in the Republic of Benin, occupies a lagoon site, preceded by a sandy coastline that borders the Atlantic Ocean. The city is located 42 kilometers west of Cotonou. The city belongs to the historico-cultural triangle Abomey-Ouidah-Porto-Novo composed of three cities heavily involved in the slave trade, endowed with one of the most important pre-colonial architectural heritage in sub-Saharan Africa. At the heart of this city, there is Vodun and therefore the Hunkpame, one of whose connotations is Zun. It is a question here of carrying out an inventory of fixtures of mimicry in rural sociology opposed to a city-dwelling reserved for an urban sociology of Ouidah. The methodological approach adopted is purely qualitative, which satisfied the requirements for the construction and use of data collection tools: observation guide, interview guide and this, with 48 social actors formed from the sampling technique that is reasoned choice. The data collected converge on a certain number of codes with social cognitive sounds, all aspects of which remain to be determined in Glehwe: rituals of the yam.

Countryside, Borderlands, Nature—Public Art beyond the City☆

AbstractThis article emphasizes several primary realms of contemporary artistic endeavors in public art, specifically those unfolding outside urban metropolises. I analyzed the examined practices in terms of their functions and goals, the forms they take, and the problematic areas they address. This allowed for identifying certain symptomatic areas of artistic activities; domains shaped by diverse perceptions of the Polish countryside and rural life. Some feature an exploration of folk beliefs, ritual practices, religiosity, liturgy, and a connection to the land and the rhythms of nature—an ethnographic trend. Others delve into themes associated with historical heritage and the legacy of serfdom (an emancipatory trend). Moreover, I identify a trend focused on the specificity of “borderlands” and an ecological trend. The analysis focuses on questions: How does public art manifest itself beyond urban areas, particularly in rural settings? What social functions does it serve? And what significance does the examination of artistic activities hold for advancing research in rural sociology? The main aim of the article is to transpose Polish public art practice into the realm of public art in rural studies.

Pengembangan Kompetensi Mahasiswa Sosiologi Pedesaan Dalam Analisis Kehidupan Masyarakat Desa Melalui Penerapan Metode Pembelajaran Inkuiri Sosial

The aim of this research is to determine the development of rural sociology students' competence in analyzing village community life through the application of social inquiry learning methods. The research method applied in this study is the action research method. This research is included in the applied research category which integrates knowledge, research and action. This research explains the effectiveness of social inquiry learning methods in improving the analytical competence of rural sociology students. The social inquiry method, which emphasizes active student involvement through exploration and investigation of social phenomena, has proven effective in improving students' understanding, analytical skills and critical thinking abilities. Through applying this method, students not only understand rural sociology theory but are also able to apply it in empirical analysis. The implementation of this method in the form of action research shows a significant increase in student learning outcomes from the first cycle to the second cycle. The research results show that students who are involved in the social inquiry method are able to carry out a more in-depth analysis of social phenomena in rural areas, as well as showing increased cooperation skills and courage in discussions. This conclusion is supported by observation results which show an increase in the quality of learning and the results of student self-evaluation.

Rural Development in the Digital Age: Exploring Information and Communication Technology through Social Inclusion☆

AbstractApproaching the interplay between social stability and social change as a complex network of “development pathways” and the routes people and communities take as their “livelihood journeys,” this Rural Sociological Society Presidential Address explores how information and communication technologies (ICTs) influence our capabilities to choose and navigate where to go and how to get there. Access and the literacy and skills needed for effective and safe use of ICTs are increasingly influential factors for livelihoods in the so‐called digital age, impacting wellbeing and resilience. Rural‐focused social scientists can help to inform livelihood journeys, especially by asking questions about the interplay between ICTs and social inclusion to involve often‐overlooked spatial dimensions at the local and regional levels. Doing so will require dialogue, discernment, and active engagement on the topics we explore, the research methods we employ, and incorporation of the experiences, needs, and desires of rural people and places in policies and programs. As a professional association built on diverse scholarly traditions yet rooted in a shared interest for practical application for the benefit of often excluded people and places, the Rural Sociological Society has important roles to play in the digital age.

An Assessment of Socio-Economic Status of Women on Family Farms: Slovenian Case Study

The question of gender equality is increasingly being raised today and is present at all levels of society. The topicality of the issue on farms is particularly evident, due to the particular inheritance processes on farms, the clear division of labour, and intergenerational cooperation that characterise the agricultural sector. In this research, a multi-criteria model (DEX-SOCIAL) was developed to understand the broader aspect of rural sociology and the issue of women’s status on the farm. The paper discusses the status of women on a farm and assesses their social and economic situation. The methodology includes an online questionnaire in which women in the Eastern and Western Cohesion Regions participated, as well as other farm members and owners. Subsequently, the questions were transformed for the requirements of the assessment model, which assessed the life prospects of women on farms in both the Eastern and Western Cohesion Regions who were aged both over and under 40 years (criteria for “young successor”). The results of the study show that there is a clear difference in the qualitative assessment of women’s socio-economic position in relation to the East–West cohesion region. The social position of women does not differ according to age structure. The conclusions of the study also present broader applications of the results in the field of rural development and rural sociology.

The Sajogyo Development Paradigm and its Relevance for the Development of Coastal Areas in Indonesia

Prof. Sajogyo is one of the founders of rural sociology in Indonesia. He concerned himself very intensely with the problems of rural communities, especially rural poverty. In observing the current phenomenon of coastal communities, which are still highly characterized by poverty and social conflict, retracing Prof. Sajogyo’s conception on rural development becomes very important and pertinent. This article was written using a literature review method by exploring the thoughts of Prof. Sajogyo from his writings and from several other relevant writers. The aim of this study is to trace the Sajogyo development paradigm which is relevant to the development of coastal areas in Indonesia. This study shows that “The Sajogyo development paradigm” can be summarized to “equal and civilized welfare”. This means, in terms of content, for Prof. Sajogyo, development means increasing welfare or prosperity (growth dimension), especially for the lower class, the weak, and of course, the poor (equality dimension). Meanwhile, from the aspect of process, various efforts to improve welfare must be carried out in a civilized manner, namely by upholding dialogue, participation, capability, sovereignty, independence, and dignity of the poor and the weak. Thus, the Sajogyo development paradigm is conflict-sensitive and guarantees human security.

Fisheries local action groups, small‐scale fisheries and territorial development

AbstractIn comparison to the wealth of critical evaluation of LEADER (i.e., Liaison entre actions de développement de l'économie rurale), there has been no consolidated attempt to reflect on the contribution of Fisheries Local Action Groups (FLAGs), now entering their third EU programming period. Set up in the image of LEADER, and a novel governance instrument within the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), FLAGs aim to activate local responses that build resilience and adaptability within the fisheries sector and wider communities. In addition to introducing the accompanying articles that make up this special issue of Sociologia Ruralis, our article gives an account of the emergence of community‐led local development (CLLD) in fisheries and the attributes that have characterised the application of the LEADER approach within a fisheries‐territorial development context. In many cases, FLAGs have led to improved relationships between the small‐scale fishing sector and wider local social and economic networks, helping the sector reimagine its role within local economies. Yet outcomes vary as the FLAG approach has been applied across different cultural and institutional settings. There are indications that the system is becoming enveloped by wider priorities of coastal development and blue growth. Yet FLAGs may well provide a successful test case for widening participation in the CFP and upscaling integration of the fishing industry within local and regional economies. For CLLD in general, they are a reminder of the value of a differentiated CLLD approach tailored to different sectoral‐territorial contexts.

Some (relatively) new conceptual ‘frames’ supplementing the study of human capital in rural sociology

The article continues the authors’ thoughts about the necessary conceptual frameworks that would help rural sociology provide more reliable insights and data in the study of such a relatively new (in the conceptual-analytical perspective) social phenomenon as rural human capital. In the previous article, we presented a brief overview of such half-forgotten but still relevant theoretical foundations of rural sociology as agricultural economics, theories of peasant agrarianism, and theory of rural-urban continuum, which to a greater or lesser extent can be applied in the analysis of rural development and rural social and human capital. In this article, we provide a brief overview of some more recent agrarian ideas that seem to have sufficient but questionable heuristic potential for rural sociology. First, the idea and repeatedly tested projects of the Green Revolution, or the Third Agricultural Revolution, which implied technology transfer initiatives to greatly increase crop yields, opposed the concept of “Red Revolution” (comprehensive agrotechnological transformations instead of radical political ones), despite some skeptical assessments, in the last decades of the 20th century contributed to the reduction in global hunger, and, especially in its Soviet interpretations, seemed to be consonant with the more recent intellectual direction - development studies. Second, Peasant Studies defending the position that the very question about the need for a special theory of the peasantry and peasant societies is untenable, and presenting an attempt to develop a middlerange theory within historical sociology, which is based on the four most important characteristics of the peasantry in the past and present: family economy, work on land in interaction with nature, local culture of self-organization (rural community), and marginal role in relation to the state. Today’s disputes about the peasantry in the contemporary world are complemented by two macroconcepts - theory of international food regimes and theory of global rural development. Thus, we still miss unambiguous theoretical generalizations regarding rural development due to the extreme diversity of both rural areas (and their social/human capital) and interpretations/definitions of rural/agricultural development (for instance, deagrarianization and extractivism or rural-urban glocalization and optimistic “unorthodox” social-ecological model).

Rural transformations, rural futures: introduction to theme section

ABSTRACT This theme section editorial introduction presents a collection of papers brought together under the heading Rural transformations, rural futures. The papers are elaborations of work presented at a European Society for Rural Sociology ‘satellite event’ entitled Transitioning Rural Futures. Contributions to the theme section add to the emerging corpus of work that examines potentially transformative immediate and medium-term impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on rural areas, and also speak to other ‘grand challenges’ likely to transform rural places and shape rural futures: specifically, resilience, digitalisation, wellbeing, socio-economic inequalities, shifting rural policy landscapes and impacts of transnational economic events.

Scopus Indexed Indian Journal of Extension Education: Crafting Improvement Strategy through Altmetric and Bibliometric Analysis

The present paper includes a comprehensive bibliometric and altmetric analysis of the Indian Journal of Extension Education (IJEE), the first and only Scopus-indexed Indian journal from the discipline of Extension Education employing VOSviewer and R-packages. As the official journal of the Indian Society of Extension Education, IJEE covers diverse subject areas, including agricultural extension, rural sociology, information communication technology (ICT) application in agriculture, climate change, and other contemporary social issues. The study examined 543 authors and 263 organizations in co-authorship, considered 625 keywords in co-occurrence, evaluated 156 documents in the citation, and investigated 2849 cited references, 1416 cited sources, and 5203 cited authors in co citation. The results highlighted the influential papers and authors, providing insights into research trends and areas of significance by R-packages. It also explained the thematic map showing the emerging, developing, and already developed research topics in modern trends. The altmetric analysis of the 5 most cited papers from IJEE looked into the research paper’s citations, usage, captures, mentions, and social media penetration. While confirming conventional knowledge, the study identified unique situations indicating the growth of IJEE, contributing valuable perspectives for researchers and stakeholders in extension education and related fields.

Two and a half undeservedly forgotten conceptual foundations of rural sociology

Although Russian society is strongly connected with the countryside and has deep ‘rural roots’, agrarian issues have always been somewhat marginal in the national scientific tradition, mainly in its social-scientific branch. Today the situation seems to change due to at least two globally urgent issues - sustainable food-security patterns (agricultural production) and rural social/human capital - which increase both theoretical and practical interest to the heuristic and reform potential of the rural sociology research. To the acknowledged factors of the somewhat marginal status of rural sociology the authors add the fact that not all its conceptual foundations, especially in the national tradition, were identified and systematized. The article presents only two and a half such foundations: agricultural economics, theories of peasant agrarianism, and, partly, theory of rural-urban continuum (forgotten in its rural half and widely used to explain suburbanization trends). In the first part of the article, the authors reconstruct the historical path of agricultural economics, focusing on its creative adaptation to the specific conditions of rural Russia. At the turn of the 1920s - 1930s, the national and global political-ideological crisis of agricultural economics determined the replacement of its initial German economic-philosophical agrarian approach by the American pragmatic agricultural approach and applied farm management. In the second part of the article, the authors summarize, on the one hand, utopian, political-economic and populist ideas of agrarianism (1); on the other hand, reasons for its fair criticism which did not focus on the utopian ideas of agrarianism (rather on its being an eclectic pragmatic ideology, contradictions between its left and right wings, its negative conservative potential, lack of political experience and decisiveness, and so on). In the third part of the article, the authors reconstruct a more successful life path of the theory of ruralurban continuum, which emphasizes not so much the fundamental differences between rural and urban communities as a spatially extended rural-urban scale of community types differing by size, population density, division of labor, isolation, local solidarity, and so on. This continuum model remains extremely important for the analysis of the social development of contemporary rural areas and should be supplemented by the elements of the theory of peasant economy and cooperation in order to study comprehensively rural social and human capital.

The men who feed the world? Putting masculinities on the agenda for crop breeding research for development

Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields that are dominated by men and masculine have historically been shown to lead to poor representation and discrimination of women and gender diverse scientists, managers, and leaders. This in turn negatively impacts inclusive innovation processes and outcomes. We claim that crop breeding is one such field that is undeniably dominated by men, and even masculine, and could therefore harbor the very same dynamics of exclusion. Yet there is a dearth of research systematically investigating how masculinities are performed in the institutions, organizations, cultures, discourses, and practices of crop breeding. In this Perspective piece, we present a theoretically informed hypothesis of crop breeding organizations as representing spaces where masculinities associated with rurality, management, and science and technology come together in ways that may marginalize women and gender diverse individuals, including in intersection with sexuality, race, ethnicity, and disability. In developing this hypothesis, we draw upon theoretical and empirical insights from masculinity studies in rural sociology, management and organization studies, and feminist technoscience studies. We demonstrate how critical men and masculinities studies can help expose masculinities in crop breeding to investigation, discussion, criticism, and change. As we seek to advance equality in and through crop breeding organizations, this framing helps to guide future research with potential to positively impact the culture of crop breeding research.

The perilous promise of productivity: Affective politics of farming media and its consequences for the future of agriculture

This article brings together historically disparate literatures, including rural sociology, critical food studies, new media studies, and affect theory to think critically, and productively, about digital agriculture—for example, robotic milking machines, precision techniques, data-intensive and algorithm-enabled predictive software. To make this argument, the article triangulates multiple forms of data, including that collected through recurring interviews with 25 farmers in Colorado, Kansas, and Nebraska who employed agricultural digital platforms. When taken together, these data tell a story about how new farm media enact worlds by affording networked affective subjectivities. They do this not because they tell users things—as suggested by their “smart” moniker. Perhaps most importantly, they animate what farmers feel through affordances tied to expressions of desire, risk, and promise; anticipatory-affects with immense political potential.

Farming for sociologists: A new key text for rural sociologists

First paragraphs: What is farming for? What are the objectives? How should it relate to nature and wider society?” (p. 121) asks Jan Douwe van der Ploeg in his new book, The Sociology of Farming: Concepts and Methods. As an accomplished interdisciplinary scholar making significant contributions to the fields of rural sociology, agroecology, and peasant studies, van der Ploeg offers emerging and sea­soned scholars alike an overview of the wide array of challenges and opportunities in contemporary agrifood systems research. Examples of applied, interdisciplinary, and creative methodological approaches make for an accessible, structured reading experience that thoughtfully guides the reader through rich and substantial content. Chapter by chapter, readers are routinely asked to orient themselves to questions of power, particularly when presented with what is “right” in agriculture. Through discussions of rural development, market dominance, and peasant struggles, the text provides a critical foundation for future study directions.…

The academy of pedagogy: From a teacher training college to a vibrant university

Based mainly on archival documents gathered from Bahir Dar University (BDU) record office and the UNESCO Head Office in Paris, this qualitative study chronicles and analyzes the history of the Academy of Pedagogy from its inception until it transformed itself into Bahir Dar University. The establishment of the Academy of Pedagogy was the result of a meticulous but ambitious feasibility study conducted by two education experts from the University of London employed by UNESCO as consultants. The consultants recommended the establishment of a college specializing in training teacher educators in a four-year program in Bahir Dar. The study also recommended the construction of a primary school and a teacher training institute to enable teacher trainers to undertake teaching practice, curriculum revision, and action research. Other recommendations included the installation of an educational broadcasting service and the commencement of in-service training for primary school teachers. The study was so ambitious that it suggested the establishment of a Child Development Research Unit, an Ethiopian Arts Center, a Textbook and Journal Publishing Unit, a Comparative African Studies Institute, a Rural Sociology Research Unit, a Health Education Unit, an Evaluation and Archives Unit, and a Model Community. However, the outbreak of the Ethiopian revolution in 1974, forced the academy to follow a different path. Since then, a lot of changes including curriculum revision took place. In 1980, the Academy was renamed Bahir Dar Teachers College (BDTC). Finally, in 2000, BDTC joined the Polytechnic Institute to form Bahir Dar University.

Preface

THE 2ND INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON AGRICULTURE AND FOOD SUSTAINABILITY (THE 2ND ICAFOSY): GENDER AND SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE DEVELOPMENTAgricultural development is a kind of resource management effort that uses environmentally friendly approaches to ensure long-term agricultural production capacity and improve farmers’ welfare. Natural resource differences indicate diversity in their management in order to meet the sustainability of providing products for humans and development. A lack of clarity in defining the type or characteristics of the resource, as well as an error in managing it, will result in resource damage, if not destruction.In the current era of globalization, inequity in human access to natural resources and agricultural land is also a source of concern. There are significant gender inequalities in the implementation of access to land resource management in terms of rewarding women for the roles they play in resource conservation, utilization, and preservation, as well as the sustainability of the results. Women have a strong bond with nature. They have more interaction with the environment and natural resources as household managers. Pollution directly affects women and children.The existence of global events globally affected human life in meeting their daily needs on natural resources, and this is why the Laboratory of Rural Sociology and Community Empowerment, Department of Socio-Economics, Faculty of Agriculture, Universitas Brawijaya held an International Conference titled “The 2nd International Conference on Agriculture and Food Sustainability (The 2nd ICAFOSY): Gender and Sustainable Agriculture Development.”The conference was held in a hybrid format on the 17th and 18th of October 2022 at the Grand Mercure Malang hotel because conditions and situations were not completely normal after the pandemic. Besides, it provides an ideal forum for discussing the state of natural resource management, particularly in the agricultural sector, during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as an overview of the critical role of women and men in managing Natural Resources, particularly in the agricultural sector.ChairpersonDr. Asihing Kustanti, S. Hut, M. Si.List of Committees are available in this pdf.

Cooperative Rule: Community Development in Britain’s Late Empire. By Aaron Windel

In this impressive first monograph, Aaron Windel makes the case for seeing agricultural cooperatives as a political technology central to British colonial rule and its ends in Asia and Africa. He casts colonial cooperative societies as tools of political control and economic integration, but ones that were in many cases appropriated and subverted by the colonized. Writing with verve, clarity, and care, Windel makes this argument by drawing together diverse contexts from the British colonies, to Britain itself, and the Deep South of the USA. He demonstrates that the cooperative institutional form made possible not only the further encroachment of the global market forces on colonial agricultural economies, but also the rise of anti-colonial organizations such as the Kenya African National Union and the Uganda National Congress in the late colonial period. This engaging argument unfolds across five substantive chapters, which cover a timeframe that begins in the late nineteenth century and ends in the 1960s. Chapter 1 details the emergence of colonial cooperativism as a much-hyped official project of Indian character reformation amid the crisis of colonial capitalism on the anti-colonial frontlines in Punjab. It also traces the transfer of cooperatives and their legislation to colonial Malaya, Zanzibar, Tanganyika, and Kenya, focusing on the role of cooperative evangelist-expert Claude Strickland. Chapter 2 is concerned with the contribution missionaries made to folding cooperatives into inter-war community development in the British Empire, as part of the ‘social gospel’ influenced by US rural sociology.